In the early 1980s, the Austrian military department, in order to replace Austria's obsolete models of pistols, announced a tender for the development of a new simple, effective and reliable model of short-barreled weapons.

Such well-known manufacturers of weapons as "Beretta", "Fabrique Nationale", "Heckler & Koch", and "Sig-Sauer" took part in the struggle for the prospective order, among which there was, before that, not known in the field of small arms production, the firm " Glock GmbH ".

At that time, a small firm Glock GmbH was owned by engineer Gaston Glock, who founded it by himself in 1963 in the town of Deutsch-Wagram near Vienna. Initially, Glock was engaged in the production of machines for completely peaceful purposes and later retrained into a manufacturer of military products - combat knives, trencher tools, sapper shovels, spare parts for machine guns, hand grenades and cartridge belts. In the course of his activity, Glock graduated from the Ferghana Higher Weapons and Technical School and decided to try his hand at the weapons field. In the mid-1970s, Gaston Glock confronted his designers with the task of creating the ideal pistol, which was supposed to be as simple to handle and maintain as possible, to have a small mass, to have high reliability and firepower. 

As a result, Glock GmbH presented a sample of a 9-mm pistol, called Glock 17, for a contest for a new pistol for the Austrian army. In May 1982, according to the results of tests, the Glock 17 pistol was adopted by the Austrian army under the designation P80.

The new gun proved to be extremely reliable and convenient, lightweight and durable, having a simple design. It consists of only 34 parts and can be completely dismantled in less than one minute by means of a hairpin or nail. The main feature of the Glock 17 pistol was that its frame, together with the handle and trigger guard, as well as a number of small parts, were made of high-strength, heat-resistant (up to 200 ° C) plastic. The second feature was the absence of the flag of the safety and the trigger. 

Automation Glock 17 works by giving the barrel at its short flow. Locking of the barrel bore is carried out due to the occurrence of the upper protrusion of the barrel into the opening of the shutter casing. Unlocking the bore of the barrel is carried out by lowering its breech part downwards with the help of the lower inflow of the breach and the axis during the recoil of the barrel. The bolt is made of steel by the method of high-precision casting and subjected to special treatment to increase the corrosion and wear resistance with a special covering of the Tennifer. The barrel inside has a hexagonal cutting and chamber, outside - a cylindrical surface and a square breech block that has a ledge above the shape of the upper part of the shutter casing opening for removing the cartridge cases, and below the tide with a figured notch for contact with the axis of the frame and bevel for the direction of the cartridge from the magazine to the chamber. 

In the lower part of the chamber, there is a valve that ensures the escape of the powder gases that burst into the handle of the pistol when the pressure in the barrel is exceeded by 150-200%. The shutter-cover is U-shaped.

The frame of the pistol together with the grip and trigger guard is made of high-strength polymer material (plastic) in the form of a monocoque, which ensures the strength of the structure and some softening of the effect of recoil. The guide frames, along which the steel shutter-bold moves, are reinforced with steel inserts. The grip of the gun is part of the frame, which provides its relatively small size and convenient shape for a two-row high-capacity magazine. The angle of inclination of the grip to the axis of the barrel bore is 108 °. Early pistol releases had grips with flat cheeks and grooved front and back surfaces. Pistols of later releases received recesses under the fingers on the front side of the grip and small "shelves" under the thumb on their sides, as well as guides for attaching accessories (laser pointer, flashlight, etc.) on the frame under the barrel. 

The shape of the front bend of the trigger guard is designed to superimpose the index finger of the second hand when firing from two hands. The front face of the trigger guard is corrugated for better stability of the weapon in the hand when firing.

Power gun ammunition is carried out from a detachable box magazine with a two-row arrangement of 17 cartridges in checkerboard order. Although regular magazines are designed for 17 cartridges of ammunition, it is possible to use magazines with capacities of 10 and 33 cartridges.  

The magazine latch is located at the junction of the trigger guard with the handle and pressed forward. 

As the cartridges are used up in the magazine, the shroud-bolt remains in the rear position at the gate delay, the head of which is displayed on the left side of the frame above the handle. The lock of the barrel with its lever is on the left side of the frame above the trigger. 

The gun does not have a manual safety key but is equipped with an integrated safety system consisting of three independently operating automatic safeguard, which is switched off only when the trigger is pressed. It includes the following safeguard: trigger guard. It is located on the trigger, blocks it and prevents it from moving backward. Turns off only when you press the trigger with a strong finger; safeguard. He blocks the firing pin. It is turned off by a special projection on the pull rod with the trigger pressed; shatterproof safeguard. It is decorated in the form of a cross-shaped protrusion on the pull rod, which one side is in the figure opening of the bolt frame in the upper position. Before the shot, a special protrusion on the back of the striker is in jamming with the prong at the end of the pull rod. 

The trigger mechanism of the shock type with the preliminary cocking of the drummer of the so-called Safe Action, with 3 automatic safeguards. The special feature of the Safe Action is that during the recharge cycle of the pistol the drummer is cocked only partially, while it is blocked with an automatic safeguard. The drumming is only performed when the trigger is pressed, and the hammer remains blocked from moving forward until the trigger is fully squeezed out. The release force is adjustable from 2.5 to 5 kgf by replacing the spring. Thus, it is possible to achieve a monotonous effort on the trigger from the first to the last shot, which positively affects the accuracy of the shooting. 

The trigger works as follows. When you press the trigger, the release trigger is first depressed. With further pulling the trigger, a special protrusion on the pull rod raises the safeguard upward and releases the channel through which the firing pin moves. The rear end of the pull rod has a cross-shaped and one side of the "cross" lies in the figure window of the shutter frame in the upper position. The rear end of the pull rod has a cross-shaped shape and one side of the "cross" lies in the figure opening of the bolt frame in the upper position. When the weapon is ready to be fired, a special protrusion on the back of the firing pin meshes with the prong at the end of the pull rod. When you pull the trigger, the trigger rod moves back and adds the piercing spring. At the last stage of the movement, the pull rod rests against the uncoupler and descends to the lower position, the firing pin is released and moves forward under the action of the battle spring and breaks the capsule. There is a shot. During the working cycle, the notch on the inside of the bolt moves and releases the pull rod from engagement with the uncoupler, allows it to rise to the upper position under the action of the trigger spring, and the prong at its end again engages the protrusion at the end of the firing pin. As the pull rod pulls forward, the firing pin spring returns to its normal state, and the safeguard resumes its action. 

Sight open devices are mounted on a flat upper surface of the bolt-casing and include a foresight and a replaceable permanent sight, installed in a transverse groove such as "swallowtail". The foresight is equipped with a luminous point, and the rectangular slit of the sight is framed by a luminous frame. The sight can be replaced with adjustable, but for military pistols, it is not practiced. On the "sports" models (for example Glock 17L) can be installed adjustable rear sight and foresight. 

The outer shell and the frame of the gun can be made of plastic of different colors. The most famous is the classic black, there is also a variant in camouflage performance. In the manufacture of parts subjected to the greatest load, the plastic is reinforced with metal plates. The guide frames, along which the bolt-cover moves, are reinforced with steel inserts. 

At the bottom of the frame is a small metal plate, on which the serial number of the pistol is stamped.

The main advantages of Glock 17:

 - High resistance to corrosion, thanks to the use of a special Glock patented technology of barrel processing and a large number of polymer parts.

 - Effective use of weapons in virtually all climatic zones, with the exception of the extreme north and zones with a sharply continental climate in which the air temperature can drop below -40 ° C.

 - Smooth recoil and high accuracy of shooting, thanks to the use of a large number of polymer parts.

 - Smaller than similar class pistols, weight due to the body and the frame of the pistol made of plastic.

 - High wear resistance of components and mechanisms. The barrel before burning allows producing 300-350 thousand shots (an average value for other pistols is 40-50 thousand shots). 

 - Bringing into combat position does not require switching of any safeguard.

 - Declared by the manufacturer the possibility of shooting in an aquatic environment without damage to the gun when changing the return spring.

 - The gun is easily disassembled for cleaning and technical maintenance without using the special equipment.

Disadvantages:

 - The small area of the guides causes their relatively rapid wear, which leads to the appearance of a side play of the gate casing, and as a consequence, to a decrease in the accuracy of the shooting.

 - It is possible that when worn in the pocket for a long time without regular maintenance, small debris can jam the hammer stop lever, which will lead to the impossibility of a shot. But, according to some sources, this event is too unlikely to affect the actual combat capability of the pistol.

 - Due to the use of polymeric materials, the gun becomes more brittle at temperatures below -40 ° C, which can lead to cracks on the receiver and frame under mechanical influences. At high temperatures - over 200 ° C - there may be a deformation of the plastic components of the gun.

 - In the Glock technical recommendations, the operating temperature range is from -40 to +200 ° C, and using a gun outside this temperature range may damage its main blocks and components.

 - With prolonged use, microcracks appear due to the "fatigue" of the plastic.

 - The cover is removed from the bolt casing, which gives the weapon a sloppy look.

 - To the drawbacks of this design is sometimes attributed to the inability to repeatedly shoot a cartridge that misfired.

Special features:

 A widely-advertised feature of the Glock 17 pistol was its ability to shoot underwater when the pistol is equipped with a special reinforced return spring. 

This effect is achieved due to the strength of the barrel and simple and reliable automatics that do not use sophisticated gas exhaust systems, and replacing the standard return spring with a reinforced one allows to return the bolt back to the combat position and with a significantly increased resistance of the medium. The practical value of this ability is not great - this is because of the fact that in water the bullet energy is quenched very quickly due to the high density of the medium, and the effective range of fire does not exceed 1-2 meters. But, despite the low efficiency of the pistol in this situation, the very presence of this ability testifies to the high reliability and wear resistance of units and mechanisms, the preservation of the combat capability of the weapon in conditions of any, as much as possible high humidity and even the possibility of firing when there is water in the trunk channel, that many other models of pistols can lead to deformation of the trunk or to serious damage to units and aggregates of weapons.

Myths:

 - Glock 17 is not detectable by metal detectors because of the significant use of polymers in the structure. 

There is a widely held misconception that because of the widespread use of polymers in the Glock 17 design, the "plastic gun" is not detectable by metal detectors. This error was refuted, including personally by Gaston Glock himself. Despite the extensive use of polymers, the mass of metal components in the gun is about 400 grams. 

 - Glock 17 has a high brittleness.

There is also a false myth about the high fragility of the pistol: ostensibly if you drop the gun on a hard surface, then it can crack. In fact, cracks and deformations of plastic components can occur under mechanical stress, but, as a rule, at temperatures below -40 ° C or with pronounced mechanical influences that would lead to deformation and destruction of guns made of conventional materials.

Records:

Glock 17 is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as a pistol, subjected to the most severe tests and retained after that combat capability. It is capable of firing from under water, in conditions of heavy dusting, in mud, in conditions of any humidity, after extraction from liquid mud and sand.

Outcome:

This gun is a typical weapon of self-defense. The maximum aiming range is 50 meters, for effective shooting at this distance requires a good rifle training and experience with the weapon from which the shooting is fired. On average, Glock 17 is most effective at a distance of 20-25 m, thanks to the fact that even a poorly trained shooter is able to hit the target at such a distance. The initial speed of the bullet fired from Glock 17 at the barrel cut is 350-360 m/s. The muzzle energy is in average 500 J. These characteristics determine the field of application of this weapon model.