So I wanted to keep this trend going for a bit. Tonights bit from the back of the gun safe is one variant of a gun that there are many of, but you would be hard pressed to find this exact version, And while I may sound like the Corvette collector here who nitpicks the slightest variant in their car, this is one that I've personally never seen another one besides mine in person.
What I have here is a Glock 17L. When I got to high school and started getting into competitive shooting my father decided to start me off with GSSF Shoots which we did through the summer at our local range just south of Chicago Illinois. My dad would shoot his 3rd gen 17L while I was usually shooting a 3rd gen 17C. I ended up shooting his 17L and loving it so he looked for a while and found one at a gun show for me. Him and I drove up to the show and picked it up and I started using it instead.
A few years down the road I had ended up trading a Smith and Wesson M&P 9MM Compact for a Winchester 9422M XTR. When I showed the Winchester to my dad he immediately fell in love with it and offered me my old competition gun back.
While Glock 17L's are rare in their own right this is one of the absolute unicorn guns. When Glock first made the 17L's it was towards a transition period from the Gen-1 to the Gen-2 frame, So Glock only manufactured about 1000-1500 on the Gen-1 frame, and of those I believe there are only about 2000 or so still in circulation. This one is Serialized in the Sub 500 range, It still includes what they called the "Weekend" adjustable target sights directly from Glock. The Front slide was cut out for weight reduction and the trigger was set at about 3.5 pounds from the factory.
So why didn't this awesome gun ever take off? In the late 80's and early 90's competition circuits the 17L Dominated, So much that it was almost an unfair advantage so the rules ended up needing to be changed. (Reminds me of racing circuits and the superbirds being disqualified by rule changes) In the end Glock ended up making the 34 to fit within the correct qualifications and they kept the 17L as a rare variant that every few years they would import a few thousand into the US.
So, if you've made it this far leave a comment, let me know your thoughts and tell me what you want to see next.
What I have here is a Glock 17L. When I got to high school and started getting into competitive shooting my father decided to start me off with GSSF Shoots which we did through the summer at our local range just south of Chicago Illinois. My dad would shoot his 3rd gen 17L while I was usually shooting a 3rd gen 17C. I ended up shooting his 17L and loving it so he looked for a while and found one at a gun show for me. Him and I drove up to the show and picked it up and I started using it instead.
A few years down the road I had ended up trading a Smith and Wesson M&P 9MM Compact for a Winchester 9422M XTR. When I showed the Winchester to my dad he immediately fell in love with it and offered me my old competition gun back.
While Glock 17L's are rare in their own right this is one of the absolute unicorn guns. When Glock first made the 17L's it was towards a transition period from the Gen-1 to the Gen-2 frame, So Glock only manufactured about 1000-1500 on the Gen-1 frame, and of those I believe there are only about 2000 or so still in circulation. This one is Serialized in the Sub 500 range, It still includes what they called the "Weekend" adjustable target sights directly from Glock. The Front slide was cut out for weight reduction and the trigger was set at about 3.5 pounds from the factory.
So why didn't this awesome gun ever take off? In the late 80's and early 90's competition circuits the 17L Dominated, So much that it was almost an unfair advantage so the rules ended up needing to be changed. (Reminds me of racing circuits and the superbirds being disqualified by rule changes) In the end Glock ended up making the 34 to fit within the correct qualifications and they kept the 17L as a rare variant that every few years they would import a few thousand into the US.
So, if you've made it this far leave a comment, let me know your thoughts and tell me what you want to see next.
