The M1A and the Glock 17
2/22/2011
On Tonight’s Top Shot, the remaining competitors will be shooting two firearms that are very popular with the shooting public—the M1A and the Glock 17.
The Springfield M1A is a civilian version of the M14 that served the U.S. military from 1959 to 1970 when it was replaced by the M16. Many people still claim that the M14 was the better battle rifle due to its powerful 7.62 mm chambering. For many years, the M1A looked exactly like its select-fire cousin without the selector switch—though until the ‘90s, the stocks still had the switch cutout. The belief that the M14 was the better rifle has kept up its popularity and Springfield Armory still produces eight models of the M1A.
The Glock 17 was also originally designed for military use—the Austrian military and police forces—and was Gaston Glock’s first entry in the handgun market. Considering the popularity of Glock today, it’s hard to imagine the less-than-stellar reception that this new “plastic pistol” received from American shooters in the early 1980s. However, once the Glock Safe Action Pistol was accepted by a few American police forces, it quickly rolled over to American shooters.
The competitors of Top Shot should be familiar with both of these firearms, providing an interesting show to determine who will fire their last shot.
