Glock: Just Simply Overrated? As a gun enthusiast, chances are you have a Glock pistol.
They are affordable and easy to shoot and maintain.
They are in service with militaries and law enforcement organizations around the world.
The brand is likely one of the first and only pistols many people will ever purchase as beginners take to it in large numbers. Whether it’s for home defense, target shooting, or taking on bad guys, the Glock can fill many roles.
But what if the brand has become complacent after strong sales over the years? Can Glock continue to innovate and deliver quality or is it becoming the most over-rated gun manufacturer in the world? Are Glocks, to be honest, just overrated now?
Glock: What Is So Great About Them?
Glocks have many advantages. They are sturdy, reliable, tough, often corrosion-free, and feel great to many users. There are numerous accessories available for Glocks – too many to describe. They come in all kinds of calibers. Glock holsters are easy to find at many price points. The polymer frame housing makes for a lighter pistol than competitors (even though some call it a “Tupperware gun”). Glocks also have excellent ammunition capacity.
You May Not Be Inspired By the Brand
But are they inspiring? Do you shoot a Glock and say I will never switch to another brand? Let’s take a look at how you should be wary of the hype surrounding Glock products.
Glock knows that every model it releases will get reviews and media coverage, so does that mean it can continue to build more models that really push the envelope, or does the Austrian-maker rely on its reputation too much?
Point and Shoot
One trait of these guns that deserves the hype is its “point ability.” This means how well a pistol can be an extension of your arm for excellent hand-eye coordination and better accuracy. The downside of the Glock and what sometimes gets complaints is that some shooters are not used to the light trigger pull. This is often a training problem rather than a gun flaw, but an inexperienced user could encounter a round emerging from the barrel prematurely if he or she is not sufficiently trained on operating a Glock’s trigger.
Lack of External Safety and Grip Angle
Glocks also do not have an external safety. If you are used to pistols that do have this mechanism, the Glock has a learning curve.
Another difference, and again this depends on the user, is the angle of the grip that can be problematic for some and result in higher shots. Gary Marbut of the Montana Shooting Sports Association explained this while comparing Glocks to 1911s.
“The 1911 grip angle is more nearly square to the slide (about 18 degrees off square), a Glock grip angle is more raked (about 22 degrees off square). Neither grip angle is inherently better than the other, but some peoples’ hand and wrist anatomy just works better with one angle and some with the other. It works better not to fight what is the anatomically-natural grip angle for you.”
This Pistol Is Just Plain Ugly
These guns also sacrifice appearance for usability.
To some gun collectors, the Glock is just ugly-looking, boxy, and bulky. They look to some like a cheap toy. As I mentioned before, they may not inspire gun purists to go out and purchase Glocks in numbers for collections. To some, it’s not a classy gun, especially if you want to emulate James Bond.
Some people also just prefer an all-metal gun to a polymer frame and a hammer-fired gun compared to a striker-fired pistol.
Others have complaints about feel because the trigger guard can create friction. You can smooth this out or cut it a bit deeper yourself with a Dremel tool. And there are many after-market companies that can solve this problem for you.
Is Glock Too Big a Company for Satisfying Customer Service?
Maybe there are too many models. How do you pick just one?
More models could mean less perfection and performance when shooting right out of the box, because if you run into problems, some shooters complain about less than optimal customer service at Glock. You could need a part replacement, for example, send it back to the manufacturer, and not get satisfied with their customer relations.
Competition Has Caught Up
And these days there is a high-level of competition. Glock has to fend with Colt, S&W, Ruger, Kimber, SIG Sauer, Remington, and Taurus, among others. These makers have caught up to Glocks over the years. You can say these are Glock copies, but if you are willing to pay more than what Glock charges, you may get a better-performing pistol.
We’d like to read your comments if you have use cases or stories about these firearms. For many beginning and even experienced shooters, the Glock is the only gun they will buy. Whether it’s over-rated depends on how much you shoot and in what environments you use it because these guns are not going away.
Now serving as 1945’s Defense and National Security Editor, Brent M. Eastwood, PhD, is the author of Humans, Machines, and Data: Future Trends in Warfare. He is an Emerging Threats expert and former U.S. Army Infantry officer. You can follow him on Twitter @BMEastwood.
