Introduction

The Glock is a series of late Cold War era pistols of Austrian origin. The Glock 17 was developed in the 1980's for the Austrian military. The Glock has become one of the most produced pistols for civilian, law enforcement and military use.

Design

The Glock is a semi-automatic pistol that uses the short recoil mechanism, similar to the Browning High Power. The Glock is uses a polymer frame. There is no external hammer since the Glock is striker fired. Other than a trigger safety no safety functions are present.

Firepower

The original and most common model is the Glock 17 that fires the 9x19mm round from a 17 round magazine. With the exception of the Glock 18 machine pistol all Glocks are semi-automatic pistols. It is available in 9x19mm, .357 SIG, .40 S&W, 10x25mm, .45 GAP and .45 ACP. The effective range is a few dozen meters.

Users

As the design proved to be a success the Glock was widely exported to law enforcement and military users worldwide. The Glock is one of the most successful pistols in production and has conquered 65% of the US law enforcement market.

The first and baseline model of the Glock series of pistols was the full size Glock 17. The Glock 17 is chambered for the 9x19mm round. The full size model comes in a variety of calibers, of which 9x19mm and .40 S&W are most common. The dimensions of the Glock 20 and 21 are slightly larger than other full size Glock models.
Most of the Glock pistols are also available with a compensated barrel and are denoted by a C behind the model number, such as the Glock 20C.

Four decades of production

The Glock pistol is in production for almost 40 years. Over time improvements and changes have been made. Several generations of Glock can be distinguished, of which only Gen4 and Gen5 are formally identified by Glock. The most notable are listed here. Note that for some specific military or law enforcement contracts the features may differ slightly.

Gen 1

First production model that was introduced in 1982. Can be identified by the lack of accessory rails on the frame and rather smooth front and back of the pistol grip.

Gen 2

Improved production model that looks very similar to the first generation. Contains various minor interior alterations. Also lacks an accessory rail, but has a checkered front and rear grip.

Gen 3

The third generation has an improved polymer frame. An accessory rail is added to mount a laser or a light. Finger grooves and thumb rest are added to the frame. Most feature a black frame, but some are tan or olive drab.

Gen 4

New generation introduced from 2010 onward. The ergonomics of the frame are improved by reducing the grip size, new grip texture and introduction of replaceable backstraps. The magazine release is larger and reversible for left hand use. Further enhancements include a dual recoil spring.

Gen 5

Latest generation of Glock pistols introduced in 2017. First model with ambidextrous slide stop lever. The slide now also has serrations added to the front, while the frame no longer has finger grooves.