Glock 19 Mariner

There has been a recent run of a pretty rare Glock. The Mariner is intended for "wet" use of some type but most shooters just don’t quite realize what use the means exactly. The Mariner label dates to at least the mid-2000s and was used by Glock in marketing to countries in the Pacific Rim that have military and police forces already using their handguns.

The intention was not to create a handgun to be fired underwater, rather, it was designed for personnel working around water where the handgun was likely to be regularly exposed to water, including being completely submerged, and still needing to come up working. I was asked to evaluate and examine a Mariner by a customer who wondered how good an investment he had made. Other customers have asked if I could upgrade their pistols to Mariner status.

I was surprised the pistol made such a splash (pun intended) on the market. It turns out, yes, you can upgrade any Glock to Mariner status. The question is, should we? It isn’t that any firearm cannot be fired underwater. Sure they can. At least, they can be fired once under water. The problem all revolves around the compressibility of water. Water isn’t a medium easy to cut through like air. Water basically impedes the movement of the striker and striker spring.

Glock designed what are known as maritime spring cups to make the pistol more versatile for maritime personnel. From what I understand they area restricted item sold only to institutions such as police agencies. Glock limits their sale not due to legal restrictions but to avoid liability from folks wrongly believing the gun is supposed to be fired underwater and proceeding to do so in bath tubs or swimming pools. Firing underwater like this is a very bad idea.

The sound is horrific and may permanently damage your ear drums. You may even suffer a kidney bruise from the concussion of firing a 9mm underwater. Glock cautions against

this firing underwater and restricts the maritime striker spring cups for this reason. Naturally, this makes Glock maritime spring cups much sought after on the black market known as e Bay. The maritime firing pin cups are supplied in pairs, fitting the Glock striker spring and striker. Obviously, these are an essential part that the pistol will not function without. The maritime cups are not solid and sealed, rather, they are designed with an open spot in the cups.

This opening allows water to move through the cups so that water isn’t trapped in the striker spring channel if the pistol is immersed. I don’t think the maritime cups really allow the pistol to be fired reliably under water more than any other pistol. Rather, if the pistol is worn in bad climatic conditions and immersed in water the maritime striker spring cups will allow water to easily flow from the striker channel and the pistol will fire reliably.

If you ford a creek with the Mariner submerged and then draw and fire the pistol on the other side it will come up shooting as the water will drain out of the striker channel rather than being trapped. Just draw and shake the piece as it is held straight down ensures it is cleared of water. A pistol without a similar provision might not drain water as readily after being submerged. After considerable study of the maritime striker spring cups, here is my take.

The factory striker spring cup is something we never think of. I cannot recall replacing a set as they are trouble free. The maritime striker spring cups have a cut out to allow water to run free offers several variations of their maritime cups, including for Smith & Wesson striker fired pistols. Yet, the Glock Mariner was widely sold, although only as a one time offer. Far offers their own redesigned maritime striker spring cups called the Turbo Maritime Cups. after immersion.

That is an advantage for a diver or someone constantly in and out of water. But for the rest of us the cups are probably not as strong as standard cups and have no advantage. To change the cups if desired (and, hopefully, justified for the owner) the procedure is simple enough. Be certain the pistol is unloaded. Field strip the pistol in the usual manner. Use a Glock tool or punch to hold the striker forward as you press the striker cover out of the slide. Carefully bring the striker assembly out.

Reverse the assembly and place it in the striker channel in the reverse order. This will keep the assembly in place and make the procedure much easier. Depress the spring around the striker and remove the factory cups. Install the assembly as normal. Replace the striker and striker spring with the new striker cups. I test fired the pistol after installation and it was uneventful. That is all that is needed to upgrade a