Austria vs USA made Glocks

[veprdude]

Just picked up a Gen 4 Glock 34 and noticed that the frame, barrel, and slide are all made in the US. Now I'm all for stuff made in the USA, but I'm kind of leery of high-quality legacy import brands that move production to the US like Toyota and Sig Sauer.

Has anyone noticed anything better, worse, different about the USA made Glocks? I noticed a few years ago the "AUSTRIA" being dropped off the magazines and assume they're made here too now.

 

[Cyanide971]

Just a sample size of one, but my Gen 5 G26 is marked "USA" and currently at a little over 5k rounds with zero issues.

 

[Mosin44az]

You are saying US-made Toyotas and SIGs aren’t as good? Curious as to your basis for saying that. My P210 Standard has been perfect.

I think quality depends on the Company’s management and their concern for quality control, not the nationality of the workers.

Honest Outlaw has commented that a couple of the recent Glocks he has tested haven’t been reliable. See his recent YouTube video on Top Five Overrated Guns.

 

[Pumpkin]

We can’t make anything in the USA. Glocks are the same as Sigs?

 

[BarryLee]

Well, other than a recall for third party air bags not sure I've heard about major Toyota quality decline. After working in the manufacturing industry for years I agree it all depends on the company's Managment System. We purchased parts from Japan and received various subpar items even counterfeit wire & integrated circuits. I'm not sure how long GLOCK has been in Smyrna, but it seems like several decades. So, can't imagine they aren't up to speed. Now, I would also add that a design issue is different from a manufacturing defect.

 

[tlm225]

For decades we have griped about the quality of foreign made products and now we're concerned about USA made quality?

It's not where it's made, it's the standards that the manufacturer demands for its product.

 

[wild cat mccane]

Skus, general go like this;
if it starts with PA it's Austrian made,
if it start with a UA it's US made.

There doesn't appear to be any difference.

That said, I do like my PA G19 because it's from the home country of origin. I feel the same way about a VP9 or PDP-F where they are now assembled in US when I am looking for the German markings.

Just kinda thing for me given there is probably not a difference at all.

Given the choice, if my P210 was made in Germany or US, I would have actively sought out the German made.

 

[dogtown tom]

Glock began manufacturing pistols in Smyrna, Georgia because Euro laws prohibit firearm exports to certain countries. US made Glocks can be sold to those countries. Sig got spanked hard because they violated that laws. https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2019/03/06/sig-sauer-german-arms-sales/

Anyone that believes US Glocks are somehow inferior to Austrian made should be ignored.

 

[FrankenMauser]

Germany and Austria have been slowly strangling their firearms companies to death. There are only a small handful popular brands that can still manufacture for the Euro market, let alone the US market.
If you want the companies to continue existing (truly or sort of), then you must accept that they have to go somewhere.

Would you prefer that they go to Turkey, rather than the US?

 

[44 AMP]

Consider this, if an item is made in the USA, then US workers got paid US dollars and US taxes were paid by both the company and the workers. Not just import duties, importer license fees and sales taxes.

I have no idea or personal interest in whether US made GLocks or European made Glocks are of different quality, nor do I consider Glocks to be "high quality". Acceptable quality, I can get that. High Quality? I just don't see it.

Personal preference, of course, but since I buy guns with my money for ME, my personal quirks are what matter.

 

[lll Otto lll]

Consider this, if an item is made in the USA, then US workers got paid US dollars and US taxes were paid by both the company and the workers. Not just import duties, importer license fees and sales taxes.

Not necessarily. Illegal aliens infest every facet of our economy. It's the new norm.

https://www.wral.com/30-people-detained-by-ice-at-gun-manufacturer-in-sanford/18171195/

My two G34's are made in Austria which doesn't have a problem with illegal migrants.

 

[jmr40]

I've had both. I can tell no difference in quality.

 

[44 AMP]

Not necessarily. Illegal aliens infest every facet of our economy. It's the new norm.

Seems so, but there's a bit of difference between those doing farm work or other labor and being paid "under the table" and people using false IDs and paperwork to take jobs in factories and other businesses that would not hire undocumented workers.

In the link it is reported that ICE said the gun company did nothing wrong, and complied with all the applicable rules and laws.

I believe that this means that those people working under stolen identities still had income and social security taxes withheld from their paychecks the same as everyone else. In other words, the payroll taxes got paid. Both from the employee pay and the company share as well.

I doubt that money will be returned/refunded to the illegal workers, and probably not to the company, either.

Point here is that illegals, working under false papers and identities get taxed and pay those taxes just like the people they are pretending to be.

My two G34's are made in Austria which doesn't have a problem with illegal migrants.

Have you talked to the people in Austria (and other European countries) in the last few decades?? They have lots of problems with illegal immigrants. Just not ones from Latin America. Their problem immigrants are, people from former communist nations, and lately more southern nations from middle east and Africa. They have "guest worker" programs, but they are being overwhelmed and this has been a major "underground" issue since the 70s. I say "underground" because it is rarely in the news, but its there, just something Americans usually don't hear about, or care about.

 

[lll Otto lll]

Point here is that illegals, working under false papers and identities get taxed and pay those taxes just like the people they are pretending to be.

Funny...That's the same line that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez uses.
It's also inaccurate.

Bear Creek Arsenal hired 30 non-English speaking workers thinking they were legal? Yeah, right

 

[wild cat mccane]

Getting way off track and I'm not liking the tone direction.

No. There is no difference. Finish is the same. No, the EPA does not deny use of the finish Glock uses.

 

[highpower3006]

I have both US and Austrian made G19's that I have had for many years. I can't tell the difference in fit, finish or performance.

Anyone that says otherwise is a dunce that has succumbed to the internet influence of the "if it's not made in Austria, it's not a real Glock" fanbois.

 

[MTT TL]

My Nissan pick up was made in Mississippi. It has been a great truck. My Sig was made in New Hampshire. It has been a great gun. American labor is some of the most productive and best in the world.

 

[Ricklin]

HEAR HEAR

That is well borne out by statistics as well. American production workers are the most productive on earth.
As long as those workers best efforts are not undone by management. Toyota's production system works equally well in the USA. It's about the management.
One of the primary reasons Chinese products lack quality, the materials themselves are suspect. A friend was to make a killing selling replacement pump impellers for popular models of Jet Ski's. His first articles from the Chinese foundry were superb, equal to or better than the OEM impeller. When he received his freight container of impellers? Every impeller failed within the short warranty he provided. He stopped selling them of course. When he brought what was left to the scrap metal buyer, they would not buy it. They stated we don't know what it is, but it is not any known SS alloy and thus we will not buy it.
Materials matter.