Business Week has published an article about the intrigue behind one of the most iconic handgun manufacturers of recent history. It is only a matter of time before the story of Glock hits the silver screen.

On the afternoon of a meeting scheduled at Ewert’s office near the tony Rue Royale in central Luxembourg, Glock was attacked in an underground garage. The hit man, a former professional wrestler and French Legionnaire named Jacques Pecheur, bashed the businessman on the head with a rubber mallet, a technique apparently aimed at making it look like the victim had fallen down and fatally injured himself. Glock, physically fit from daily swimming—often in the frigid lake abutting his home near Klagenfurt, Austria—fought back. When police arrived, they found Glock bleeding from gashes to his skull. Pecheur, 67, was unconscious.

The assassination attempt on Mr. Glock is well documented, but it remains to be seen how much of the tax evasion, extreme right wing connection and money laundering is fact and what is fiction.

I was interested to learn the estimated profit margin on the manufacture of Glock pistols.

the Glock costs relatively little to make. In a 1994 patent lawsuit in the U.S., Glock estimated its profit margin per pistol at 68%. The guns typically sell for $450 to $600 in U.S. retail gun stores.

The Glock 17 RTF: The Latest in the Glock line.

Glock is like the Apple Computers of the gun world. They have a less is more philosophy towards their product design and yet maintain high profit margins and market share.

The author of the above article actually spent from time behind a Glock pistol, as part of his research, with blogger Massad Ayoob (Hat Tip: SayUncle). I wish more journalists would try that.

Many thanks to Daniel Watters and LeisureGuy for the link.

UPDATE:

Forbes wrote two articles about the Glock saga back in 2003:

• Top Gun
• Follow-Through

Thanks to Daniel Watters for the link.