Why Glock Dominates the Handgun Market (And Better than Sig Sauer and Beretta)

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The story of the Glock is simply amazing. 

byKyle Mizokami

In the intervening thirty-five years, the Glock has become the dominant handgun in a crowded field of competitors. Despite stiff competition from countries emulating his polymer design, Glock 17 handguns serve with such diverse forces as the British Armed Forces, the Swedish Armed Forces, Indian special forces, the Iraqi military, the Israeli Defense Forces and the Yemeni military. The Glock 17 outfits dozens of armies and hundreds of police forces worldwide. U.S. Army Rangers and Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command use the compact version, the Glock 19, andU.S. Special Forces—including the shadowy Delta Force—carry the .40 Smith & Wesson–caliber Glock 22.

For much of the mid-twentieth century, handgun development was in a period of stagnation. The development of the semiautomatic pistol had ushered in a new weapon that, although more complex than a revolver, had a higher ammunition capacity. Quickly adopted by armies around the world, the steel-framed semiautomatic reigned for decades. Then, in the 1980s, something came along that disrupted the firearms industry: the Glock handgun. Today it’s carried by armies worldwide, from the U.S. Army Rangers to the British Armed Forces.

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