PSA has blem slides every so often for $99. Once saw them for $59!!!! When say blem, they mean some minor almost non existent cosmetic blem.

 

PSA is a great resource for DIY'ers. Have a few items from them though honestly consider them range toys and wouldn't use for bet my life carry on them.

 

I've made 3 Poly-80 pistols, watched LOTS of YouTube videos and took my time. They work great. I actually started working 80% 1911s first, again I watched LOTS of videos, and downloaded schematic drawings showing the dimensions of the parts and how they all fit together. Two of my 1911s came totally from 1911builders, the 10mm government model I made last mostly was 1911builders, with the barrel and slide from Stealth Arms. It's been interesting, fun and rewarding to build them and have them work without issues.

 

I built this clone recently. The frame was about $60 from Brownells and the slide was around $100. It also has an aftermarket barrel and Zev trigger. Everything else is Glock. It went together with no issues and has been 100% reliable. Would I do it again? No. I really didn’t save any money. I should have just bought a gen 5 Glock 19 MOS.

 

Well, this is definitely a budget build. I just bought the cheapest complete slide w/optic combo I've ever seen, $280 (taxes and shipping included).

We'll see if it's any good here next weekend.

I'm kinda excited.

Getting so much for so little (if it actually works) was the only way to justify the expenditure.

Yeah, I've been that broke here lately. Finally getting some tangible funds in and, unfortunately, I'm having to spend it on other things I've been putting off. I'm probably going to have to optimize my current collection rather than doing any building for the next year or so unless I can get some additional funds coming in.

 

A friend of mine dropped by with a Glock clone that he did up. He used the absolute cheapest parts he could find. On purpose. It was a test for him (self inflicted) to see if he could get it to run. It didn’t. Not bad with his hands either.

I don’t do Glocks. It failed the 10-8 test. We used the principles in the 1911 extractor sticky to get it to run. Fun really. Rough breech face got stoned. Finish reamer in the barrel. Took maybe 2 hours. Might have done something to help it eject, I can’t remember. Clipped a coil from the extractor spring too.

We both came to the conclusion that a reliable Glock clone, slapped together in 10 minutes from an 80% frame (like you see in the news, but never test fired), is probably a myth. Maybe with a quality parts kit you could do one up quickly.

Anyhow, I am sticking to 1911’s.

 

Thanks for the heads up.

I can't build anymore guns right now. So many projects, so little time and money. I'm going to be out another c-note easily by the time I get this clone ready to carry if I carry it at all (I still love my SCCY).

Can't build my 1911s until I build some special jigs and optimize my tools. I'm looking at next year before my commander gets finished at the rate I'm going.

Thanks again.

 

Another reason why it's taking so long to do these gun projects is because my daughters have recently gotten 2 new bikes (one 7 speed and one 18 speed) and I've been buying parts and preparing to upgrade them. But 1st I'm restoring an old Walmart Next MTB as a temporary bike before I start working on theirs.

I don't know why, but it's so hard for me to justify spending money on myself rather than my family, regardless of what it might be. If my wife wanted a 1911, she would've already had one rather than me taking my time to build it.

I guess I'm just weird.

 

As long as you are having fun with the project… go for it. I have seen some home builts that were interesting to say the least. Seems like there was a time when it was really a thing for a while and you could see examples with more frequency then.

 

I have built a nice selection of Glock clones using P80 frames and every one runs like a fine Swiss time piece. All were done with after market slides and barrels, but OEM parts were used internally. Slides fit tightly enough to produce good accuracy, too.

Two are in my carry rotation and have been serialized as required by Marylandistan in order to do so legally.

Contrary to what some try to propagate, each one required hours to produce a good end result. Might have worked with a quick hack job, but I don't do work like that.

I have worked on a couple for friends that could not get them working. In most cases, rail alignment is out of spec due to defective rear rails that require modification to work. Most novice builders fail to check such things. Some internet posts are critical of Polymer80's response to this issue. I just removed the offending material with a Dremel until they fit into the frame as they should.

 

I have built a nice selection of Glock clones using P80 frames and every one runs like a fine Swiss time piece. All were done with after market slides and barrels, but OEM parts were used internally. Slides fit tightly enough to produce good accuracy, too.

Two are in my carry rotation and have been serialized as required by Marylandistan in order to do so legally.

Contrary to what some try to propagate, each one required hours to produce a good end result. Might have worked with a quick hack job, but I don't do work like that.

I have worked on a couple for friends that could not get them working. In most cases, rail alignment is out of spec due to defective rear rails that require modification to work. Most novice builders fail to check such things. Some internet posts are critical of Polymer80's response to this issue. I just removed the offending material with a Dremel until they fit into the frame as they should.

I built a G19 sized P80 like that - aftermarket upper and Glock factory frame internals. I did a lot of reading on different Glock and P80 forums before I started putting it together. I remember most people having trouble getting one to run were using aftermarket parts in the frame and most of those reporting theirs ran fine were using OEM Glock parts, so that's what I went with and it runs fine. I eventually bought a Vanek trigger for it, it's sitting in a drawer waiting for the Glock OEM trigger to stop working.

 

New slide came in, complete with sealing plate for the RMR cut which I didn't expect as the description didn't mention one. I was very pleased. The red dot came in a nice plastic box and it can be used on either a pistol or a rifle.

I'm seriously considering putting this bad boy on my wife's AR9 instead of the Glock. I was looking for a low profile red dot just like this for it anyways, and I just don't think I need a red dot on the Glock just yet.

I put the slide on and messed with it a bit. My thumb is sore from taking the slide off over and over (I can see how that AFT agent had such a hard time with it). I also threw in a target laser round to see if it worked and so far so good. It already seem easier to shoot than my SCCY. The polymer sights do not bother me at all, even the U shape.

It does not operate smoothly, barrel lockup is very stiff and doesn't go all the way forward if you don't just let go of the slide and let it drop like it's firing. Maybe it just needs breaking in or maybe a little fitting, but I can't see this causing any issues unless there's a problem with feeding or ejection I don't know about yet.

Guide rod has been upgraded to steel with a flat guide rod spring, another thing I didn't notice on the description but with me still being such a novice, would I have noticed regardless?

I'll take it shooting tomorrow morning if it's not raining and compare it to my SCCY for accuracy (as accurately as I can shoot anyways). If the Glock clone works well, then it will already outperform the SCCY in some respects.

I'll see about posting some pics tomorrow if everything goes well.

 

I’ve built 3. First one was the learner and didn’t run well. After much time spent on patriot gun builders forum, the next two are as good as Glocks. One has full OEM Glock upper and internals, that I’d stake my life on. The other is aftermarket parts, but runs well.

No they don’t get slapped together in ten minutes. I got a Dremel drill press for precise drilling. And learned how to file the metal parts so they are in the correct position in the frame. Fun projects but a reliable one takes time.

 

Got 25 rounds through it today, no malfunctions whatsoever. The 1st 15 rounds were a terrible group, absolutely awful. For some reason, I was shooting high even when I was aiming low.

I decided to test it against the SCCY for comparison. 10 rounds through the SCCY with a red dot and 10 rounds through the clone with sights. The SCCY won but only by a hair. My group with the Glock clone was much better so I knew for a fact the 1st group was simply user error.

Also, the SCCY had a failure to feed and got jammed up. Could've been the ammo, the mag, or it just being dirty. I cleaned it before putting it back in it's holster.

I think with practice that I can be much better with the clone than the SCCY.

I do know that I feel much safer, less prone to shooting myself with the SCCY with its longer, heavier trigger pull, but I think that with practice I'll be just fine with the clone.

Sorry, no pics. It's raining and miserable out today and I just didn't feel like it. Maybe next week.

 

My Glock 43x on a STC43cs frame.

 

We'll see if Polymer80 or any other company starts making 43 frames again, or comes out with 43x.

Then I might get me one.

 

Shot some more this morning before the rain hit. Just ran the P17 and the Franken-Glock.

Had 3 or 4 stovepipes, one casing hit me in the eye (put on safety glasses after, no injury), had a failure to go into battery (which jammed the slide), and a double feed. All in about 70 rounds. Oh, and the optic cut sealing plate flew off too.

I have a feeling the cheap Pro-mag magazine is causing some of the issues, the extractor (cheap chinese crap) the majority of the rest, plus I might need to take a bit more material off the frame just under the recoil spring.

So, looks like I've got some more work to do, which is fine. I was expecting to have to fine tune it in any case.

I finally decided that I'm going to cut the grip down to a 26 and use the extra plastic left to stylize it some, create a border around the bottom like it normally would. This way I can have a gun that is more concealable and if I want to carry it like a 19 or 17, just put in those sized mags with the proper grip extensions.

All of this will be after I fix it and make sure it's running 100%.

So, order another Glock 17 mag, a regular sized mag release, and a new extractor, then I should be back in business.

 

Glock talk on a 1911 forum. GEEZ.

 

Ehh my 40 yo brother still plays with legos.
I believe I am just fine building 80% blocks as are these doods.
I have one of most done. Pf45, p80 19,17, geissler and I forget the other brand.
Sure they are not as cool as a good 1911 but I have those as well.

 

I have looked at some of these and thought it might be fun to put one together. Every time I take a notion, it seems like they're all out of stock. I'll keep looking I suppose.

 

They're 76% rather than 80, but they're in stock. I don't think they'd be much more difficult to build.

76% - 80% FRAMES & JIGS

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This is where I got my frame from.

 

Got the Franken-Glock running 100% now but it's not very accurate. My SCCY is far more accurate than this gun and it's harder to shoot. I'm getting 7-8" groups from 10 yards and I know it's not all me. I've only gotten 2 bullseyes in over 30 rounds fired, most of them to the left with a wide spread.

It has to be the barrel.

Oh well. It's just a Glock. It's not like this is a 1911 build that's a beautiful work of art, it's more utilitarian.

I'm going to wait till I get a chance to fire an actual Glock and see if it's really me or the gun and if it's the gun, I'll upgrade the barrel. Till then, I'll just use it for dry fire practice.