I awoke this morning to some great news. The UK MoD has announced that after a trial for a new service pistol consisting of 7 contenders they have chosen the Glock 17 Gen 4 to replace the Browning Hi-Power which has seen 45 years of service. The MoD has awarded a £9m contract with Viking Arms Ltd of Harrogate to provide more than 25,000 new Glock pistols and Blackhawk! holsters Radar 1957 holsters from Italy. Interestingly, the British purchased a number of SIG pistols over the past few years as an urgent requirement for use in Afghanistan.
Congrats to both Glock and our friends in the British military.
blackhawk holsters, really?
Hey, if it’s good enough for the Marines…
…and USASOC (I think they came to their senses…)
But yeah, “Glock-shot” is gonna be an increasingly prevalent injury…
Think the Brits have made a mistake. Don’t get me wrong, the Glock 17 is a good handgun. It works. I love the Browning Hi Power, have owned a few over the years. For the past 26 years I have carried first a 1911, then the Beretta M9 in the Marine Corps and a Beretta 96D and Sig 229 in law enforcement. I don’t think the Glock is a good choice for military applications. I think sticking with Sigs would have been a much better call.
radar holster,google it
No it is not blackhawk, The brand is RADAR( http://www.radar1957.com/)
Was sentenced to 6 years in England by the US Air Force and it’s unfortunate that this switch is taking place there. I am a big fan of Hi-Powers and would have loved to have seen these on the surplus market. But, knowing the UK/MOD they will all be turned in to slag no matter how much they could have got for them on the market. Socialism, no respect for the taxes collected from their Citizens or the government property purchased with it. Wait, they’re not Citizens they’re Subjects of the Crown and Parliament. We’re so lucky, that’ll never happen to us…right?
Anyone know what model SERPA that is?
Level III Holster.
It’s the Level 3 retention holster.
that’s not a SERPA but a “radar” holster,an Italian brand
Thanks for clearing that up.
Don’t see how it’s an improvement over their SIG P226 and Serpa holsters?
Less weight (12 oz. I think), easier maintenance on both user and armorer level, and less replacement parts needed to be kept in inventory. Bottom line, lower overall cost and less training needed for a weapon that’s just as reliable. Plus, love them or hate them 9mm glocks just work. Other then personal preference, there is no advantage in going with a 226 over a G17.
That looks like no Blackhawk holster I have ever seen. Even the buckles and straps are of a slightly different design. I can’t find any concrete info about it, but apparently the holster is manufactured in Italy.
Level 3 retention. In current production.
Looks like an RTI mount. Or maybe BHI “borrowed” the RTI design.
Belt Hangers are BHI, looks like a new leg shroud design. Given that it’s SHOT season, you’ll be seeing stuff that hasn’t been formally announced.
I don’t think it is, the BHI level 3 shrouds the back of the slide, and in this image you can see the entire back of the slide of the Glock meaning that it isn’t being help in any way. I suppose it is possible that it retains it on the ejection port or something but this seems overly complicated. Also the BHI level 3 has the second release on the near side of the grip, as opposed to this gun which appears to have a button above the rear sight, which is an absolutely awful position for a draw. my guess is that this button is used to rotate the holster (it clearly can rotate looking how it attaches to the leg rig) 90 degrees when you are siting in a vehicle. The hanger looks like a Serpa but it actually isn’t, there are slight differences in the webbing and the shape of the buckles. Perhaps it is a new model, but it looks so strange to me that there must be more to it than meets the eye.
this is definitely a new model of some kind and I was hoping to avoid the swarm at the Blackhawk booth looking at it if possible. I think I’ll just forward the image to my rep and see what I can get from her.
DOH! Disregard, cleared up here:
https://ssdaily.tempurl.host/2013/01/15/shot-show-radar-1957/
it is made in Italy,and the brand is radar
Man, these guys will knock anybody off. They’ve even got a knockoff of an old Predator holster from Pre-Paraclete JS Industries.
is it just me or does that holster put the gun like 3 inches away from his leg? looks like that would snag on everything.
Tooru……Is there any part of your innacurate rant you can actually back up with fact? Or do you always talk crap?
No facts needed Jim, just my opinion.
Its a promo shot Luke, leg holsters are unsuitable for the nature of patrolling in say Afghanistan. its just to show it off.
There are pros and cons to all this.
For one, of late the MoD has been a tad frivolous with its spending, and the way I see it introducing two pistols to replace one (however outdated) follows suit.
On the other hand, I do see the need to replace the L9A1. In the sandbox they become a chore to operate and I’ve heard a few people complain of hammer bite (although how much of the latter in technique is debatable). The SIG P226 and Glock surpass the Browning in both of these areas.
Which is the better pistol? I suppose the decision rests on your unit commander and which one he chooses for you. If it were up to me, I’d have my men and I use something in .45 ACP instead of 9mm
Its come down to cost and the positive safety issue Toby. Glocks the cheaper option.
Exactly it’s all about money! I’m a Glock, Sig & BHP fan I’m also an Armourer for all of them. Other then you Yanks lol, most other cultures are not hand gunners! The establishment doesn’t care, they’ll go with the cheapest. It’s just fortunate the cheapest is still very good. I hope the holster will be a safe system to go with the Glock. But I’m sure something will come out 2 or 3 years after they are issued to either always carry with chamber empty or another holster system will come out. If they are like the Cdns the pistols go to people (non combat arms) based on trade and rank not competence.
I hope the MOD will sell off the Hi-Powers here in the US, I’d buy two! Then maybe when the UK comes to it’s senses I can repatriate one.
Out of interest, does anyone know what the other contenders were?