Saturday, we told you, “It’s Over. Glock Won,” in reference to the ubiquitous use of Glock pistols, mostly the G19, by American Special Operations Forces. Not having good hooks into the Ragnar community, we weren’t sure if they were running G19s, too:
[W]e are not 100% certain the Rangers are on the Glock bandwagon, but if they are, it’s over, because that’s where the top leaders of the Army come from these days. SF is on its way back to being a backwater of somewhat irregular irregular-war enthusiasts (thank a merciful God), and the lamprey-lipped careerists are all trying to get their tickets punched with the Ragnars and/or They Who Shall Not Be Named….
Well, shortly after that post went live, the phone rang. Yep, the Ranger Regiment is running with G19s, also.
The Glock Infection
The course of infection seems to run something like this: a few Glocks are bought as an experiment, and then more of the pistols are bought with MFP-11 funds, and finally there’s one for everybody, along with whatever the issue gun is. In time, as guys try the Glocks and go, “Hey, these are OK!” more and more of them switch and fewer run the old 1911 or DA/SA platforms. It becomes a preference cascade, like Hemingway described bankruptcy: gradually, then suddenly.
The Navy also wants the world to know that their special operations elements went all-Glock before the Marine Raiders. Aye aye, frogmen, we’ll pass the word for you, although why that wasn’t in the 2,317 SEAL tell-all books, well, only their ghostwriters know for sure.
Our Traveling Reporter told us a story of a friendly foreign SOF unit that went through this exact process, and gradually the preference cascade has come and most of them prefer their “secondary standard” Glocks to their “standard issue” pistols, the HK P30.
Pity the Poor Beretta Rep
Along with the news of the Rangers using Glocks, we got a story of a Beretta government-sales representative who was re-enacting the old R&B song, Ain’t Too Proud to Beg.
“It was unseemly,” reported One Who Was There. “He was like that crazy chick that can’t take being dumped, and keeps begging you to take her back.” Much nodding and grinning; maybe a little flash of half-remembered irritation. “It’s not even that the Beretta is bad, but it’s just 40 year old technology. And twice the money, which isn’t the big thing.” (For the military, the system cost of a pistol is mostly in the training, and that’s either a wash or the Glock saves a little).
The Beretta guy was offering to do anything, anything, to make the pistol meet the customer’s needs; but there was nothing he could do. The customer had moved on; his mind was made up.
Kevin was a former Special Forces weapons man (MOS 18B, before the 18 series, 11B with Skill Qualification Indicator of S). His focus was on weapons: their history, effects and employment. He started WeaponsMan.com in 2011 and operated it until he passed away in 2017. His work is being preserved here at the request of his family.
