The Glock pistol

The Glock pistol, sometimes referred to by the manufacturer as Glock "Safe Action" Pistol, is a series of semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Glock Ges.m.b.H., located in Deutsch-Wagram, Austria. The company's founder, engineer Gaston Glock, had no experience with firearm design or manufacture at the time their first pistol, the Glock 17, was being prototyped. Glock did, however, have extensive experience in advanced synthetic polymers, knowledge of which was instrumental in the company's design of the first successful line of pistols with a polymer frame. Glock introduced ferritic nitrocarburizing into the firearms industry as an anti-corrosion surface treatment for metal gun parts.

Despite initial resistance from the market to accept a "plastic gun" due to durability and reliability concerns, Glock pistols have become the company's most profitable line of products, commanding 65% of the market share of handguns for United States law enforcement agencies  as well as supplying numerous national armed forces and security agencies worldwide. Glocks are also popular weapons amongst civilians for home/self defense and concealed/open carry.

1.The design has to be self-loading.

2.The pistol must fire the NATO-standard 9×19mm Parabellum round.

3.The magazines would not require any means of assistance for loading.

4.The magazines must have a minimum capacity of 8 rounds.

5.All actions necessary to prepare the pistol for firing and any actions required after firing must be done single-handed, either right- or left-handed.

6.The pistol must be absolutely secure against accidental discharge from shock, stroke and drops from a height of 2 meters onto a steel plate.

7.Disassembly of the main parts for maintenance and reassembling must be possible without the use of any tools.

8.Maintenance and cleaning of the pistol must be accomplished without the use of tools.

9.The pistol's construction may not exceed 58 individual parts (equivalent of a P38).

Gauges, measuring and precise testing devices must not be necessary for the long-term maintenance of the pistol.

10.The manufacturer is required to provide the Ministry of Defence with a complete set of engineering drawings and exploded views. These must be supplied with all the relevant details for the production of the pistol.

11.All components must be fully interchangeable between pistols.

12.No more than 20 malfunctions are permitted during the first 10,000 rounds fired, not even minor jams that can be cleared without the use of any tools.

13.After firing 15,000 rounds of standard ammunition, the pistol will be inspected for wear. The pistol will then be used to fire an overpressure test cartridge generating 5,000 bar (500 MPa; 73,000 psi) (the normal maximum operating pressure Pmax for the 9 mm NATO is rated at 2,520 bar (252 MPa; 36,500 psi). The critical components must continue to function properly and be up to specifications, otherwise the pistol will be disqualified.

When handled properly, under no circumstances may the user be endangered by case ejection.

The muzzle energy must be at least 441.5 J when firing a 9mm S-round/P-08 Hirtenberger AG.

Pistols scoring less than 70% of the total available points will not be considered for military use.

Design details

1. Operating mechanism

The Glock 17 is a 9mm short recoil-operated locked breech semi-automatic pistol that uses a modified Browning cam-lock system adapted from the Hi-Power pistol. The firearm's locking mechanism utilizes a linkless, vertically tilting barrel with a rectangular breech that locks into the ejection port cut-out in the slide. During the recoil stroke, the barrel moves rearward initially locked together with the slide approximately 3 mm (0.12 in) until the bullet leaves the barrel and chamber pressure drops to a safe level. A ramped lug extension at the base of the barrel then interacts with a tapered locking block integrated into the frame, forcing the barrel down and unlocking it from the slide. This camming action terminates the barrel's movement while the slide continues back under recoil, extracting and ejecting the spent cartridge casing. The slide's uninterrupted rearward movement and counter-recoil cycle are characteristic of the Browning system

2. Features

The slide features a spring-loaded claw extractor and the stamped sheet metal ejector is pinned to the subframe. Post 2002 pistols have a reshaped extractor that serves as a loaded chamber indicator. When a cartridge is present in the chamber, a tactile metal edge protrudes slightly out immediately behind the ejection port on the right side of the slide.

The striker firing mechanism has a spring-loaded firing pin that is cocked in two stages, powered by the firing pin spring. When the pistol is charged, the firing pin is in the half-cock position. As the trigger is pulled, the striker is then fully cocked. At the end of its travel, the trigger bar is tilted downward by the disconnector, releasing the striker to fire the cartridge. The disconnector resets the trigger bar so that the striker will be captured in half-cock at the end of the firing cycle. This is known as a pre-set trigger mechanism, referred to as the "Safe Action" trigger by the manufacturer. The disconnector ensures the pistol can only fire semi-automatically.

The factory-standard two-stage trigger has a trigger travel of 12.5 mm (0.49 in) and is rated at 25 N (5.6 lbf), but by using a modified connector it can be increased to 35 N (7.9 lbf) or lowered to 20 N (4.5 lbf). In response to a request made by American law enforcement agencies for a two-stage trigger with increased trigger pull, Glock introduced the NY1 (New York) trigger module, which features a flat spring in a plastic housing that replaces the trigger bar's standard coil spring. This trigger modification is available in two versions: NY1 and NY2 that are rated at 25 N (5.6 lbf) to 40 N (9.0 lbf) and 32 N (7.2 lbf) to 50 N (11.2 lbf) respectively, which require approximately 20 N (4.5 lbf) to 30 N (6.7 lbf) of force to disengage the safeties and another 10 N (2.2 lbf) to 20 N (4.5 lbf) in the second stage to fire a shot.

The Glock's frame, magazine body and several other components are made from a high-strength nylon-based polymer invented by Gaston Glock and called Polymer 2. This plastic was specially formulated to provide increased durability and is more resilient than carbon steel and most steel alloys. Polymer 2 is resistant to shock, caustic liquids and temperature extremes where traditional steel/alloy frames would warp and become brittle. The injection molded frame contains four hardened steel guide rails for the slide: two at the rear of the frame, and the remaining pair above and in front of the trigger guard. The trigger guard itself is squared off at the front and checkered. The grip has a non-slip, stippled surface on the sides and both the front and rear straps. The frame houses the locking block, which is an investment casting that engages a 45° camming surface on the barrel's lower camming lug. It is retained in the frame by a steel axis pin that holds the trigger and slide catch. The trigger housing is held to the frame by means of a plastic pin. A spring-loaded sheet metal pressing serves as the slide catch, which is secured from unintentional manipulation by a raised guard molded into the frame.

The Glock pistol has a relatively low slide profile, which holds the barrel axis close to the shooter's hand and makes the pistol more comfortable to shoot by reducing muzzle rise and allows for faster aim recovery in rapid shooting sequence. The rectangular slide is milled from a single block of ordnance-grade steel using CNC machinery. The barrel and slide are treated with a proprietary nitriding process called Tenifer. The slide and barrel undergo two hardening processes prior to the Tenifer treatment, applied in a 500 °C nitrate bath. The Tenifer finish is between 0.04 mm (0.0016 in) and 0.05 mm (0.0020 in) in thickness, and is characterized by extreme resistance to wear and corrosion; it penetrates the metal, and treated parts have similar properties even below the surface to a certain depth. The Tenifer process produces a matte gray-colored, non-glare surface with a 64 Rockwell C hardness rating and a 99% resistance to salt water corrosion (which meets or exceeds stainless steel specifications),  making the Glock particularly suitable for individuals carrying the pistol concealed as the highly chloride-resistant finish allows the pistol to better endure the effects of perspiration. Glock pistols with their Tenifer treatment are more corrosion-resistant than analogous guns on the market with any other type of finish, including Teflon, bluing, hard chrome plating, phosphates and other alloys.  After applying the Tenifer process, a black Parkerized decorative surface finish is applied. The underlaying Tenifer treatment will remain protecting these parts even if the decorative surface finish were to wear off.

A current production Glock 17 consists of 34 parts. For maintenance, the pistol disassembles into five main groups: the barrel, slide, frame, magazine, and recoil-spring assembly.

The firearm is designed for the NATO-standard 9×19mm Parabellum pistol cartridge, but can use high-power (increased pressure) +P and +P+ ammunition with either full-metal-jacket or jacketed hollow-point projectiles.

3. Barrel

The hammer-forged barrel has a female type polygonal rifling with a right-hand twist. The stabilization of the round is not by conventional rifling, using lands and grooves, but rather through a polygonal profile consisting of a series of six interconnected non-circular segments. Each depressed segment within the interior of the barrel is the equivalent of a groove in a conventional barrel. Thus the interior of the barrel consists of six smooth arcs of steel rather than six sharply defined slots. The method by which Glock barrels are rifled is somewhat unusual; instead of using a traditional broaching machine to cut the rifling into the bore, the Glock process involves beating a slowly rotating mandrel through the bore to obtain the hexagonal shape.[34] As a result, the barrel's thickness in the area of each groove is not compromised as with conventional square-cut barrels. This has the advantage of providing a better gas seal around the projectile as the bore has a slightly smaller diameter, which translates into more efficient use of the combustion gases trapped behind the bullet, slightly greater (consistency in) muzzle velocities, increased accuracy and ease of maintenance.

4. Safety

Glock pistols are designed with three independent safety mechanisms to prevent accidental discharge. The system, designated "Safe Action" by Glock, consists of an external integrated trigger safety  and two automatic internal safeties: a firing pin safety  and a drop safety. The external safety is a small inner lever contained in the trigger. Pressing the lever activates the trigger bar and sheet metal connector. The firing pin safety is a solid hardened steel pin that, in the secured state, blocks the firing pin channel (disabling the firing pin in its longitudinal axis). It is pushed upward to release the firing pin for firing only when the trigger is actuated and the safety is pushed up through the backward movement of the trigger bar. The drop safety guides the trigger bar in a ramp that is released only when direct rearward pressure is applied to the trigger. The three safety mechanisms are automatically disengaged one after the other when the trigger is squeezed, and are automatically reactivated when the trigger is released. This passive safety system omits the manipulation of traditional on-off levers, hammers or other external safeties as found in many other handgun designs.

In 2003, Glock announced the Internal Locking System (ILS) safety feature. The ILS is a manually activated lock that is located in the back of the pistol's grip. It is cylindrical in design and, according to Glock, each key is unique. When activated, the lock causes a tab to protrude from the rear of the grip giving both a visual and tactile indication as to whether the lock is engaged or not. When activated, the ILS renders the Glock unfireable as well as making it impossible to disassemble. When disengaged, the ILS adds no further safety mechanisms to the Glock pistol. The ILS is available as an option on most Glock pistols. Glock pistols cannot be retrofitted to accommodate the ILS. The lock must be factory built in Austria and shipped as a special order.

5. Feeding

The Glock 17 feeds from staggered-column or double stack magazines that have a 17-round capacity (which can be extended to 19 with an optional floor plate) or optional 33-round high capacity magazines.[40] For jurisdictions which restrict magazine capacity to 10 rounds, Glock offers single stack 10-round magazines. The magazines are made of steel and are overmolded with plastic. A steel spring drives a plastic follower. After the last cartridge has been fired, the slide remains open on the slide stop. The slide stop release lever is located on the left side of the frame directly beneath the slide and can be manipulated by the thumb of the shooting hand.

Glock magazines are "one-way" interchangeable between models, meaning that a compact or subcompact pistol will accept magazines designed for the larger pistols chambered for the same round. However, magazines designed for compact and subcompact models will not function in larger pistols because they are not tall enough to reach the slide and magazine release. For example, the subcompact Glock 26 will accept magazines from both the full-size Glock 17 and the compact Glock 19, but the Glock 17 will not accept magazines from the smaller Glock 19 or the Glock 26.

6. Sights

The Glock 17 has a fixed polymer combat-type sighting arrangement that consists of a ramped front sight and a notched rear sight with white contrast elements painted on for increased acquisition speed—a white dot on the front post and a rectangular border on the rear notch. The rear sight can be adjusted for windage as it has a degree of lateral movement in the dovetail it is mounted in. Three other factory rear sight configurations are available in addition to the standard 6.5 mm (0.26 in) height sight: a lower impact 6.1 mm (0.24 in) sight and two higher impact versions—6.9 mm (0.27 in) and 7.3 mm (0.29 in).

7. Accessories

The Glock pistol accessories available from the factory include several devices for tactical illumination, such as a series of front rail mounted "Glock tactical lights" featuring a white tactical light and an optional visible laser sight. An alternate version of the tactical light utilizing an invisible infrared light and laser sight is available, designed to be used with an infrared night vision device. Another lighting accessory is an adapter to mount a flashlight onto the bottom of a magazine.

Polymer holsters in various configurations and matching magazine pouches are available. In addition, Glock produces optional triggers, recoil springs, slide stops, magazine release levers, and underwater spring cups.

Magazine floor plates (or "+2 baseplates"), which expand the capacity of the standard magazines by 2 rounds are available for models chambered for the 9×19mm Parabellum, .40 S&W, .357 SIG, and .380 ACP cartridges.

In addition to the standard non-adjustable polymer sight line, three alternative sight lines are offered by Glock. These consist of steel, adjustable and self-illuminating tritium night rear sights and factory steel and self-illuminating tritium contrast pointer steel front 

Different models 

Model number	Cartridge	Total length		Barrel length		Magazine Capacity[58]		Weight (unloaded)		Style
		(mm)	(in)	(mm)	(in)	Standard	Optional	(g)	(oz)
17*, 17C	9×19 mm	186	7.32	114	4.49	17	10, 19, 33	625	22	Standard
17L		225	8.86	153	6.02	17	10, 19, 33	670	23.6
18, 18C		185	7.28	114	4.49	33	10, 17, 19	620	21.9
19*, 19C		174	6.85	102	4.01	15	10, 17, 19, 33	595	21	Compact
20*, 20C, 20SF	10 mm Auto	193	7.60	117	4.61	15	10	785	27.7	Standard
21*, 21C, 21SF	.45 ACP					13	10	745	26.3
22*, 22C	.40 S&W	186	7.32	114	4.49	15	10, 17, 22	650	22.9
23*, 23C		174	6.85	102	4.01	13	10, 15, 17, 22	600	21.2	Compact
24, 24C		225	8.86	153	6.02	15	10, 17, 22	757	26.7	Competition
25	.380 ACP	174	6.85	102	4.01	15	17, 19	570	20.1	Compact
26*	9×19 mm	160	6.30	88	3.46	10	12, 15, 17, 19, 33	560	19.8	Subcompact
27*	.40 S&W					9	11, 13, 15, 17, 22	560	19.8
28	.380 ACP					10	12, 15, 17, 19	529	18.7
29*, 29SF	10 mm Auto	172	6.77	96	3.78	10	15	700	24.7
30*, 30S, 30SF	.45 ACP					10	9, 13	680	24
31*, 31C	.357 SIG	186	7.32	114	4.49	15	10, 17	660	23.3	Standard
32*, 32C		174	6.85	102	4.01	13	10, 15, 17	610	21.5	Compact
33*		160	6.30	88	3.46	9	10, 11, 13, 15, 17	560	19.8	Subcompact
34*	9×19 mm	207	8.15	135	5.31	17	10, 19, 33	650	22.9	Competition
35*	.40 S&W					15	10, 17, 22	695	24.5
36	.45 ACP	172	6.77	96	3.78	6	-	570	20.1	Slimline
37*	.45 GAP	186	7.32	116	4.56	10	-	735	25.9	Standard
38		174	6.85	102	4.01	8	10	685	24.2	Compact
39		160	6.30	88	3.46	6	8, 10	548	19.3	Subcompact
Notes: ·        Glock pistols marked by "*" indicate that a "Gen4" model is available. ·        Glock pistols designated by "C" after the model number are equipped with ported barrels and slides to compensate for muzzle rise. ·        Glock 18/18C pistols are 9×19 mm Parabellum select fire machine pistols and not available to the general public in most countries. ·        Glock pistols designated "SF" are "short-framed". They have 2.5 mm (0.098 in) shorter trigger reach from the back of the grip and the heel of the pistol is shortened by 4 mm (0.16 in) for the full-sized framed Glock 20 and 21. The reduction in the heel of the Glock 29 and 30 is not as pronounced ·        Glock 25 or 28 pistols are not available to the general public in the United States, because a small pistol chambered for the .380 ACP cartridge does not meet the "sporting purposes" criteria for importation of pistols under the Gun Control Act of 1968, according to the BATFE's point system.[59]
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