Glock Durability
Glock, an Austrian weapon manufacturer, is known for their popular and very durable "Safe Action" semiautomatic pistols. Glock is a privately owned company founded in 1963. The Glock pistol is prominent among military and law enforcement around the world. They now produce knives and an entrenching tool along with over two dozen pistols.
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Glock Polymer
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The polymer handle on Glock pistols and knives do not rust, and is considered more durable than steel. Steel can be brittle under impact, while the polymer flexes just enough to prevent damage.
Glock Safe Action Pistols
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The simple design of the Glock pistol allows for fewer parts and fewer failures. The polymer stock and Tenifer nitriding process results in a unit that has a high resistance to wear and the elements. The pistol consists of 33 parts, many of them interchangeable between different Glock models.
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Glock Pistol Torture Tests
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Glock pistols are put through many rigorous and abusive tests, known as torture tests, and regularly perform well under the most extreme conditions. The Glock pistol has been frozen in ice, thawed, and then fired. It has been run over by trucks and still fired. It has been dropped in both mud and ice water. It passed both tests by firing flawlessly. The FBI, when testing the Glock pistol, reportedly fired 50,000 rounds through it without a failure. Numerous Glock owners have put their own pistols through similar tests.
Some drop tests have resulted in failure from bent shell casings in the magazine. This is attributed to flex in the polymer frame. The stock plastic sights have also been known to be damaged or broken in drop tests.
Glock Knives
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Glock knives have polymer handles and phosphate treated spring steel blades. The included sheath is also made of Glock polymer. Glock knives feature drop point blades for strength. The high carbon steel blade has a hardness rating of 55 on the Rockwell scale.
Glock Knife Destruction Test
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An independent review of the Glock knife featured a destruction test. In the test they chopped wood, stabbed sheet metal, chopped concrete bricks and hammered the blade into concrete blocks. The knife sustained damage during the tests, but only failed after a bending test broke the blade in half. Prior to the failure, the knife was still fully functional. The blade failure can be attributed to its thin design, and so it should not be used for heavy prying.
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References
- Photo Credit pistol image by Mat Hayward from Fotolia.com
