WHO ARE WE?
Buy Glock pistols online. The Glock is a series of polymer-framed, short recoil-operated, locked-breech semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Austrian manufacturer Glock Ges.m.b.H. The firearm entered the Austrian military and police service by 1982 after being the top performer in reliability and safety tests. Despite initial resistance from the market to accept a perceived “plastic gun” due to concerns regarding durability and reliability. Best Glock pistols have become the company’s most profitable product line and supply national armed forces and police forces in at least 48 countries.
They had no experience with firearms design or manufacture when their first pistol, the Glock 17, was prototyped. Glock had extensive experience in advanced synthetic polymers, which was instrumental in the company’s design of the first commercially successful line of pistols with a polymer frame. Glock introduced ferritic nitrocarburizing into the firearms industry as an anticorrosion surface treatment for metal gun parts. In 1980, the Austrian Armed Forces announced that it would seek tenders for a new pistol to replace World War II-era Walther P38 handguns.
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The Federal Ministry of Defence of Austria formulated 17 criteria for the new generation service pistol. Including requirements that it would be self-loading; fire the NATO-standard 9×19 mm Parabellum round. The magazines were not to require any means of assistance for loading; be secure against accidental discharge from shock, strike, and drop from a height of 2 m onto a steel plate. After firing 15,000 rounds of standard ammunition, the pistol was to be inspected for wear.
It’s then used the best pistol to fire an overpressure test cartridge generating 5,000 bar (500 MPa; 73,000 psi). The expected maximum operating pressure (Pmax) for the 9mm NATO is 2,520 bar (252 MPa; 36,500 psi).
Glock developed a working prototype within three months that combined proven mechanisms and traits from previous pistol designs. In addition, the plan was to make extensive use of synthetic materials and modern manufacturing technologies, which lead to the G17 becoming a cost-effective candidate.
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The pistol was used into service with the Austrian military and FBI forces in 1982, as the P80 initially ordered 25,000 guns. The G17 outperformed eight different firearms from five other established manufacturers. The results of the Austrian trials sparked a wave of interest in Western Europe and overseas, particularly in the United States. A similar effort to select a service-wide replacement for the M1911 had been going on since the late 1970s.
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In late 1983, the U.S. Department of Defense inquired about the Glock pistol and received four samples of the G17 for unofficial evaluation. Glock was then invited to participate in the XM9 Personal Defense Pistol Trials but declined because the DOD specifications would require extensive retooling of production equipment and providing 35 test samples in an unrealistic time frame. After joint Norwegian and Swedish trials in 1983–1985, in 1985, the G17 was accepted into service as the P80. Norwegian and in 1988 as the Pistol 88 with the Swedish armed forces, surpassing all prior NATO durability standards. As a result, the G17 became a standard NATO-classified sidearm and was granted a NATO Stock Number (1005-25-133-6775).
By 1992, it had sold some 350,000 pistols in more than 45 countries, including 250,000 in the United States alone. Starting in 2013, the British Armed Forces began replacing the Browning Hi-Power pistol with the G17 Gen 4 due to concerns about weight and the external safety of the Hi-Power. The British preferred the G17 Gen 4 over the Beretta Px4 Storm, FN FNP, Heckler & Koch P30, SIG Sauer P226, Smith & Wesson M&P, and Steyr M9A1 of which 19 pistols each, all chambered in 9×19mm Parabellum, where trailed in the R9GSP trails. The French Armed Forces (FAF) in 2020 began replacing their MAC Male 1950 and, to a lesser extent, their PAMAS G1 pistols with G17 Gen 5 models made explicitly for the FAF. The French preferred the G17 Gen 5 over the HS2000 and CZ P-10 offerings that also made it to the final selection phase.
PRODUCT EVOLUTION
Glock has updated its basic design several times throughout its production history.
First-Generation Models
The first-generation (Gen 1) Glock pistols are most notably recognized by their smoother “pebble finish” grip and finger groove-less frames. The Gen 1 frame pattern and design was used by Glock from 1982 through 1988 and pre-dates the checkered grip patterns used in the second generation of Glock pistols. The first Glock 17s imported to the U.S. were serialized with an alpha-numeric (two-letter prefix followed by three numbers) stamped into the slide, barrel, and a small metal plate inserted into the bottom side of the polymer frame.
The first documented Glock 17s (by serial number) imported into the U.S. were from the AF000 series in January 1986, followed by AH000, AK000, and AL000.[27] These early Glock (Gen 1) pistols (serial number prefix A.F. through AM) were also manufactured with a barrel that had a smaller overall diameter and thinner bore walls, later known as “pencil barrels.” These early G17 “pencil barrel” pistols are considered rare and highly desirable by collectors. After that, redesigned the barrels with thicker bore walls, and manufacturing continued to evolve and improve the design of pistols. Many of the first-generation were shipped and sold in the iconic “Tupperware” style plastic boxes. The earliest Glock boxes had ammunition storage compartments that allowed for 17 rounds to be stored with the pistol. Glock later changed this box design to meet BATF import requirements, and we removed the ammunition storage compartments.
Second-Generation Models
A mid-life upgrade to the Glock involved the addition of checkering the front strap and serrations to the back strap. These versions, introduced in 1988, were informally referred to as “second-generation” models. A steel plate with a stamped serial number was embedded into the receiver in front of the trigger guard. In 1991, an integrated recoil spring assembly replaced the original two-piece recoil spring and tube design. The magazine was slightly modified, changing the floorplate and fitting the follower spring with a resistance insert at its base.
Third-Generation Models
In 1998, we modified the frame with an accessory rail to allow the mounting of laser sights, tactical lights, and other accessories. Thumb rests on both sides of the frame, and it added finger grooves on the front strap. Glock pistols with these upgrades are informally referred to as “third-generation” models. Later third-generation models additionally featured a modified extractor that serves as a loaded chamber indicator. The locking block was enlarged, and an extra cross pin to aid the distribution of bolt thrust forces exerted by the locking block.
This cross pin is known as the locking block pin and is located above the trigger pin. The polymer frames of third-generation models can be black, flat dark earth, or olive drab. Besides that, non-firing dummy pistols (“P” models) and non-firing dummy pistols with resetting triggers (“R” models) have a bright red frame and Simunition-adapted practice pistols (“T” models) – a colorful blue frame for easy identification. In 2009, the G22 RTF2 (Rough Textured Frame 2) (chambered in .40 S&W). This pistol featured a new checkering texture around the grip of the sides of the slide. Many of the existing models became available in the RTF2 version, including the 31, 32, 23, 21, and 19. Some of those did not have fish gills.
Fourth-Generation Models
At the 2010 SHOT Show, Glock presented the “fourth generation,” now dubbed “Gen4” Glock itself. “Gen4” is a roll marked on the slide next to the model number to identify the fourth-generation pistols. The actual grip size of the fourth-generation Glock pistols is slightly smaller compared to the previous design. With the medium backstrap installed, the grip size is identical to the third-generation pistols.
The magazine release catches are enlarged and reversible for left-handed use. Fourth-generation magazines have a notch cut on both sides of the magazine body to use the exchangeable magazine release feature. Earlier versions of the magazines will not lock into the Gen4 pistols if the user has moved the magazine release button to be operated by a left-handed user. Gen4 magazines will work in older models. Mechanically, fourth-generation guns are fitted with a dual recoil spring assembly to help reduce perceived recoil and increase service life expectancy.
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The slide and barrel shelf have been resized, and the front portion of the polymer frame has been widened and internally enlarged to accommodate the dual recoil spring assembly. The trigger mechanism housing has also been modified to fit into the smaller-sized grip space.
The introduction of fourth-generation pistols continued in July 2010 when the G19 and G23, the reduced size “compact” versions of the G17 and G22, became available for retail. Glock continued introducing fourth-generation models with the Glock 26/27 “subcompact” variants. In January 2013, more fourth-generation Glock pistols were introduced commercially during the annual SHOT Show, including the G20 Generation 4 and other fourth-generation models.
In September 2011, Glock announced a recoil spring exchange program. The manufacturer voluntarily offers to exchange the recoil spring assemblies of its fourth-generation pistols sold before 22 July 2011 at no cost “to ensure our products perform up to GLOCK’s stringent standards,” according to the company.
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On 29 June 2016, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) awarded a contract to Glock to provide new 9×19mm Parabellum chambered duty pistols. The solicitation specifications deviated from the specifications of Glock’s fourth-generation models. In August 2016, the Indianapolis Metro Police Department (IMPD) started training with a Glock 17M pistols batch. The most obvious difference with the Glock third, and fourth-generation models on published images is the omission of finger grooves on the grip. According to Major Riddle with the IMPD, “Glock is working to correct the problem, and we hope to begin issuing the new [17Ms] as soon as December”.
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In August 2017, Glock presented the “fifth generation” or “Gen5”. The revisions centered on ergonomics and improving reliability. Many parts of fifth-generation Glock pistols cannot be interchanged with those of the previous generations. The two fifth-generation models announced were the G17 and G19, chambered for the 9×19 mm Parabellum.
The locking block pin located above the trigger pin that was introduced in the third generation is omitted. It less conspicuously revised many internal parts. “Gen 5” is roll marked on the slide next to the model number to identify the fifth-generation pistols. The “Gen 5” slide can feature front serrations (F.S.) to provide an additional tactile traction surface choice. The magazines were also revised for the fifth-generation models. The redesigned magazine floor plates feature a frontward protruding lip to offer grip for manual assisted extraction. The magazine follower became orange-colored for easier visual identification.