Early Italian Glocks
How Italian Law Created Some of the Rarest Glock Variants in the World
June 2026
In 1987, you could buy a Glock 17 in many countries around the world, but you could not buy one in Italy. The reason was a single line in Italian public security law: civilians could not own firearms chambered in military calibers, and 9×19mm Parabellum, the world’s most popular handgun cartridge, was on the list. So Glock did something most manufacturers wouldn’t bother with for a market the size of Italy: it built them a different gun.
In the spring of that year, a woman named Cristina Lefebvre submitted an application to the Italian government office and registered the result. The pistol was a Glock 17, but chambered in 9×21 IMI, a cartridge ballistically identical to 9×19 with a case 2mm longer, just different enough on paper to satisfy Italian regulators. Lefebvre was the legal representative of a small Milanese company called AL.GI.MEC. S.r.l., Glock’s new Italian distributor. Behind the company was Alfonso Giambelli, who would become the central figure in Glock’s Italian story. What Lefebvre registered that day, catalog entry #5180, published in the Gazzetta Ufficiale on April 29, 1987, marked the beginning of one of the most unusual chapters in Glock production history.[1][2]
The Italian firearms press took notice immediately. The Glock 17 in 9×21 made its public Italian debut at EXA, the Brescia sporting arms trade show, in early 1987. The March 1987 cover of diana-ARMI, Italy’s leading sporting arms magazine, featured both the new Glock and the Algimec AGM-1 (a rare bullpup carbine of Giambelli’s own design). In October 1987, diana-ARMI published a six-page evaluation by writer Vittorio Balzi: one of the first detailed Italian-language assessments of the pistol.[13]
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Figure 1: Two diana-ARMI magazine covers announcing the Italian-market launch. Left: the March 1987 issue (N.3), with the Algimec AGM-1 bullpup carbine (top) and the Glock 17 in 9×21 IMI (right)—the two firearms most closely associated with Alfonso Giambelli. Right: the October 1987 issue (N.10), carrying Vittorio Balzi’s six-page review of the Glock 17 in 9×21, with AN771 as the test pistol depicted; CAT.5180 is visible on the slide.
The First Three Prefixes Tell The Story
Glock’s Italian production quickly expanded across three serial number prefixes, each marking a distinct phase. The AN prefix (1987) is the launch: a single batch of Glock 17 Gen1 pistols in 9×21, produced for the initial catalog registration. The EN prefix (c. 1988–1991) is the Gen2 expansion: the catalog grew to include the 17L and 19, all in 9×21, and EN became the workhorse prefix for Italy’s commercial market. The XB prefix (early 1990s) is the caliber diversification: as Glock’s broader lineup arrived—the 20, 21, 22, 23—the Italian market needed solutions for .45 ACP and .40 S&W as well, and the result is the most varied of the three prefixes, spanning four calibers and at least five models.
The First Italian Glocks: The AN Prefix
The earliest Glocks to reach the Italian civilian market were Glock 17 Gen1 pistols produced under the AN serial number prefix. To understand why these guns exist at all, a brief detour into Italian law is necessary. Italy prohibited civilian ownership of firearms in military calibers—and 9×19mm Parabellum, as the standard NATO sidearm cartridge, was on that list. The solution was the 9×21 IMI, a cartridge developed by Israel Military Industries that was ballistically identical to 9×19 but with a case 2mm longer, making it legally distinct under Italian law.[1] The AN prefix is Glock’s prototyping and initial market-entry prefix, used across multiple models and countries. But a cluster of AN prefix guns in the high serial range—AN771 through AN990—stand apart from the rest. These are marked as Italian market, 9×21 IMI, and all confirmed examples share a single barrel date code: BTY (Apr-1987).[4]
📷 Bilde. Logg inn for å se det.Figure 2: AN834 — The lowest confirmed serial number in the AN prefix Glock 17 Gen1 in 9x21 IMI in private collection. Left: the complete pistol in its original Glock case with two magazines, loader and cleaning rod. Top right: the barrel top showing the Austrian proof mark and BTY date code (April 1987). Bottom right: barrel marking “9x21 AN834” and matching frame serial “AN834”.
The timing is not coincidental. The barrel date aligns precisely with the April 29, 1987 registration of the Glock 17 in 9×21 in the Italian catalog. Six confirmed examples are now documented: AN771, AN834, AN880, AN891, AN957, and AN990. These appear to be from the initial production batch prepared for the Italian market launch—the very first Glocks sold to Italian civilians. AN771 is the lowest serial currently confirmed in the database; it is the test pistol that Vittorio Balzi used for his October 1987 diana-ARMI review, bearing “9×21 AN771” on the barrel. Its barrel proof date code was not visible.[13]
Balzi’s review also records a detail unique to the Italian market: the Italian firearms commission (Commissione) required the standard 17-round magazine to be reduced to 15 rounds for civilian sale. Balzi incorrectly notes that the pistol’s model name derives from its original magazine capacity, a magazine capacity that Italian buyers would never see. This restriction applied across all the Italian-market AN prefix guns. Balzi lists retail prices between 1,100,000 and 1,200,000 lire ($835-$915), noting that the cost of rechambering and the magazine reduction to 9×21 spec drove the price well above what the same pistol cost in 9×19 in Britain.[13]
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Figure 3: The AN834 magazine, disassembled. Rather than a standard floor plate, a plug is inserted into the base of the magazine body (center), occupying internal space so the magazine holds 15 rounds instead of the standard 17—the capacity reduction required by the Italian Commissione for civilian sale.
These AN prefix Glock 17s are the only confirmed Gen1 model in 9x21, and the timing is revealing. The Glock 17 was registered in April 1987, during Gen1 production. The Glock 17L and Glock 19 were not registered in 9x21 until November 5, 1988 (catalog entries #5692 and #5693).[2] For the Glock 19, a Gen1 version is likely not possible as the 19’s Gen1-to-Gen2 changeover had already occurred around April 1988. The Glock 17L is a different case—the last known US 17L Gen1 carries an ED prefix dated December 1988, and the first 17L Gen2 an ED prefix dated May 1989, placing the November 1988 registration right at the tail end of the 17L’s Gen1 window. A Gen1 17L in 9x21 is therefore possible, though none has yet been identified.
| Serial Number | Proof Date | Model | Notes |
| AN771 | -- | 17.1 9x21 | Test pistol for the Oct-87 Diana-ARMI review |
| AN834 | BTY (Apr-87) | 17.1 9x21 | |
| AN880 | BTY (Apr-87) | 17.1 9x21 | |
| AN891 | BTY (Apr-87) | 17.1 9x21 | |
| AN957 | BTY (Apr-87) | 17.1 9x21 | GlockHoarder Collection |
| AN990 | BTY (Apr-87) | 17.1 9x21 |
Table 1. Confirmed AN-prefix Glock 17 Gen1 pistols in 9×21 IMI.
The EN Prefix: Italy’s First Dedicated Production Run
As Glock transitioned to Gen2 and expanded its Italian model lineup to include the 19 and 17L, production moved to a new serial number prefix: EN. The EN prefix is remarkable for several reasons. It appears to be exclusively Italian 9x21 production—unlike the AN prefix, which was shared globally. And it is a split prefix, meaning multiple models share the same serial number block. The EN prefix encompasses at least three models: the Glock 17 Gen2, Glock 19 Gen2, and Glock 17L Gen2, all in 9x21 IMI.[5]
Glock typically assigns one prefix per model, so the split prefix is itself unusual. It likely reflects the relatively low volume of Italian-specific production—not enough demand for any single model to warrant its own dedicated prefix block. The known serial range spans EN163 to EN995, with large gaps between confirmed examples.
The U.S. Naval Investigative Service in Italy
The most famous EN prefix guns are three Glock 19 Gen2 pistols documented by Peter Alan Kasler in his 1992 book Glock: The New Wave in Combat Handguns. The story involves three Special Agents of the U.S. Naval Investigative Service (NIS) who were stationed in Naples, Italy. Working undercover and often without military identification, they realized that carrying 9x19 NATO-chambered weapons would eventually cause problems—since Italian law prohibited civilians from possessing firearms in that caliber.[6]
The agents contacted Alfonso Giambelli, Glock’s representative in Milano, who relayed the request to the factory. Eventually, word came back that it could be done. Three Model 19s were produced in 9x21, bearing Italian catalog number 5693. The first went to Special Agent Guy A. Molina, whose gun is serialized EN260US; the other two are EN261US and EN262US. Kasler declares these to be “the only three such Glocks in existence.”[6]
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Figure 4: From Kasler’s Glock: The New Wave in Combat Handguns (1992): Special Agent Molina’s Model 19 in 9x21 (top left), slide markings detail (top right), and the 9x21 chamber compared to a standard 9x19 chamber (bottom).
Patrick Sweeney repeated this account in his 2008 Gun Digest Book of the Glock, calling them “the three only known factory-marked 9x21 pistols.” He added no new details but did wonder aloud whether the Navy would let the investigators keep them when they retired.[7]
Kasler’s assertion that these three pistols were unique has not held up to scrutiny. Research through Italian firearms marketplaces, auction sites, and dealer listings has identified at least nine additional EN prefix examples, including Glock 19s, Glock 17s, and a Glock 17L, all in 9x21. The serial range of confirmed commercial examples (EN163 through EN995) surrounds the NIS guns on both sides, demonstrating that EN260US, EN261US, and EN262US were part of a broader Italian commercial production run—not bespoke factory one-offs.[5]
What may be unique about the NIS guns is the “US” suffix. Every other confirmed EN prefix example is a standard Non-US Italian market gun without a suffix. If the suffix is genuine (rather than a Kasler notation), it would distinguish the NIS pistols within the prefix. This question remains open: the GunAmerica listing for EN262 (seller DOGS53) lists the serial without the “US” suffix.[8]
Dating the EN Prefix
One of the persistent challenges with EN prefix research is dating the guns. This is a problem common to all Italian 9x21 Glocks. Unlike standard 9x19 production, where proof and date codes are stamped on the side of the barrel and visible through the ejection port, every 9x21 barrel—across the AN, EN, and XB prefixes—carries its markings on the top of the barrel. This location is rarely photographed in marketplace listings, leaving most 9x21 examples undated.[5]
The proof dates for three EN prefix guns have been identified and confirmed: CDO, corresponding to October 1990. Two are Glock 17 Gen2 pistols and one is a Glock 19 Gen2. October 1990 is the only firmly established production date in the EN prefix so far; whether the prefix spans additional years remains unclear.
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Figure 5. Two EN prefix Glocks in 9×21 IMI, both carrying the CDO barrel code (October 1990). Left: EN626, a Glock 19 Gen2, slide marked “GLOCK 19 AUSTRIA CAT.5893 9×21.” Right: EN722, a Glock 17 Gen2, with “GLOCK AUSTRIA” frame marking and “EN722” on the slide. The pairing illustrates the EN prefix’s split structure—the same prefix and proof month spanning two different models.
EN479: The Ported Outlier
Perhaps the most unusual EN prefix gun surfaced in January 2026 when an Italian dynamic shooter named Brandoracing posted photographs on GlockTalk of his Glock 17L Gen2 in 9x21—serial number EN479—featuring a factory ported barrel. He had purchased it from a regular Italian gun shop approximately seventeen years earlier for about €300.[9]
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Figure 6: Brandoracing’s EN479: a Glock 17L Gen2 in 9x21 IMI with a factory ported barrel. The slide reads “GLOCK AUSTRIA 17L” and the barrel marking shows “9x21 EN479.” The only confirmed factory-ported 17L in 9x21. Courtesy of the Brandoracing collection.
Brandoracing had contacted Glock directly, and they confirmed the pistol was part of a “limited and very low number of production” but declined to provide further details. EN479 remains the only confirmed factory-ported Glock 17L in 9x21 IMI. Its barrel proof code is not known.[10]
| Serial Number | Proof Date | Model | Notes |
| EN163 | -- | 19.2 (9x21) | |
| EN260US | -- | 19.2 (9x21) | Molina's Gun (Kasler) |
| EN261US | -- | 19.2 (9x21) | NIS Agent Gun (Kasler) |
| EN262US | -- | 19.2 (9x21) | NIS Agent Gun, GA listing as EN262 |
| EN479 | -- | 17L.2 (9x21) | Ported, Brandoracing Collection |
| EN606 | -- | 19.2 (9x21) | |
| EN626 | CDO (Oct-90) | 19.2 (9x21) | |
| EN644 | -- | 19.2 (9x21) | |
| EN710 | CDO (Oct-90) | 17.2 (9x21) | Sold on GB 3/16/25 |
| EN722 | CDO (Oct-90) | 17.2 (9x21) | |
| EN844 | -- | 19.2 (9x21) | |
| EN995 | -- | 17.2 (9x21) |
Table 2. Confirmed EN prefix Glock pistols in 9×21 IMI. A split prefix spanning the Glock 17, 19, and 17L Gen2. CDO barrel codes (Oct-90) confirmed on EN626, EN710, and EN722.
The XB Prefix: Expanding the Italian Lineup
By the early 1990s, Glock had expanded well beyond the original 9mm models, and the Italian market followed suit. The XB prefix represents the next phase of Italian production and is the most diverse of the known Italian prefixes, spanning at least five models across four calibers: the Glock 19 in 9x21 IMI, the Glock 20 in 10mm Auto, the Glock 21 in .45 HP, and the Glock 22 and Glock 23 in .40 S&W. The presence of the Glock 19 in the prefix implies that a Glock 17 in 9x21 should exist as well, though none has yet been identified.
The Italian National Arms Catalog records this expansion.[2] The Glock 20 was registered in July 1990, followed on November 18, 1991, by three models in a single batch submission: the Glock 21, Glock 22, and Glock 23.
The 10mm Auto and .40 S&W were not military calibers under Italian law and required no workaround cartridge—only the chambering itself had to be cataloged. The .45 ACP, however, remained a prohibited military caliber, which gave rise to the .45 HP.
The .45 HP
The .45 HP—a cartridge with a case just 1mm shorter than .45 ACP—was created on the same principle as the 9x21 IMI: a dimensionally distinct civilian round standing in for a prohibited military one. The Glock 21 chambered in .45 HP was registered under catalog #7145, published in the Gazzetta Ufficiale (Serie generale n. 270) on November 18, 1991. Its production window was narrow, running from that registration until 1997, when the .45 ACP was finally legalized for Italian civilians. The catalog entry documents that transition directly: a note records the central advisory commission’s approval of an interchangeable .45 ACP barrel on July 9, 1997, published in the Gazzetta Ufficiale of September 11, 1997—effectively the moment the .45 HP became unnecessary.[2]
Two .45 HP examples are confirmed: XB529 and XB535, both Glock 21 Gen2 pistols sharing the NDK barrel code (March 1992). Their near-sequential serials place them in the same production batch, proofed shortly after the catalog registration. These remain the only confirmed .45 HP Glocks documented to date.[2]
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Figure 7: A Glock 21 Gen2 in .45 HP. The slide reads “GLOCK 21 AUSTRIA CAT.7145 .45 HP”—the Italian catalog number and caliber designation stamped directly on the pistol. One of only two confirmed examples in .45 HP. Courtesy of the Glockhoarder collection.
Dating the XB Prefix
Four XB examples carry confirmed barrel codes. XB529, XB535, XB592, and XB696 all bear NDK (March 1992), while XB414 carries LDK. The concentration of NDK codes across three models—the .45 HP Glock 21, the .40 S&W Glock 22, and the .40 S&W Glock 23—indicates that a substantial portion of XB production was proofed in a single month, consistent with the batch nature of the November 1991 catalog submission. As with the AN and EN prefixes, the proof markings sit on the top of the barrel and are seldom captured in marketplace photographs, leaving most XB examples undated.
| Serial Number | Proof Date | Model |
| XB016 | -- | 19.2 (9x21) |
| XB079 | -- | 20.2 (10mm) |
| XB414 | LDK (Apr-92) | 19.2 (9x21) |
| XB529 | NDK (Mar-92) | 21.2 (.45 HP) |
| XB535 | NDK (Mar-92) | 21.2 (.45 HP) |
| XB574 | -- | 22.2 (.40 SW) |
| XB592 | NDK (Mar-92) | 22.2 (.40 SW) |
| XB696 | NDK (Mar-92) | 22.2 (.40 SW) |
| XB979 | -- | 19.2 (9x21) |
Table 3. Confirmed XB-prefix Glock pistols. Five models across four calibers. NDK barrel codes (March 1992) confirmed on XB529, XB535, XB592, and XB696.
What the Registries Tell Us and What They Don’t
The three prefixes documented here—AN, EN, XB—collectively establish a production history that spans roughly a decade and encompasses at least seven Glock models across four calibers. The 9×21 IMI and .45 HP variants were created specifically to navigate Italy’s prohibition on military-caliber civilian ownership; the 10mm Auto and .40 S&W models needed no such workaround and entered the catalog directly. The 9×21 IMI launch batch of 1987 (AN), the Gen2 expansion centered on October 1990 (EN), and the multi-caliber production of March 1992 (XB) are confirmed by direct evidence: barrel proof codes, catalog registration dates, slide markings, and physical examples in collector hands.
Several specific questions remain open. A Glock 17 in 9×21 should exist in the XB prefix—its companion Glock 19 is confirmed—but none has been identified. EN479’s barrel proof code has not been independently confirmed, leaving the only confirmed factory-ported 17L in 9×21 IMI without a production date. AN771’s barrel code is similarly unverified, even though the gun is documented in the October 1987 diana-ARMI review. The “US” suffix on the Kasler-documented NIS serials is unresolved: it may indicate a genuine factory marking distinguishing those guns within the prefix, or it may be a Kasler notation that does not appear on the pistols themselves.
On December 21, 2021, the Italian Parliament voted to legalize 9×19 for civilian pistols, ending a regulatory oddity that had persisted for more than half a century. The .45 ACP had been legalized in 1997. With both prohibitions gone, the rationale for the 9×21 IMI and .45 HP cartridges disappeared with them. What remains is the documentary record—and a body of factory-original Glock variants that, for some thirty years, hid in plain sight on the shelves of Italian gun shops.
References
[1] Giorgio O. “Italian Parliament Approves 9 Luger for Pistols – Is This the End of 9x21mm IMI?” The Firearm Blog, December 27, 2021.
[2] Italian National Arms Catalog (Catalogo Nazionale delle Armi). Entries #5180, #5692, #5693, #6561, #7145, #7146, #7147. Accessed via catalogonazionalearmi.armietiro.it.
[3] Barnes, Frank C. Cartridges of the World, 9th Edition. Krause Publications, 2000.
[4] Serial number database (Glock_Serial_Number_Dates_v3.xlsx), AN and EN prefix entries, maintained by Texas1835.
[5] Texas1835. “Interesting Find In Italy: AN 19.1 and 17L.1.” GlockTalk Collector’s Club, July–October 2025.
[6] Kasler, Peter Alan. Glock: The New Wave in Combat Handguns. Paladin Press, 1992. Pages 87–90.
[7] Sweeney, Patrick. Gun Digest Book of the Glock. Gun Digest Books, 2008. Chapter 21, page 201.
[8] GunAmerica listing: “Glock 19 9x21 Very Rare.” Seller DOGS53. Listed at $51,000.
[9] Brandoracing. “Very unique Glock.” GlockTalk Collector’s Club, January 29, 2026.
[10] Brandoracing. “Limited series Glock 17L.” GlockTalk General Firearms Forum, January 27, 2026.
[11] glockhoarder. “The rarest G19 – Gen 2 9x21 – did anyone here buy it?” GlockTalk Collector’s Club, February 2017.
[12] Texas1835. “The Italian Glock 21 Gen2 in .45 HP Caliber.” GlockTalk Collector’s Club, August 1, 2025.
[13] Balzi, Vittorio. “È di plastica ma non lo dimostra.” diana-ARMI, October 1987, pp. 46–51.
