What Does Glock OEM Mean?

With the modular design, polymer frame, and unique performance characteristics of Glock firearms, it’s not surprising that a lot of jargon unique to the brand would come up. One of the most common questions about Glock nomenclature we hear is, “What does Glock OEM mean?”

Glock OEM Defined

OEM stands for Original Equipment Manufacturer. OEM simply means that a given part or set of parts comes standard from the manufacturer without replacement, modification, or other changes. It also means that there are no knock off or imitation parts or aftermarket modification.

Glocks Customization

Glocks are designed to be highly customizable, and fans of the brand love to modify, customize and personalize their Glocks. So, any time you buy a Glock second hand, the question of whether or not it is 100% OEM is a big one. Many times, over zealous Glock owners will modify their guns and unfortunately decrease the quality of the gun. So, if you intend to buy a Glock second hand, it’s especially important to make sure you know what you’re getting before you throw your money away on an unnecessarily degraded pistol.

Glock Second Hand Purchases

Before buying any second-hand firearm, you should know what to look for, ask the right questions- and ideally, try the weapon out at a proper shooting range before buying it. One of the first things you should ask is what parts of the gun are OEM and which are aftermarket customization's.

Glock OEM Matters

Another important reason OEM matters is, anytime you have a brand as popular and renowned for quality as Glock, you are going to have imitations squeezing their way into the market. Needless to say, there are A LOT of knock-off brands out there- especially in the aftermarket arena. Probably, where you’re likely to find the most knock-off products is in accessories.

Glock Sues S&W For Copyright Infringement

Smith & Wesson lost a lawsuit to the Glock company over a copyright infringement. S&W made a gun so similar to the Glock M&P, that a court ordered S&W to pay Glock a percentage of every sale of the firearm at issue. There were a number of small technical differences between the S&W gun and the Glock S&P, which is why S&W was not ordered to cease selling it all together or to pay damages to Glock. At the end of the day, S&W came out lucky- because Glock could have taken a huge bite out of their bottom line.

Even after all that, Glocks are still the preferred weapon of military, law enforcement and security personnel all across the country- not the S&W knock off. Still, it goes to show that OEM really does matter- even if the non-OEM parts or products are coming from a highly well-regarded firearms manufacturer like Smith & Wesson.

The bottom line is, there’s just something special about the unique design that makes Glock what it is.

Finally, it’s worth mentioning that Paul Harrel, a former marine, firearms instructor, and YouTube creator very explicitly warns against compulsive customization of Glock products. He also warns against buying non-OEM Glocks second hand. Harrel’s advice is to buy your Glock OEM, new off the shelf, train with it, spend time learning all of its performance quirks, and then- only after having a good amount of experience with the handling characteristics of the gun- consider modification that will improve those characteristics.

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