POTD: Glock's Limited French Contract Run
In 2020, the French Armed Forces selected the Glock 17 Gen5 as their new standard service pistol, naming it PANG for Pistolet Automatique de Nouvelle Génération. Over the next two years, Glock delivered 74,596 examples in coyote-colored polymer frames and black slides, each marked with Austrian coat-of-arms engravings and fitted with luminescent U-notch sights. This single procurement modernized a force still carrying MAC 1950s and license-produced Beretta 92Fs - a four-decade equipment gap finally closed.
Glock then made a calculated move. For the European civilian market starting in June 2021, they released the G17 Gen5 FR Coyote as a limited-edition run of approximately 150 units. Same coyote frame. Same luminescent sights. Same lanyard loop. Same extended slide lock.
Just numbered and cased differently. For collectors chasing military heritage without the serial-number mystique, that brief civilian window closed quickly.
Finding one today means finding not just a rare gun, but a tangible artifact of 21st-century NATO modernization. The question is: Is it rare and interesting enough? Have your say in the comments. If you ask me, I’d pay a premium to “avoid” another black Glock. I mean, someone might actually ask me a question about it at the range.
Photo: GlockStore
Ex-Arctic Ranger. Competitive practical shooter and hunter with a European focus. Always ready to increase my collection of modern semi-automatics, optics, thermals and suppressors. TCCC Certified. Occasionaly seen in a 6x6 Bug Out Vehicle, always with a big smile.
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It's just another glock.
If you want different colors spray paint is like 5$
How many billion-gazillion-jillion euros did they spend selecting it?
It angers me still that the US Army wasted money on a pistol procurement that could have been decided with a coin toss at the local gun store and a link to Midway or Palmetto State. How much money would have been saved by accepting the M9A3 or the Glock 17/19? You want a different color frame and slide? Done. You want a barrel for suppressor use? Done. More capacity? Done.
We did not need a new handgun that still launches the same bullets. What we need was replenishment of a proven design. Some high-temp spray paint and extended magazines would have solved the desires for colors and capacity. Or, just buy some Glocks.
The neat thing about both of those options is that neither includes the uncommanded discharges.