Why do some people hate glocks so much?

[Bulletsrrfriend]

My main goal is to get into three gun competitions. Purchased a Glock to start shooting some bowling pin matches just to make sure competitive shooting would be something I really wanted to do. If not then I wouldn't be out a ton of money on a tricked out 1911.

 

[swoop]

I've owned a Glock and liked it a lot after I put a grip sleeve with palm swells on it. But let's be straight about a couple of issues: First, it was advertised as, "Glock Perfection"..........well that's just ASKING for hate. Next, why that grip angle that nobody else uses? And, after decades of consumers begging for a single-stack model Glock, the Company STILL has not responded. Next, there ARE scads of documented problems with Glocks, particularly the .40 cal models with lights on the rail. Whole police departments have abandoned the Glock despite Glock's flying tech-squads doing field repair/replace and model buy-ups to cure problems. Finally, it is simply a fact that the short and light trigger pull with no safety makes negligent discharges more likely than with other pistols---get some shirt in the trigger guard when holstering and it is no longer theoretical! Yes, I liked my Glock and it was a GREAT shooter, but I will look at a lot of other guns before I get another.............................elsullo

Hey man, you've never heard of a G-36 ? Single stack, very thin, been around for years..

 

[sprocket3]

I think we need a poll:

What was the main reason you purchased or will purchase a Glock?

Safety
Cost
Accuracy
Simplicity
Durable
Buddy likes his

 

[Riot]

To me their grossly overrated. People buy them because their cheap guns. The quality reflects that.

Comments like this make me wonder...I have a Springfield 1911 that has been back to Springfield TWICE due to issues and a Kel Tec P3AT back to Kel Tec, once...my Glock 22 and Glock 27 were my first handgun purchases (with the P3AT being the last). I have put thousands of rounds through my Glocks...my Glock 22 has had one malfunction that was not intentionally introduced (i.e. putting dummy rounds in the magazine) and it was probably due to the reloads I bought. My Glock 27 has NEVER malfunctioned. Neither has needed any modification or any smith work done. So where is this coming from? The Glock Gen 4 issues? I guess I can agree with you there....Glock tried to fix something that wasn't broken...otherwise, I'd stake my life on my Glocks.

I think we need a poll:

What was the main reason you purchased or will purchase a Glock?

Safety
Cost
Accuracy
Simplicity
Durable
Buddy likes his

To me, the Glock fit my hand. I origianlly was set on an H&K USP .40 S&W. But after renting one and trying it out- it wasn't for me. I didn't like the angle, the magazine release or the sights...let alone the price tag. But I wanted the best. I had heard nothing but bad press about Glocks (mainly from LEOs that favored the Beretta 92FS). But after firing a G17 on the range, I was hooked for life.

 

[elsie]

TBH, I think one of the biggest reason some people hate Glocks is because of over-enthusiastic Glock owners. Just like some people hate 1911s because of over-enthusiastic 1911 owners. No, a Glock is not the greatest gun ever made. They're functional and generally go bang every time. So do a lot of other firearms. I have a Glock. It does not fit my hand and does not have a natural point when I aim. It bites my middle finger under the trigger guard (all 4 generations). The factory barrel causes my brass to bulge at the web, so I put in a fully supported match barrel. Why do I own one? Because it's 10mm and I collect in that caliber. Given a choice, I'd take my Kimber 10 or DE. For carry, it's usually a BHP and/or Keltec 32.

But back to the original point; if someone asks for a good snubbie revolver for their wife to carry, you can be practically guaranteed that someone will pipe up with "Get a Glock XX, they're the greatest". And it's that attitude that I think people find most annoying.


elsie

 

[Lloyd Braun]

uh? no one mentioned the glocks unsupported chamber?
thats one reason i dont have one. just wish they would fix it
xds and m and p have fully supported chambers i believe....

 

[deadeye]

This is a gun board classic:
After some years now of reading internet bulletin boards, I think I’ve got the pros and cons of possible SHTF choices figured out. Correct me if I’m wrong, but the following is my analysis based upon the wisdom of numerous gun board gurus (you know them, they’re always the first ones to tell you a particular model gun is “junk” and enlighten you as to why they have made the only logical purchases)…

Glock:
Butt-ugly plastic shooting appliance with the ergonomics of a caulking gun. Five-pound trigger with no external safety makes it ill suited for its target market (cops who shoot a hundred rounds a year for qualification). Favored by gangbangers because the product name is short and rhymes with other short, rap-friendly words.

Beretta 92F/M9:
Clunky and overweight rip-off of a clunky and overweight German design from the 1930s. Shear-happy locking block, ergonomics that are only suited for linebackers, barely adequate sights that are partially non-replaceable, and low capacity for its size. Favored by Eighties action movie fanatics and John Woo freaks.

1911:
Overweight and overly complex piece of late 19th century technology. Low capacity, useless sights in stock form, and a field-stripping procedure that requires three hands. Favored by people who are at the cutting edge of handgun technology and combat shooting…of the 1960s.

H&K P7:
Wildly overpriced, heavy for its size, low capacity in most iterations, and blessed with a finish that rusts if you give the gun a moist glance. Gas tube has a tendency to roast the trigger finger after a box or two of ammo at the range. Favored by gun snobs who think that paying twice as much for half the rounds means four times the fighting skill.

SIG Sauer:
Top-heavy bricks with the rust resistance of an untreated iron nail at the bottom of a bucket of saltwater. Ergonomically sound, if you have size XXL mitts. Some minor parts made in Germany, so the manufacturer can charge 75% Teutonic Gnome Magic premium. Favored by Jack Bauer fans and wannabe Sky Marshals/Secret Service agents.

S&W Revolvers:
Archaic hand weapons from a bygone era, the missing link between flintlocks and autoloaders. Low capacity, and reloading requires a lunch break. Heavy for their capacity, unless you’re talking about airweight snubbies, which hurt as much on the giving end as they do on the receiving end. Rare stoppages, but few malfunctions that don’t require gunsmith services, which are hard to come by in a gunfight. Favored by crusty old farts who just now got around to trusting newfangled smokeless powder, and Dirty Harry fans with unrealistic ideas about the power of Magnum rounds vs. engine blocks.

Browning HP:
Fragile frame designed around a popgun round. Near-useless safety in stock form that’s only suitable for the thumbs of elementary schoolers. Strangest and most circuitous way to trip a sear ever put into a handgun. Favored by wannabe SAS commandos, wannabe mercenaries, and Anglophiles who think that hammer-down, chamber-empty carry is the most appropriate way to carry a defensive sidearm.

And now, YOUR CALIBER SUCKS TOO!!!
9mm Luger:
European popgun round that’s only popular because the ammo is cheap for a centerfire cartridge. Cheap ammo is a good thing for 9mm aficionados, because anything bigger and more dangerous than a cranky raccoon will likely require multiple well-placed hits. Wildly popular all over the world, mostly in countries where people don’t carry guns, and cops don’t have to actually shoot people with theirs.

.45ACP:
Chunky low-pressure cartridge that hogs magazine space and requires a low-capacity design (if the gun needs to fit human hands) or a grip with the circumference of a two-liter soda bottle (if the gun needs to hold more than seven rounds). Disturbingly prone to bullet setback, expensive to reload, fits only into big and clunky guns, and a recoil that has an inversely proportionate relationship with muzzle energy.

.40S&W:
Neutered compromise version of a compromise cartridge. Even more setback-happy than the .45ACP, and setbacks are much more dangerous because of higher pressure and smaller case volume. Manages to sacrifice both the capacity of the 9mm and the bullet diameter of the .45. Twice the recoil of the 9mm for 10% more muzzle energy.

.357SIG:
Highly overpriced boutique round that does the .40S&W one worse: it manages to share the capacity penalty of the .40 while retaining the small bullet diameter of the 9mm. Noisy, sharp recoil, and 100% cost penalty for ballistics that can be matched by a good 9mm +P+ load. Penetrates like the dickens, which means that the Air Marshals just had to adopt it…only to load their guns with frangible bullets to make sure they don’t penetrate like the dickens.

.38 Special:
Legacy design with a case length that’s 75% longer than necessary for the mediocre ballistics of the round due to its blackpowder heritage. On the plus side, the case length makes it easy to handle when reloading the gun. This is a good thing because anyone using their .38 in self-defense against a 250-pound attacker hopped up on crack will need to empty the gun multiple times.

.32ACP:
Inadequate for anything more thick-skinned than Northeastern squirrels or inbred Austrian archdukes. Semi-rimmed cartridge that is rimlock-happy in modern lightweight autoloaders. Doesn’t go fast enough to expand a hollowpoint bullet, and it wouldn’t matter even if it did, because the bullet would only expand from tiny to small-ish.

.44 Magnum:
Overpowered round that generates manageable recoil and muzzle blast…if you’re a 300-pound linebacker with wrists like steel girders. Often loaded to “Lite” levels that turn it into a noisy .44 Special while retaining the ego-preserving Magnum headstamp. Considered the “most powerful handgun cartridge in the world” by people whose gun knowledge is either stuck in 1960, or who get their expertise in ballistics from Dirty Harry movies.

.50 Desert Eagle:
The Magnum of the new century. Realizing Hollywood couldn’t escape their Magnum fetishes, they had a handgun that fits the same stopping power quota of .44 Magnum and all of its filthy drawbacks. Popular amongst steroid filled movie actors who needs big guns to compensate for the steroid struck testicles. Comes in a baby variant for junior.

10mm Auto:
Super-high pressure cartridge that beats up gun and shooter alike. Very brisk recoil in anything other than all-steel S&W boat anchors, with a shot recovery that’s measured in geological epochs for most handgun platforms. Often underloaded to wimpy levels (see “.40 S&W”), which then gives it 9mm ballistics while requiring .45ACP magazine real estate.

.380ACP/9mm Kurz:
Designed by people who thought the 9mm Luger was a bit too brisk and snappy, which is pretty much all that needs to be said here. Great round if you expect to only ever be attacked by people less than seven inches thick from front to back.

.357 Magnum:
Lots of recoil, muzzle blast, and noise to drive a 9mm bullet to reckless speeds in an attempt to make up for its low mass and diameter. Explosive fragmentation and insufficient penetration with light bullets; excessive penetration and insufficient expansion with heavy ones. Still makes only 9mm holes in the target.

5.7×28mm:
Ingenious way to make a centerfire .22 Magnum and then charge quadruple price for the same ballistics. Awesome chambering for a police weapon…if you’re the park ranger in charge of the chipmunk exhibit at the zoo, and you want to make sure you can take one down if it turns rabid on you.

.25ACP:
Direct violation of the maxim “Never do an enemy a minor injury”. Designed by folks who wanted to retain the bullet diameter of the .22 rimfire round, but take a bit of the excessive lethality out of it. Favored by people who don’t feel comfortable carrying anything more dangerous than the neighbor kid’s rusty Red Ryder pellet gun.

 

[nitestocker]

Safety
Cost
Accuracy
Simplicity
Durable
they go bang every time

 

[skydiver]

Does anyone know if any police depts. have had problems because of an unsupported chamber issue or concern?

 

[billt]

uh? no one mentioned the glocks unsupported chamber?
thats one reason i dont have one. just wish they would fix it
xds and m and p have fully supported chambers i believe....

Why should they "fix" something that was purposely designed into the weapon to begin with? Glocks have an unsupported chamber for a reason. They'll feed any open nosed defensive ammunition on the market, or any ammo the designers are likely to dream up. Many pistols don't.

The Glock is a defensive pistol. It is designed to save your life, not be reloaded ammunition friendly. Problems, (i.e."kabooms"), in Glocks are almost always ammunition related to firing reloads, something Glock warns not to do in all of the manuals shipped with the weapon. If people would use factory ammunition the unsupported chamber design would not be an issue. It is because people make it one. I currently own 6 Glocks, and have put thousands of rounds downrange with all of them. The chamber design of the gun has never been an issue. Rather, it has prevented several. Bill T.

 

[Lloyd Braun]

Why should they "fix" something that was purposely designed into the weapon to begin with? Glocks have an unsupported chamber for a reason. They'll feed any open nosed defensive ammunition on the market, or any ammo the designers are likely to dream up. Many pistols don't.

The Glock is a defensive pistol. It is designed to save your life, not be reloaded ammunition friendly. Problems, (i.e."kabooms"), in Glocks are almost always ammunition related to firing reloads, something Glock warns not to do in all of the manuals shipped with the weapon. If people would use factory ammunition the unsupported chamber design would not be an issue. It is because people make it one. I currently own 6 Glocks, and have put thousands of rounds downrange with all of them. The chamber design of the gun has never been an issue. Rather, it has prevented several. Bill T.

many pistols dont dont feed hollow points????hmm good one!
about every poly gun ive fired ate any kind of ammo i fed it over and over
how many glocks did you say you had? 6 ? wow

 

[plumberfishes]

if you want to know why i sold my 1911 3 weeks ago, and bought a glock 21 it is very simple... take your 1911 outside, grab a shovel, throw your $1500 gun on the ground, and shovel dirt on it... pick it up , shake well, and begin firing... did itwork? ok do it again with sand... no wait,... you misunderstood, don't go clean it... just walk from the dirt pile to the sand box and drop it.... wiggle it around.. pick it up , shake it off, and shoot... ohh it won't shoot???? well now you know why people do like glocks!! at least that why I own one.

Doug

 

[sprocket3]

many pistols dont dont feed hollow points????hmm good one!
about every poly gun ive fired ate any kind of ammo i fed it over and over
how many glocks did you say you had? 6 ? wow

Everything has it's faults, pros and cons... I don't care about the chamber myself as I'm not reloading for it. If it makes the thing less likely to jam i'm fine with it. There are things I like about them and things I don't. It's like a car or anything else you could buy.

It's just a gun anyway.. They go bang and don't cost to much money.

I have had a G23 for 15 years now. I have shot it less than any of the other handguns I have had. I have a HP, CZ Tactical Sport, Smiths, and more Smiths. I just never take the glock out to shoot. It doesn't do much for me.

But it's the one that I told my wife to grab if she needs something at night when i'm gone. That's what it's good for in my house, not shooting targets at 25 yards or Sage Rats and Jack Rabbits.

 

[Chipperxd]

I've owned a G23, 22 and 35 simply due to the fact that each can easily converted to a 9mm. I don't own any Glocks right now. Not because I hate them or anything, just moved onto other guns that better suit me. As mentioned above, it's all about personal preference. If you want a cheap Glock to beat and abuse, more power to you. I like to fondle my guns so the better they look (to me) the better.

 

[cyclesarge]

TBH, I think one of the biggest reason some people hate Glocks is because of over-enthusiastic Glock owners. Just like some people hate 1911s because of over-enthusiastic 1911 owners. No, a Glock is not the greatest gun ever made. They're functional and generally go bang every time. So do a lot of other firearms. I have a Glock. It does not fit my hand and does not have a natural point when I aim. It bites my middle finger under the trigger guard (all 4 generations). The factory barrel causes my brass to bulge at the web, so I put in a fully supported match barrel. Why do I own one? Because it's 10mm and I collect in that caliber. Given a choice, I'd take my Kimber 10 or DE. For carry, it's usually a BHP and/or Keltec 32.

But back to the original point; if someone asks for a good snubbie revolver for their wife to carry, you can be practically guaranteed that someone will pipe up with "Get a Glock XX, they're the greatest". And it's that attitude that I think people find most annoying.


elsie

This, PLUS this

if you want to know why i sold my 1911 3 weeks ago, and bought a glock 21 it is very simple... take your 1911 outside, grab a shovel, throw your $1500 gun on the ground, and shovel dirt on it... pick it up , shake well, and begin firing... did itwork? ok do it again with sand... no wait,... you misunderstood, don't go clean it... just walk from the dirt pile to the sand box and drop it.... wiggle it around.. pick it up , shake it off, and shoot... ohh it won't shoot???? well now you know why people do like glocks!! at least that why I own one.

Doug

Seriously did you DO THAT?

 

[orygun]

It isn't the Glock, it's the snotty "I know better" attitude of many Glock owners. Some of that has come thru in the posts above, and it usually entails bashing the 1911 with gibberish "requotes".
About 1993 (ish) I decided I wanted to buy a high capacity .45 ACP. I was ready to buy a Glock.....until I held it. It wasn't the grip angle, cuz it reminds me of the Ruger 22 I grew up shooting, it was the girth of the grip. I don't have small hands and the grip felt like latching onto a 2x4.
I then picked up a double stack 1911 and it felt tons better to me. I bought that Para-Ordnance P12-45 on the spot. It was replaced with a Comander sized .45 a couple of years ago (Dan Wesson CBOB) I also own other 1911s now and have owned many other 1911s in the past. Never have I encountered the "problems" that the "I know better" guys tell me I would. That's several 1911 that have fired a TON of rounds over the years and I am perfectly pleased... Every one of them feeds anything I feel it, although I've not tried wadcutters. Only that first gun, the Para, needed any kind of service at all.
I carry that all steel 1911, cocked and locked. A good belt and holster keeps it very comfortable.
Back to the Glocks. I had not shot one until last year. It was a 19c. Nice gun, held a lot of ammo. Nice shooter. If the .45 had a grip size like that 9mm I'd have bought it way back when.
I love 1911s, so you know that people like me are the target of the mouthy Glock owners. (not all Glock owners are mouthy) Conversely, I'm sure there are many Glock owners that love the Glock because of the mouthy 1911 owners. That's kind how it works.
By the way, I think most gun manufacturers state that using reloaded ammunition will void the warranty.

Deadeye, that was an awesome post! Love that kinda stuff.

 

[9mmMike]

Since I do not hate Glocks, I have no idea why others do. They are reliable as stated many times, but all my guns seems to be. Glocks are easy to shoot IMO. I've heard this saying, and have to believe it from personal experience seeing first timers shoot them. "Glocks make a poor shooter a good shooter and a good shooter a great shooter" I know I shoot them very well for defensive accuracy, but if I'm wanting to obliterate bullseyes, I shoot my CZ, Revolver, or 1911. There are many many good handguns out there. To each there own ....

 

[bruzer]

Even though Glock has been out for years it represents the new "change" to modern pistols. Good or bad, change can make people feel uncomfortable. So you have lots of hate for the Glock. Lots of hate for the M9 when the military phased out the 1911. Even lots of hate for the M16. Makes me think of a John WAYNE movie. One of his Son's has a new fangled Semi-auto pistol and almost shoots everyone around him (because he can't control the shooting of it until it runs itself out of ammo) and the horses run off. "The Duke" can't figure out why in the WORLD his Boy would carry such a gun!

"That's all I got to say about that" (said with a good Forest GUMP voice)
Mike

 

[WhyteCheddar]

I have owned several Glocks, compete and RO in GSSF and have owned a number of different pistols.
My position is that everyone should own a wide variety of guns but rely on the one they shoot the best for daily carry regardless of where its made or what its made of.
Why do some folks hate glocks? Probably for the same reason some folks hate 1911's, just not their bag baby.

 

[mjbskwim]

I'm an unrepentant Glockhead, and that in itself seems to be enough to trigger hysterical responses, especially from the 1911 Good Ole Boys.

All it takes is a little fanboy adulation from me to set off those types who have spent 3X as much for a pistol that weighs twice as much, has lower capacity, and is reliably unreliable when exposed to dirt, water, or abuse.

Don't get me wrong; I love the look of a polished, blued slide, but I wouldn't carry it anywhere except a BBQ. I also love a single-action trigger when I'm plinking, but carrying cocked & locked doesn't appeal.

Choosing a Glock is a no-brainer, IMO. Some folks take a more sophisticated approach to pistol shooting, but the less I have to think about the better.

Not quite a "1911 good ole boy" but I do love them

And love my glocks.Cheap (was looking at the colt delta and could buy 2.5 glock 20's),reliable,ugly,accurate.

What's to hate? I got over putting one brand over another years ago,unless the brand was just junk.Somewhere just after high school.
Fords ,dodges,chevies and toyotas all suck the same.They all break eventually and are made all over the world.

BTW weren't High Powers Belgian?