Category Archives: Polymer80

Do I need a drill press for drilling Polymer80 frames?

The question above is asked a lot and I can understand why – drill presses can make accurate holes. Surprisingly though – DO NOT USE A DRILL PRESS WITH YOUR POLYMER80 JIG! How’s that for an emphatic answer – now let me explain why this is so.

The cool jig that Polymer80 came up with is designed to be clamped from the bottom and three holes on each side to be hand drilled. All of the stresses and what not on the jig were planned so the holes would go in the right place. Laying the jig on its side to use a drill press has led to alignment problems and frames that don’t work so don’t use a drill press.

The jig is clamped standing up and a hand drill is used to make the holes. The smaller holes use a 3mm drill bit and the larger hole requires 4mm.

While we are talking about drilling – do a hole at a time and do NOT drill straight through. The reason you do a hole at a time is that you can afford the angle to be slightly wrong on one side but if you go straight through and the angle isn’t perfectly true then the hole on the other side will be way off. Trust me, do a hole at a time. Yes, do take your time and try to drill a hole that is perpendicular to the frame – meaning not at an angle one way or another off the center of where you need the hole.

Any 3/8 or 1/2″ hand drill will work just fine. A cool perk with the old Ryobi drills is that they have a level built into the tool holder.

Use 3 & 4mm Drill Bits

The frame needs 3 and 4mm drill bits and the jig is labeled for what size goes in what hole. If you need the bits, we sell nice drill bits that are perfect for this. Click here to go to our Polymer80 tool page.

I’d definitely recommend you use a vise to clamp the bottom of the jig. That’s what the jig was designed for.

So, you don’t need a drill press but I would recommend a vise to hold it vertically nice and steady. You can get pretty good deal on little 3-4″ removable vises that will work just fine or you can use any woodworking or metalworking vise if you already have one.

In Conclusion

No, you don’t need a drill press and for that matter you should not use a drill press because the jig was not designed for it. However, you do need at least a 3-4″ vise, hand drill and the right size bits to do a good job drilling. From there, you still need to trim your top tabs, remove the barrel block, clean things up and then you can install the parts of your choice.

We have a collection of Polymer80 tools to help you with your build. Please click here if you would like to see them.

Note, I have to buy all of my parts – nothing here was paid for by sponsors, etc. I do make a small amount if you click on an ad and buy something but that is it. You’re getting my real opinion on stuff.


If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.



What sight pusher do I use and Recommend for my Pistols?

A fellow emailed me the other day asking what I use to remove and install sights on my pistols. For those of you wondering what a “sight pusher” is, it is a device that is used to push sights around on a handgun and can be used to install, adjust or remove the sights.

Of course, one size does not fit all so you tend to see pushers that are pistol specific, ones that are designed to with modular shoes, and ones that really shouldn’t have been made in the first place. Yeah, unfortunately I am not joking on that last part. Investigate any pusher before you buy it. Some are sloppy and if the shift or slip, they can put one hell of a scratch in your otherwise nice pistol.

Option #1: For pros who need to support many different pistols, MGW makes the best modular pusher

My good friend, Scott Igert, owns Michigan Gun Exchange and has been changing sights for his customers for many years. Because he has to deal with a variety of pistols and the job must be done right, he swears by his MGW (Maryland Gun Works) Sight-Pro pusher. It’s modular and comes with a 30 degree block for Glock and HK sights. In addition, there are a number of different pusher blocks available for use on other pistols.

Here’s a video from MGW in case you’d like to learn more:

Note, MGW also has a number of pistol model specific tools that work on just the one type of weapon. I’ll include them at the end of the post – they are good and just too many to list.

Option #2: Personally, I use the Wheeler Armorer’s Handgun Sight Tool

I work mainly with Glocks and 1911s and the Wheeler unit has worked just fine for my needs. It costs around $138 and so it’s economical. It’s very well made and hasn’t let me down after maybe a dozen uses in two years – again, I’m not using a pusher practically every day like Scott is.

One important thing to consider is that it does not have the flexibility of the MGW – Wheeler advertises it for use with 1911s, Glocks and M&Ps but I have read of a ton of other pistols being involved so do some searching before you buy. Unlike the MGW’s shoes, With the Wheeler, you can flip a plate in the back and the pusher surface that goes against the sight is either straight or angled depending on what you need.

By removing those two allen screws, you can flip the pusher around to either be the side with angled or straight pushing surfaces.
Here I am installing a suppressor height Trijicon sight on a Glock 34 slide.

The following photos let you see the Wheeler pusher from different angles – click on one to see them full size.

Here’s a video from Wheeler that will show you more about their tool:

Amazon sells the Wheeler Engineering Armorer’s Handgun Sight Tool and that’s where I bought mine. They also have a ton of copycat tools that folow the same color scheme. My experience with knockoffs is that they frequently cut corners that can come back to haunt you such as poor hardening, inferior metal, poor fitment, etc. Be sure to get a Wheeler – they have an online store within Amazon and you can click here to go there,

Summary

You’ll notice that I am recommending two pushers for different audiences. For pros wanting to do this for a living, get the MGW Pro-Sight because of the need to support a variety of pistols. For people like me who have an occasional sight to do with a supported pistol, go with the Wheeler.

I hope this helps you out.

3/12/24 Update: The Wheeler is still working just fine. I have no hesitation recommending it.


Note, I have to buy all of my parts – nothing here was paid for by sponsors, etc. I do make a small amount if you click on an ad and buy something but that is it. You’re getting my real opinion on stuff.

If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.



Are you looking for the drill bits and end mill for your Polymer80 pistol build? If so, we have them and a sanding kit!

Folks, we believe we have the right to build our own firearms and have supported the Polymer80 Glock-style frames for a while now. You can build a very reliable and accurate pistol off of their frames

This is my favorite – a PF940v2 was used to make the receiver and it is mated to a Zaffiri Precision custom G34 slide and barrel with a Holosun optic on it. The pistol is accurate and runs like a top.

If you need the 3 or 4mm drill bits that the Polymer80 pistol frames use or the end mill for cleaning up the rails and/or removing the barrel block, we have them.

Given that I like using their frames, I also understood what was needed in terms of the drill bits, end mill and other finishing supplies. We have a number of offerings, but let me highlight our top three.

Our Top Three Selling Tools For Polymer80 Pistols Builders

Click here for the drill bits – they come as a pair.

Click here for the end mill

Note, we also sell a very popular sanding kit that works great for cleaning up the barrel channel so it is nice and smooth with nothing for the recoil spring to catch on. Click here for it.

I hope this helps you out.


If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.



What are the best affordable tritium and fiber optic sights for Polymer80 and Glock pistols?

A fellow emailed me wanting to upgrade his Polymer80 from the generic OEM Glock sights that I don’t think really excite anyone to something that would be more visible in general and also work in the dark. My answer was immediate – go with the TRUGLO TFX Pro Tritium and Fiber Optic Xtreme sights.

The featured photo above shows how bright they are on my P940CL that has a G17 slide on it. I bought these sights by the way – so you are getting my honest opinion.

Folks, these are my hands down favorite sights for a number of reasons:

  • They are CNC machined from steel and have a durable black nitride finish — they are not soft plastic.
  • They do not need batteries – the lit dots are via fiber optics when there is light and sealed tritium when it is dark so you are covered regardless of the light available. The tritium ought to fluoresce (emit light) for about 10-20 years and I’ll worry about replacing them then.
  • I really like the three green dot configuration – two on the rear sight and one on the front. The front also has an orange ring that you can see when there is light but is green when operating off the tritium only.
  • The rear sight goes into the slide’s groove very easily and is then secured with a set screw. Some sights can be a bear to install but not these.
  • The rear sight is big enough that it can help you rack the slide one handed in a one-handed emergency.
  • They have a 12 year warranty.
  • They are assembled in the USA – the tritium capsules are made in Switzerland.

What Glock models are supported?

Because these are so popular TRUGLO is making a variety of models to support the different Glock and Polymer80 configurations that are out there. I assembled the following table and you can also check their webpage if you want:

TG13GL1PCGlock® 17 / 17L, 19, 22, 23, 24, 26, 27, 33, 34, 35, 38, 39, 45 (Excluding M.O.S. models)
TG13GL2PCGlock® 20, 21, 25, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 37, 40, and 41 (Excluding M.O.S. models)
TG13GLAPC
(TFX front, Adjustable Rear)
Glock® 17 / 17L, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 37, 38, 39, 41, 45 (Excluding M.O.S. models)
TG13GL3PCGlock® 42, 43, 43x, 48; Honor Defense® (all models)
Source: https://truglo.com/spare-quiver-mount-spare-quiver-mount

Personally, I use the TG13GL1PC on a G17 and G34 built on PF940v2 frames. I bought both off sight sets off Amazon – click here to see the large selection there.

This gives you a better view of the sights overall. This is the TFX Pro TG13GL1PC with the fixed rear sight. I really like the sight picture these give day or night.
Here’s the rear sight and you can just barely see the set screw that secures the sight between the two “ears”. The slot at the top of each fiber optic is where it collects light to illuminate the dot. If there isn’t any light then that is where the tritium capsules take over.
Here’s the front sight. The orange ring is nice during the day and you only see the green tritium dot in the dark.
Well, trying to take a photo in the dark of three green dots with a cell phone camera was an experience. I went in a basement room and shut the door to cut off light. It’s fuzzy but you get the idea – all three dots are nicely lit in any lighting condition.

Do they have lower cost models also?

Yes, they do. The Tritium series just has the tritium for illumination in the dark and show as bright white dots during the day.

TG231G1Glock® 17 / 17L, 19, 22, 23, 24, 26, 27, 33, 34, 35, 38, and 39 (Excluding M.O.S. models)
TG231G2Glock® 20, 21, 25, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 37, 40, and 41(Excluding M.O.S. models)
TG231G1AGlock® 42, 43
Source: https://truglo.com/catalog/product/view/id/2068/s/tritium-tritium/category/19/

They also make a Tritium Pro series that builds on the Tritium base model and adds an orange ring to the front sight plus the back sight is bigger and that makes it easier if you need to rack the slide with one hand.

TG231G1WGlock® 17 / 17L, 19, 22, 23, 24, 26, 27, 33, 34, 35, 38, and 39 (Excluding M.O.S. models)
TG231G2WGlock® 20, 21, 25, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 37, 40, and 41(Excluding M.O.S. models)
TG231G1AWGlock® 42, 43
TG231G1MWGlock® MOS 17, 19, 22, 23, 24, 26, 27, 33, 34, 35, 38 and 39
TG231G2MWGlock® MOS 20, 21, 25, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 37, 40 and 41
Source: https://truglo.com/catalog/product/view/id/2069/s/tritium-pro-tritium-pro/category/19/

Do they support other brands and models of pistols?

Definitely. These are very popular lights given their great combination of quality at a fair price. I tend to see the best prices on Amazon – click here to see them.

Conclusion

I hope this helps you out. I really do like these sights and have no reservation recommending them.


Note, I have to buy all of my parts – nothing here was paid for by sponsors, etc. I do make a small amount if you click on an ad and buy something but that is it. You’re getting my real opinion on stuff.

If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.


Are ETS Glock Magazines Any Good?

There seems to be two schools of thought when it comes to magazines for Glock Pistols, Polymer80 Pistols and the myriad other arms that can use the reliable Glock magazine design. One will tell you that only Glock magazines are reliable. The other school will tell you that there are other magazine makers out there that work just fine as well. I subscribe to the latter and think that there are other magazine makers that turn out quality products and ETS is one of them.

“ETS” stands for Elite Tactical Systems and they have what they call “The ETS Way” that espouses providing quality products and taking care of customers. To do that they have a 30-day money back guarantee, lifetime warranty, their products are made in the USA and they pride themselves on exceptional customer service.

Just to be clear, I don’t work for them and this isn’t some paid endorsement – folks ask me questions and eventually I write a blog post after a quick reply via email. That’s how this post came about.

I’ve bought and used probably a dozen or more of their Glock magazines over the years and have never had a problem including storing some of them fully loaded for over a year now. They support quite a few other platforms as well and I want to try their new AR magazines.

This is my Polymer80 Glock 34-style pistol. It has a 22 round ETS magazine inserted and that is an aluminum Tyrant CNC mag well funnel you see. Note, I recently upgraded from the G34-style slide stop lever shown to a Vickers VTSS-001 and prefer the Vickers. Bottom line is that this combination works really, really well.

Now you may be wondering “Why bother?” The answer is real simple – they make transparent clear mags as well as smoke/translucent mags so you can see your round count really easily and I like that.

Look at the magazines, with the clear 22-round ETS mags you can instantly see the round count without needing to look at the OEM 17 round Glock magazines’ count indicator on the back. I’ve also been experimenting with different color followers and Vickers Tactical base plates (note the second magazine from the bottom edge of the photo – it has a red follower and an oversized base plate on it). What I am finding is that I really like using the Vickers plates when I want to reach blind into a bag, let’s say it’s dark for example, and instantly know I am grabbing a magazine with +P Critical Duty ammo loaded.

In Conclusion

When people ask me about ETS magazines, I recommend them. If you want to stick with only using Glock magazines, that’s your choice too. Speaking for myself, I’m happy with the ETS magazines.

Where to find them?

The great news is that most major firearms websites carry ETS so you shop around for the color and capacity you want. I buy most of mine from GunMagWarehouse followed by Midway USA.

Here are some listings for their Glock magazines:


Note, I have to buy all of my parts – nothing here was paid for by sponsors, etc. I do make a small amount if you click on an ad and buy something but that is it. You’re getting my real opinion on stuff.

If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.



Why Is My Polymer80 Slide Randomly Locking Open?

I don’t claim to be a Glock or Polymer80 guru by any means and I just learned a little detail that makes a world of difference. My problem was that with both my PF940v2 based Glock 34-style and PF940CL based Glock 17/19 hybrid, my bolts would lock open once in a while randomly. To be clear, I don’t mean they would stick open at some spot – the slide stop lever was engaging and locking the slides open.

I do have a blog post about what to do if your slide is sticking open / getting caught part way during its operating cycle. Click here for that one.

These random acts were far more frequent in the PF940CL and were driving me nuts. During a careful inspection, I noticed that the slide stop lever of the PF940CL had very, very little spring resistance pushing it down against the frame. More or less, the lever was flopping around!!

The first thing to check was whether I assembled it correctly or not. The spring on the slide stop lever should be under, or captured by, the top locking block pin. If it is not, then there isn’t enough tension to keep the lever down and it could then flop around and lock the slide open. In this case, it was fine.

Not the best angle in the world but see the orange circle in the above photo? It is the end of the slide stop lever’s spring sticking out from under the top locking block pin.

So, it was assembled right but another thing struck me as odd. While it was stamped with the Glock part number for the G34’s lever, the finish had always struck me as off vs. other Glock parts. I bought the lever off eBay and suspect I was the victim of an inferior counterfeit part that had a weak spring.

Notice how the black finish has worn off the Slide Stop Lever. I’ve not used the pistol enough to wear the finish off that fast and was one of my prime reasons for thinking I was sold a counterfeit/inferior slide stop lever.

Enter Vickers Tactical & The VTSS-001

I decided something must be up with the two Glock-34 extended slide lock levers that I bought off eBay – as in maybe they were counterfeits and not real OEM Glock parts. So you know, I really do like something that stick out a bit more than the stock Glock slide stop lever so I bought two Vickers Tactical units (Tango Down makes them) vs. reverting to OEM Glock 17 style levers.

This is the Vickers Tactical VTSS-01 “Tactical Slide Stop For Glock” up close.

Replacing The Lever

Always make sure your firearm is unloaded!!

So, I like to use a 5/32″ punch to push out the trigger housing pin while resting the pistol on a bench block. A bit of wiggling of the trigger can help it come out with relatively little force. You don’t need to beat it half to death. Some guys don’t use a hammer at all. I use one but with light taps.

Quick trivia for you – a 5/32″ punch is 3.9688mm – it works great to push out the pin and to help align things during reassembly. I have one of the Tekton Gunsmith punch sets and it’s very handy to have.
The new lever is installed and you can see the spring is captured under the top locking block pin. If the pin has been removed for whatever reason, install it first then the lever to capture the spring appropriately.
The lever definitely has more spring to it and stays down quite nicely now. I also like the subtle extension of the Vickers unit.
As you can see, it stick out just a tad bit more at the top and then angles down and back in. I definitely like the feel of it over a standard Glock 17 lever.

Problem Solved For the PF940CL

Well, that was that – problem solved. While I was at it, I decided to upgrade my Glock 34-style PF940V2 pistol as well. I was quite impressed by the Vickers unit and the G34 would lock open once in a while too so I figured why not?

When I inspected the G34, I found out that I had somehow not captured the spring at some point so that was the problem but I really liked the Vickers unit so I bought one and replaced it as well. By the way, I really think this was a real G34 slide stop lever as the finish looked right.

So, I did the same as the above except I did push out the locking block pin first to make it easier to pull out the errant spring. I then did the same as the above.

This is one of my favorite pistols! That Holosun HE507C-GR and Trijicon supressor-height sights are a great combination.

PF940V2 basedG34 on top and PF940CL G17/G19 hybrid on the bottom – both sporting the Vickers Tactical VTSS-001 Tactical Slide Stop Lever.

In Conclusion

I’m happy the problem of randomly locking open is solved. I definitely like the Vickers unit and am happy to recommend it.


Note, I have to buy all of my parts – nothing here was paid for by sponsors, etc. I do make a small amount if you click on an ad and buy something but that is it. You’re getting my real opinion on stuff.

If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.



Polymer80 PF940CL Review

A reader emailed me the other day asking how I liked my PF940CL and the short answer is that I do like it. For those of you who aren’t familiar with it, the PF940CL is a hybrid design using a Glock17 upper but having the lower that uses Glock 17 parts *but* uses Glock 19 magazines. The CL stands for “compact long” and it makes for an interesting design.

Like other Polymer80 kits, it comes with the blocks you will need, drills and a mill bit. You need to supply all of the internals and the completed slide assembly. The color I selected is known as “cobalt” and I like it.

Building It

It goes together like all other Polymer80 kits. If you haven’t built one before, I would recommend closely reading their assembly guide [click here for their page] and you can also check out some of my past posts [click here for them].

Two Differences

There are two things that are different that you do need to be aware of:

First, it uses Glock 17 parts in the lower but it does not use the traditional Glock leaf spring for the slide lock like you see in a Glock 17. Instead, it uses the same coil spring that a Glock Gen 5 pistol uses [Click here for more details].

Second, the magazine funnel is unique to the CL design and will not use funnels made for other Polymer80 models. I am running a SLR funnel made for the PF940CL and really like it. There are three reasons I like funnels:

  1. It does help guide the magazine up and into the mag well easier.
  2. I do like using funnels to protect the lip of the magazine well. Because of this mindset, I really prefer aluminum to the various 3D printed mag wells. The SLR funnel is aluminum for example.
  3. I like the support for my pinky finger. Yeah, I know it sounds crazy but normally I don’t like Glock 19-sized grips because my pinky finger is daingly in the air (I wear XL-sized gloves). By having a funnel, my pinky rests comfortably on the angled part of the funnel.
This is the SLR mag well made specifically for the PF940CL. [Click here for their page]

End Result

Take your time and do the build the right way. The end result is a very comfortable pistol that has a shorter grip but has the longer slide. I like it.

Here’s my completed PF940CL. I later replaced the TLR-2 HLG light with a smaller TLR-4 later.

Note, if you folks haven’t heard, Polymer80 is making and selling both serialized complete lowers and even complete pistols if you do not want to go the route of building your lower.

I hope this helps you out!


Note, I have to buy all of my parts – nothing here was paid for by sponsors, etc. I do make a small amount if you click on an ad and buy something but that is it. You’re getting my real opinion on stuff.

If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.



What Size Are The Drill Bits For Polymer80 Glock Frames

Hi folks, a gentleman wrote me the other day that he had a PF940v2 Polymer80 frame but not drill bits and asked what size he needed. I checked and the rear trigger housing and front locking block pin needs a 3mm drill and the trigger pin needs a 4mm drill – note that this can also be written as M3 and M4 respectively. You’ll see M3 and M4 on the frames for example.

This was from my PF940CL build. You can see the two M3 (3mm) holes and the one M4 (4mm). Note, it is very important that you just drill a hole in each side. Do not try and drill straight through or you risk an alignment error and then things aren’t going to fit properly.

I visited the Polymer80 How-To page that has the frame completion guides available in PDF format for you to read and print. I quickly browsed the guides for all of the Polymer80 Glock-compatible frames (PF9222, PF940SC, PF940C, PF940CL. PF940V2 and PF45) – they all use 3mm and 4mm drill bits.

If you buy bits, you either want them a tad undersize (such as 2.99 and 3.99) or at the nominal spec for 3.0 and 4.0. If you get a cheap import bit that is too over-sized, you will run the risk of the pins being too lose. The bits that come from one of my Polymer80 PF940v2 kits measure 2.990 and 3.986mm according to my micrometer.

These are our 3 and 4mm bits sized 2.95-2.97mm and 3.95-3.96mm respectively.

We do sell quality cobalt bits that are excellent for this work. Click here for our listing.

Conclusion

Polymer80 frames are fun builds and you can create reliable and accurate pistols. The caveats are that you should read the instructions, take your time and use the right drill bits.

I hope this helps you out.


Note, I have to buy all of my parts – nothing here was paid for by sponsors, etc. I do make a small amount if you click on an ad and buy something but that is it. You’re getting my real opinion on stuff.

If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.