Founded in 1963, Glock started out as a manufacturer of curtain rods before branching out into the ensign production in the 1970s, manufacturing implement gun belts, habit hand grenades, plastic magazines, ranchland knives, and entrenching tools for the Austrian Army. When, in the early 1980s, the Austrian Brigade requested a automatic pistol model, Glock responded with the Glock 17, a 9 mm semi-automatic pistol.
Most of the buck up components in a Glock pistol are treated with a nitriding process called "Tenifer", which increases the surface hardness and makes http://www.gunslot.com/guns/glock-19 the weapon resistant to corrosion and wear.