LE agencies leaving GLOCK for M & P....

[hrgrisso]

Where is Glock Made

Last I heard they still import the Glock pistols as a whole due to the import points system. If they were making the molded frames here we might have the .380 Glock...

I might buy one of those, just like I bought a 10mm. Glock does a good job of making unique calibers available.

But I'll stick to carrying my Sigs.

 

[Jeff White]

If it's happening, it's most likely because S&W is being more aggressive in their marketing then Glock. Agency purchasing decisions are based on money more then anything else.

When my old department switched from S&W 5906s to Glock 21s, the deal went down as follows:

In 1992 the dept went from revolvers S&W 65s and 66s to autos S&W 5906s. In 2000 they were looking to start replacing the night sights. Smith wanted something like $145 per weapon to replace the night sights. The local distributer offered to sell the dept. Glocks for the same price Smith wanted to replace the night sights with a $300.00 trade in credit for the S&Ws. They were interested in .40 and .45 weapons anyway, so they made the trade. Officers were given the option of purchasing their 5906s for the $300.00 trade in credit.

I would bet that those agencies who are changing are looking at the dollar, not which is the better weapon. If Smith and Wesson is making a run to get their status back as the most issued police weapon in the US then good on em. But I doubt the agencies that are switching are deciding one is better then the other. It's most likely something like my old agency did. Looking at a nice charge to replace the night sights, they ended up getting sold new pistols for close to the same price.

Jeff

 

[Rexster]

DENALI, I do not recall if the bulletins explained the cause of the problem or not. I don't think any explanation was given. G21s are too huge for my hands, and at the time of the bulletins, all new duty pistols at my agency had to be .40, so while I skimmed the bulletins, there was no reason for me to look for details. One local explanation I have heard for problems with parts breakage in the G36 is that .45 ACP has lower peak pressure than most other cartridges, but has a longer duration of pressure, instead of a rapid spike and drop-off. Perhaps a member of THR with ballistic pressure curve knowledge can weigh in on that.

 

[Scorpiusdeus]

Ok scorpiusdeus I'll accept that, how is it better what defines the S&W as superior to the Glock platform? Just curious.....

Well, for me, and again this in just MY opinion. I simply shoot almost any gun better than I can a Glock. Perhaps not a fair comparison as Glock has been around much longer then the M&P, but I haven't heard of any M&Ps "blowing up" due to unsupported chambers or reloads. Though the M&P is a newer handgun for S&W, the company itself has a long well earned great reputation. The M&P is made in America.

I've shot Glocks in the past. For me, they just don't feel right, the three that I've shot have all rattled. Maybe not a functional issue, but it bugged me.

Yes, I'm an admitted Glock hater.

That having been said, a good friend just purchased a Glock yesterday and he shot it better than any other gun I've seen him shoot save for his P239.

 

[strangelittleman]

I've heard that the New Mexico State Police are changing over from the Glock 31.357 to the S&W MP357. I don't know if it's happpened yet, but according to S&W it's going to.
My agency(NCDOC) went from the S&Wm65 to the MP40, largely due to aggressive marketing that just thrilled the state's bean counters. Glock just couldn't beat the deal S&W was offering for us to stay w/ S&W after the "exploding barrels" incidents with the 65s that had improperly mounted barrels, so S&W made an incredible deal for the state to go to w/ the MP40.
In short, when an agency chooses a new piece of equipment, it usually goes like this; manufacturer's agressive marketing + agency beancounters penny pinching = newly adopted equipment item.

 

[40SW]

I think I have this figured out, please correct me if I am wrong.

1. Both the S&W M&P line and Glocks line offer excellent pistols which are both dependable, reliable, and have a strong aftermarket support system from the manufacturer.

2. The person who controls the purse strings and the decision making process at the agency as to which pistol to outfit the department with , finally makes the decision based on ECONOMIC incentives from the manufacturer.

3. ,ie, the quality manufacturers, one offers deeper volume discounts and accessory support, etc.

4. Result: beancounter goes with the greater MONETARY INCENTIVE, (ie.volume discount,etc), (assuming both pistol lines are of an acceptable quality).

thoughts?

 

[strangelittleman]

Yep, 40SW, that's usually how it goes....

 

[mikec]

40SW, I think you have it correct. I never worked in law enforcement but I did work for a state university and I saw how things worked there. I would say that sometimes $$ might not be as big of a deciding factor. An example might be regular officers get the "best deal" guns but a SWAT team might be able to get what they want even if it costs more. One can get very creative writing a competitive bid spec sheet. An associate would often use patented names when writing his bid sheets, only the company that owns that patent could win the contract.

 

[Coronach]

What Jeff White and 40SW is generally the way it goes. My PD did something slightly different, but not too far off the mark. We got a whole mess of pistols to T&E and we could select whichever of them we wanted, allegedly regardless of cost. Now, before you have visions of multi-thousand dollars semi-custom jobs or $900 hunks of polymer Teutonic Weaponology (*cough*HK*cough*), these were all mid-range autopistols. The ordies got the prices and incentives from the manufacturers beforehand and basically got pre-approved for the guns we tested.

So, of the guns we tested, we could pick the one we wanted. We went withthe M&P. It T&E'ed better than anything else.

Mike

 

[Matt Sutton]

DFW Intl Airport police dropped the Beretta 92FS 9mm for the M&P 40. Nothing to do with Glock, but still a switch to the M&P.