Glock 17 Gen 5(9mm)

In 1980, theAustrian Armed Forcesannounced that it would seek tenders for a new, modern duty pistol to replace theirWorld War II–eraWalther P38handguns.^[10]The Federal Ministry of Defence of Austria formulated a list of 17 criteria for the new generation service pistol, including requirements that it would beself loading; fire theNATO-standard9×19 mm Parabellumround; the magazines were not to require any means of assistance for loading; be secure againstaccidental dischargefrom shock, strike, and drop from a height of 2 m onto a steel plate.^[5]After firing 15,000 rounds of standard ammunition, the pistol was to be inspected for wear. The pistol was to then be used tofireanoverpressuretest cartridge generating 5,000 bar (500 MPa; 73,000 psi).^{[dubious–discuss]}The normal maximum operating pressure (P_max) for the 9mm NATO is 2,520 bar (252 MPa; 36,500 psi).^[11]

Glock became aware of theAustrian Army‘s planned procurement, and in 1982 assembled a team of Europe’s leading handgun experts from military, police, and civilian sport-shooting circles to define the most desirable characteristics in a combat pistol.^[5]Within three months, Glock developed a working prototype that combined proven mechanisms and traits from previous pistol designs.^[12]In addition the plan was to make extensive use of synthetic materials and modern manufacturing technologies, which lead to the Glock 17 becoming a cost-effective candidate.

Several samples of the 9×19mm Glock 17 (so named because it was the 17th patent procured by the company^[13]) were submitted for assessment trials in early 1982, and after passing all of the exhaustive endurance and abuse tests, the Glock emerged as the winner.^[14][15][16]

The handgun was adopted into service with the Austrian military and police forces in 1982 as the P80 (Pistole 80),^[17]with an initial order for 25,000 guns.^[12]The Glock 17 outperformed eight different pistols from five other established manufacturers (Heckler & Kochof Germany offered theirP7M8,P7M13, andP9S,SIG Sauerof Switzerland bid with theirP220andP226models,Berettaof Italy submitted their model92SB-F,FN Herstalproposed an updated variant of theBrowning Hi-Power, and the home-grownSteyr Mannlicherentered the competition with theGB).^[18]

The results of the Austrian trials sparked a wave of interest in Western Europe and overseas, particularly in the United States, where a similar effort to select a service-wide replacement for theM1911had been going on since the late 1970s (known as theJoint Service Small Arms Program). In late 1983, theUnited States Department of Defenseinquired about the Glock pistol and received four samples of the Glock 17 for unofficial evaluation.^[19]Glock was then invited to participate in the XM9 Personal Defense Pistol Trials, but declined because the DOD specifications would require extensive retooling of production equipment and providing 35 test samples in an unrealistic time frame.^[19]

After joint Norwegian and Swedish trials in 1983–1985, in 1985 the Glock 17 was accepted into service as the P80 with theNorwegianand in 1988 as thePistol 88with theSwedisharmed forces, surpassing all prior NATO durability standards.^[20][21][19]As a result, the Glock 17 became a standard NATO-classified sidearm and was granted aNATO Stock Number(1005-25-133-6775).^[19]By 1992, some 350,000 pistols had been sold in more than 45 countries, including 250,000 in the United States alone.^[17]

Starting in 2013 theBritish Armed Forcesbegan replacing theBrowning Hi-Powerpistol with the Glock 17 Gen 4, due to concerns about weight and the external safety of the Hi-Power.^[22]The British preferred the Glock 17 Gen 4 over theBeretta Px4 Storm,FN FNP,Heckler & Koch P30,SIG Sauer P226,Smith & Wesson M&P, andSteyr M9A1of which 19 pistols each, all chambered in 9×19mm Parabellum, where trailed in the R9GSP trails.^[23][24]TheFrench Armed Forces(FAF) in 2020 began replacing theirMAC Mle 1950and to a lesser extent theirPAMAS G1pistols with Glock 17 Gen 5 models specifically made for the FAF.^[25]The French preferred the Glock 17 Gen 5 over theHS2000andCZ P-10offerings that also made it to the final selection phase.^[26]