Glock pistols, with their birth, revolutionized the production of small arms. What legends about them did not go - and still go. Bruce Willis as cop hero John McClane in Die Hard 2 (1990) authoritatively explains to an airport security officer that the Glock is a German porcelain pistol that cannot be caught by metal detectors and costs a lot of money.

In fact, Glock is not German at all, but an Austrian pistol, porcelain and ceramics in its design are completely absent, but plastic is present in considerable quantities, and plastic has always been cheaper than steel.

Earlier, gunsmiths have already tried to create small arms with plastic elements. Back in the late 1960s - early 1970s, the designers of the German company Heckler & Koch developed pistols of the VP 70 and P9S models, some of whose parts were made of plastic, or rather, of plastic reinforced masses. However, then the idea did not receive approval - it was believed that the weapon should be made of steel, and other materials only reduce the strength of the unit.

In 1980, the Austrian military decided to upgrade their armament and announced an order for the development of a new pistol to replace the Steur model. The future star of Austrian gunsmiths, engineer Gaston Glock at that time owned a small company Glock GmbH, which he himself founded back in 1963 in the town of Deutsch-Wagram near Vienna. Initially, Glock was engaged in the production of machine tools for completely peaceful purposes, and later retrained as a manufacturer of military products - combat knives, entrenching tools, sapper blades, spare parts for MG74-3 and MG42 machine guns (7.62 mm NATO), hand grenades and machine gun belts. In the course of his career, Glock graduated from the Ferlakh Higher Arms Technical School and decided to try his hand at the arms industry. He did not design a pistol himself to order from the military, but recruited a team of gunsmiths from all over Europe.

After 3 months, a prototype of a 9-mm pistol was ready, called the Glock 17 (since the store had a capacity of 17 rounds). After passing the tests, in 1982 the pistol was adopted by the Austrian army. After some time, Glock was already in service in the armies of Norway and Sweden, and in 1985 Gaston Glock's firm began to take an active interest in the American market. In the same year, a company for the production of Glock GmbH products was created in the state of Georgia, and in January 1986 the final approval was received for the import of the pistol into the States.

Glock pioneered the production of "plastic" pistols. The use of plastic in the manufacture of most parts turned out to be logical in a world where plastic was confidently gaining ground in industrial production.

First of all, the plastic body has significantly reduced the weight of the pistol - the Glock 17 with a full magazine weighs only 870 grams. For comparison, the Beretta 92 weighs 950 grams with a 2-round less magazine.

For the manufacture of the frame and the magazine of the pistol, a high-strength polymer is used, like a monocoque, which is able to withstand temperatures up to 200 degrees. True, severe frost remains a threat - if a frozen Glock is unsuccessfully dropped, it can simply crack.

Plastic is an order of magnitude more durable than steel, and steel parts of modern Glocks are processed using the Tennifer technology, which is a unique development of Glock GmbH. As a result of this treatment, the surface to a depth of 0.05 mm acquires a hardness of about 69 Rockwell units (hardness of industrial diamonds 71-72). Even the Americans in their factories assemble Glocks only from parts sent from Austria, since this technology is a closely guarded secret of the company.

The special treatment of the parts makes the gun extremely resistant to corrosion. He is not afraid of salt water and sand. Unlike many other pistols, Glock can shoot even under water, though not far and away.

The story about Glock's elusiveness for a metal detector was refuted by Gaston Glock himself. He personally paraded several times with a pistol in his hand through the arch of a metal detector at the airport in front of US Secretary of Defense Kasper Weinberger. The metal detector honestly pointed out the presence of a weapon on every pass.

In addition to the above, it should also be noted and other advantages of Glocks, which were appreciated by civilians. All pistols of this brand consist of only 34 parts, including a magazine. Parts from one model mostly match the rest of the Glock's models. The plastic frame provides an unusually soft recoil. Glock shoots accurately and accurately, while the barrel can withstand up to 350 thousand shots.

Glock pistol modifications differ mainly in caliber, barrel length and sights.

There is a heated debate about Glock's safety. Supporters of this weapon argue that in 99.9% of cases in the United States, the cause of "cross-fire" involving Glock pistols is due to improper handling. This is motivated by the fact that the pistol uses the Safe Action system - a proprietary development with a DAO (Double Action Only) trigger, consisting of three independent fuses. However, according to official statistics, there are too many accidents. Especially in this regard, Glock 21 became famous. It is this model in the statistics of misfires and spontaneous shooting that takes the first place, and Glock GmbH is one of the 15 weapon companies that have been sued for damages.

Gaston Glock's website reports that 65% of government agencies use his weapons in the United States alone, the largest of which are the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the New York City Police Department. At the same time, Glock's company is actively promoting the supported pistols to civilians. And they get used pistols from the same policemen in exchange for newer models. Here's a marketing ploy. One trouble. Weapons that have already served their time fall into the hands of civilians, which again leads to new victims - this time among the peaceful, but weapon-loving population. Glocks naturally spread among the criminal community. Perhaps that's why Glock is featured so often in American action films. It is the Glocks that are armed with Michael Douglas in Basic Instinct, Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Eraser, Tommy Lee Jones in The Fugitive, and so on.

It should be noted that Mr. Glock himself turned out to be no less stable than his famous weapon. In March 2003, an attempt was made on his life. The 70-year-old Glock received 7 blows to the head with a rubber mallet, lay down in the clinic and returned to the post of head of his company. The attacker was Charles Ewert, the Glock's thief financier.

The performance characteristics of the Glock 17 pistol

Cartridge 9 × 19 mm "Parabellum"
Work short recoil, self-loading
Shutter locking method jaw dropping barrel
Nutrition box magazine with a capacity of 17 rounds
Unloaded pistol weight 620 g
Empty magazine weight 41 g
Weight of loaded magazine 250 g
Length 188 mm
Barrel length 114 mm
Rifling hexagonal profile, right-hand thread
Sights fixed or movable; front sight and rear sight
starting speed about 350 m / s
Muzzle energy about 500 J

And I would take the Glock-18, it has the ability to conduct automatic fire ...

In the early 1980s, the Austrian military department announced a competition for the development of a new simplest, most effective and reliable model of short-barreled weapons to replace the outdated models of pistols in service with Austria.

Such well-known arms manufacturers as "Beretta", "Fabrique Nationale", "Heckler & Koch", "Sig-Sauer" took part in the struggle for a promising order, among which was the firm " Glock GmbH ".

At that time, the small company "Glock GmbH" was owned by the engineer Gaston Glock, who himself founded it in 1963 in the town of Deutsch-Wagram near Vienna. Initially, Glock was engaged in the production of machines for completely peaceful purposes, and later retrained as a manufacturer of military products - combat knives, entrenching tools, sapper blades, spare parts for machine guns, hand grenades and machine gun belts. In the course of his career, Glock graduated from the Ferlach Higher Arms-Technical School and decided to try his hand at the arms industry. In the mid-1970s, Gaston Glock set before his designers the task of creating an ideal pistol, which was to be as simple as possible to handle and maintain, have a low weight, have high reliability and firepower.

Glock 17 (P80)
early release

As a result, Glock presented a sample of a 9-mm pistol for the Austrian army for the competition for a new pistol, called the Glock 17 (the number 17 meant the capacity of cartridges in the store).

The main feature of the Glock 17 pistol was that its frame, together with the grip and trigger guard, as well as a number of small parts, were made of high-strength, heat-resistant polymer materials. However, in fairness, it should be noted that the pioneer in this area was the company "Heckler & Koch GmbH", which in 1973 released a pistol with a polymer frame VP 70. But the use of an inertial method of locking the barrel bore with a bolt mass in this weapon when using a fashionable cartridge 9x19 mm required to make the bolt very heavy, which did not give a gain in weight, and the VP 70 pistol was discontinued. Gaston Glock, having studied the experience of the "HK" company and appreciated the future role of plastics in the production of personal weapons, reoriented his company to the development and further production of pistols for powerful cartridges using plastics, choosing for his pistol the Browning system for locking the barrel bore.

In May 1982, according to the results of the tests carried out, the Glock 17 pistol was adopted by the Austrian army under the designation P80.

The new pistol turned out to be extremely reliable and convenient, lightweight and durable, with a simple design. The design feature of the pistol was the absence of a safety catch and a trigger. The principle of action is “grab and shoot”. The gun is mostly made of high-strength heat-resistant (up to 200 ° C) plastic. It consists of only 34 parts and can be completely disassembled in less than one minute with a pin or nail.

Glock 17 automatics work by recoiling the barrel with its short stroke. The barrel bore is locked by entering the upper protrusion of the barrel into the shutter casing window. The bore is unlocked by lowering its breech down with the help of the lower tide of the breech and the axis during the recoil of the barrel.

The barrel inside has a hexagonal groove and a chamber, outside - a cylindrical surface and a square breech, which has a protrusion at the top in the shape of the upper part of the shutter casing window for removing spent cartridges, and at the bottom a tide with a figured cutout for contact with the frame axis and a bevel for guiding the cartridge from the store to the chamber.


In the lower part of the chamber, there is a valve that allows the removal of powder gases that have broken through into the pistol grip when the pressure in the barrel is exceeded by 150-200%.

The shutter casing has a U-shape.

The barrel and breech casing are covered outside and inside with a special "tenifer" coating.

The frame of the pistol, together with the handle and the trigger guard, are made of high-strength polymer material (plastic) like a monocoque, which ensures structural strength and some softening of the recoil effect. The guide frames along which the steel shutter-casing moves are reinforced with steel inserts.

The pistol grip is part of the frame, which ensured its relatively small size and convenient shape with a two-row high-capacity magazine. The angle of inclination of the handle to the axis of the bore is 108 °. Early releases of pistols had flat-cheeked grips with grooved front and back surfaces. Pistols of later releases received finger recesses on the front side of the grip and small "shelves" for the thumb on their sidewalls, as well as guides for attaching accessories (laser designator, flashlight, etc.) to the frame under the barrel.

The shape of the front bend of the trigger guard is designed to overlap the index finger of the second hand when firing from two hands. The front edge of the trigger guard is corrugated for better stability of the weapon in the hand when firing.


The pistol is powered by ammunition from a detachable box magazine with a double-row arrangement of 17 rounds in a checkerboard pattern. Although the standard magazines are designed for 17 rounds, it is possible to use magazines with a capacity of 19 and 33 rounds.

The magazine latch is located at the junction of the trigger guard with the handle and is pushed forward.

When the cartridges are used up in the magazine, the shutter casing remains in the rear position on the slide delay, the head of which is brought out to the left side of the frame above the handle. The barrel lock with its lever is located on the left side of the frame above the trigger.


The pistol does not have manual safety locks, but is equipped with an integrated safety system consisting of three independently operating automatic safety locks that are only switched off when the trigger is pulled. It includes the following fuses: trigger fuse. It sits on the trigger, blocks it and prevents it from moving backwards. It turns off only when you press the trigger firmly with your finger; combat fuse. It blocks the firing pin. It is switched off by a special protrusion on the trigger rod when the trigger is pressed; shockproof fuse. It is designed in the form of a cruciform protrusion on the trigger rod, which on one side lies in the figured window of the shutter frame in the upper position. Before the shot, a special protrusion on the back of the firing pin is pinched with a tooth at the end of the trigger rod.


The firing mechanism of the striker type with the preliminary cocking of the striker. This is the so-called pre-cocking trigger, in which the percussion mechanism is partially cocked when reloading, and partially when the trigger is pulled.

The trigger works as follows. When the trigger is pulled, the trigger safety is first squeezed out. When you press the trigger further, a special protrusion on the trigger pulls the safety catch up and releases the channel along which the firing pin moves. The rear end of the trigger rod has a cruciform shape and one side of the "cross" lies in the figured window of the shutter frame in the upper position. When the weapon is ready to fire, a special protrusion on the back of the firing pin engages with the tooth at the end of the trigger rod. When the trigger is pulled, the trigger rod moves back and pulls the firing pin with the mainspring. At the last stage of the movement, the trigger thrust rests against the disconnector and drops to the lower position, the firing pin is released and moves forward under the action of the mainspring and breaks the capsule. A shot occurs. During the operating cycle, the notch on the inner side of the bolt moves and disengages the trigger rod from engagement with the uncoupler, allows it to rise to the upper position under the action of the trigger spring, and the tooth at its end again engages the protrusion at the end of the firing pin. As the trigger pulls forward, the striker spring returns to its normal state, and the safety catch resumes.

Sights are clearly visible

Sights of the open type are mounted on the flat upper surface of the shutter-casing and include a front sight and a removable permanent sight installed in a transverse dovetail groove. The front sight is equipped with a luminous point, and the rectangular slot of the sight is framed with a luminous frame. The sight can be replaced with an adjustable one, but this is not practiced for military pistols. The "sports" model Glock 17L is equipped with adjustable sights.

There are latches on the pistol frame above the trigger guard on both sides, when pressed downward, the pistol is partially disassembled (removing the barrel, return spring and bolt from the frame). Disassembly into main units and parts (handle, bolt, barrel and reciprocating combat spring with a guide rod) is carried out without special tools.

Incomplete disassembly

All metal parts of the Glock 17 pistol are processed using the Tennifer technology, which is a unique development of Glock GmbH and its closely guarded secret. As a result of this treatment, the surface to a depth of 0.05 mm acquires a hardness of about 69 Rockwell units (for comparison, the hardness of industrial diamonds is 71-72).

The outer body and frame of the gun can be made of plastic in various colors. The most famous is classic black, there is also a camouflage version. In the production of parts subject to the greatest stress, plastic is reinforced with metal plates. The guide frames along which the shutter casing moves are reinforced with steel inserts. In the lower part of the frame, there is a small metal plate on which the pistol's serial number is stamped.


The advantages of the Glock 17 pistol include:
- High resistance to corrosion, thanks to the use of a special Glock patented barrel processing technology and a large number of polymer parts.
- Effective use of weapons in almost all climatic zones, with the exception of the far north and areas with a sharply continental climate, in which the air temperature can drop below -40 ° C.
- Smooth recoil and high accuracy of fire, thanks to the use of a large number of polymer parts.
- Lighter than that of pistols of a similar class, weight due to the manufacture of the body and frame of the pistol from plastic.
- High durability of units and mechanisms. The barrel before burning out allows you to fire 300-350 thousand shots (for other pistols, on average, this value is 40-50 thousand shots).
- Bringing to the firing position does not require switching any fuse.
- Declared by the manufacturer the ability to shoot in an aquatic environment without damaging the pistol when changing the return spring.
- The gun is easily disassembled for cleaning and maintenance without the use of special equipment.


At the same time, Glock 17 is not without its disadvantages, which are as follows:
- The small area of ​​the guides becomes the reason for their relatively rapid wear, which leads to the appearance of side play of the shutter casing, and, as a consequence, to a decrease in the accuracy of fire.
- There is a possibility that if carried in a pocket for a long time without regular maintenance, small debris can jam the hammer stopper release lever, making it impossible to fire. But, according to some sources, this event is too unlikely to affect the real combat effectiveness of the pistol.
- Due to the use of polymer materials, the pistol becomes more fragile at temperatures below -40 ° C, which can lead to cracks in the receiver and frame under mechanical stress. At high temperatures - over 200 ° C - deformations of the plastic components of the gun can occur. Glock's technical recommendations specify the operating temperature range from -40 to +200 ° C, and using a pistol outside this temperature range may lead to the failure of its main components and structural components.
- During long-term operation, microcracks appear due to the "fatigue" of the plastic.
- The coating is erased from the casing-bolt, which gives the weapon a sloppy look.

A widely advertised feature of the Glock 17 pistol was its ability to fire under water when retrofitted with a special reinforced recoil spring. This effect is achieved due to the strength of the barrel and simple and reliable automation that does not use complex gas venting systems, and replacing the standard return spring with a reinforced one allows you to return the bolt back to the firing position and with a significantly increased environmental resistance. The practical value of this ability is not great - this is due to the fact that in water the energy of the bullet is very quickly extinguished due to the high density of the medium, and the effective firing range does not exceed 1-2 meters. But, despite the low efficiency of the pistol in this situation, the very presence of this ability testifies to the high reliability and durability of units and mechanisms, the preservation of the weapon's combat effectiveness in conditions of any, arbitrarily high humidity and even the ability to fire when there is water in the barrel bore that in many other models of pistols can lead to deformation of the barrel or serious damage to units and assemblies of weapons.

Explosion diagram

There is a widespread misconception that due to the widespread use of polymers in the Glock 17's construction, the "plastic pistol" is undetectable by metal detectors. This misconception was refuted, including personally by Gaston Glock himself. Despite the widespread use of polymers, the weight of the metal components in the gun is about 400 grams.

There is also a false myth about the high fragility of a pistol: if you drop a pistol on a hard surface, it can crack or crack. In fact, cracks and deformations of plastic components can occur under mechanical stress, but usually at temperatures below −40 ° C or under severe mechanical stress, which would deform and destroy guns made of conventional materials.

Glock 17 is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as a pistol that underwent the most severe tests and after that retained its combat capability. It is capable of firing from under water, in conditions of strong dust, in mud, in conditions of any humidity, after being extracted from liquid mud and sand.

This pistol is a typical self-defense weapon. The maximum effective firing range is 50 meters; effective shooting at such a distance requires good shooting training and experience in handling the weapon from which the fire is fired. On average, Glock 17 is most effective at a distance of 20-25 m, due to the fact that even a poorly trained shooter is able to hit a target at such a distance. The muzzle velocity of a bullet fired from a Glock 17 at the muzzle is 350-360 meters per second. The muzzle energy is about 500 J. These characteristics determine the scope of this weapon model.


In addition to the basic model Glock 17, a variant of the Glock 17C was created. The Glock 17C pistol is equipped with a built-in compensator, made in the form of several upwardly directed holes located in the muzzle of the barrel, and corresponding oblong cutouts in the upper part of the bolt casing. The presence of this device made it possible to reduce the recoil when fired, which somewhat increased the accuracy of fire.

In 1988, the Glock 17L model was created for sports (practical) shooting. The Glock 17L differs from the base model Glock 17 in a barrel extended to 153 mm (as a result, an increase in the total length of the pistol by 39 mm and weight without a magazine by 45 g), a bolt casing, an adjustable sight, an increased magazine latch, and a special trigger mechanism with a decrease in the effort on the trigger to 2 kg. The "window" in the upper part of the casing-shutter compensates for the excess weight, providing the necessary mass for the operation of the automation.


After the adoption of the Glock 17 pistol in 1982, the Austrian company Glock ordered 25,000 pistols. The production facilities were not ready for such a significant order, so subcontractors were attracted until the full deployment of our own production facilities.

Soon after the arrival of the new pistol to the troops, this model gained significant popularity, which prompted the Glock company to further expand and improve the model range, based on the design, which still retained those successful technical solutions that were first successfully used in the development of the pistol Glock 17.

In the first 25 years alone, Glock has created more than 20 models for the entire range of modern pistol cartridges from 9x19 mm to 45 mm, from police ultra-compact models for concealed carry to combat pistols and sports models with an extended barrel, and more than 2 million have been produced. pistols distributed all over the world.

All pistols of the Glock family differ slightly from the base model Glock 17. They consist of 34 main parts, which is much less than other pistol models. A significant number of parts of different designs of pistols are interchangeable. This unification is from 65% to 94% and frees from the need to produce a large number of different spare parts for different models. All pistols are very ergonomic in design. The grips have a 108 ° tilt and finger recesses. The shutter casing is equipped with a convenient notch and is made according to a non-kurntic scheme. The barrels use an improved hexagonal groove for easier bullet penetration, increased muzzle velocity and reduced mud build-up thanks to a smooth profile. To reduce the toss of the weapon when fired, the barrel of the pistol has a low position relative to the shooter's hand, which previously was more typical for sports pistols. In pistols of the same caliber, regardless of the size of the frame, magazines of different capacities are interchangeable. The same ammunition can be used in all models of the same caliber. The Glock family pistols were produced in seven basic versions: standard; compact; ultra-compact; practical (long-barreled for sport and combat shooting); sports; "Thin" (ultra-compact with a single-row magazine for concealed carry); automatic (with the ability to fire single and automatic fire).

Evaluating the success of the Glock pistols, all the leading companies in the world began to develop their pistols using polymers: in the USA - the Sigma pistol, in Germany - the P-99, P-95 DAO pistols, in Russia - the Skif and GSh-18 pistols , Czech Republic - CZ-100, etc.

A number of firms began to tune and fine-tune Glock pistols. Thus, the Aro-Tek company began to equip pistols with an elongated barrel, an enlarged slide stop lever and more advanced sights, and the Robar company began to apply high-strength coatings and change the shape of the handles with a decrease in their coverage (such processing of weapons intended for women police officers, often ordered by police departments).

Glock pistols began a new era in the history of personal small arms, and the company has worldwide fame. For several years, Glock GmbH has become one of the leading manufacturers of weapons, and Glock pistols, after appropriate tests and competitions, were accepted by the armies and law enforcement agencies in more than 60 countries.

  • Weapons »Pistols» Austria
  • Mercenary 36213 4

TACTICAL AND TECHNICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Caliber, mm9
Cartridge9x19 mm "Parabellum"
Weight (equipped), kg0,87
Weight (without magazine), kg0,62
Length, mm188
Barrel length, mm114
Sighting line length, mm165
Bullet muzzle velocity, m / s350
Rifling6, right-handed
Magazine capacity, cartridges17

Pistol Glock 17(17 - from the capacity of the store for 17 rounds) was developed by an Austrian company Glock for the Austrian army, while this was the first experience in creating pistols for this company. Nevertheless, the pistol turned out to be extremely successful, reliable and convenient, and was adopted by the Austrian army under the designation P80. In addition, the Glock 17, and then his younger brothers, ranked among the most popular pistols for the police and self-defense.

Currently, there are several families of Glock pistols for all major pistol calibers (9 mm Parabellum, .40 S&W, 10 mm Auto, .357 SIG, .45 ACP, .380 / 9x17 mm Kurz).

The frames of all pistols are made of impact-resistant plastic. The valves are made of high-precision cast steel and have been specially treated to increase corrosion and wear resistance. Early releases of pistols had flat-cheeked grips with grooved front and back surfaces.

Pistols of later releases have finger recesses on the front side of the grip and small thumb "shelves" on their sidewalls. In addition, on the frame of full-size and semi-compact models under the barrel there are now fashionable guides for attaching accessories (laser designator or flashlight).

For most modifications, variants with an integrated barrel toss compensator are available. The compensator is made in the form of a group of holes in the upper muzzle of the barrel, and corresponding cutouts in the bolt next to the front sight. The compensator is designed to reduce barrel vibrations. These models have the letter "C" added to the name. The following models are equipped with an expansion joint: G17C, G19C, G20C, G21C, G22C, G23C, G31C, G32C.

All families (except caliber. 380) consist of a full-size, compact and sub-compact model and are built according to a scheme with a short barrel stroke and locking with a protrusion on the barrel that fits into the bolt window for extracting the casings. The lowering of the trunk is carried out by a figured tide made under the trunk.

Pistols caliber. 380 are built according to the scheme with a free breechblock. All pistols have a so-called "Safe Action" firing trigger, with 3 automatic safety locks, including one on the trigger. A special feature of the "safe action" trigger is that during the pistol reload cycle, the striker is cocked only partially, while it is blocked by an automatic safety catch. The firing pin is brought up only when the trigger is pressed, while the firing pin remains blocked from moving forward until the trigger is fully squeezed out.

Thus, it is possible to achieve a uniform force on the trigger from the first to the last shot, which has a positive effect on the accuracy of shooting. The trigger pull is adjustable from 2.5 to 5 kgf by replacing the spring.

The disadvantages of this design sometimes include the inability to re-fire the misfired cartridge. Another unpleasant consequence of the design without manual safety locks is a fair number of accidents among American policemen, with enviable regularity shooting themselves in the legs in the process of putting the pistol into the holster.

In the absence of the proper skills, they often try to put the pistol into the holster without removing the finger from the trigger, the finger bumps into the edge of the holster, squeezes the trigger ... and call 911 urgently.

Glokov sights are removable and installed in transverse dovetail grooves. Fixed sights with white or luminous (tritium) dots are installed as standard for easy aiming in low light conditions. On "sports" models (for example Glock17 L), an adjustable rear sight and front sight can be installed.

Another widely advertised feature of the Glock 17 pistols (and only the 17 models) is the ability to fire underwater. For this, a special return spring is installed on the gun. By itself, such a possibility is not of particular value, since shooting can only be carried out at shallow (on the order of several meters) depths and at ultra-short ranges (meter or two).

On the other hand, such tricks, firstly, demonstrate the high strength of the structure and, secondly, allow the use of a weapon in the presence of water in the barrel (in the rain, for example), which in some other pistols can lead to swelling or even rupture of the barrel.

The Glock 17 pistol was first manufactured in 1982, giving rise to what would become a revolution in the arms and military industries, and forever changing the world of modern combat pistols.

The number of Glock 17s in the hands of civilians, police departments and army units is staggering and second only to its younger brother the Glock 19. And for a reason: in the absence of classic spirit and style, The Glock 17 pistol is a workhorse that will serve you faithfully all your life.

With such a story, I can freely use the term "Long-term operation". And I can guarantee that to this day, the first generation samples are being used, thirty years old and with a shot of hundreds of thousands of shots.

My third generation pistol only shot 7000-8000 in five years. And again, there is nothing outstanding in these numbers, but I cannot remember what I still carried with me almost every day for five years and which other of my pistols can boast a similar record.

Convenience and appearance

Manufactured in 2009, this Glock 17 features a Tenifer coating, renowned for its corrosion resistance and surface durability. Sometime in 2012, Glock switched to using a nitride coating on its weapons, which drew criticism from some fans who argued that it wears out faster and is less resistant to corrosion than the Tenifer. But even with the well-proven Tenifer coating, my Glock 17 still has holster wear on the bolt edges.

I would probably be disappointed if there were no individual marks left on my pistol: this is an instrument, not a sample from a display case.


The resin frame is almost flawless, aside from the spot-cut overlay I chose. Although I've always been good with my pistol (I'm not a SWAT operator), it has seen a variety of climates, from the dry and dusty plains of Colorado to the hot and humid New England summers. But there is no sign of fading, cracking or deformation on the frame.

The guides and internal parts of the gun are also in perfect condition. It will be difficult for you to distinguish this sample from the one that left the assembly line in Smyrna last week.

A quick inspection of the chamber and the rifling will also show nothing unusual, except that I should be more diligent in cleaning. This barrel will outlive me and will continue to serve.

Functioning

After 7000+ shots, I can honestly say that this Glock 17 has never failed.... And we, who carry weapons every day, sometimes take this quality on faith, and should not be worth it. If your trust and hope is associated with any mechanism, its reliability must be supported by real (and personal) evidence.

Basically my pistol was on a constant diet of Winchester Ranger 147gr JHP, Federal HST 124gr and 147gr JHP, and Army + P FMJs. This Glock 17 is truly omnivorous when it comes to ammunition types and has never choked on anything.


Probably the most controversial feature of Glock pistols is their trigger. I can guarantee that the Glock 17 trigger is not even close to the smooth ride of a modified trigger. This is quite true, as Glock's Safe Action System negates the need for external fuses.

That being said, I like the Glock descent; It is crisp and has a clearly felt release that allows you to quickly and accurately fire a series of shots. Of course, the force and feel of the trigger is a matter of personal preference, but for myself I still have not found a trigger that is as comfortable as the Glock trigger. with an effort of 2.49 kg.

The second controversial point in Glock pistols is the angle of the handle. And here I will be softer and agree that criticism of the handle is quite legitimate. The curvature (and angle) of the handle is quite steep. Many owners, when firing a Glock pistol for the first time, hit a little higher, slightly raising the muzzle when aiming. The need to lower the muzzle of the pistol makes me tense my wrist and makes the stand stiffer and more stable.

To be completely open, I decided to switch to the professional overlays from Business End Customs, which will allow my giant palms to fit more comfortably around the handle. But I wouldn't have to do that if I had bought a 4th generation Glock 17 with interchangeable rear grips.

The long length, added weight of the larger pistol and the 9 × 19 caliber make the Glock 17 a fairly stable pistol, with very little muzzle flip even when firing in fast bursts. It is not unusual for me to have three accurate hits with three aimed shots, while pulling a pistol out of its holster, in less than two seconds. I am not an athlete, but this is a decent figure for a similar series when firing full power cartridges.

Wearing your Glock 17

I don’t think the Glock engineers thought about concealed wearing when creating the G17. It was designed for open carry and office use, mainly due to the length of the bolt and handle. Although with the right holster and the right physique, the Glock 17 is very comfortable for concealed carry.

And if you are a little petite, the equally popular Glock 19 is better for you, as it is 2.5 centimeters shorter in both dimensions. My pistol is even larger due to the installed flashlight, the Surefire x300, which, in my opinion, is a must on any combat pistol.

My Glock 17 has spent my entire life in a Raven Concealment Phantom holster, with the exception of occasional trips in the Safariland open thigh. There are hundreds of holster options on the market right now, but the Raven is still in the top positions and is great for the Glock 17. Someday I will talk about Raven products, because they are really high quality items.


Aside from the large size of the pistol, the Glock 17 is an excellent choice to carry as a self-defense weapon. With a standard capacity of 17 plus one in the chamber, I rarely feel the need to take a spare magazine with me.

And in my case, the heel of the Taran Tactical Innovations (TTI) magazine adds two or three more rounds. This is a great ammo for a concealed carry pistol. And another advantage of TTI heels is their smooth aluminum surface, which will not cling to a shirt or jacket.

conclusions

I am strongly convinced that there is no perfect self-defense pistol. Each shooter will have their own priorities, and each will have to find a compromise based on their life situations. For me, the Glock 17 is probably the all-time favorite. This opinion is based on the feeling of confidence when you pick up the Glock 17 or just know that it is strapped to your thigh.

In any case, this is a classic pistol with a good reputation and every weapon fan should have one in his arsenal, no matter if it is used every day.

Take care of yourself!

Specifications:

Price: $539+

Caliber: 9 × 19

Length: 20.3 cm

Height: 13.7 cm

Width: 2.99 cm

Weight (uncharged): 710 gram

Weight (charged): 910 gram

Magazine capacity: 17 rounds

Effort on the descent: 2.49 kg

Modifications / Accessories:

Sights: Trijicon night

Handle pads: Business End Customs

Store heels: Taran Tactical Innovations






Glock 17 pistol third generation

4th generation Glock 17 Gen 4 pistol

The Austrian Glock 17 is currently one of the most popular and recognizable self-loading pistols, consistently in high demand among police and military forces around the world, and among ordinary citizens who buy weapons for sports shooting and self-defense. Many experts in the field of personal weapons and their combat use consider the Glock pistols to be the best in the world due to the excellent combination of such qualities as reliability of work in the most difficult operating conditions, more than sufficient accuracy for live shooting and self-defense, both aimed and high-speed "instinctive" firing offhand, high safety, convenience, comfort with constant hidden or open wearing, maximum ease of use, ease of maintenance, huge service life, interchangeability of parts, very high strength and resistance of the coating of steel parts to corrosion and wear, and finally, comparatively low cost.

Update: in 2017-2018, the manufacturer released the fifth generation of pistols. More details about Glock 17 Gen5

This weapon is preferred by professionals participating in hostilities and special operations, fighters of the best special forces in the world. People living in countries where personal short-barreled weapons are allowed for sale to civilians, choosing the Glock for shooting or for carrying in self-defense, are guided by the same principles as the military and police. It's always best to have a pistol that won't let you down on the shooting range or on the street. It is better to have a weapon that is convenient and easy to use than difficult to handle, which is especially important for those who do not have the opportunity to regularly train with their pistol in the use of weapons in extreme situations. It is no secret that owners, in conditions where there is simply no time for reflection, and all actions are performed automatically, sometimes simply forget about whether the fuse on their pistol is on or not, and often about its location. Of course, this is not a problem for a trained professional, but for an ordinary person who is not used to often facing extreme situations, ease of handling his pistol is vital.

Today, on the arms market around the world, there are a lot of easy-to-use models of large and well-known manufacturers that have earned a good reputation. Compliance with this requirement is achieved primarily by the presence of only a self-cocking firing mechanism and the absence of a manually operated safety catch, or the pistol is supplied with a double-action trigger with a safe trigger lever from the cocked and, again, without a safety catch. There are, of course, a lot of options. But the choice of police, military and civilians is dictated not only by ease of use, but also by the presence of the other above advantages in Glock pistols, making these weapons practical and suitable for any task.

Shooters competing in the IPSC practical shooting class, in the mass-produced class, also often prefer the simple, accurate, reliable and comfortable Glock 17 over the more expensive pistols. Of course, the design features of its trigger trigger and the need to ensure safety in handling presuppose a fairly large force and length of the trigger stroke, which, in general, are quite acceptable, but nevertheless negatively affect the accuracy of aimed shooting, say at a distance of 14 meters, in comparison with pistols equipped with a double or single action trigger. However, not to mention the advantages in a combat situation over such classic designs, it should be noted that Glock pistols consistently demonstrate quite good accuracy for a combat pistol with a variety of shooter positions and methods of holding weapons. In addition, its accuracy is quite enough even for fans of precisely aimed shooting from serial pistols and for achieving maximum results. With a new, just bought Glock pistol, you can immediately go to the shooting range and it will shoot accurately.

However, controversy continues over the design of these popular Austrian pistols. Let's just say that most of the self-loading pistols on the weapon market today are more pleasing visually than the monotonous Glocks with a strictly functional and, if I may say so, austere design. Although many people like strict forms more than graceful models. But this is already a matter of taste. This controversy continues in the gun press, shooting clubs and internet forums. Moreover, shooters and weapon lovers are mostly divided into those for whom the Glock is the best pistol in the world, and those who hold the opposite opinion, or argue in favor of other manufacturers and their models that are superior to Glock in one way or another.

Sometimes those who prefer Glock 17 choose another weapon as their main pistol, and opponents of these Austrian pistols become their ardent supporters. There were many legends about the pistols of this company at the very beginning of their arrival on the market that these weapons could not be recognized by detectors at airports. Of course, this was pure fiction, hyped up by incompetent journalists. The gun has more than enough metal parts to detect it. However, Gaston Glock had to personally demonstrate publicly the "noticeability" of his company's pistols by the detectors, as a result of which the myth was dispelled. In any case, Glock has made tremendous strides in supplying its products to arms markets around the world. And those who have tried these pistols in shooting, even if they are not particularly positive about their design, choose Glock for use as a primary, one of the primary or secondary weapons.

Glock, was created in 1980 by a group of designers with the participation of Friedrich Dehant under the leadership of Gaston Glock in an Austrian enterprise founded in 1963 that had never before been involved in the design and manufacture of weapons. At first, the company specialized in making tools, then began producing military goods - machine-gun belts, grenades and knives. By the way, the company still produces high quality knives. And to the production of pistols Gaston Glock pushed the Austrian army's search for new personal weapons in 1980. The designers managed to implement revolutionary solutions at that time, which, as practice has shown, work perfectly in combat pistols. The result was one of the leading positions of the company in the world arms market and the widest popularity of its products. The Glock 17 is the first plastic-framed pistol to be a hit in the global arms market. Frame, trigger and magazine are made of high-strength polymer.

The pistol was the first to combine light weight, large magazine capacity, compactness and safety in use when carried with a cartridge in the chamber. The Austrians borrowed the locking of the barrel from the Sig Sauer P220 pistol. The designers abandoned the manual, manual fuse in favor of automatic ones. The trigger mechanism was the simplest, based on the Austrian Roth-Steyr M1907 pistol. It should be clarified that the index 17 does not mean the number of cartridges in the store. This is the copyright number of Gaston Glock. In 1982, under the designation P-90, the pistol was adopted by the Austrian army and police. The Glock 17 was equipped with the EKO Cobra (Einsatzkommando Cobra) anti-terrorist unit of the Austrian Federal Police.

Later, the Glock 17 pistol began to be used by the armed forces, law enforcement agencies and special forces of Sweden and Finland, and since 1986 it was adopted by the Norwegian army. Since the start of production of the first Glock model, three generations of these pistols have changed, and currently the fourth generation is in production - Gen 4. The first generation did not have a notch on the front and rear surfaces of the grip, which appeared in the second, which began production in 1990. The third generation, in addition to notching and chaotic corrugation on the sides of the handle, also received notches for fingers on the front surface of the handle and notches with a lower protrusion for the thumb, both in the left and right surfaces of the handle, as well as guides in the front of the frame for fastening accessories.

In the late 1990s, the Glock 17 replaced the Jericho 941 in the YAMAM, a special unit of the Israeli police. After that, some special forces of the Israel Defense Forces adopted it to replace the Sig Sauer P226 and Sig Sauer P228. Currently, Glock pistols are used in the armies and various law enforcement agencies in about 60 countries around the world. In 1986, Austrian pistols began to be imported into the United States. The first law enforcement agency to adopt the Glock 17 pistols was the Colby Police Department in Kansas, and the first large batch was delivered to the St. Paul, Minnesota Department. Notable tests of Austrian pistols, conducted by 25 police officers from Miami.

The weapon was tested for safety when dropped on steel and concrete from a height of 18 meters with a cartridge in the chamber. There was no shot. The weapon was kept in salt water and a fully loaded magazine was fired at a high rate. There was not a single delay. 1000 rounds with expansive bullets were continuously fired from it within 45 minutes without any problems. After these tests, the Miami Police Department accepted the Glock 17 pistols into service. Currently, various versions of Glock personal short-barreled weapons are in service with the US FBI (Models 22, 23 and 27), New York Police (with a New-York Trigger trigger with a greater trigger force), Florida, Miami police departments, Boston, Kansas and South Carolina State Police (South Carolina Police first adopted the Glock 22 pistol) and Mississippi, the Customs and Drug Enforcement Administration, and various special forces such as the US Navy Seals and Delta. About 5,000 US federal and local police departments have adopted it.

Glock pistols account for just over half of all short-barreled weapons purchased by US law enforcement agencies. They are used by police officers around the world, for example, the Glock is in service in Canada, Holland, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, India and the Philippines. Glock 17 is used by the Hong Kong police. Iraqi police officers also use Glock pistols along with other short-barreled weapons from manufacturers such as the Beretta and Sig Sauer. In Germany, Glock 17 is in service with the famous Special Forces Unit of the German Federal Police GSG9 (Grenzschutzgruppe 9 - Border Guard Group 9) and SEK - the special forces of the German police (Saxony-Anhalt Spezialeinsatzkommando). In France, Glock 17, along with models 19 and 26, are in service with the Intervention Group of the National Gendarmerie GIGN (Groupe d "Intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale), the anti-terrorist special unit" Search, assistance, intervention, dissuasion "RAID and the French National Police Investigation Group GIPN ...

In Belgium, Glock is used by the assault unit of the National Gendarmerie - ESI (Esquadron d "Intervention Special) and the BBT special unit of the Antwerp Police Department. Glock pistols are used by the Polish Mobile Rapid Response Group GROM (Grupa Reagowania Operacyjno-Manewrowego). Glock 17 is used in law enforcement agencies of the Russian Federation. Federation, along with other Western models, such as CZ 75 B, and Russian - SPS, PYa, GSh-18, firing cartridges 9 × 19. For example, these pistols were adopted by the FSB, GRU, FSO, Federal Penitentiary Service of the Russian Federation and special forces Ministry of Internal Affairs The success of the pistol is also not insignificant due to the wide advertising campaign of the manufacturer. But not only. In comparative tests, Glock has always passed the tests for reliability, ease of use and safety in handling, accuracy of shooting. The Glock company is famous for good service. All defective parts without problems. replaced with new ones, and instead of the old coating with worn m with an outer black layer, a new one is applied for a symbolic fee. At the moment, the manufacturer has sold more than 2,000,000 pistols of various modifications.

How the Glock 17 pistol works

Automation works according to the scheme of using recoil with a short barrel stroke. Locking is carried out with the help of a descending breech of the barrel, which enters with its rectangular protrusion located above the chamber into the window for ejection of spent casings of the shutter-casing. The reduction occurs when the bevel of the lower tide of the breech of the barrel interacts with the protrusion of the frame. The firing mechanism of the striker type, with preliminary, partial cocking of the striker when the shutter-casing retreats back and cocking when the trigger is pressed. Glock calls the trigger of this design only self-cocking (DAO). However, this system is in fact a classic single-action trigger with an additional pre-cocking of the striker. In Glock pistols, the striker is cocked by moving the shutter-casing backward, and the relatively long trigger stroke and the force required for the pre-cocking of the striker, which is slightly greater than that of a conventional single-action trigger, replace the manually operated safety catch. The length and force of the stroke in this case prevent an accidental shot in the absence of a safety catch.

In addition to this, the trigger of Glock pistols does not allow the shooter to re-squeeze the trigger after a misfire, by trying to initiate the primer again. It is necessary to extract the defective cartridge, thereby putting the drummer on the preliminary platoon, and send a new cartridge from the magazine to the chamber for firing a shot. This is also a sign of the classic single-action trigger, just in this case, the stroke and trigger force are greater. The gun is equipped with three independently operating automatic fuses. Glock has named this system Safe Action. The safety lever of the trigger blocks the backward movement of the trigger and releases it only when the shooter is consciously pressed. The automatic fuse of the striker makes it impossible to strike with the striker of the striker on the cartridge primer in case of accidental disruption of the sear from the combat platoon due to external impact. The trigger rod, with its special protrusion, raises the safety catch, which is a cylinder with a groove, and opens the way forward for the drummer. The shockproof fuse is a protrusion of the trigger rod, which has a cruciform shape, which fits into the groove of the shutter-casing. He prevents the whispering from breaking off the combat platoon during an external strike.

In practice, this design has proven to be very simple and effective. It ensures the firing of a shot in the shortest possible time and safe handling. Pistols of the latest releases are equipped with an ejector, which also serves as an indicator of the presence of a cartridge in the chamber. The trigger pull is 2.5 kg and can be adjusted from 2 to 4 kg. The polymer frame is equipped with four steel guides along which the shutter-casing moves. The ergonomically shaped handle has a 112-degree tilt. On the left side of the frame is a small slide stop lever. Its small surface area is often a cause for criticism, but the original lever can be easily replaced with an enlarged one if necessary. The barrel lock is double-sided, located above the trigger guard. The magazine latch is located at the base of the trigger guard.

Right-hand rifling has a hexagonal profile with rounded side edges, which reduces friction and distributes the load on the barrel more evenly when a bullet passes through it. A barrel with such a profile lasts longer, and the barrel bore is less covered with a layer of brass or copper from the shells of the bullets and less deforms the shells themselves. That is, such a barrel is easier and faster to clean, and the integrity of the bullet shell increases accuracy. The shell of the bullet adheres more tightly to the edges of the bore, creating a better obturation of the powder gases, due to which they give it a slightly higher energy and initial velocity, but in general it is hardly noticeable. Sights, made of plastic, consist of a rear sight with the possibility of adjusting horizontally by shifting it, and a front sight, which can be replaced with another one with a different height for vertical correction. The double-row magazine holds 17 rounds, but larger ones can be used. The gun consists of only 34 parts and can be completely disassembled with a pin or nail in one minute. Glock pistols are currently chambered for. 380 ACP, 9mm Parabellum, .357 SIG, .40 S&W, 10mm Auto and 45 ACP.

Glock 17 pistol customization

Today on the weapon market there is a huge amount of customization parts, various accessories and accessories from enlarged safety levers or slide delay to adjustable sights and even steel frames, produced by large and famous as well as small private firms. The most popular parts for Glock pistols are oversized magazine latches, recoil springs of varying spring rates, steel front sight and adjustable rear sight with tritium inserts. Practice has shown that replacing the standard magazine latch with an enlarged one for faster replacement can lead to its spontaneous loss in the holster and when removing the weapon. It is advisable to replace the recoil spring only if the firing will be carried out with the same, usually reinforced, cartridges, since when using less powerful ammunition there will be delays in firing due to insufficient opening of the breech-casing.

The best solution to improve and increase the effectiveness of the pistol will be to replace the standard front sight and rear sight with sights such as TFO (Tritium Fiber Optic) from Truglo, equipped with green light-collecting fiber-optic inserts containing tritium. Green can be distinguished better than red and white in good lighting conditions. Plastic with fiber-optic properties directs most of the light flow along the axis of the cylinder of the inserts, as a result of which the shooter's attention is instantly focused on them and aiming is carried out much faster. In this case, at dusk or in a dark room, aiming is carried out using brightly glowing tritium. These sighting devices, for obvious reasons, are of course more expensive than usual, but they work perfectly day and night, significantly increasing the aiming speed.

The Glock range includes a series of pistols with integrated expansion joints. These pistols are designated C (Compensated) in addition to the original Glock 17C. Such models are intended mainly for practical shooting competitions, as well as for novice shooters. The main function of the compensator is to reduce the toss of the weapon when fired. A jet stream of powder gases directed upwards counteracts the toss of the pistol. As a result, the rate of fire and accuracy of high-speed fire increases. The disadvantage is the strong flash. In low light, the image of this flash is briefly stored in memory, making it difficult to quickly fire the next sighting shot. Such a pistol gets dirty faster, and when firing from the hip, the flow of powder gases unpleasantly hits the shooter in the face. Delays also occur if weak cartridges are used.

The frame made of polymer makes the weapon lightweight and at the same time has high strength. Early pistols had grips with flat side and grooved front and rear surfaces. The handle with a large angle of inclination is very comfortable to hold and has finger tabs on the front surface, thumb rests on both sides, and also has a front and rear notch. Such a handle makes the weapon well controlled and provides accuracy, both with careful aiming and when shooting at high speed. When shooting with a doublet, all full-size and compact models are characterized by high accuracy and a strictly vertical arrangement of hits. Glock pistol grips do not "cool" the hand at low temperatures. On the front of the frame there are slots for mounting tactical flashlights and laser designators. The casing shutter is produced by high-precision casting. A special treatment of steel parts called Tenifer, which is carbonitriding, increases their surface strength to 64 Rockwell units, and also greatly increases their resistance to corrosion.

The striker trigger was chosen by the designers not only because of its simplicity in production. It allows to minimize the distance from the butt plate of the frame to the axis of the barrel. In turn, the recoil shoulder decreases and, accordingly, the toss of the weapon when firing. This design also does not require reinforcement of the frame with steel inserts that increase the weight. In Glock 17, for the first time in pistols, a helical return spring with rectangular coils was used. In modern models, this spring is fixed on its own guide, which simplifies and facilitates the disassembly and assembly of the weapon. The store has a plastic body - the result of the lack of equipment for the manufacture of stores from sheet steel at the time of the beginning of the release of the pistol. The steel magazine was not released in the future due to deunification.

Like any weapon, Glock pistols have their drawbacks. Often the cause of misfires is the contamination of the striker channel, usually due to the sand that has got there. With a weak grip, sometimes there are cases of missing the cartridge. The plastic front sight turned out to be not strong and knock off the shutter-casing when struck from behind, but this drawback can be easily eliminated by replacing the sighting devices with steel ones. Another disadvantage is the small dimensions of the slide stop and the magazine latch, but this is again eliminated by replacing them with larger ones. Pistols 17C and other versions with integrated compensators, when using insufficiently powerful cartridges or equipped with light bullets, often do not extract spent cartridges and do not send cartridges due to the fact that part of the energy required for the stable operation of the automation is consumed by the compensator. There were problems with the guides, breaking from side impacts, caused by a production error, but quickly eliminated. Glock pistols are easy to shoot, but in order to shoot very accurately, a fairly long training is required. The reason for the breakdown of parts and the destruction of frames is too powerful, as a rule, hand-loaded, cartridges, but this is no longer a direct design flaw. The disadvantages can also be indirectly attributed to the bumpiness of parts relative to each other, for example, the shutter on the frame and the magazine in the neck of the handle.

An interesting feature of Glock pistols is the ability to fire underwater. In this case, not only rupture, but also the swelling of the trunk does not occur. However, for stable actuation of the primer, a special striker with transverse grooves or a Spring cups amfibia kit - a striker mainspring with a plastic tray with holes, is required. Available only for pistols chambered for 9mm Parabellum. But for firing underwater without the risk of bulging the barrel, it is recommended to use cartridges with all-shell bullets such as FMJ. Glock pistols can be fired underwater at a depth of up to three meters. The bullet retains great energy at a distance of up to two meters when firing at a depth of one meter. Shooting at close range from under the water is also effective, while the sound of the shot is absent. This method of shooting is taught in many special forces.

Tests in different conditions

It is necessary to mention the series of tests that the serial Glock 17 successfully passed. Ice: a pistol with a loaded magazine was frozen in an ice cube for 60 days. After that, he was removed from the ice and fired 100 shots, 10 rounds each. Mud: The gun was oiled, covered and immersed in mud of various consistencies: dry sand, clay, wet river sand. After each such procedure, repeated 5 times, 100 shots were fired. In the silt: the pistol was completely moistened with water and immersed in the river silt. After a single shaking from the pistol with the remnants of sludge, 10 series of 10 shots were fired. Water: a fully equipped pistol was submerged for 1 hour in water to a depth of 1 meter, then the pistol was removed from the water and immediately fired 10 series of 10 shots. Durability: The loaded pistol was placed on coarse gravel and then a heavy truck drove over it. The truck was then left parked with a wheel on a pistol for an hour. After that, 100 shots were fired. All tests were carried out in the specified sequence with the same pistol and one magazine. There were no delays in any of them.