Age 94. Despite the disparagements of his "tactical Tupperware" by purist Luddites, the man had more influence on modern firearms than anyone since his holiness, John Moses Browning, no small number of which examples of Gaston's designs occupy spots in the armory here at the castle. There isn't a firearms manufacturer in the free world uninfluenced by his efforts, which isn't bad for an Austrian who started out making curtain rods, and ended up a billionaire.
7 comments:
Much truth there. Not my favorite firearm, mind you, but they do what they are supposed to do. Go "bang" when they are supposed to and hit where they are pointed. All you can ask for, really.
Machines that do what they are supposed to do WHEN, Then they are supposed to do it.
As you said, not bad for a guy who made curtain rods.
I once had a private lunch with Gaston and his wife. Very cultured man.
I do not mean to disparage the man or his accomplishments. He deserves a lot of accolades for what he accomplished and the innovations he brought to the gun industry. As an FFL for 34 years I will say that recently (within the last year) I've developed a penchant for dogging Glock's tag line 'Glock Perfection.' If that were true there wouldn't be an entire industry devoted to aftermarket parts and clones to improve upon 'Glock Perfection.' I own a G17, G19, G21, G26 (my EDC for the last 15 years, although highly modded from factory), and I won't give them up, but I've dubbed Canik & TSIS the 'Glock Killers' due to the incredible amount of factory features they offer for the price. I have a matrix that demonstrates the difference in value. Take a factory Glock ($550.00), add $600 of features/parts and you have what Canik offers for the price of the factory Glock. Glock as a corporation became like GM, refusing to listen to what the consumer wanted and only giving us what they deemed necessary. The CCH community asked for the G49 for decades, but they gave us the G19X & G45. They finally gave us the G49 after numerous companies gave the CCH community what they wanted. They came out with the Glock Performance trigger decades after others had refined the trigger, & didn't even make it standard, you have to pay extra for it, whereas Canik gives you a great trigger from the factory. Gaston Glock was an innovator and maverick. His products are still very good, just not 'perfect.'
I had no idea that Glocks would become as famous as they became today. I thought they would become a H&K niche Euro firearm company. That they also made a fixed sheath knife and telescopic handled spade was also surprising. Almost surprised they didn't go into making boots and packs.
I took the motto 'Glock Perfection'to mean Reliable to a Fault. In the field, you want it to go bang every you need it. In dirty conditions, tight tolerances can become liabilities. I think they figured too many different wants and needs out there. Let the firearm's owner determine what was needed and let them make it their ideal.
My Glock complaint - factory plastic sights. Those should be switched out.
RIP Gaston Glock.
I'm almost 72 years old, and have been shooting centerfire handguns since I was 13, starting with my dad's Colt 1903 Pocket Hammer 38 ACP (still have a hammer-bite scar from that one). Had 1911's, Rugers, both auto and revolver, and numerous others. Never owned a Glock, but fired a friend's 9mm with a ported 6" barrel. Wasn't impressed with the trigger; it felt like squishing a grape. Then I ambled down to the target and was amazed at the itty-bitty group. It didn't match the 44Mag Redhawk with 7.5" barrel and Paine sights that I had brought to the party, but it was close. RIP indeed, Gaston Glock...
Got my G19 in'90. Had a Glock Armorer do a trigger job on my New Yawk trigger (47lbs?) during the "bad parts" recall, for free. SHE ended up using a combination of parts she hadn't expected. She turned it into a good trigger. Nite sites of course, (now times 3) and an extended slide release. Replaced the plastic spring guide with a custom fab brass one "to tame that wicked muzzle flip", probably works, I can't tell the difference. Still my EDC. VERY accurate with ammo it likes. "Minute of man" at 30 yards and less, with ammo it doesn't like. Betcher life reliable.
I've got a knock-off 9mm. Yup, lots of influence.
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