The Royal Canadian Mounted Police – RCMP, familiarly known as the “Mounties” – has chosen its new duty pistol: the 9mm GLOCK 45 MOS 7, the crossover design that pairs the compact slide of the G19 with the full-size Gen5 frame of the G17, delivering a handgun that balances compactness with shootability.
The MOS (Modular Optic System) cut on the slide is particularly relevant here, as each pistol will ship optic-ready from the factory. What makes this contract especially noteworthy is the complete, integrated duty system being fielded alongside the pistol: each G45 will be fitted with an Aimpoint ACRO P-2 fully enclosed red dot sight, a Streamlight TLR-7 X rail-mounted weapon light for low-light engagements, a Safariland 6360RDS – a Level III retention duty holster specifically designed to accommodate pistols equipped with red dot sights – and a custom Nanuk hard case. The official contract value is about CAD 39 million. The exact number of pistols to be delivered has not been disclosed, but it should be nearly 20,000 guns, in order to equip all RCMP uniformed officers.
To pass muster with the RCMP, the G45 had to survive an intense and demanding evaluation. Over the course of just two days, test pistols were put through more than 20,000 rounds of live fire, followed by rigorous drop-test protocols.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, over a century of history
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police was formed in 1920 and is Canada’s national police service. In addition to its federal law enforcement role, the RCMP provides contracted policing services to numerous provinces, territories, municipalities, and Indigenous communities across the country.
The Mounties are retiring their long-serving Smith & Wesson Model 5946 — a double-action-only, 9x19mm semi-automatic that had been the force's sidearm since the early 1990s. Before that, RCMP officers carried the Smith & Wesson Military & Police revolver chambered in .38 Special, a setup that served the force for decades before the agency made the transition to semi-automatic handguns.
