After Glock won the contract for the Austrian Army in the 1980’s, Gaston and his staff toured the United States. That tour included the Firearms Training Division at the Federal Law Enforcement Center.
They showed up one afternoon with a Glock-17 sample for us to see. Staff members handled it and had two immediate comments. The grip angle was indeed different than they had encountered before and the sights were, in our opinion, terrible. It had a .160” front sight width and a .130” rear sight width.
We lobbied Gaston for a “U.S.” style front and rear sight with a .160” rear sight notch width and a .130” front sight width. They translated our request to him whereupon he answered a firm, “No.”
They then showed us some photos of testing for the Glock grip angle. They had (As I recall – been a while) five tables set up with a Glock-17, ammunition and a range officer at each table. Behind each was a line of about ten soldiers. Down range of each table was a silhouette target which looked to be about 7-10 yards from where a shooter was standing. The procedure was for each soldier to shoot from a table, and then cycle to the next one. The targets were not changed.
After the shooting was completed, the Glock test personnel examined each of the silhouette targets for the number of hits as well as the center of each composite group. The target with the best composite group would determine what the final Glock-17 grip angle would be. The thing that caught my eye was that each soldier was shooting one handed “Bullseye Style.”
One of the permanent staff instructor (name omitted – since he’s still there) somehow obtained a sample Glock-17 for testing and demonstration. For many classes thereafter he would have the class exit the classroom to a graveled area out side. Once there he would inquire if there were any baseball players in the class. Once he had a volunteer he would hand them a baseball bat and tell them to hit whatever he pitched to them. As you might suspect, he pitched the Glock-17 to the batter who would send it into orbit with it landing in the gravel some distance away. (Some times they hit grounders instead, and the G-17 skittered over the gravel.) The unnamed instructor would then have the class follow him to the range where he fired a full magazine with the Glock without a malfunction. Each time he completed the demonstration by saying, “Try THAT with any other handgun.”
Respectfully,
kent
They showed up one afternoon with a Glock-17 sample for us to see. Staff members handled it and had two immediate comments. The grip angle was indeed different than they had encountered before and the sights were, in our opinion, terrible. It had a .160” front sight width and a .130” rear sight width.
We lobbied Gaston for a “U.S.” style front and rear sight with a .160” rear sight notch width and a .130” front sight width. They translated our request to him whereupon he answered a firm, “No.”
They then showed us some photos of testing for the Glock grip angle. They had (As I recall – been a while) five tables set up with a Glock-17, ammunition and a range officer at each table. Behind each was a line of about ten soldiers. Down range of each table was a silhouette target which looked to be about 7-10 yards from where a shooter was standing. The procedure was for each soldier to shoot from a table, and then cycle to the next one. The targets were not changed.
After the shooting was completed, the Glock test personnel examined each of the silhouette targets for the number of hits as well as the center of each composite group. The target with the best composite group would determine what the final Glock-17 grip angle would be. The thing that caught my eye was that each soldier was shooting one handed “Bullseye Style.”
One of the permanent staff instructor (name omitted – since he’s still there) somehow obtained a sample Glock-17 for testing and demonstration. For many classes thereafter he would have the class exit the classroom to a graveled area out side. Once there he would inquire if there were any baseball players in the class. Once he had a volunteer he would hand them a baseball bat and tell them to hit whatever he pitched to them. As you might suspect, he pitched the Glock-17 to the batter who would send it into orbit with it landing in the gravel some distance away. (Some times they hit grounders instead, and the G-17 skittered over the gravel.) The unnamed instructor would then have the class follow him to the range where he fired a full magazine with the Glock without a malfunction. Each time he completed the demonstration by saying, “Try THAT with any other handgun.”
Respectfully,
kent
