Glock 17

Glock 17
Glock 17
Type	Semi-automatic pistol
Place of origin	Austria
Service history
In service	1980 – Present
Used by	Austrian Army, Dutch Army, Swedish Armed Forces, Norwegian Police, New York Police Department, Police Service of Northern Ireland, Tasmania Police, Taiwanese Military Police
Production history
Designer	Gaston Glock
Designed	1980s
Manufacturer	Glock GmbH
Produced	1980–
Variants	see variants
Specifications
Mass	625 g / 22.04 oz (unloaded)
Length	186 mm / 7.32 in
Barrel length	114 mm / 4.49 in
Width	33 mm / 1.18 in
Height	138 mm / 5.43 in
Caliber	9 mm Luger Parabellum
Action	Safe action
Feed system	17 / 19 / 33 round magazine
Sights	Fixed front and rear

The Glock 17 was the first pistol designed and manufactured by the Austrian company Glock. It is a locked breech, short recoil 9 mm Para semi-automatic pistol with a standard magazine capacity of 17 rounds of ammunition. It uses a modified Petter/Browning barrel locking system. The Glock 17 appeared in the early 1980s for the Austrian Army weapons trials. It entered service under the designation P80. In 1988, it entered service in the Swedish Army under the designation Pistol 88. It is also used by the Norwegian Army and police. The designation 17 is derived from the gun's being Gaston Glock's 17th patent, rather than its magazine capacity. The Glock 17, like all Glock pistols, has a well known reputation for being extremely rugged and reliable.

The Glock 17 and all others that Glock has since produced use the "safe action" fire control system, a single-action mechanism utilizing a striker instead of a hammer and firing pin. Like most other striker-fired pistols, the Glock pistol requires the trigger to pull the striker back the rest of the way, and to release it. In its ready-to-fire state, the pistol could be considered to be "half-cocked". This arrangement translates to consistent trigger pulls which some claim makes training easier. Notably absent is any manual user safety, although a trigger safety and additional internal measures prevent accidental discharge. Its frame is made out of an advanced polymer. Glock barrels use polygonal rifling for increased accuracy which works best with jacketed ammunition, otherwise lead build-up in the barrel is likely to cause malfunctioning.

About

File:GLOCK 17.jpg

Angled photo of the Glock 17 (Gen 3)

The Glock stirred up quite a scare when it was revealed to have a polymer frame. Some people thought that, based on early reports, the whole gun was plastic and/or ceramic, and therefore undetectable by metal detectors. In fact, the slide, barrel and many other internal parts, comprising about 80% of the gun's mass, are made out of metal. The slide and barrel are QPQ Tenifer treated, a process that makes their steel more durable to wear and tear as well as to corrosion.

The Glock 17 has become very popular because of its simple controls, high durability, and moderate price. It is also reported to be highly reliable in extreme environments like desert, jungle, and arctic regions. A Glock 17 was used in the Red Lake High School massacre.

The Glock 17 enjoys widespread use in law enforcement, but is also a very popular military, sports, and self-defense pistol. More than 50 countries use it for law enforcement or military service.

Generations

The Glock 17 has undergone three major revisions since its introduction and therefore there are four generations commonly recognized:

• Gen 1: Wraparound texturing on the sides, back and front strap of the pistol grip. Plain dustcover.
• Gen 2: Checkered front strap and serrated back of the pistol grip. Plain dustcover.
• Gen 3: Added finger grooves to the front strap. Thumb reliefs on the sides of the pistol grip. Universal rail added to the dustcover.
• Gen 4: As Gen 3 but with the addition of an ambidextrous magazine catch.

There have also been internal changes (most notably of the locking block and the extractor); however, common practice is to separate the various generations based on the frame design as described above.

Variants

Glock has produced several variants on the 17:

• The Glock 17C (for "compensated") has a ported barrel and slide to reduce muzzle climb while shooting the pistol.

• The Glock 17L is a competition version with a longer barrel and slide. Early versions also had a ported barrel to combat muzzle flip. The 17L has been largely replaced by the Glock 34 due to post-introduction restrictions on overall length in many popular competition categories.

• The Glock 17A is a variant produced for the Australian market, to conform to local laws regarding barrel lengths created after the Monash University shooting. The only differences between a Glock 17 and a Glock 17A is that the 17A has a 120mm long barrel which protrudes from the frame visibly and the magazine can only hold 10 rounds.
  • There is also a version of the Glock 17 outfitted with a M1911-style safety specifically for the Australian Tasmania Police.

• The Glock 17T is a training weapon that fires paint or rubber rounds for force-on-force training scenarios. There are two versions and they are both easily recognizable from their bright blue frames:
  • Glock 17T 9mm FX, which fires Simunition FX cartridges
  • Glock 17T 7.8 x 21 AC, which fires paint and rubber rounds with replaceable air pressure cartridges.

• The Glock 17P is a training weapon for practicing hand-to-hand combat, loading and unloading of the weapon. The G17P is identical to a standard Glock 17 except for its red frame, an inert barrel (without a chamber, thus preventing the accidental chambering of a live cartridge) and no firing pin hole in the breech face (thus preventing someone from using a live barrel with the training slide).

• The Glock 17Pro is a special version produced only for the Finnish market. It has the following improvements over the standard Glock 17:
  • Glock factory tritium night sights
  • Glock factory threaded barrel, about 1/2" longer than the standard one
  • Factory marine spring cups
  • Factory modified magazine release
  • Extended slide release, (factory standard in newer models)
  • Extended +2 magazine base plates
  • Glock factory gun pouch
  • 3.5 lbs connector

• The Glock 17P80 is used by the Norwegian armed forces
• The Glock 17DK is a special version for Denmark, where handguns must, by law, be 210mm long. The Glock 17DK has a 122.5mm barrel, making the gun 210mm long overall.
• There are Mariner and Tactical versions available in the Philippines.

• In 2006 Glock made a special 20th Anniversary edition of the model 17. On the slide Gaston Glock's signature is engraved above a unique number "XXXX of 2006" and besides the words "20 Years of Perfection 1986 to 2006". Only 2006 were made that year.

External links

• Glock's website
• The Pistol 88 at SoldF.com Template:Sv icon
• Review of a first generation G17.
• Glock FAQ