Crown Jewel of GLOCK Collecting: Gen 1 GLOCK 19 DN080US

Our friend and LE Technical Consultant, Ron Bank, also know as Glockhoader on GT, has some fantastic news to share:

Dear Glock Collector Friends,

We are all but temporary stewards of our material possessions. There comes a time in every collector's life that the placement of their most prized items comes to the forefront. I think that passionate collectors feel a responsibility to place their most prized and important items with one who will fully appreciate them, be great stewards of them, share them with the collector community and see that they are eventually passed along to another who will do the same.

I am deeply honored and profoundly grateful that long-time GCA President Stanley J. Ruselowski, Jr. has chosen me to be the next steward of the crown jewel and prized cornerstone of his collection — his ‘pride and joy,’ as described in The Book of Glock, Second Edition — Gen 1 Glock 19 DN080US.

As I promised Stan — or “Stosh,” his nickname in the collector community — I would share DN080US with the collector community and this post is the beginning of my doing just that.

My acquisition of this gun has been years in the making. Over the course of many years and countless conversations, Stan made the decision to eventually place his prized gun with me. For this I will be forever honored and grateful.

I have spoken with Stan in great depth about this gun and about every aspect of his many years with the GCA, his relationships with the very founders of Glock USA and what he has learned from them and others over the years.

One thing that has become very clear is that many in his generation, such as the early GCA members, have no electronic presence. All of their communication is by phone or in writing. This is why we don’t see the early GCA members who are still alive on the forum.

Over the course of my many conversations with Stan I have taken notes in real time. What I will relay to follow are based directly on those notes.

Per Stanley, based on information that he got directly from senior, early Glock USA employees, 56 DN prefix Gen 1 Glock 19 pistols were shipped to the US in March 1988. The pistols were imported in two batches with the first batch being DN000US through DN045US and the second being DN080US through DN089US. Thus, DN080US was the first pistol of the second batch. This was a very short production run as the Gen 2s came out just three months later in June 1988.

Stanley, who is GCA Life Member 033 and the third GCA President, started collecting Glocks in 1995. His goal was to have a first run pistol of each commercial model. Among others that he needed to fill the gap in his early US models from before he started collecting, was a G1 19. He had become friends with Don Bulver who he first met at a KS show that Don attended as he lived close by. Don was a former police officer. He began working at Glock in 1987. He became the production manager in 1988. Thus, he knew everything that came in and out of Glock USA. Don retired from Glock in 1992, having been the production manager since 1988.

Don and Ray Reynolds, the Regional Manager for the Mid-West and Canada (the original owner of my G35Cs) noted that the DEA liked the Glock 17 but wanted a more compact version of it. At this time many large US agencies were transitioning from revolvers to semi-auto pistols. Mr. Glock was very determined to get into this market. He wanted to be sure to submit a compact gun to DEA absolutely ASAP. Despite knowing that the Gen 2 Glock 19 was to be released shortly, he had cut down Gen 1 Glock 19s made to submit to DEA. In the end 56 of these guns were made. Don, and in later years other early Glock employees that Stan knew, told him that most of these guns went to the DEA. The DEA, he was told, never lets guns back out. They either keep or destroy them. However, some guns were sold commercially via the distributor RSR. Because the Gen 2s came out just three months after the Gen 1s, apparently, many of the Gen 1 buyers sent their guns back to Glock to be upgraded to Gen 2s. Glock never sent the Gen 1s back out. Instead, they were literally cut up and new Gen 2s were sent out to the customer. In fact, Don Bulver told Stan, that, as production manager, he personally cut some of these guns up with a band saw. However, recognizing that these guns would be quite rare, he kept three of them. He went on to sell two, keeping DN080US for himself as it was the nicest of the three.

The provenance of this gun from Mr. Bulver is discussed on p. 101 of The Book of Glock, Second Edition. Photos of the gun are on p. 99. The gun also appears on p. 79 of The Book of Glock as the introductory photo for the Glock 19 chapter as well as on p. 93 of The Book of Glock Second Edition also as the Glock 19 introductory photo. The pistol is discussed and appears throughout the Glock 19 chapter in both editions. This pistol has been featured in several GCA newsletters over the years as well as on this forum. It is one of the most well known and documented collectible Glocks.

Don went on to join the GCA as GCA member number 007 (a number that Stan thought was very cool from James Bond). Knowing that Stan needed a G1 19 to complete his first run collection, he eventually sold him DN080US in 1999 or 2000. As you can imagine, I asked Stan what became of the other two. He has no idea. Unfortunately, Mr. Bulver died in 2009 so he is not around to ask. Perhaps they will show up someday. Glock also retained a few of these guns. Unfortunately, as is the case with all of their rare guns, they won’t sell them.

Stan was very fond of Don, saying many times what a great guy that he was. Stan also noted that Don was one of the 25 or so early Glock USA guys, mostly all former cops, who made Glock what it is today. He also noted that some of these guys, such as Don, were directly responsible for major improvements in the design of several models such as the extra pin for the 10mms and several other major improvements. One of the guys, Peter Tarley, came up with the idea of the cutaway and hand cut the first one. Mr. Glock was so impressed that Glock started making commercial ones. Stan sent me a photo of these guys, who he called “The Black Sheep,” which I will share with you later in this thread.

Stan discusses Don in the Foreword that he wrote for both editions of The Book of Glock. It’s a very interesting read.

Along with the gun, Stan kindly sent me one of the very rare, original Glock 19 pamphlets featuring a Gen 1 Glock 19. This pamphlet has been discussed in numerous threads on this forum. It is widely considered to be one of the most rare and valuable pieces of early Glock literature. Stan explained that 2,500–3,000 of these were produced for the 1988 SHOT show. However, since they depicted a Gen 1 and the Gen 2s were coming, only a few were saved. Some were obviously given out as they do show up on occasion. Several here have them. Stan also gave me a laminated copy of the pamphlet which he took to conventions to put alongside DN080US when he displayed it. This very pamphlet appears on p. 96–97 of The Book of Glock Second Edition.

Despite it saying in The Book of Glock that the gun is NIB, Stan told me that Don fired the gun a few times. Stan never did. He told me that the gun was LNIB and that when I saw it I’d “flip” as it was in such fantastic condition. Indeed, he was spot on. The pistol is in incredible condition showing absolutely minimal signs of wear or firing, totally complete in the original box with all accessories. It is truly stunning. It is very likely the finest example of this rare and important prefix Gen 1 19 that exists anywhere. I think that my AN prefix Gen 1 19, AN517US, may well be the finest example extant of that prefix making for quite the pair and very likely a unique one at that in private hands worldwide. For that matter, I know of no other DN prefix Gen 1 19 in private hands besides this one. Of course, at minimum, the other two that Don sold could show up one day. Hopefully, they still exist somewhere.

I am committed to making this — and all of my important guns — available to the collector community. Some of these, such as this one, should be in a museum and not my safe. If the opportunity presents, I will loan this and other guns to museums so that others can see them firsthand. I will, however, commit to never giving or selling them to a museum collection as I very much believe that they should be available to future collectors and not forever out of reach.

I should also note that Stanley suggested that I use his name and my position as an editor of the GCA Journal to reach out to the current FFL Coordinator at Glock to ask for more details on the G1 19s. I did just that just over a week ago. I’d like to thank another forum member for drafting the questions. The FFL Coordinator said that he would help us in his spare time. I offered to pay him for his time which he refused. I am grateful for this. I will, of course, let you know what I find out.

I have also reached out to RSR under the same pretext. I have not heard back. I’ll try the person that I was told to call next week. Hopefully, they can shed some light on the number of DN G1 19s that they handled.

I have no idea which distributor handled the AN prefix KS ABC guns. If anyone can find out, I’d love to reach out to them as well. As I noted in a post years ago, I spoke with an employee at the shop that had four of them. Unfortunately, he didn’t know. The original owner had just passed away at that time so that was, sadly, a huge opportunity lost.

Along these lines, anyone can feel free to use my images and/or text for use in a forum, publication, research or any other lawful use which promotes the hobby so long as I am given credit.

As I noted at the outset, I am humbled, honored and deeply grateful to Stan for having been given the opportunity to own this historic pistol. Someday the time will come to pass it along yet again — very possibly to one of you. Until then, I will enjoy owning and sharing it. While it may be in my possession for the time being, it will always be Stosh’s prized gun, his Gen 1 19. Thank you Stanley. I am forever grateful to you. You are a great friend and the consummate collector.

I will update the Gen 1 Glock 19 SN thread to reflect the updated provenance of this gun, specifically, both mine and Don Bulver’s ownership. Stan is already noted.

With the above background having been given, I now proudly and gratefully present images in the posts to follow of DN080US.

I hope that you enjoy the story and the photos.

- GH