Glock : The Rise of America's Gun

[Jadeslade]

Just finished this fascinating read. Well written and extremely informative especially for those shooters interested in history. I am a little tired of so many references to the Great Miami shootout of 1986-this book opens with it-but at least Barrett gets the facts straight-bad tactics-not being under gunned-resulted in carnage for that scenario. What really Barrett is getting at is the perception that the FBI was under gunned led to many law enforcement agencies deciding to change over from Colt and S & W .38 revolvers to 9mm Glocks. Perception and publicity is the underlying theme of the book. How Glock used publicity and the anti-gun laws to benefit Glock is extremely illuminating. The FBI's unfortunate research and decision to come up with the .40 caliber is also shown to have been an advantage for Glock. (I don't want to get into the issues of stopping power, etc-doesn't belong in this forum--) Because of the manufacturing processes, Glock was able to come to market with a .40 way before S&W. The canny "free trade in" for law enforcement from 9mm for .40 for those desiring it was a financial windfall for Glock on the secondary market and also led to the undoing of the infamous Mayors Against Guns movement when it was shown that the City of New Orleans put more guns on the street than any shady dealer when they sold their used guns to a distributor. Barrett makes the point that Glock was tested against many guns and beat them all, in function and price. He reiterates throughout that Glock pistols are excellent, reliable guns, well liked by those who get to choose what gun they use-private citizens, Special Forces, He also gets into how difficult it can be to shoot Glocks without proper training. A lot of the book is devoted to the story of Gaston Glock , who by all accounts is an imaginative, innovative gun designer and businessman. The parts of the book dealing with the marketing of Glocks to law enforcement and the infamous trips to the Gold Club in Atlanta will be revealing to some- no one likes to get caught with their pants down, but will surprise no one who knows Atlanta well.They weren't the only company using that sleazy strip club for entertainment for clients. A great book, no fat, lots of excellent business insight, and a book that will definitely be on the Harvard Business School summer reading list. Not a lot on competition or details about manufacture, but a great deal on Glock corporate structure and how it has changed over the years. I would love to get Sharon Dillon's(The Glock Girl) take on Glock Shooting Sports being promoted as a "family oriented" sport. I love my Glock pistols, but probably will buy no more. Gaston Glock is Glock and without him, it will be like Apple without Steve Jobs. There is no mention of Dave Sevigny, which I find infinitely interesting, because Dave was instrumental in establishing Glocks in IPSC competition, but also in developing Glocks as precision guns capable of great accuracy. This only matters to a select few-hostage rescue teams, competition shooters, Special Forces, but the perception of those shooters filters down to the public at large and has always been what has driven the Glock to the top in sales, use, and the ability to adapt in a changing market. Good book.

[gohuskers]

Great book. I highly recommend as well - very insightful as to the growth of the company and their marketing genius.

[bgary]

I'll give the book a look, but the title is a little off-putting. Having a hard time calling an Austrian gun "America's gun".

"America's gun" is a 1911. Or maybe a SAA. But definitely not a Glock.

[PC Geek Shooter]

I'll give the book a look, but the title is a little off-putting. Having a hard time calling an Austrian gun "America's gun".

"America's gun" is a 1911. Or maybe a SAA. But definitely not a Glock.

Fully agree, that's why the topic title caught my attention.

Let's hope there will be a REAL title of "America's gun" in 5-10 years talking about the M&P handguns and or AR's as real American guns taking off and being used by a lot more LEO's, military personnel and civilian here.

Granted most LEO's would use the M&P40, I still think S&W really, really needs to address the M&P 9's accuracy. Also making the trigger a little better can't hurt them either, talking about long trigger pull, not the reset which I don't think really matters if your shooting to save your life.

Full disclosure, I owned a G23C and loved the trigger with the 3.5 lb connector though. Owned a M&P9L and planning on replacing it with a M&P40 and get a 9mm conversion barrel for it to fix the accuracy issue.