British Army switching over to the Glock 17

[commando552]

I would personally rather have a SIG than a Glock, but i can understand their decision. First off you have the bottom line that the Glock is cheaper. I would also say that it is more idiot proof for a mass issue service weapon than the SIG requiring less training, along with less to possible go wrong.

The Glock is also arguably tougher and more reliable than the SIG, and I think this is one of the underlying reasons for not going for a proper order of P226s. The current UOR P226s that the UK got are absolutely knackered, and the magazines in particular cannot be filled to capacity or else they bind up and fail to feed. This is mostly due to the fact that the pistols have been intensively used and shared around, and the magazines were commercial OTS rather than mil-spec, but it still may have left a bad impression in terms of durability.

[SPEMack618]

Yes, yes the Glock is a good weapon. And yes it is cheap.

But is anyone else just a tad nostalgic about the Hi-Power going away?

[funkychinaman]

The British seem to drag their feet when it comes to sidearms. They stuck with the Webley and Enfield into the sixties, well after most countries had switched to automatics.

Are officers still expected to purchase their own sidearms? If not, is that still even an option?

[commando552]

Originally Posted by SPEMack618

Yes, yes the Glock is a good weapon. And yes it is cheap.

But is anyone else just a tad nostalgic about the Hi-Power going away?

I loved the Browning, all the photos that were comparing the old L9A1 to the Glock did was get me to remember how great the Hi-Power was (assuming you can get a friendly armourer to "accidentally" remove the magazine safety).

Originally Posted by funkychinaman

The British seem to drag their feet when it comes to sidearms. They stuck with the Webley and Enfield into the sixties, well after most countries had switched to automatics.

Are officers still expected to purchase their own sidearms? If not, is that still even an option?

No, the only pistol you will ever have in the British forces is an issued one. Seeing as how all pistols are 99.9% illegal in the UK for private ownership, that system wouldn't really work anymore.