Glock 17

Austria's polymer-frame, striker-fired service pistol, fielded by militaries and law enforcement across the globe and a defining firearm of the polymer-pistol era.

Overview

The Glock 17 is a 9×19mm semi-automatic pistol built on a polymer frame and a striker-fired Safe Action trigger system. With a standard 17-round magazine and a weight under a kilogram, it is one of the most widely issued handguns in the world — adopted as a primary sidearm by dozens of armed forces, special operations units and police agencies. The current fifth-generation model incorporates an nDLC finish, a flared magazine well, an ambidextrous slide-stop lever, a no-groove grip and a Glock Marksman barrel, all of which are detailed on the Glock Gen5 product page.

Development

Glock introduced the original G17 in the early 1980s, winning the Austrian Army’s handgun contract and entering Austrian service in 1982. The pistol’s polymer frame and striker-fired action — novel at the time — quickly attracted international attention, and the G17 was adopted by numerous NATO and allied forces over the following decades. The Gen5 generation, launched in 2017, consolidated years of incremental improvements and aimed squarely at military end-users. Changes such as the nDLC coating, the removal of finger grooves, the addition of ambidextrous slide-stop levers and the flared magazine well are identified as key Gen5 features by Police1. The UK designated its Gen5 pistols as the L131A1, while many NATO special forces have also standardised on the G17.

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