Components of a Glock Pistol

• The Glock 9mm is a common police weapon. police image by Robert Grzywaczewski from Fotolia.com

  The Glock is an Austrian 9 mm pistol that has become famous as a standard police-issue sidearm in the United States. The Glock is made of a combination of metal and plastic polymers, and is lightweight and durable. Some people think that because the Glock is a "plastic" gun, it is invisible to x-rays and metal detectors. This is a myth. The Glock contains a lot of metal, and the dense plastic is visible on x-ray security equipment.

Slide and Barrel

• The slide on a Glock pistol is on top of the barrel, and contains the hammer and spring. When the gun fires, the recoil throws back the slide, opening the chamber for the spent shell to escape the barrel. When the spring pushes the slide forward again it chambers the next round, cocks the hammer and returns the trigger to the firing position. When unloading the Glock, always pull back the slide after removing the magazine to ensure that the chamber is empty.

  There are many variations on the Glock, but the standard Glock 17 has a 4.49-inch-long barrel. It has hexagonal rifling that twists to the right, and a twist length of 9.84 inches. The length between the sights is 6.49 inches.

Safety

• Unlike many pistols, the Glock has no external safety switch. It uses a three-part internal safety to ensure that the gun can only be fired by a deliberate trigger pull. First, a small lever that's a component of the trigger prevents the trigger from moving unless the lever is depressed. Second, a spring-loaded pin attached to the trigger assembly and the firing pin prevents the striker from hitting the cartridge unless the trigger is pulled. Another safety mechanism locks the striker in place from behind until the trigger is pulled. These safety features mean the gun will only go off if the trigger is pulled, never if it's dropped or otherwise mishandled. However, the absence of an external safety means that, as with any firearm, the user needs to be careful to keep her finger away from the trigger when handling the gun.

Maagzine

• The standard Glock 19 has a 15-round magazine in the grip, and chambers 9 mm rounds. A thumb-press button on the grip releases the magazine. The Glock 19, a more compact version of the Glock 17, has a capacity of 15 rounds.

Trigger

• The trigger on a standard Glock 17 has a pull force of about 5.5 lbs., and a travel distance of half an inch. Pulling the trigger disengages all three safeties.