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Most individuals hear the identify “Glock” and immediately consider the polymer-framed pistols that reshaped the handgun market. However earlier than the Glock 17 turned a worldwide sidearm icon, the late Gaston Glock made his mark with one thing much more old-school—a fixed-blade fight knife constructed to satisfy the calls for of Austria’s hardest troopers.
From Curtain Rods to Fight Blades
Within the late Nineteen Seventies, Austria was in a difficult spot. The Chilly Struggle had NATO on one aspect and the Warsaw Pact on the opposite, and the Austrian navy was decided to arm itself with out counting on both bloc. That meant constructing its personal gear, together with a brand new “Feldmesser”—a area knife for particular forces.
On the time, Gaston Glock wasn’t a gunmaker. He was a grasp of polymer injection molding, working a small store making on a regular basis objects like curtain rods and door handles. However when the Austrian authorities introduced a contest for the brand new service knife, Glock determined to leap in—bringing his distinctive materials expertise to the battlefield.
The Glock 78: A Knife With a Twist
Glock’s entry, the Feldmesser 78, wasn’t simply one other fight blade. It had a 6.5-inch spring metal clip-point blade hardened to over 55 Rockwell—powerful sufficient for survival work and fight alike. However the true magic was within the deal with.
As an alternative of a standard full tang, Glock designed a hole polymer grip with an finish cap. That hole area wasn’t a weak point—it was the important thing to turning the knife right into a bayonet for Austria’s Steyr AUG service rifle. The upturned crossguard locked neatly below the rifle’s flash hider, and the stability created by the hole deal with made the 78 a surprisingly nice throwing knife.
Survivalists have discovered much more makes use of: the hole deal with makes it simple to mount on a pole as a spear, and the bent guard doubles as a bottle opener.
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Profitable the Contract—and the Workload
The Austrian particular forces have been bought. Legend has it their first order was for 25,000 knives, forcing Glock and his spouse to work in shifts stamping out blades. Simply three years later, Glock launched the Feldmesser 81, including a sawback backbone for slicing wooden and brush—turning the fight blade right into a succesful wilderness survival instrument.
The Knife That Made the Glock Pistol Doable
The Glock 78 and 81 didn’t simply put Austrian metal in troopers’ fingers—they constructed Glock’s repute with the navy. These connections and the income from the knife contracts would finally give Gaston the chance to design his first handgun. With out the knife, there’s an excellent likelihood the Glock 17 Pistol may by no means have been born.
Nonetheless Going Sturdy
A long time later, the Glock Subject Knives are nonetheless in service worldwide. In Europe, the 78 and 81 are as iconic as America’s KA-BAR—powerful, sensible instruments with a historical past rooted in each the battlefield and the backcountry.
So subsequent time you see a Glock pistol, bear in mind: earlier than Gaston Glock modified the handgun recreation, he constructed a knife that would open bottles, reduce wooden, connect to a rifle—and assist spark one of many largest firearm success tales in fashionable historical past.
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