Gaston Glock has died

[K Frame]

What Gaston Glock accomplished is impressive, in terms of taking a pistol that was unique and marketing it to where it became the standard.  Think of how many striker fired polymer grip pistols are now on the market.  I know, the Glock was not the first (HK VP-70 was, right?), but wow did Gaston make it the first one common in holsters around the globe, and the one copied by...everyone.  Only fault I can see is doing so little to make it better.  Oh, and I agree.  Not in Browning's league, but still repectable.

RIP, sir.

Yep, as I said, the businessman.

[K Frame]

"
*Obviously there were previous examples of striker fire pistols, but none of them seem to have gone anywhere."

The Luger never went anywhere?

The FN Model 1910? (A Browning design).


There were a bunch of other striker-fired pistols in the early days of handguns that were made in very large numbers, as well, such as the Savage series of semi-autos. They may look like they have a hammer, but they don't. The "hammer" is actually a cocking tab for the striker.

[Ben]

Interesting. I didn't know that the Luger was striker fire. I had done a quick search on early striker fires and Google only showed me some oddball pistols.

[K Frame]

Interesting. I didn't know that the Luger was striker fire. I had done a quick search on early striker fires and Google only showed me some oddball pistols.

Yep. Given how the toggle bolt works, fitting in a hammer would have been difficult. Not impossible, but it would have really messed with the overall classic sleek outline of the Luger.

[K Frame]

Oh, forgot another classic striker fired pistol -- the Colt Model 1908 Vest Pocket in .25 ACP.

Over 400,000 were made in the United States, and FN made several hundred thousand more as the FN Model 1905.

[Pb]

Oh, forgot another classic striker fired pistol -- the Colt Model 1908 Vest Pocket in .25 ACP.

Over 400,000 were made in the United States, and FN made several hundred thousand more as the FN Model 1905.

 I've got an FN Model 1906.  My grandfather got it in Oran, Algeria during WW2.

[dogmush]

Entertainingly the 1903 pocket hammerless wasn't striker fired.  It had a hammer.

But yeah there were several striker guns that met moderate success.
Credit where credit is due, one thing the Glock did well was lower the parts count, and make many of the parts non precision and cheap and easy to manufacture.