Polymer80 build

widnerkj

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Well, it started off somewhat innocently, my girlfriend had been talking about that robins egg blue Walther. And the LGS had a polymer80 compact frame in the color for $80. So I figured, that’s a no brainer. I’ll do a Glock 19 with a robins egg blue frame. After all, if she likes it, she’ll carry it.


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Needed a little belt sander love, and cleaned up after this. But she does totally love it. I actually like it more than my factory Glock 19. So I just had to get another frame.


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I went with a large frame (Glock 20) with a lone wolf tactical length slide and barrel.
 
Did you have any trouble with gaps between the slide and frame?

I have a P80 G17 build I'm just wrapping up, and there is a considerable gap between the slide and frame. I can't decide if I should try and sand down the rails a little to bring the slide in closer to the frame, or if this is a non-issue. Also the front rail seems to bend down away from the slide, making the gap even larger at the front of the gun. I'm going to try the old hair dryer trick and see if I can eliminate that curve to the front of the frame, but it's annoying.
 
I'm going to try the old hair dryer trick and see if I can eliminate that curve to the front of the frame, but it's annoying.
err on the side of caution when doing this. i can tell you from experience...pay close attention or you may loose or damage the frame. also from experience a hair dryer may not work, you may want a variable setting heat gun.
 
err on the side of caution when doing this. i can tell you from experience...pay close attention or you may loose or damage the frame. also from experience a hair dryer may not work, you may want a variable setting heat gun.

Yeah, that's why I was planning to start with a hair dryer. Midway USA is running a sale on the full size PF940v2 frames right now. I may just pick up a couple spares just in case.
 
Did you have any trouble with gaps between the slide and frame?

I have a P80 G17 build I'm just wrapping up, and there is a considerable gap between the slide and frame. I can't decide if I should try and sand down the rails a little to bring the slide in closer to the frame, or if this is a non-issue. Also the front rail seems to bend down away from the slide, making the gap even larger at the front of the gun. I'm going to try the old hair dryer trick and see if I can eliminate that curve to the front of the frame, but it's annoying.
These are fun to build and I have built a couple of them. One of them I can’t get it to slide lock no matter what I do (and yes I’ve tried everything). The other one is ok, lotta double feeds. P80 has ridiculously awesome customer service and they sent me out new parts for both guns. However there are these issues. But they are fun to build and shoot and keep as range toys. I would never carry one.
 
These are fun to build and I have built a couple of them. One of them I can’t get it to slide lock no matter what I do (and yes I’ve tried everything). The other one is ok, lotta double feeds. P80 has ridiculously awesome customer service and they sent me out new parts for both guns. However there are these issues. But they are fun to build and shoot and keep as range toys. I would never carry one.


Not with that kind of performance, no. My factory built Glock 26 is more than sufficient for EDC and I wouldn't change it without good reason at this point. These are more for fun, and if I can get it to run reliably, maybe pistol matches at my local club.
 
Not with that kind of performance, no. My factory built Glock 26 is more than sufficient for EDC and I wouldn't change it without good reason at this point. These are more for fun, and if I can get it to run reliably, maybe pistol matches at my local club.
Yup, and they look cool with Camo slides! Lol!
 
6DAA70CE-F6A5-4088-9F39-E4108A88450A.jpeg 16D2E2EA-FFD1-4336-9EED-36C0E046CA6E.jpeg 8D110987-8834-4EB2-8D0B-D129B5701368.jpeg DFDF9B79-1821-4808-8F90-296CB88AA8F7.jpeg My Glock 20 is a shooter. Feels tight and solid. I had an issue with the recoil spring guide rod not sitting right on the barrel. But swapped it out, and it runs like a dream. The 19 is a delight to carry and shoot.

I went ahead and ordered another large frame to do a similar build for my brother. The difference between our pistols will be his threaded barrel. It’s kind of a heavy pig of a slide at 18 oz.
 
Love mine. Still need to build my Stormtrooper. The first one wasn’t real reliable in the first few mags. Definitely more comfortable than a Glock but it’s a 1911 grip angle so if you are a long time Glock shooter, it won’t be on target when you aim. Minor adjustment.
 
Did you have any trouble with gaps between the slide and frame?

I have a P80 G17 build I'm just wrapping up, and there is a considerable gap between the slide and frame. I can't decide if I should try and sand down the rails a little to bring the slide in closer to the frame, or if this is a non-issue. Also the front rail seems to bend down away from the slide, making the gap even larger at the front of the gun. I'm going to try the old hair dryer trick and see if I can eliminate that curve to the front of the frame, but it's annoying.
Do you have a pic? Try shooting it.
 
My G17 frankenbuild. Brownells windowed, RMR cut slide. Tactical Kinetics fluted, threaded barrel. You can see the reverse pig nose situation I've got going on here if you look hard enough. Not a great angle to see the slide gap, but that might be more a product of my imagination triggered by the reverse pig nose going on.

Yes, I know it still needs sights. Trijicon suppressor height sights are here, I just need to borrow a sight pusher to install them. Still need an RMR and a comp for shits and giggles.

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My G17 frankenbuild. Brownells windowed, RMR cut slide. Tactical Kinetics fluted, threaded barrel. You can see the reverse pig nose situation I've got going on here if you look hard enough. Not a great angle to see the slide gap, but that might be more a product of my imagination triggered by the reverse pig nose going on.

Yes, I know it still needs sights. Trijicon suppressor height sights are here, I just need to borrow a sight pusher to install them. Still need an RMR and a comp for shits and giggles.

View attachment 285614

I have a cheap sight pusher if you need to borrow one. Also I put a Holosun 507C on mine instead of the RMR (same base) and I love it. I think Brownells has them for ~$250 on a good day with coupon.
 
I have a cheap sight pusher if you need to borrow one. Also I put a Holosun 507C on mine instead of the RMR (same base) and I love it. I think Brownells has them for ~$250 on a good day with coupon.

I have one lined up, just need to pick it up. Thanks for the offer, though.

And thanks for the information about the Holosun! I didn't realize they had the same footprint as the RMR, but that was a pretty good decision on their part. I wish more companies had gone that route, but Glock sort of made it easy on them with their MOS system.
 
I had an issue with the recoil spring guide rod not sitting right on the barrel. But swapped it out, and it runs like a dream.

Can you elaborate on the guide rod issue? I've got a 19 upper that the guide rod isn't sitting tight against the notch on the barrel lug. It will when assembled, but rack the slide and remove the slide from the frame and it looks like it is going to spring out at any second. Aftermarket barrel and slide. Stock guide rod. Have issues with FTE & FTF. Racking the slide manually, there is extra resistance in the last 1/8" of travel, not binding - but it takes extra force. I'm wondering if it is due to the odd guide rod angle.

EDIT TO ADD PICS

Top image shows guide rod before putting the slide on the frame. Second pic shows slide after racking a few times and then removing from the frame. Normal or an issue?

IMG_3894.JPG IMG_3895.JPG
 
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Can you elaborate on the guide rod issue? I've got a 19 upper that the guide rod isn't sitting tight against the notch on the barrel lug. It will when assembled, but rack the slide and remove the slide from the frame and it looks like it is going to spring out at any second. Aftermarket barrel and slide. Stock guide rod. Have issues with FTE & FTF. Racking the slide manually, there is extra resistance in the last 1/8" of travel, not binding - but it takes extra force. I'm wondering if it is due to the odd guide rod angle.

EDIT TO ADD PICS

Top image shows guide rod before putting the slide on the frame. Second pic shows slide after racking a few times and then removing from the frame. Normal or an issue?

I had a similar issue. With a custom slide. I used a cheap barrel and cheap parts.. Gunsmith told me parts were sloppy.

I had to upgrade the barrel and monkey with the weight of the guide rod. To get the problems to stop..
 
It was weird. As if lone wolf didn’t machine the part of the barrel that the spring sits against to closely match the spring. So if you would ease the slide forward, pull the trigger, and pull the slide release. The spring and guide rod would bind hard. Like it’d popped down out of where it should be. And there was no getting the slide off. But, if you rack the slide violently, (let it slam home hard) and only ease the slide back enough to pull the slide release, it’d come off fine. This same slide had an out of spec firing pin, and the lone wolf adjustable trigger wouldn’t interact correctly. I replaced all the parts with factory Glock parts. And now it runs like a champ.
I have been told that sometimes LW can be hit or miss. I guess that time was a miss. I have since used factory Glock parts for all my polymer80 builds. And have had zero issues. I actually get the factory Glock parts from the Glock store.

Edit;
Viper, that’s exactly the problem I was having. Like I said, it seems like the relief on the barrel that the guide rod sits against might not be perfectly round. My LW barrel had a raised part that kept the rod from sitting perfectly. I will take pictures when I get home.
 
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It was weird. As if lone wolf didn’t machine the part of the barrel that the spring sits against to closely match the spring. So if you would ease the slide forward, pull the trigger, and pull the slide release. The spring and guide rod would bind hard. Like it’d popped down out of where it should be. And there was no getting the slide off. But, if you rack the slide violently, (let it slam home hard) and only ease the slide back enough to pull the slide release, it’d come off fine. This same slide had an out of spec firing pin, and the left be wolf adjustable trigger wouldn’t interact correctly. I replaced all the parts with factory Glock parts. And now it runs like a champ.
I have been told that sometimes LW can be hit or miss. I guess that time was a miss. I have since used factory Glock parts for all my polymer80 builds. And have had zero issues. I actually get the factory Glock parts from the Glock store.

Edit;
Viper, that’s exactly the problem I was having. Like I said, it seems like the relief on the barrel that the guide rod sits against might not be perfectly round. My LW barrel had a raised part that kept the rod from sitting perfectly. I will take pictures when I get home.

So this is getting interesting. My barrel was purchased direct from a LW manufacturer. It looks like the radius where the guide rod sits against is too large, pushing the rod down away from the flat surface. I’ll try to get more pics later.
 
I should add in, my first polymer80 in 10mm was all trouble. The jig wasn’t right, as my pins wouldn’t line up nicely. And there was a LOT of resistance to the slide going forward. I messed with it for days, then I took it to town. We have a store here called Glockmeister. So with them being the experts, I asked their expert for help. He said very single LW part was totally out of spec. But he did rebuild the internals, all factory parts, mount my trijicon night sights, and find me a guide rod that would work with the LW barrel so that I wouldn’t take the dremel to it out of frustration.
I just did another. And knowing what to expect. I pulled all the parts but the barrel out of the LW slide. And used factory parts. I also polished the rear rails super smooth. It’s a shooter that I’m very proud of.
 
I’ve polished the rails, and made sure I have clearance around the guide rod. I have made sure the slide runs free on the rails. Next step is to break out the dremel and clearance that radius on the barrel lug. Don’t worry, I’m an engineer ;)

If all else fails, I can try a different barrel.
 
Viper, the first polymer80 I did, was a 19. I actually used a brownells slide, and a brownells “victory first” barrel. And that bastard runs better than my factory Glock. It’s the black frame in the group photo.

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Viper, I got off work, slept a little, and here is the comparison photos of the Glock barrel and recoil spring vs. the lone wolf one that jams up as we both describe. Stainless is LW, black and FDE are glock factory.

I suspect it’s a combination of mis-machined LW barrel, and strange recoil spring assembly.

DC0CD799-FCA0-4E2E-805D-16B1E3DCE4BD.jpeg 56D18723-5308-4FD9-B7C5-41BF7C6A3A6E.jpeg 4F94E75B-43AB-462A-BB30-22E9569EBB5B.jpeg

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Well, that’s got to be it. My LW barrel has the same large radius as compared to the Glock barrel.
 
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