Hunting Forum

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/how...p-in-half/

I agree that does open a little area for concern, but would an all metal pistol have been bent enough to make it unusable under the same circumstances? Something to consider if they decide to pursue this line of inquiry further.

I always make sure my handguns are all good metal and it simply a personal preference.

An aluminum framed pistol with that hard of a hit might well have snapped as well, but a steel frame probably would have survived enough to function even if banged up. The polymer framed pistols do have an inherent weak cross section and that one appears to have broken right along it. Glocks are bad about scracking along the same line beginning behind the magazine release and angling upward and rearward. I have seen similar breaks on the S&W M&P and the Sigma series.

I carried a Glock in 9mm for some 15 years, then a .40 cal Glock my remaining 4 years on patrol. We qualified 2-4 times a year with our weapons, so they were used. I never saw that happen in any of our dept weapons, nor would I ever want to see that!! A firearm is a mechanical, man made instrument and as such subject to failure. I had a S&W 4" revolver fail to "cycle" or just plain go bang. Turned out to be a "spur" (so the range officer said) on the cylinder and the gun would not fire. Luckily, this was on a firing range and the weapon functioned fine after that.
  That being said, I'm in the market for a .45.  Was looking at Glock.....maybe I'll go with the new Remmy in .45!

Glock has been master of marketing and was able to corner the market in the late '80s and early 90's. Being made with cheaper-to produce injected molding they were able to give big volume discounts to big LE depts. By the late 90s Glock was the issued-pistol in about 60% of US LE agencies, and because they look cool and different they were sought out by Hollywood ad that further made them sought after by the private buyers. Glock also has been masterful at hiding nearly every problem their guns have had. For instance, entire shipments, hundreds at a time sold to some LE agencies such as NYPD, SFPD and som other smaller LE Depts. have had to be returned due to cracked frames, cracked slides, cycling malfunctioning, and breaking trigger and cruciform springs. These have typically been handled very discretely so the public hears little if anything about them. It was only the commonality of digital cameras and wide use of the web that these problems have been able to get beyond the hushed public face of Glock and other gun makers. When every shooter had a phone with a web portal and built in digital camera on his belt while shooting we now get a lot of good "kB!" reports that before were only rumor and gunstore lore. Glock makes a damn-fine pistol It is a great design. But, it is a machine, made by and designed by and used by humans so there are flaws that just need to be openly acknowledged. I repaired a G22 a few wks ago that had been 'enhanced' by 'The Glock Doctor' and it was locking back on most every shot. The part causing the issue was the extended slide-release. First I had to warn the guy that the Glock slide releas is bent sheet metal and tiny for a reason- it is NOT meant to be used as a slide release under spring pressure. To release the Glock slide you are instructed to insert the loaded mag, then manually retract the slide and release. If you want to use the thumb-slide release, you are instructed to manually pull the slide back to relieve pressure on the small release and depress it with the thumb then release the slide. The "Dr." had put in an after-market part and not gotten the pin seated under the leg of the release spring so the pin actually moved out a tad while the pistol was being shot and the release jumped up enough to lock the slide almost after every shot. I told the guy what the problem was and he understood the reason for the small part and was going home to swap it back out with the factory part - a wise move. He had lost confidence in the pistol with the after-market piece and that is something nobody wants to think about in a protection tool. He is a 2-tour Corpsman from Iraq so he is fully aware of the need to trust one's pistol. Funny though he asked what my own advice would be for a personal protection pistol. Revolver, hands-down. He was astonished and asked why since it "only" has 6 rounds? Well, when his 13-round plastic jam-o-matic is locked back and needs a tear-down to get working, he'd do well to toss that thing and fight me for my double action revolver which will be going strong.

I'd like to see better pictures, because I'm interested in why the handgun snapped in half and yet everything else in the holster seems to (from what I can see) survive unscathed. Was this truly what happened, or what the gun specifically targeted for un-natural application of torque to the grip-frame. I think the story says he ran over it with his ATV, yet those tires are usually spongy enough to roll over things without crushing them. A possible case of un-truths in news reporting (if the gun hadn't broken, there's no story right)?

The rest of the gun was locked inside the serpa holster. I can see this happening under extreme circumstances, like a hard fall which happened, and catching the handle and full weight of the human it was attached to.

I've seen some impressive footage of sigsaur handguns taking a beating. I might consider one if my pennies can ever add up enough in the bank.

I seem to recall hearing that he rolled or otherwise fliped his 4 wheeler and the H&K was the first thing to make contact with the ground.

I think my sig is strong enough to survive about most anything. If I fell on it my body would have broken first.

ahoffman2 I agree as any handgun can be broken given the right set of circumstances of the degree of force that is applied in a given situation.