Trying to rationalize why a Glock 19 even exists.

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What keeps me up a night is that Colt made Commander sized 1911s. I mean like, why and stuff, since they made the Government and Officer size. SO weird.
 
Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
Does anyone besides me think that Glocks look like plastic toys?


They said the same thing about the original M16, indeed there was for a long time a rumor the guns were made by Mattel. And indeed the company made a M16 toy called the Marauder that appeared in the movie Green Berets with John Wayne.

mattel-m16-marauder.jpg


600px-Gb9.JPG
 
I've got a 17, three 19s, a 20 and a 23.

I like them all, but the 19 is the perfect balance between size and capacity. I find that I shoot it just as well as the 17, despite relatively large hands.

My daughters, and wife, prefer the fit of the 19 over the 17 to their hands. The 20 is much too big for them. The 23 has too much recoil for them.

The 19 is a good shooting pistol. With 15 in the magazine, it's got great capacity. Easier to conceal than a full size service pistol. A better fit to smaller hands. Not too small for larger hands.

Maybe if the OP actually owned one, or had at least shot one, he wouldn't have to speculate...
 
O/T!

I had one of those toy M-16's back in the mid- or early-70's! Loved it. Was one of the best gifts I thought that I had ever had 'back in the day.' I ran all over the neighbourhood 'shooting it up.'

CANNOT see that happening these days... I am living in the 'now' as opposed to living in the past, but that doesn't men that I don't lament the passage of time. There has been much lost & much gained. A boy's joy in having his very own, realistic looking, toy M-16 is not a memory that my son is going to have.

Cam you imagine the 911 calls that would happen if that young boy in 197X w/ his Mattel M-16 were to be beamed into my neighbourhood today? I might just get shot for real.

John.
 
Originally Posted By: Robenstein
Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
Does anyone besides me think that Glocks look like plastic toys?


They said the same thing about the original M16, indeed there was for a long time a rumor the guns were made by Mattel. And indeed the company made a M16 toy called the Marauder that appeared in the movie Green Berets with John Wayne.

mattel-m16-marauder.jpg


600px-Gb9.JPG



Waaay back in 19 and 75, I was in Basic Combat Training at Ft. Dix, NJ. Our M16A1's were made by H&R, GM Hydramatic, Colt and Mattel. They all shot and functioned the same, and needed the same amount of care and cleaning. Just sayin' they kill just as good as the wood and metal ones.
 
Originally Posted By: 2cool
Originally Posted By: Robenstein
Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
Does anyone besides me think that Glocks look like plastic toys?


They said the same thing about the original M16, indeed there was for a long time a rumor the guns were made by Mattel. And indeed the company made a M16 toy called the Marauder that appeared in the movie Green Berets with John Wayne.

mattel-m16-marauder.jpg


600px-Gb9.JPG



Waaay back in 19 and 75, I was in Basic Combat Training at Ft. Dix, NJ. Our M16A1's were made by H&R, GM Hydramatic, Colt and Mattel. They all shot and functioned the same, and needed the same amount of care and cleaning. Just sayin' they kill just as good as the wood and metal ones.


That was the hey-day of the M16 A1 alright but Mattel never made a Rifle for the US Armed forces.
 
Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
Different horses for different courses.

To answer you, why the Glock 19? Because it's not the G17, G17L G22, G23, G24, G26, G27, G34, G35, or G43.

If you don't have at least several Glocks then what kind of gun guy are you?



A Guy that appreciates firearms made of steel and wood, no tupperware for me.
 
Originally Posted By: Robenstein
They said the same thing about the original M16, indeed there was for a long time a rumor the guns were made by Mattel. And indeed the company made a M16 toy called the Marauder that appeared in the movie Green Berets with John Wayne.

mattel-m16-marauder.jpg


600px-Gb9.JPG



How long would a kid last these days running around the neighborhood with a toy gun like that?
 
Originally Posted By: 2cool
Originally Posted By: Robenstein
Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
Does anyone besides me think that Glocks look like plastic toys?


They said the same thing about the original M16, indeed there was for a long time a rumor the guns were made by Mattel. And indeed the company made a M16 toy called the Marauder that appeared in the movie Green Berets with John Wayne.

mattel-m16-marauder.jpg


600px-Gb9.JPG



Waaay back in 19 and 75, I was in Basic Combat Training at Ft. Dix, NJ. Our M16A1's were made by H&R, GM Hydramatic, Colt and Mattel. They all shot and functioned the same, and needed the same amount of care and cleaning. Just sayin' they kill just as good as the wood and metal ones.


I wrote my masters thesis on the development and manufacture of small arms for the U.S. military from the late 40's to the 70's. I can assure you that if you had been uniform a few years earlier, your opinion would likely vary. The guns put into service before the congressional investigations in 1968 pointed out serious issues with the weapon system that got several GI's killed.
 
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Originally Posted By: Robenstein
I can assure you that if you had been uniform a few years earlier, your opinion would likely vary. The guns put into service before the congressional investigations in 1968 pointed out serious issues with the weapon system that got several GI's killed.

If you are talking about issues with the 1911 I woujld be interested in knowing what the safety issue with them was.


The 1911 can discharge if the trigger is pulled and the grip safety fails. You can also get an AD with a sear/spring failure when racking it bc the safety must be off. But any AD is fatal bc of lack of training. The government must try to idiot-proof things bc of idiots/lack of training.

I am not a real 1911 fan but I have studied all the pieces in the many times I totally disassembled.. I can see the virtue of going to the 80 series system...strange that the "Investigation" didn't suggest a fioring pin block? Oh wait..its the Government.
 
Originally Posted By: Al
Originally Posted By: Robenstein
I can assure you that if you had been uniform a few years earlier, your opinion would likely vary. The guns put into service before the congressional investigations in 1968 pointed out serious issues with the weapon system that got several GI's killed.

If you are talking about issues with the 1911 I woujld be interested in knowing what the safety issue with them was.


The 1911 can discharge if the trigger is pulled and the grip safety fails. You can also get an AD with a sear/spring failure when racking it bc the safety must be off. But any AD is fatal bc of lack of training. The government must try to idiot-proof things bc of idiots/lack of training.

I am not a real 1911 fan but I have studied all the pieces in the many times I totally disassembled.. I can see the virtue of going to the 80 series system...strange that the "Investigation" didn't suggest a fioring pin block? Oh wait..its the Government.


I am talking about the M16. The 1911 was actually disliked quite a bit by troops in Korea and there was a big push to replace it near war's end. Only the M2 Carbine was despised more.
 
Originally Posted By: Robenstein

I wrote my masters thesis on the development and manufacture of small arms for the U.S. military from the late 40's to the 70's. I can assure you that if you had been uniform a few years earlier, your opinion would likely vary. The guns put into service before the congressional investigations in 1968 pointed out serious issues with the weapon system that got several GI's killed.


Actually, that wounds really interesting...Is that thesis available anywhere? I would like to give it a read!
 
Originally Posted By: Astro14
Originally Posted By: Robenstein

I wrote my masters thesis on the development and manufacture of small arms for the U.S. military from the late 40's to the 70's. I can assure you that if you had been uniform a few years earlier, your opinion would likely vary. The guns put into service before the congressional investigations in 1968 pointed out serious issues with the weapon system that got several GI's killed.


Actually, that wounds really interesting...Is that thesis available anywhere? I would like to give it a read!


Well only in the university library. Not sure if they have them all digitized or not yet. Heard they were working on it. I will check when I get a chance and see if it is available. In all honestly, it is not my best work as I had to cut it WAYYY down to 120 pages at the last minute (was 160 at rough draft) thanks to an objection by my major professor.

I presented parts the work at a couple history of technology conferences and it was relatively well received. Only one prof who was a Marine early in Nam tried to argue with me over my M14 program paper. He obviously loved his service rifle and although I never really attacked its merits as a platform, I did more or less paint an unflattering picture of the program in the design, testing, and production phases.

I have thought about trying to turn it all into a book someday. Really no one has tried to tackle the subject in an academic way since Ed Ezell did "The Great Rifle Controversy".
 
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It's a book I would buy...after all, I pay subscription fees to Guns & Ammo, Shooting Times, and an NRA membership for American Rifleman, all so that I can read about similar subjects.

I've read Hatcher's book about John C. Garand (after I got my M1 Garand) and enjoyed it.

I know about about airplane development (as weapon systems)...but less about small arms...except for the aforementioned articles...
 
Originally Posted By: Astro14
It's a book I would buy...after all, I pay subscription fees to Guns & Ammo, Shooting Times, and an NRA membership for American Rifleman, all so that I can read about similar subjects.

I've read Hatcher's book about John C. Garand (after I got my M1 Garand) and enjoyed it.

I know about about airplane development (as weapon systems)...but less about small arms...except for the aforementioned articles...



If you ever feel like paying a lot for a book, I do recommend Ed Ezells book. It usually goes for about 150 bucks used. It is a solid book by a man who later became the curator for the national firearms collection at the Smithsonian. I wish there was enough demand to do another run of the book at a reasonable rate. If I can get my hands on a digital copy of the thesis I will see if I can send it to you.
 
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