Why Glock Leg?

[Chewy65]

The question why it is called "Glock Leg", when someone shoots themselves when holstering. People shoot themselves when reholstering with other striker fired pistols, just as they do with 1911 and DA guns when improperly used. Say the manual safety was left off on the 1911 or one continued to force a DA gun into their holster although the hammer was pushing back. Is it that the Glock is that much easier than other striker guns to accidentally trigger a firing or is that for such a long period of time it nearly totally occupied the striker field?

[TKM]

The dim believe that the Glock has no safety.

Then they go and get a thumbsnap or shirt tail tucked into the trigger guard while holstering and claim it went off all by itself. Mostly NYPD.

[tnlrat37]

[Barbarosa]

You have to remember there was a time when Glock was the only plastic, striker-fired gun. When it first gained notoriety in the 80's there were numerous lawsuits against Glock for AD's. It was a major reason Glock upgraded their guns safety-wise. The term "Glock-leg" was coined back then and just stuck.

[Gryff]

The question why it is called "Glock Leg", when someone shoots themselves when holstering. People shoot themselves when reholstering with other striker fired pistols, just as they do with 1911 and DA guns when improperly used.

Because Glocks were the gun that set off the polymer-framed, striker-fired craze. And they probably have sold more than the competitors combined. Thus, when incidents of negligent discharges while holstering spiked because of the lack of a safety, it would be expected for the error to be named after the gun it was statistically likely with which to happen.

[tuna quesadilla]

Glock is the most visible and ubiquitous brand of striker-fired pistol, so it's going to be the one that attracts the most ire. Nobody ever heard of "Heckler & Koch VP9 Leg" but you'll sure as hell get Heckler & Koch VP9 Leg if you try to shove a Condition 0 VP9 into an obstructed holster.

[SkyHawk]

Glock makes cool ish. Sometime cool ish and and un-cool people just don't mix.

Witness:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=vLw24Xr1zKo

[cantdance]

It can be done with a 4" Model 29 S&W 44 mag. I found that out the hard way. Didn't hit my leg, just had a large bruise on my hip. Still haven't figured out exactly how it happened. I remember looking down as I re-holstered and seeing the hammer drop in what seemed slow motion.

Point is it can happen with any gun. So be careful.

[tuna quesadilla]

It can be done with a 4" Model 29 S&W 44 mag. I found that out the hard way. Didn't hit my leg, just had a large bruise on my hip. Still haven't figured out exactly how it happened. I remember looking down as I re-holstered and seeing the hammer drop in what seemed slow motion.

Point is it can happen with any gun. So be careful.

I'll bet that ruined your day!

[SkyHawk]

It can be done with a 4" Model 29 S&W 44 mag. I found that out the hard way. Didn't hit my leg, just had a large bruise on my hip.

I'll bet that ruined your day underwear!

FIFY

[Tango_Down]

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Glock%20leg

[RickD427]

The question why it is called "Glock Leg", when someone shoots themselves when holstering. People shoot themselves when reholstering with other striker fired pistols, just as they do with 1911 and DA guns when improperly used. Say the manual safety was left off on the 1911 or one continued to force a DA gun into their holster although the hammer was pushing back. Is it that the Glock is that much easier than other striker guns to accidentally trigger a firing or is that for such a long period of time it nearly totally occupied the striker field?

Glock makes cool ish. Sometime cool ish and and un-cool people just don't mix.

Witness:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=vLw24Xr1zKo

It's very true that you have the potential to suffer "Glock Leg" from any firearm. There's nothing inherent in Glock's design that would make the malady exclusive to Glocks.

But Skyhawk is really onto something here, and I agree with his observation.

The malady seems to be really more prevalent among Glock owners (and Glock possessors - How's that for a PC term to describe those that stole someone else's Glock?) than among owners of other handguns. You just never hear folks talking about "H+K Foot", "Beretta Foot", or even "Smith and Wesson Foot."

It just may be the case that Glock people tend to be more aggregated on the wrong end of Darwin's scale.

[Chewy65]

It's very true that you have the potential to suffer "Glock Leg" from any firearm. There's nothing inherent in Glock's design that would make the malady exclusive to Glocks.

But Skyhawk is really onto something here, and I agree with his observation.

The malady seems to be really more prevalent among Glock owners (and Glock possessors - How's that for a PC term to describe those that stole someone else's Glock?) than among owners of other handguns. You just never hear folks talking about "H+K Foot", "Beretta Foot", or even "Smith and Wesson Foot."

It just may be the case that Glock people tend to be more aggregated on the wrong end of Darwin's scale.

That last part, which I bolded, got some grins. I may pick up a Glock some day and for now am looking at getting a plastic frame little belt gun, but I wondered about the Glock leg term since the first guy I know that shot himself in the leg did it with a 1911 and when holstering my DA/SA Sig I noticed that the hammer can ride up when using a particular holster. I taught myself to ride the hammer with my thumb before I read about the same. One thing the Shield and the Ruger LC has going for them is both can be had with a manual safety, if that is your choice.

[MosinVirus]

Wasn't there a Glock backplate made that (when thumbed) would prevent a discharge even if the trigger was being pulled by holstering?

Called "Gadget" I believe.

[Chewy65]

A striker-fired gun with a short and relatively light trigger pull, and no manual safety, is less tolerant of mishandling and more prone to accidents while holstering. With a hammer-fired gun, after decocking you can place your thumb on the hammer while hostering to prevent a discharge if something gets caught in the trigger guard. Similarly, engaging a manual safety prior to holstering can also prevent a discharge if something gets caught in the trigger guard. Glocks (and most striker-fired guns) have neither of these, so if something gets caught in the trigger guard while hostering there isn't anything to prevent a discharge. So while holstering "accidents" are possible with ANY gun, they are more likely with Glocks (and the similar striker-fired guns that came later). Hence the term "Glock Leg".

Edit: And per your statement:



That would require that TWO things happen for a 1911 or DA gun to discharge while holstering: Something caught in the trigger guard AND a safety that wasn't manually engaged, or a thumb that wasn't on the hammer. With a Glock, only ONE thing needs to happen for the gun to discharge: Something caught in the trigger guard.

Thanks for the explanation. Some insist the Glock is safe but I was trained that safe is a relative term. It sounds as though the Glock is less safe than some other pistols.