The above image has been floating around on google for years but is of unknown origin. Even the caption states “No additional data was available at the time this edition went to press.” It might possibly be an entry from a gun digest but I’ve not been able to confirm it.

Not much info is available regarding the pictured model 82, but I have recently been translating a book called “Die Weiterentwicklung” which happens to have a long section on the early development of Glock. This is likely the only published source of early history written with input from actual employees.

It turns out that the model 82 was made in 1982 and was the prototype used for testing and the Austrian Army trials that preceded the acceptance of the P80 as the new military handgun. The text differs some in how many were produced but it does appear that this was the first standard production Glock ever made. No more than twenty total guns were produced and evidently these were later gifted to various parties involved in the handgun’s development.

In the last year, I’ve heard two different instances where a model 82 was rumored to be imported into the US–Both from different, unrelated sources and referring to different times, but both thought that serial number A2 was the gun acquired. I’m highly skeptical that either was more than a rumor as none have appeared anywhere in print or for sale stateside. And the serial just so happens to be the number that is pictured in the Die W. text.

As you can see in both sets of pictures, the prototype is very similar (if not the same) as the final production gun. Die W. states that the serial range was a single letter followed by a single digit and that they only produced the A and B versions, thus the limit of 20 possible pistols. It is believed that they did not even use all twenty possible combinations.

This pistol might actually be the true holy grail of Glock collections though it’s not as well known as the Gen 1 19. Since none have ever publicly changed hands, we really have no idea how much one might sell for, but I would put an estimate at $25,000 to $50,000. This is one I definitely hope to add to my personal collection one day!

~ThatGlockGuy