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 the M1911 had been ongoing since the late 1970s (known as the Joint Service Small Arms Program). In late 1983, the United States Department of Defense inquired about the Glock pistol and received four samples of the Glock 17 for unofficial evaluation. Glock was then invited to participate in the XM9 Personal Defence 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.
Given the Glock 17’s radical (for that time) design, would there have been any realistic chance for it in those trials?
Considering that the Glock is a striker-fired weapon with no traditional mechanical safety, would it have met the JSSAP requirements of the early 1980’s?
Well as a long time member of a very low speed high drag unit I can safely safe the Glock makes a fine weapon. It holds the lid closed on my donut box, keepin’ all those nasty little sprinkles from flyin’ ‘round inside the car, gettin’ all over everything and making the boss mad…
