Writing about Glock has to be a difficult task for all industry writers; I know it is for me. But, that’s not a negative. It’s simply a question of how to describe perfection.

Referring to Glock as the “people’s handgun project” is not representative of its history. Glock was not a product of the Deutsche Arbeitsfront nor was it intended to arm the populous and Gaston Glock was not a firearms designer. Yet in response to a 1980 solicitation from the Austrian Ministry of Defence Gaston Glock and a team of handpicked engineers set out to develop a pistol that met the Austrian military requirements. It took Gaston three months to produce a working prototype and in 1982 the Austrian military and police adopted the new Glock 17 as the P80. The rest of this story is history.

You’ll often hear the expression “… a Glock is a Glock…” a comment that stems from the fact that little has changed in Glock’s design since its adoption by the Austrian government in 1982. The generational changes have all been subtle design improvements like adding an integrated recoil spring assembly, changes to the magazine (floor plate and follower).

The Gen 2 model added chequering to the front strap and a steel plate forward of the trigger guard to satisfy ATF requirements for displaying the weapon’s serial number.

Gen 3 Glock pistols included an accessory rail, an improved extractor that also serves as a loaded chamber indicator and a locking block pin.

In 2010, at the Las Vegas Shot Show, Glock announced its Gen 4 designs adding enhancements that continue its 25 Years of Perfection. Listen to Glock’s Megan Harvey tell you about their Gen 4 model directly from SOFIC 2011.