So Guns, Holsters, and Gear has a pair of posts up about the projected decline of Glock. There are a few bloggers who disagree.
I would agree that Glock is currently in DECLINE, but I doubt it will ever go away, and certainly won’t be precluded from recovering. Right now there have been a bunch of companies who have set out to capture some of Glock’s market share, and they have. Also I would say now that there are other guns directly competing with Glock pistols, this is precicely the worst time for Glock to let their QC slip.
That being said in this post I got to talking about how I think the Kahr TP45 is an all-around better handgun than my S&W1911Sc. Its approximately the same size as my 1911 (actually the barrel is a quarter-inch shorter which would make the gun more concealable in my horizontal shoulder holster) It weighs the same, and the grip capacity is the same (tho I carry Wilson Combat magazines with the bumper extension pad that allows for 8 rounds over the 7 round flush-fit mags), and the polymer frame of the Kahr gives it a similar weight to the Scandium frame of my 1911. Also they toss the same .45 ACP cartridge.
The big difference between these guns are the Kahr is polymer to save weight, rather than an exotic alloy. The Kahr has no manual safeties, and has a semi-charged striker action (similar to true Double-Action Only triggers) rather than my 1911 that has a single-action trigger and a grip and thumb safety.
Oh yeah, and the Kahr is MUCH cheaper.
I’d give weight to the Kahr as an all-round better gun…except: Glaco does not offer my shoulder holster that I use every day for the Kahr TP45. (They do for all sizes of 1911s, as well as Glocks) There are no 8-round extended magazines or greater for the Kahr. (They offer a multitude of sizes for the 1911…as well as the Glock) I know any gunsmith that works with pistols knows how to do any number of repairs or improvements on a 1911, or Glock, it wouldn’t surprise me if a well-versed smith told me he’d never taken apart a Kahr before.
Also there’s one thing I can speak for the Glock and not the Kahr…Reliability. Not only have Glocks be around for AGES, there are a lot of people who own and use Glocks. This creates a VERY big data set. I might say the same for 1911s….but mine’s a S&W1911Sc this specific gun hasn’t been around for very long…tho in many instances Smith has been very faithful to the Colt patterns (tho in some instances like the Swartz firing pin block safety, and the external extractor, as well as the odd alloy in the frame are different)…of course the same could be said about the Gen 4 Glocks.
There is something to be said about what an old and proven gun has going for it, vs. a new and improved gun. Because of that I think Glock will be hurt, but may never truly die.
Glock has grown leaps and bounds over the past 25 years. They went from nothing to ubiquitous. There is a short list of firearms that have held that accomplishment, Colt SAA and Garand come to mind.
Glock’s striker fired design has been parroted in many other firearms, sometimes with changes for the better and worse (both in the Kahr IMHO)
I’m not a glock fanboi, but they work. And I think one of the reasons they work so well is the method by which they are designed. Glock parts are interchangeable. You need a new whatchamacallit? Buy one and drop it in. No skills or fitting required. Sometimes a little tweak can help, but not necessary. Contrast that to the 1911 platform with a myriad of custom parts and a dearth of those competent to install them. And sometimes it seems like there is a shortage of 1911 shooters who would even touch a gun that has such mundane origins as being built on an assembly line!