If Glock never happened? (Hypothetical)

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Where would the firearms market be if Glock never happened?

Which brand would fill the space? Or would the space not even exist? Rather, would heavy all metal full chamber-supported pistols still dominate the market?

If it weren't for Glock, what do you feel the most coppied pistol design would be? The 1911, if it isn't already?

What do you feel would be the next big thing?
 

22/45 Fan

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My thoughts:

Smith & wesson would have been the dominant player in the police and civilian market and their 39/59/etc. line of double action semiautomatics would be the most purchased and issued firearm. The 1911 has too many issues as a general issue gun.
 

tinman

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For those of us that were allowed to buy our own guns......we'd still be carrying the guns we carried prior to the Glock revolution......1911, Browning Hi-Power and a dearth of DA revolvers in .357.....except in places like NYC, where they would still be carrying nothing but .38 revolvers.
 

Snake45

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22/45 Fan said:
My thoughts:

Smith & wesson would have been the dominant player in the police and civilian market and their 39/59/etc. line of double action semiautomatics would be the most purchased and issued firearm. .
I agree.
 

planetcat

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We'd all be shooting 1911's or Beretta 92/96's and not know any better. Then some variations in metallurgy, like aluminum or other alloy frames for weight reduction and carry. Then we would jump straight to 3D printed firearms. :-/
 

6gun

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Without Glock perhaps we wouldn't have plastic guns and the world would be a better place.
 

hittman

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Without Glock someone else would have likely "invented" the same or a very similar design. Seems folks like S&W were happy sitting on their laurels ..... had no incentive to come up with anything new. Profitability does that to many especially if competition is not hot and heavy. Competition drive innovation. Thank God for Glock even though I don't own one.
 

22/45 Fan

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H&K "invented" the polymer framed pistol well before Glock hit the scene but, of course, it never made much of an impact. However, the idea was too good to die and someone would have successfully commercialized it sooner rather than later.
 

loaded round

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I would venture a guess that Sig would have been a dominant player in the police firearms market instead of S&W. FYI, the Pennsylvania State Police have switched from Glocks to the Sig P227 (45ACP) this past year.
 

FergusonTO35

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I think the transition to autos would still have happened but much slower and they would be DA/SA. DAO would probably be required in alot of places. The biggest reason so many places adopted Glock when getting out of wheelguns was that Glock was just as simple to operate as a DAO revolver, Glock's inducements and monopolistic pricing aside. There would have been some poly frames out there even without Glock. HK was clearly heading in this direction and the gun business has a herd mentality.
 
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