One of Glock’s more controversial pistols, the Glock 22, was the direct result of lessons learned during an infamous gun battle.
(This first appeared last month.)
The 1986 FBI Miami shootout, which saw a pair of criminals outgun a superior force of FBI agents, resulted in a revamping of firearms inventories and training across American law enforcement. One of the results was the new .40 Smith & Wesson round, which Glock quickly incorporated into a new semi-automatic pistol—the Glock 22.
In 1986, a gun battle erupted between federal agents and criminals Michael Platt and William Matix. The two were responsible for a spree of bank and armored car robberies in the south Florida region. Eight FBI agents, on the lookout for a car stolen by the pair, attempted to pull them over and a gunfight between the two sides ensued.
Although outnumbering the criminals four to one, the FBI agents found themselves facing superior firepower with inferior weapons. The FBI agents were armed with a single Remington 870 shotgun, and .38 Special, nine millimeter, and .357 magnum handguns. Platt and Matix were armed with a Ruger Mini-14 semi-automatic rifle and shotgun.
Over the course of four minutes, the two sides exchanged over 125 shots. Of the eight FBI agents, two were killed and another five wounded. Platt was shot twelve times and Matix six times before both were put down. As a result, the Federal Bureau of Investigation settled on a new round, .40 Smith & Wesson, which it believed would incapacitate targets more quickly than the smaller caliber .38 Special and nine-millimeter rounds.
The Glock 22 was the first .40 pistol to market, beating out Smith & Wesson. The Glock 22 was actually a Glock 17 adapted to shoot the new caliber ammunition. Although the Glock 17 was chambered in 9×17 millimeter, the .40 S&W round was technically 10×22 millimeter and was thus very similar in dimensions. The basic Glock pistol design could be easily adapted to handle the new round, allowing the Austrian gunmaker to get a leg up on the competition and sell tens of thousands of the new Glocks to local law enforcement agencies across America following the FBI’s lead to a heavier caliber.