If you go out in the gun market, you’ll find people swearing by their Glocks. And why shouldn’t they? This unconventional underdog somehow managed to shatter all perceptions about guns. Especially ones pertaining to the construction and aesthetics of handguns. And should they own a Glock 40, their pride knows no bounds.
Yes, you are right, we are talking about the plastic frame with no hammer and no safety!
From when its story began way back in February 1980, the Glock has reigned the handgun market through its impressive design, constant innovation, and an at-par performance.
Featured Image CC4 Canon67 via Wikimedia
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Believe it or not, the Glock handguns happened due to a bit of accidental eavesdropping by Gaston Glock. Post the World War II era the Austrian Army was looking to replace the Walther P-38 guns with something different. Glock, an Austrian citizen happened to overhear this conversation between two Austrian Army colonels.
Armed with this information, he went to the Minister of Defence and asked if his business could also offer a solution. Receiving an affirmative answer, Glock got down to business. But he knew nothing about guns. He owned a small business that produced field knives and blades for his country’s army. The closest he had been to the battlefield was when he served a few days as a conscript teenager in Wehrmacht during World War II. And that did nothing to teach him anything about guns, leave alone designing them for the benefit of an army.
Nevertheless, Glock decided to give this a try. In order to learn the inside outs of guns, he first went and purchased some of the best pistols in the market. These included the Swiss-German Sig Sauer P220, the Czech CZ75, the Italian Beretta 92F and the P-1 which was an advanced version of the Walther P-38 already in use by the Army. These became his study material. He pondered over their every detail – how they were built and how they operated. Not only this, he went ahead and researched extensively. Spending hours with firearms specialists, understanding what they would want in a modern handgun.
Glock had his work cut out for him – the Austrian Army knew exactly what it wanted – a high ammunition capacity pistol, significantly more rounds than the eight offered by the Walther P-38, weighed below twenty-eight ounces, had a streamlined design and a consistent, light trigger. All of this packed in under 40 parts.
After spending a year researching and developing, Glock finally filed for a patent for his pistol design on 30th April 1981. On 19th May 1982, he presented his first four test pistols to the Austrian Army for review. This marked the birth of the very first Glock pistol, the Glock 17.
The pistol was tested extensively and measured perfectly by all standards. The army accepted it into service and ordered a contract of 20,000 more such pistols from Glock.
The Glock 17 was a game changer in the handguns industry. It is both strong and light at the same time. Made of a polymer frame, its lower half houses a steel fire control group. Its upper half is a unified body of steel. This combination of plastic and steel allowed the gun to weigh only twenty-three ounces, well below the weight required by the Army.
This also knocked out the other competitors Beretta 92F and the CZ75 that was made entirely of a steel frame. Further, Glock simplified the built of the gun, making it out of just thirty-four parts - nearly half of what the Beretta’s 92F pistol had.
A key area of focus in Glock’s research was the pistol’s “pointability,”. This refers to the weapons’ ability to work as natural extensions of the hand and eye coordination of the shooter. This is a significant contributor towards the weapon’s ease of aiming and hence the user-friendliness and accuracy.
This focus towards reliability and ease of use helped Glock create a weapon that was not only beautifully designed but also high on performance. So high that in a competition of ten thousand rounds his pistol failed only once.
The Glock 17 was one of the first pistols with a capacity as high as 17. Only one amongst the others in the market could only come up to a short fifteen and the next one could do 13. The Glock 17’s capacity more than doubled the P-38’s capacity in chambering 17 rounds of seventeen rounds of nine-millimeter parabellum ammo.
Another big Easter egg in the Glock is the safe action trigger. Most handguns have a safety key that needs to be on or off to ensure that firearm does not discharge accidentally. Glock did away with the old mechanism of the safety which had the key externally on the weapon’s body and had to be maneuvered to lock or unlock. Instead, he introduced an inbuilt mechanism with a two-piece trigger that worked as the safety without the manual key. It has a big trigger and a small trigger. And the gun fires only when both the triggers are pulled, essentially turning it into a fast action point-and-shoot gun that was much appreciated by the law enforcement agencies.
With all its amazing features, innovation and ease of use, it is no wonder that the Glock 40 has dominated the market since its introduction nearly four decades ago. It has razed its competition time and again and is used by armed forces and law enforcement agencies across the world including the British Armed Forces, the Iraqi military, the Israeli Defense Forces, the Indian Special Forces, the Yemeni military, the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command and Army Rangers.
While Glock was designing and producing his gun for the Austrian Army, the American police officers were being overpowered by criminals. The feeling that their weapon — the classic Smith & Wesson .38-caliber revolver — that they’d been using for three-quarters of a century was now inadequate was growing stronger. An FBI shootout with some bank robbers in Miami in 1986 drove the message home and they knew that they needed a more advanced weapon. At that time, Gaston Glock’s innovation came about as an answer to their prayers. And the Glock 40 quickly became a popular weapon amongst the US lawmen and civilian bodies that adopted the gun culture.
The Glock 40 is a feature-packed gun that beats all other guns hands down across all categories — innovation, styling, performance and ease of use. But how does it feel to use it?
The Glock 40 requires some experience and expectation when shooting since its trigger needs some effort and the accuracy needs some practice and getting used to. Its plastic frame requires that the user maintain a firm and strong grip to help it absorb the force of firing.
Other than that, the gun is extremely reliable and works perfectly fine in adverse conditions too making it a good choice for home and self-defense.
The Glock has an impressive range of pistols for every objective out there — law enforcement, shooting, hunting, first buy, self-defense, etc. They are available in different sizes, different power, and different caliber. Their smallest is the Model 42. It is a part of their Slimline collection and is a single stack handgun compatible with 380 ACP. Their larger guns include 17L, 34, 41 and 40 with the 40 being probably their most powerful handgun. Its specs make the ballistics of the cartridge comparable to the Magnum revolver.
The full-size Model 17 in 9mm and 22 in 40 S&W, the compact Model 19 in 9mm and 23 in 40 S&W and subcompact Model 26 in 9mm and 27 in 40 S&W are some of their most popular guns representing their respective size brackets.
The Glock 40 have been one of the most loved Glocks of all times. They have a .40 S&W caliber and are surprisingly similar to the 9mm models. what makes a difference is not the size but the number of rounds these guns can hold. Here’s a lineup of the best Glock 40 to celebrate the genius in each of the models.
Introduced in 1990, the Glock 22 is a full-sized gun. Its reliability and competence made it the weapon of choice for many government agencies and police forces.
If you want the features of the 22 with more comfort and ease of use, its Gen 4 model can offer it to you. It has a better grip, a backstrap that helped adjust the thickness of the grip and a dual recoil spring that increased the longevity of the gun as compared to the Glock 22. It also had a magazine release that could be changed for left or right-handed shooters.
Buy the Glock 22 of its Gen 4 is you are looking for the full-size gun which has been tested in fast-paced environments for its performance, speed, durability, and safety.
A lightweight weapon with the amazing 15-rounds capacity. Backed by the experience of the police force, its a compact version of the .40 caliber.
The gen 4 of the Model 23 adds to the proven features of the former model a texture, a modular back strap and a dual recoil spring. It also lets you add a light or other add-ons if needed.
The Model 23 and it's Gen 4 is perfect for those who have small hands or need a concealable model.
Also called as the Long Slide, this gun comes with a longer barrel than the typical handguns of its size. the long barrel helps to enhance accuracy and hence, the gun is a popular one in competition shooting. The gun has a longer barrel but its magazine capacity is smaller than the average compact Glocks.
Its long barrel makes it a good weapon with enhanced accuracy for competition shooting. Despite its barrel, the weapon is easy to carry on you daily.
The subcompact Glock 27 is smaller than the compact guns. Often carried as a backup weapon by the police, its small size can be deceiving as it still packs a punch. the subcompact of the group. It has a capacity of 9+1 and is a popular weapon amongst civilians.
A Gen 4 model with the backstrap, texture and dual recoil spring is also available for this model.
A hard hitter, this weapon is a small but powerful one that is concealable and easy to carry as a backup weapon.
Again a favorite for competition shooters, the Glock 35 has a longer slide making it a good partner in competition shooting in the .40 caliber.
Its Gen 4 model offers the same upgrades as other Gen 4 models except this one has a MOS (Modular Optic System) that lets you add a reflex optic to the firearm without having to machine the optic to the side.
The Gen 4 option of the model 35 is the only version with the MOS configuration in this caliber.
With the wide range of great models it has, zeroing in on your Glock 40 can be difficult. But the good part is that there is no bad Glock 40. No matter which one you end up buying, it is never going to let you down.
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