The Glock 17 is the most widely used pistol made by Glock. It's a 9mm pistol, and was designed in 1980 by Gaston Glock. The Glock 17 uses Glock's trademark polymer construction, so while the gun is lightweight, it still has a 3 ton crush weight; the synthetic is actually stronger than steel while being 86% lighter. The G17 is constructed from a steel slide mounted on a polymer frame with alloy inserts. It's also noted as a highly reliable gun, probably due to its low number of parts - a total of only 33 individual components.

The Glock 17 is noted for enduring a severe set of torture tests. Glock wasn't nice to their gun during testing, however the G17 survived every test. In one test, the gun was filled with sand and subsequently fired. It managed to fire the round with no problems. In another test, the Glock 17 was frozen in a block of ice, chipped out, and fired. Again, it fired without a hitch.

For evaluation by the U.S. Navy SEAL Team, a modified firing pin assembly was constructed for the Glock 17, and another test was conducted by firing the gun underwater. Only the Glock 17 was intended to use the modified assembly for aquatic firing, and was explicitly designed to fire while fully submerged underwater. So while any Glock will fire underwater, doing so improperly can generate excessive internal pressure causing the pistol to, quite literally, explode - taking your hand along with it. Don't do it.

This pistol appeared in 1983, winning a contract to supply the Austrian Army. Since then it has become enormously popular with police officers, particularly in the U.S.A. and has also seen military adoption in several other countries.

It is a self-cocking automatic using a locked breech relying on the Browning tilting barrel. It is about 40% plastic. There are two varient models; the 17L with a longer (153mm) barrel, giving an overall length of 225mm and a weight of 666g. The 19 is the same but in 'compact' form, barrel 102mm, overall 174mm, weight 595g.

Cartridge 9mm Parabellum

Dimensions

Length o/a: 185mm (7.28in)

Barrel: 114mm (4.5in)

Weight: 620g (21.8oz)

Rifling: hexagonal, rh

Magazine Capacity: 17 rounds

Markings

'GLOCK 17 AUSTRIA 9X19' on left hand side of slide. Serial no. on right hand side of slide.

Safety

There are no manual safety devices; a trigger safety bar protrudes from the trigger face and is automatically pressed in when taking pressure on the trigger. This unlocks an internal safety device, and further pressure on the trigger cocks the striker and then releases it.

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