A German gun magazine called DWJ reports that they had a chance to take a look at a new Glock 46 designed for German police trials. It is a 9x19mm Glock which looks to be a Gen5-based and compact size pistol. It gets even more interesting when you learn that the Glock 46 has a different locking mechanism. It still uses a short recoiling barrel, however, instead of the traditional Browning tilting barrel lockup seen in all Glock pistols, the Glock 46 uses a rotating barrel!

Images from Recoilweb.com

Another feature is the ability to be disassembled without pulling the trigger. The beavertail looks to be enlarged, too. Also, the slide cover plate protrudes further than normally seen on Glock pistols. It even seems to be attached to the striker assembly.

Apparently, there are two locking lugs on the barrel which lock the barrel to the slide via the corresponding locking recesses cut into the slide. The rear lug on the barrel rides in the helical cut inside the new locking block thus rotating the barrel and locking/unlocking the action.

Below are some images from a Glock patent application (US20170198993A1).

The most of what we can tell right now are just assumptions based on what is shown in the images. I think very soon there will be more details released about the Glock 46.

It would be interesting to know what other differences from the conventional Glock have our readers noticed?