The Glock 17 is a polymer-frame, short recoil-operated, locked-breech semi-automatic pistol chambered in 9x19mm Parabellum. It the first pistol in a massive lineup of polymer handguns produced by Glock Ges.m.b.H. in Deutsch-Wagram, Austria. The manufacturer refers to them as the Glock "Safe Action" Pistol. The company's founder, head engineer Gaston Glock, had no experience with firearms design or manufacture at the time their first pistol was being prototyped.