• The simple Glock pistolpistol image by Mat Hayward from Fotolia.com
  
  Glock handguns are extremely popular with law enforcement agencies, private security firms and civilian shooters. Professionals and amateurs alike are drawn to the Glock because of its reliability and quality. But another attractive feature of the Glock is its simplicity. Glock handguns can be field stripped without any special tools, and consist of six basic components: slide, barrel, recoil spring, recoil spring tube, lower receiver and magazine.
  
  

Slide

• The slide is also known as the upper receiver and houses the firing pin (the piece that strikes the primer on the bullet causing it to fire) and the extractor (which expels the empty casings from the firearm).
  
  

Barrel

• The pistol's barrel is the rifled tube through which the bullet travels after being fired.
  
  

Recoil Spring and Recoil Spring Tube

• Together these two parts make up the recoil spring assembly. The recoil spring assembly is located just beneath the barrel and returns the slide to a forward position (thereby reloading the weapon) after the bullet's recoil pushes it back.
  
  

Lower Receiver

• The lower receiver is also referred to as the grip; it houses the trigger assembly. The Glock's lower receiver is produced from a strong plastic polymer.
  
  

Magazine

• The magazine holds ammunition and feeds it into the pistol's chamber.