Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns why is glock always lighter??

there is alot of buzz about the M&P shield but the reality is its less than 1 oz lighter than a glock 26, yeah its got the virtures of being thin but it also has alot less compacity. the glock is lighter than M&P's and XD's as well as the walther PPQ, why after all these years glock can't be matched in lightweight either?? is it some patent they have?? I thought those would have expired by now.

Glock is a simpler design.

The M&P has more steel in it and the plastic is thicker than comparable Glock handguns. Many folks have weighed them article to article and the Glock is lighter simply by virtue of less material. I recently had a new front sight fit to my M&P Compact slide and the gunsmith remarked about the quality of the stainless steel slide and how heavy it was compared to other pistols of the same size. He grabbed a Beretta PX slide and handed it to me and it felt like a featherweight in one hand comparing to the M&P slide in the other.

RE: "Why is Glock always lighter??"
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More plastic - - less weight.

M&P is a copy off the Glock. Smith and Wesson should stick with what they do best, revolvers. They were already sued by Glock for the POS Sigma they copied off the Glock. I will say the trigger is better on the M&P but after years of training with the Glock it is very accurate and works just fine with its DAO trigger.

If you look at the Glock - (you have one, right?) you will see the slide rides on four small metal inserts in the frame that keep the slide from contacting the plastic. The plastic frame is fairly thin.

Now, compare it with the XD - if you don't have one, take my word. The XD pistol has a mono-block built into the frame that is actually removable though it's not recommended that the hobbyist do it. This mono-block sits right in the center and contains all the metalic moving parts as well as serving as the actual "frame" of the gun. It's significantly heavier than the Glock inserts.

The XDs appears to have a duo-block, or a fore and aft block to serve the same purpose. I suppose they had to use two vs one because of the slim design they were trying to achieve.

Another major difference is in the slide itself. The Glock slide is a "stamping" from what I've been lead to believe. I may be wrong. The XD is a forged slide. Don't know how much difference this may make.

I'm not saying which is better or worse. I don't particularly care as I have never owned a Glock, though I've fired numerous versions of the Glock pistol. I have no interest in it.

The GLock has proven itself to be accurate and durable, so they have their reputation. Are they still using plastic sights?

Dan

Does any police department or any military in the world use the Croatian pistol? I am in the market for a shield, I like the 19 but not the 26, and the shield though longer is thinner.

Doesn't matter who uses it. Of course, you may be a youngster who doesn't understand marketing. When the Glock hit the streets, it was given almost monumental press because it was dubbed by the press to be the "invisible" pistol due to its makeup. The fear was it would be easy to sneak onto airplanes due to its makeup. Of course this was bogus, but the free advertising this gave it was incalculable. That and Glock made it available to military and police agencies world wide at ridiculously low prices while holding the price to civilians at ridiculously high prices - considering the ease at which it was made.

All other pistols came more than a decade after the Glock. By that time the Glock had firmly established itself. It's a great pistol, so why not. But if you don't understand the history you might make unfair...or even untrue assumptions about why it's so popular.

Yea, my inner 25 year old wants an XD, but my older more savvy side says use what works for most every one else.

The security guys at my plant use the XD in 9mm. I have shot courses with them, extensive firing, they are all happy with them. I like them myself, but haven't done the hard use testing on them

You asked the question. If you were so mature and savvy, you should already have known the answer.

Best

Dan

Sometimes the weights include the magazine, sometimes not. You gotta look close.

Either way, an ounce or two would not be a deal-breaker to me.

I bought in on the Glocks when they were the only polymer game in town. Mine are all Gen 2. I like mine, and have no interest is re-equipping at this point.

The success of the Glock has been revolutionary to modern handgun design. Nowadays there are a whole bunch of choices, and the differences seem fairly subtle in a lot of cases.

The competition is good, and has driven Glock has made some updates/impeovements mainly in grip backstraps, and SF models to stay competitive.

It's all good.

Steel tritium sights have been factory options for a loooong time.

>Glock
>DAO
wat

Options are fun. When I attended an FBI taught instructor's course we had one gentleman have to go out to the range at night to find his Glock's front sight that popped off during a daylight shoot. Luckily he found it.

Perhaps I should have asked, does Glock still sell the "stock" gun with plastic sights?

You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make it drink.

http://www.xdtalk.com/forums/genera...ths-xd-good-enough-professional-use.html Not bashing glock, I personally like them all. Just a little info on the XD which is a great gun also. Thanks.

I am sure the XD,s are great! People that have them get very upset when you compare them to a Glock, so they must be good. Sadly not once in 20 years of shooting 9mm glock pistols has a glock failed me, and sadder yet not once have I seen a 40,000 round count XD pistol though while sitting dark and dirty at my local range in the 90's were several Glock 9mm test pistols with as many or more thru them. The Croatian pistols were $285 back before Springfield worked there marketing magic on them.

I don't get upset about the XD. I know what it is and what it's not. At the same time, I know what the Glock is and what it's not. Glockophiles are often the ones who get as upset as the older (and I count myself as one) 1911 types when someone disparages that miracle of engineering.

Just as the Germans I trained with found the 1911 to feel "odd" in their hands, those of us who grew up with the 1911, find the Glock to feel odd. No less an authority than Chuck Taylor - who has blooded his gun against the human element - switched to the Glock when it first came out and it became his competition weapon. When the XD came out, he made another switch and oddly enough, fired his first "perfect" score in competition with it.

There are all sorts of reasons people go with a particular gun. Many of today's police officers "love" the way the Glock feels because it was the first real handgun they were introduced to. To them, all others are relegated to the "also-ran" category. I know a few like that. They have the same esteem for Gaston's pistol as we older types have for Browning's design. To each his own.

When someone asks a question and is given an answer, you see who becomes defensive and who does not. It's a matter of perception. The Glock slide has milled parts contained in a stamped shroud. It weighs less. So what? It was designed to shoot a cartridge that weighed less. Ad 16 rounds of 9mm and it becomes heavier. So what?

The little XDs weighs quite a bit. Of course, it shoots a pretty hefty cartridge and its designers wanted to produce a pistol that "average" shooters could enjoy shooting to the extent that they would practice enough to become proficient. I doubt having one weigh 12 oz would have made that happen. At the same time, it's not a "pocket" pistol and if one can't handle 20oz of weight, a few pushups should remedy that.

Now, go back and read what I've written. You will seen nothing but compliments for the Glock. If you can point to anything I've written as seemingly my being upset, please post it...or ignore it. I don't care one way or the other.

Best.

Dan