Deaf Smith said:
Add to that what armies of the world have adopted ANY polymer handguns other than Glocks?
I'm on record here and elsewhere -- as saying that in 10-15 years, the only way to you'll be able to get a steel, hammer-fired semi-auto gun will be to buy an old one, or go to a custom gunsmithing shop.
I clicked on the link you provided and was surprised that so many militaries bought them. We should note, however, that no single military in the West, other than the US, BUYS THAT MANY HANDGUNS, and relatively few troops are actually issued handguns in any military unit (other than MPs and the folks running "armored" equipment). Then, too, few other countries have close to as large a standing army as the US! Great Britain's Army is the newest convert -- giving up their long-treasured BHPs (or did those guns eventually morph into FN HPs?) I also saw something recently that one the USMC's Special Ops teams CAN now use Glocks -- it's not an "issued" weapon, but one available for use if the individual wants. I think some SEALS like Glocks, too.
The U.S. government's federal agencies use Glocks, too, but also a surprising number of SIGs -- M11A1/228s and 229s (Coast Guard, some special units, Special Ops, air units, etc.) Many nations -- the US seems to be the biggest exception -- like to buy weapons made in their own country. That's why Turkey, Argentina and Brazil have big firearm industries: they started out getting the rights to make to make "foreign" gun at home and then, after the system was established, made their own. Metal frames are not dead, but they're not exactly lapping the competition, either.
I think Glock has been successful because 1) the company knows how to sell their product, 2) it is relatively inexpensive to make (allowing them to make sweetheart deals when they need to), and 3), most importantly, it uses a relatively simple but durable design. I really like the new Ruger SR9/SR9c, and think it does almost everything Glock does, BETTER than Glock does -- but I think there are as many parts in the Ruger fire control system (striker, trigger, etc.) as you'll find in the entire Glock weapon!! The simplicity of the design is part of it's allure: you can do almost anything yourself with a simple guide book and almost no tools.
Then, too, the ad agency guy or gal who came up with "Glock Perfection" marketing concept has probably already retired, and just chuckles when he or she thinks about how well that theme has worked as s/he sips the beverage of their choice at the beach...
Glock has NOT tried to branch out into other type of firearms. They are not FN, for example. It may be that they'll stick with handguns. They found a unique market niche when they introduced the Glock 17; I suspect it would be much harder to do something similar with long guns. (Kel-Tec continues to do that, however.)
If Glock could just develop a BETTER TRIGGER without making major changes to their basic design, I think they could dominate the handgun world. I'm also surprised that Glock never developed (as far as I can tell) their own Custom Shop to support the guns used in the gun games. That custom shop-type support all comes from after-market providers. (I've even seen metal-frames for Glocks, and entire after-market internals and cost almost as much as the basic Glock weapon!)
Maybe they'll wake up, one of these days, and try to gild the lily... They know how to sell their weapons, but they seem to be slow on really IMPROVING them... It's taken them 25 years to get the grips more user-friendly and "flexible" (i.e., more adjustable).
