Lacking a drill press or mill/drill, the rail ribs may be filed flush with a coarse, flat file and dressed with sandpaper.Īs I mentioned above, there are old codgers like myself who find the grip angle of the Glock distasteful. 2017, Issue 18.308 AR frames are also available. Borges and Loran Kelly to manufacture 80% AR-15 receivers, which we reviewed in Firearms News Aug. Mill the raised ribs off flush with the frame. Colors available include black, gray, FDE and green. P80 frames marketed by vendors such as Brownell’s ( and Lone Wolf Distributors ( may vary in grip texture, but are otherwise standard P80 products. I picked up several frames to sample what was available. From there, you have a choice of the standard-size PF940V2 frame (Glock 17, 22) or the compact PF940C1 version (Glock 19, 23). As of this writing, Polymer80 ( is the only manufacturer of 80% Glock frames I could find. The fixture clamped solidly between two slabs of wood for milling the rails.įrames: Choosing an 80% Glock frame to build is easy. An interesting book on this subject is GLOCK: THE RISE OF AMERICA’S GUN, by Paul M. Show up at the range with a Browning Hi-Power, and the kids down the firing line are snickering, “Hey, look at Gramps over there with the Browning.” Heaven forbid you show up with a revolver… The effect of Glock on the firearms industry as a whole cannot be overestimated. Thirty-eight years later, polymer-framed striker-fired pistols are considered state-of-the-art, and the guns that Neanderthals like myself hold dear are becoming historical artifacts. Arrows indicate the ribs above the rails that must be milled flush.Ī typical pistol in 1980 had a metal frame (steel or aluminum) and a swinging hammer. The Glock pistol was designed with modern manufacturing methods in mind (read, CNC) and could be quickly produced in vast quantities with no hand fitting and a high profit margin. Glock hired experts, studied the problem carefully and produced a high-capacity pistol with a polymer frame that became the standard sidearm of police and military units around the world in less than a couple decades. Enter Gaston Glock, a man experienced in manufacturing things other than firearms. Austria was looking for a new military pistol to replace its aging fleet of P38s. In the early 1980s, Glock ran a small Austrian firm that manufactured household items for the civilian market and knives for the Austrian Ministry of Defense. A voice inside my head was saying “you need to try this.”īefore we begin building Glocks, a few words about the fascinating rise of Gaston Glock and his pistol are in order. At the same time, I was eyeing ads for 80% Glock frames and keeping the idea on the shelf for when my editor would ask me what projects I had in mind for upcoming articles. Last year, I wrote about 80% AR-15 receivers and how to finish them. Laws only affect law-abiding individuals. Felons are already breaking the law if they possess a firearm. In most jurisdictions, firearms aren’t registered to individuals, and once they are sold by the original owner, the ATF can’t trace them anyway from a central database unless registration is part of state law. Gun banners refer to weapons assembled on 80% frames as “ghost guns,” since they lack serial numbers and whine about how they are “untraceable” by law enforcement. Shooters with small hands may appreciate the re-designed P80 grip with straight backstrap. The above also applies to building guns with completed receivers which already have a manufacturer’s marking and serial numbers-yes, the receiver is the restricted part but it’s not a handgun or rifle until it is assembled as such. The firearm you build must also comply with state and local laws. But, you can’t sell them to other parties without a federal manufacturer’s license from the ATF and payment of excise taxes. You can build as many as you desire for your personal use. If you wish to assemble firearms from 80% receivers, there are legalities to keep in mind. I suppose everyone with a shred of creativity in their body needs an outlet for it. A few were built on incomplete, or 80% receivers. An inventory of my safes would reveal maybe 50% of my firearms were assembled in a factory. Eventually, I was assembling AR-15s, M14s and M1 Garands. Using skills acquired in military and civilian schools, I began building 1911s from bare frames three decades ago.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |