According to Paul Barrett in “Glock: The Rise of America’s Gun,” this issue of “Soldier of Fortune” magazine offered the US it’s first wide-spread exposure to the Glock pistol. Write Peter Kokalis visited the factory in Austria and spent the day shooting with Gaston Glock himself before coming home to compose a short write-up of the new pistol. The front cover copy and headline of the article said it all: “GLOCK-17: PRAISE FOR AUSTRIA’S NEW PISTOL” and “PLASTIC PERFECTION.”

There were many lucky breaks along the path to Glock becoming the most popular pistol in the US and this might have been the first. To have such high praise come from a well-respected magazine before many had even heard the name “Glock” did a lot to get the brand started on the right foot. And the article served another useful purpose: stoking demand for the pistol a full year before it would start being imported stateside.

Another clue to how early this article was written can be seen in the pics accompanying the piece. The model Glock 17 is a very early duo tone with a stainless steel barrel (only made in the AA and AB prefix ranges).

Kokalis’s commendation got the ball rolling but demand was further stoked by the claims of the firearm being x-ray and metal detector proof and a “hijacker special”–claims that culminated in Senate hearings, a new law against undetectable guns, and eventually the famous lines about a Glock 7 in Die Hard 2–but that’s a story for another day.

For now, click HERE to read the full article.