Glock 17 Gen 4/L131A1 pistol

The Glock 17 Gen 4 was brought into service, replacing the venerable Browning L9A1 after over 40 years in the MOD inventory. The MOD signed a £9m contract with the Viking Arms to provide the armed forces with more than 25,000 Glock 17 pistols and holsters. The Glock 17 was delivered first to troops serving in Afghanistan in January 2013 before being rolled out throughout all arms of the services. 

The Glock has several advantages over the Browning. It is much lighter, more accurate and has an increased magazine capacity of 17 rounds plus, compared to the 13 rounds in the Browning. The Glock has improved safety features too.

It lacks the traditional 'on-off' safety lever. Instead it uses Glock's very own 'Safe Action'. This enables the user to to draw and fire the weapon more quickly as well as being safer to carry than it's predecessors. 

The Glock 17 is a 9 mm short recoil operated, semi automatic pistol. The majority of the gun is made from 'Polymer 2', a nylon based polymer blend. This makes the gun very resistant to salt water and corrosion, and has helped build it's reputation to be very durable and resilient. This polymer is does not reflect light, is much lighter and easier to machine than traditional metals used in gun production.

Produced by the Austrian manufacturer Glock Ges. m.b.H. The first Glock fire arm entered service with the Austrian military & Police in 1982. After it was the top performer in government tests, for reliability and safety. Glock pistols are now used in over 48 countries.

The company's founder, head engineer Glaston Glock, had no previous experience with gun design or manufacture. however he had extensive expertise in advanced synthetic polymers. This was instrumental in the company's design of the first commercially successful line of pistols with a polymer frame. The Glock 17 is so named as it was the 17th patent procured by the company. There are now many variants of Glock pistols.

The Gen 4, Glock's 4th generation of the 17 was announced in early 2010. It featured updates centred on ergonomics and recoil spring assembly. The dual spring system helps to reduce perceived recoil and increase service life expectancy.

Caliber  9 mm

Cartridge 9 mm x 19 mm Parabellum

Length 202 mm 

Barrel Length  114 mm

Unloaded weight  625 g 

Magazine capacity  17 , with options for 19, 33 and more rounds.