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I don't ever really do "write-ups", but these are pretty impressive.

My son and I just took our polymer80's out for their maiden shoot last Wednesday. He put together a G19 and I did a G23. I took my stock G22 gen 4 for a rough comparison and I have to say I was pretty highly impressed. I "will" say though that they are not at all just a couple hour build to really do them right. The whole, "it doesn't matter how rough they run or even fully return to battery... take em out, shoot em and they'll work themselves out" mentality just doesn't wash with me.

It was a first build for both of us. I couldn't count how many youtube vids we watched in preparation. Some of those jokers doing build videos are just downright... can't think of a "family friendly" term at the moment... however, if you watch enough of them and employ a little common sense they really came out beautifully. Smooth... tight... as accurate as I can throw lead out of my G22 @ 15yrds and just downright "solid" little guns.

I'll agree that you're not going to save any money by building your own. We did ours with all new OEM parts. Including 3 mags/ea. It ran $541 for the G19 and $546 for the G23. That was doing some serious shopping around, although, if we would have waited for the end of year sales we could have saved $20/ea. Ie., the lower parts kit we picked up for $50 on ebay. It was $56 ordering individual parts from Midway at the time, but now they currently have the G19 lower parts kit on sale for $42.99. Brownell's currently has the compact v.2 frames for $109.99 where we paid $119.99. Timing matters. Mags were all new OEM. G19.... came out to $10 a pop delivered from a private party on the calguns forum trying to get rid of his high cap mags. The G23... $12 a pop delivered from a dealer in AZ on gunbroker.

They "can" be done cheaper by going with a used upper, "recycled" lower parts kits and third-party mags. I ran across a guy that was selling "recycled" parts from police armory replaced parts. Probably could have saved ~$100, but I fail to see how trying to "marry" a mixing pot of used and recycled parts is going to produce the desired result... an accurate and reliable firearm. So... it's "doable" for around $450-$475~ish.

Of course, if you go with a full kit, you can get soaked for $680 with no mags, too. Add another $50-$70 buying from the same sites offering "kits" if you buy the frame, upper, and lower parts kits separately.

Let's see... new uppers (complete)... the G19 was picked up from a private party on the calguns forum. The G23 I picked up from gunbroker. Both were $350 delivered.

Milling was a snap. We used a dremel w/wand and then hand finished with files, 200 grit, then 600 wet dry and finished with 1500 grit wet dry and WD-40. No surprises there and they finished up as expected.

No issues whatsoever with the lower parts installation on the v.2's. Looks like they've worked out all the "kinks". Specifically, no issue fitting the stop block or the rear trigger assembly/rail pin as had been reported by many in the earlier version.

Then the "fun" part started. ;) More than half of the work was getting the rails leveled and removing the burs and imperfections off them. Mainly the rear rails. They are pretty rough cut but the front rails needed some work getting the slide to run full length evenly. Starting out I was getting ~1/8" contact on the front of the left stop block and about the same on the rear of the right side only. The trick there was being sure not to remove too much at once so there was a LOT of on an off with the slide. I don't know how "professional" it was, but we used a permanent marker to color the rails, run the slide a couple of times and then check the wear pattern.

Of course... my sons G19? Perfectly even tracking on the forward rails and only light filing on the rears which leads me to believe that there is still going to be slight variations in the poly kits.

Once that was done I did go back and very lightly polish the rails by hand (mothers and q-tips). I kept it tight, but the difference was quite noticeable. Light polish on the ramp, trigger bar... normal full tear down, inspection and "clean up" I would do on any new gun. No issues/hang-ups with return to battery.

The G23... I Ran 100rnds of AE 165gr FMJ's, 60rnds of Win. 155gr STHP's and 45rnds of Win PDX1 bonded JHP's. Not a single FTF or FTE. Ran like a swish watch, but that was all I was willing to put through it without doing a tear down and inspection for abnormal action/wear.

The G19... my son ran 100rnds of Rem. UMC 115gr MC's and ~40rnds of IMI 115gr JHP's through his. Again, not a single malfunction.

Post shoot tear-down... no unusual wear and the rails showed even running. Checked every part with a "fine toothed comb".... nothing to report. Both... Flawless operation.

The nutshell? Simple, very straightforward construction with everyday common tools. Very impressive little shooters! Would I use as a carry? To early to tell, but it looks promising.

Our tools/materials list:
  • Table vise
  • C-clamp (to ensure the jig was securely closed)
  • Dremel. Variable w/wand, sanding drum and cutting bit for fine trimming in the spring channel
  • Hand drill
  • X-acto knife
  • 11" hand file
  • Jewelers files Flat and round
  • Sandpaper. 200/600/1500 wet/dry
  • WD-40
  • Tap and hammer
  • Needle-nose pliers
  • Mothers mag and alum. polish
  • Q-tips
  • Permanent marker
Total build time: A no rush 6-1/2hrs.

Can't wait to take them out again and finish up a full break-in! As a father and son project? Priceless!

TIP: One issue we hadn't thought about before-hand was a holster. No.. they don't fit in standard 19/23 holsters. What we did find was that a blackhawk serpa 410525 designed for a S&W M&P 9/40 Sigma is a PERFECT fit by removing the barrel tension spring. Absolutely snug and secure. I paid $30 (Amazon) for the beltloop + paddle model. Beats the heck out of the "custom designed" specifically for the poly80C holster with no positive lock for $55.
 
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I guess I could add... for those considering a polymer80 build... due to changing laws in Califederation where "possession" of hi-cap mags and unserialized handguns will be illegal, there are a good number of folks with slides, lower kits, lower parts and hi-cap mags on the calguns forum looking to dump their gear for some really great prices.
 
Very nice write up. I am looking forward to experimenting with one of these kits as well.
Would love to see some pics of the finished product.

Thanks again for sharing.
 
Would love to see some pics of the finished product.

Sorry... dunno how I missed this and way past the ask date... but such as it is (I'm not a photographer):
DSCN0347.jpg DSCN0346.jpg DSCN0359.jpg DSCN0367.jpg DSCN0365.jpg

The only embellishments were the SS pins, extended slide lock and release... and a custom engraved SS rear slide plate, but that's "personal". :D
 
E357FAD8-BCC1-48C5-83E9-BCBF11349E1F.jpeg Just finished my second. G34 on left. The G19 on the right has about 500rds on it with no problems. I used tin snips to do the rail. And dremel with flex shaft to do the center recoil spring cannel. About 2 hours work with installing all the upper and lower parts. Give me a new insight into how simple the Glocks are. But very fun to do!
 
PS cost is about a stock Glock but like building a AR15 you can build the Glock you want and not have to change out. The parts or send out to have the frame undercut. Etc. can't wate till they come out with there large frame version.
 
Now they have the rear metal rails it really opens up a lot of possibilities. My son has close to 3000 rounds through his G19 build now and it's still absolutely rock solid.
 
I wouldn't mind doing a G20 myself.

Just finished the PF940v2 today and have to say it looks like they still have some fine tuning to work out on the V2's. I had to do a little filing on the rear locking block legs and knock a tad of the frame edge just to get it started. It took a half dozen or so bits at a time to get it to go and a good amount of pressure to get it fully seated.

The rear slide assembly was just every so slightly out of pin alignment as well. I tried every which way I could to get it seated low enough for proper pin alignment. Interestingly though... the trigger housing holes lined up perfectly. I half wonder if they didn't take their production measurments pre nickel plating and it's throwing off the rail assembly every so slightly. I dunno though. The rear rail heights and clearances are spot on so in the end I decided against removing any plating or material from the bottom of the assembly. As a "last resort" I cleared the trigger housing and redrilled the rail pin holes while seated in the frame to remove just the tinies bit of material. It was barely a hairs worth,but still... not especially happy removing "anything" off the pin holes.

Everythings tight and level though so I'll see how it runs over time.

The only other kinda sorta issues were the locking block pins. I used the same supplier for SS as the previous builds, but I'll tell ya... I had to really "work" getting them in. At first I thought there must be some slight tolerance issues from previous pin orders, but OEM's didn't want to go in either so I'm leaning a little toward tighter tolerances on the locking block pin holes themselves. I didn't end up having to drill them, but if they don't work themselves out a bit during break-in I'm not exactly looking forward to a full disassembly.

The only real variation from previous builds was using small wire cutters to remove the tabs instead of milling them off. MUCH simpler and cleaner removal, very little filing required and finish work was a breeze. I'll likely repeat that on any future builds.

Overall I'm quite happy with it. Threw a G22 slide on it and it's running flawlessly so far. A lot more "futzing" this time with the PF940v2, but at least I can say it's TIGHT and rock solid. ;)

As soon as the CCU arrives I realize I'll likely have a couple of light mods to fit it properly, but at least the hard parts over. I'll post photos for anyone interested once it's complete.

Side note: I would love to be able to run my .22 conversion off it as well, but the A.A. is a gen4. Looking at it today I don't believe that's going to be a possibility. I know gen3 to 4 is doable with a simple recoil spring swap, but it doesn't look to be doable with a gen4 back to a 3 frame.

Has anyone had success doing that?
 
That 26 looks nice!

I think the need to hand fit the slide is a good thing. It makes the tolerances much closer. I went into assuming I wouldn't have to and was initially frustrated it was just plug n play, that was foolish. The hand filing I did made sure it fit perfectly with my slide. My slide being used, would of had looser tolerances than a new slide and still required some hand fitting.

It's not on the level of a 1911 hand fitting obviously, but does require some!

I ran 80 rounds through mine and put it in the safe. I look forward to a G20 style!
 
I have a G23 slide that's been sitting in my safe for a while. I also have a 40-9 conversion barrel and all the parts to do a complete 9mm conversion, not just a barrel swap. Anyway, I tried to sell the conversion barrel and the complete G23 slide but no one was interested or serious so I had no choice but to keep the parts.

Than I saw a sale add on Facebook thanks to MrGunsNgear so I ended up getting a compact size 80% lower from Brownell's for $109 :D

I'm kinda looking forward to it and can't wait to complete my project G23/19.

I think if you buy little by little and wait on sales, it will coast you a little less than an actual Glock. Also this is where it pays off saving parts when you upgrade.

I had to canabolize that G23 slide of mine to get my G19 going, Soooo ....not counting the XS 24/7 night sights and conversion barrel, I'm looking at $440ish for project G23/19.

Granted I can purchase two Glocks a year And pay the blue label prices, I think manufacturing my own firearm is way cooler and it allows me to put my spare parts to use instead of just sitting in the safe.

I have access to a vice and the required handtools so I should be good to go.

As far as using WD-40 to polish, on their Manuel from the 80% manufacturer, it says not to use penetrating and certain kinds of oil because it can damage the polymer..... anyone have any issues?

I think I wanna kinda smooth out some of the sharp angles on the trigger guard. It's just a little much when it comes to the looks. I would like to smooth things out and make it look like the picture I provided.

A4C4B411-4CF1-48B9-A39E-B5DBE820F850.jpeg
 
I would not worry about it. I have used WD40 for the wet sanding. I will just use fine file to clean up the rails. You can not see them with the slide on. For reshapeing the triger gard I would use a series off finer grit sand paper. Water works fine at 1000 and 2000 grit. Then finish with WD40 to match the color.
 

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