Was reading another post about guns that will stand the test of time, which got me to wondering...How have the first crop of Glocks held up. 40 years on, who still has a Gen 1 Glock that has been used or carried extensively that is still in good shape? I know that glass reinforced polymer is tough stuff, and my own experience with my Dad's old Remington 10c (mag fed Nylon 66) shows little degradation over the last 50 years. But that 22 rifle spends the vast majority of its time in the safe. Now, I'm not 100% sure that Remington or any Glocks use glass reinforced PA-66, I have a lot of tools that do, and some that have been ridden hard and put up wet haven't survived well. My 70 year old 1911 still runs great, but has required a fair amount of maintenance and repair, well parts replacement anyway. So how about it, who has an 80's vintage Glock that has been around the block a few times that still looks good and runs well.
Gen 1 Glocks
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bannockburn
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I have a Gen.1 G17 and it's held up very well over the last 35 years or so. Hasn't been shot or carried all that much but the overall integrity of the polymer frame is still very much intact. Only polymer part that has "broken" was one of the magazines. It was one of the pre-metal lined mags and cracked right at the top. It kept feeding okay but I decided to fix it and take it out of the rotation for the time being.
Other than that nothing else to report. Even the rear adjustable sight has held together and stood the test of time!
Other than that nothing else to report. Even the rear adjustable sight has held together and stood the test of time!
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shootstraight57
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I still have my Glock Gen 1 which I have had bought many many years ago! Got rid of the non drop magazines and purchased a few drop out mags. Has held up very well but I did change the barrel and springs a few years ago.
Used it extensively in the early 2000 with qualifying twice a year in the police department till I retired. I still carry it and I feel it is very reliable.
Used it extensively in the early 2000 with qualifying twice a year in the police department till I retired. I still carry it and I feel it is very reliable.
Riomouse911
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I also have a Gen 1 Glock 17. I sent it home with my Dad many years ago to be his hip gun when he’s fishing up in the Sierras. The gun just chugged along 
.
He isn’t doing much fishing anymore, I may just swap him for an EZ rack Shield for HD.
Stay safe.
. He isn’t doing much fishing anymore, I may just swap him for an EZ rack Shield for HD.
Stay safe.
Trey Veston
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I haven't seen any Gen 1 Glocks that have degraded in regards to polymer breaking down.
They remain as ugly as sin 35 years later, lol.
Love the Gen 3s and up. But the Gen 1 Glocks are becoming collector's items and some are going for unbelievable amounts. Who would have thought a Gen 1 G19 would go for close to $10,000.
They remain as ugly as sin 35 years later, lol.
Love the Gen 3s and up. But the Gen 1 Glocks are becoming collector's items and some are going for unbelievable amounts. Who would have thought a Gen 1 G19 would go for close to $10,000.
1KPerDay
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While there is no way in heck I would pay that for any Glock.
The Gen1 19 isnt something that was widely available. A very small handful were imported and sold to a state agency.
I'm rather impressed by the responses. I've seen slo-mo video of Glocks firing, and the frame flexes quite a bit. Its surprising to me that the original frames seem to hold up just fine. Though, I suppose, I've seen the same slo-mo of AK-47s firing, and they look like a wet noodle flapping in the breeze when they fire, and no one ever says they don't hold up over time.
Just means that they are not used a lot. Glocks that get shot a lot tend to loose frame rails.
Varminterror
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My G19 Gen 2 turns 30 in November. I bought it from an officer 16yrs ago who had carried it daily since it was born. Initially, I used it for function testing of experimental ammunition, with something on the order of 20,000 rounds fired through it in the course of about 8 months. I filed acquisition to take it into personal inventory to get it “off of the books” when we dissolved that business unit, and I have carried it somewhere between 50-200 days per year since then, and have fired at minimum a couple thousand rounds per year up to around 10k per year through it. I’ve employed it for various handgun safety, marksmanship, and concealed carry courses as a loaner pistol. I’ve used it off and on for various production class competitions. I’ve carried it hundreds of miles up and down mountains in Colorado as my two-legged predator defense option - it spent the night along side a trail in 2019 before I found it again the next day after I’d dropped it while removing and replacing my pack on a 10 mile morning hike into a hunting spot (luckily only about a mile and a half back down trail from our campsite). It has ridden in the belly of over 250 flights across the US as I travel for business.
I don’t expect it to crumble to dust within the next 10 years, but frankly, if it does, I’ll have gotten my money’s worth from it.
I don’t expect it to crumble to dust within the next 10 years, but frankly, if it does, I’ll have gotten my money’s worth from it.
481
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I'd expect the polymer to last quite some time—on the order of tens of thousands of years. As far as a 'service life', at least a couple or three centuries.
Miami_JBT
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TTv2
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Makes me wonder why all these posts I see of people buying some steel frame whatever because they want the grandchildren's grandchildren's children to inherit it like they're even going to know who their ancestor was who bought it 200 years ago out of their 31 other ancestors. Besides, the likelihood is that the great grandkids will sell it to buy Martian Cocaine for a bachelor party.
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If he is a really shrewd businessman, perhaps my great, great, great, great, great grandson can trade one in for an Orion slave-girl.
Varminterror
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Delusion.
The frame is generally the least of all concerns when it comes to pistol longevity.
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