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I never have understood the Glock love.
I understand it, because even though they are fugly and have horrible ergonomics, one cannot argue that they are reliable as hell. It really is their saving grace, and that is a very good saving grace to have.
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I bought mine after a bunch of research about its quality and based on the fact that I see tons of officers carrying them.
While I would agree that many officers carry them now because they have developed and maintained a reputation for being reliable, they certainly did not start out that way. Glock had a badass marketing structure and was able to break into the market by offering their product at what would equate to cost when they first were introduced. Few police departments were going to turn down the price Glock was offering. It was a brilliant strategy, but most departments use them not just for their reliability, but also as a function of cost. Hard to blame them.
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Then there's the fact that they don't do anything appreciably better than the less expensive pistol I own but do plenty of things worse.
I can agree that a 1911 doesn't do anything appreciably better than a Glock, XD, S&W, etc. when you boil it down to reliability - you pull the trigger, you expect the gun to fire. But to say that they do things worse is purely subjective, as is comparing ease of replacing parts. Sure, being able to replace an extractor with a drop in does add a marginal benefit, but the fact of the matter is (and I will disagree with the "experts" all day), you don't need to replace such parts at nearly the intervals that they recommend. When you put reality into replacement schedules, it becomes a fraction of the issue you are making it out to be. You view it as a function of making a choice in a pistol - good, there is nothing wrong with that. I view it as a very minor part of choosing a pistol because I know that it's not something that is going to be done every few thousand rounds. Subjective on both ends - and luckily we have the option of using our personal criteria to make decisions like this.
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I would put my paycheck on the line to say the next time I pull the trigger, it will not only fire, but successfully chamber a new round. Other weapons will probably do the same, but I won't risk my paycheck or life over 'probably'.
Nothing wrong with that mentality at all. Nothing. I don't own a weapon that I would consider a SD weapon that won't do the same - and none of mine have Glock written on them. Doesn't mean that they are really any better or any worse, but there are other highly reliable firearms out there other than Glock as well. I'm not singling you out, but like the 1911 guys and the AR guys, Glock fans (in general) have this air of superiority about them with respect to their brand choice.
Hey, we all have to talk a little smack on occasion - otherwise gun discussions would be mundane and boring.
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First off, the 1k replacement is for manufacturers that use lightweight springs to help guns function with weak ammo.
The link you provided only mentions 1k in one part - and that is a synthetic recoil buffer, which is an add on piece that was never part of the design.
3k-5k is what he recommends for an extractor, and that is woefully low for reality. I'm sure that some of the lower end manufacturers don't harden their extractors properly and that's probably an accurate assessment for cheaper parts from cheaper production lines, but the real world experience most of us have is decidedly different. (Caution, I'm going to be 'that guy' on this comment) - I can tell you that with at least 15k rounds through my officer's model, and probably closer to 20k total, the extractor never even had a hiccup. If the 1911 world had to replace their extractors at such intervals, there would be mass hysteria and crying on any and every message board. The fact of the matter is that most of the numbers on his page go beyond conservative and really aren't realistic.
Now, will there still be more regular maintenance required on a mid quality to high quality 1911 than a Glock? Undoubtedly, you'll find no argument from me on that one. But again, the reality is that this really becomes a small factor in the grand scheme of things, to me at least. If any of my 1911's were unreliable, I'd find a different platform I like better. Few things in life would be more disappointing and annoying than an unreliable firearm, even if it's pretty.
