The Department of Justice has awarded a private vendor a contract to provide a California federal prison with new Glock 19X pistols. The contract was awarded on the 19th September by the federal Bureau of Prisons and is worth nearly $70,000.

Described by the Department of Justice as ‘Glock 19X Coyote Gen5-9mm’, the contract is for 104 pistols with the contract award cost listed as $68,289. The new pistols were not purchased directly from Glock, instead, they were procured from RBA LLC, a New Jersey based company listed as a Sporting and Recreational Goods and Supplies Merchant Wholesalers.

Initially, when the solicitation for pistols (Glock or similar equal) was posted on 10th September, the Bureau of Prisons were seeking pistols with a black finish. However, this was later changed to ‘coyote’ and the solicitation was amended on the 13th September. No doubt because the 19X is only available in coyote.

The Department of Justice’s award notice describes the required pistols as:

GLOCK G(TBD) 19X Coyote Gen5-9mm – Equals must meet following requirements: Combination of full-size frame and compact slide, nPVD (Nitrated Base Physical Vapor Disposition) corrosion resistant coating, marksman barrel with enhanced polygonal rifling and an improved barrel crown for increased accuracy, ambidextrous slide stop levers and no finger grooves for better versatility, interchangeable backstraps, reversible mag release, must hold a standard 17-round magazine, come with standard Night sights, Loaded chamber indicator Visible and palpable indicator as part of the extractor to show whether there is a cartridge in the chamber. Striker fired double action only, NO external thumb safety; trigger drop safety & firing pin safety.

Glock unveiled the 19X in January, an adaptation of its failed Modular Handgun System entry, since then it has sold extremely well reportedly selling over 100,000 pistols in 180 Days. Described as a ‘crossover’, the 19X, takes the Glock 19 shorter slide and combines it with the Glock 17s full-sized frame. The Bureau of Prisons’ new pistols are destined for prison officers at United States Penitentiary Atwater, a high-security federal prison for male inmates located in Atwater, California.

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