LONDON (AP) - Britain's army is bidding goodbye to the Browning pistol it's used for more than 40 years, opting for faster and lighter Glock 17 pistols for its secondary sidearm.
The defense ministry said Friday it has signed an 8.5 million pound ($13.6 million) contract for more than 25,000 of the Austrian-made pistols.
It joins a host of law enforcement agencies and other militaries, including the Dutch, Norwegian and Austrian armies, opting for a Glock 17, which has a larger magazine than the Browning currently in use by the U.K. armed forces.
Britain's defense ministry said the decision to abandon the Browning came after it became increasingly expensive to maintain the steel-framed pistol as its parts - from barrels and slides to trigger mechanisms and springs - wore out.
"When it came out in the 1960s, it was a fantastic pistol, but technology advances," said Warrant Officer 1 Mark Anderson, who tested the sidearms competing for the U.K. contract after the defense ministry put out a tender for a replacement pistol two years ago.
