Guns & Ammo

Gucci Polymer 80 First Range Day Update

in

I was recently able to take the Polymer 80 that I built out and live-fire it for the first time. In this post, I want to share with you my experience with the gun and its various parts.

First off, I want to advise those that have not seen my original build video to watch that first because some of what I say here is going to make a lot more sense with that previous information in mind.

Let’s just go from top to bottom, starting with the Trijicon SRO. The particular one that I own has is a 1 MOA dot and this is the smallest dot that I’ve run so far. I typically use Holosun optics and the ones I use go down to 2 MOA. When I bought the 1 MOA SRO, I did so because it was the only one that I could find in stock anywhere. There was some worry that the dot would be too small but after getting some range time, I can say that I honestly never even thought about the dot size. Maybe it’s because I’ve been running red dots for a little while now but I didn’t feel like I struggled at all with finding the dot. I actually like the 1 MOA dot more because once I started shooting at longer distances, it was much easier to precisely put the dot where I want it and not worry about the dot size covering up my target. This is only my first experience with this dot size but I don’t see it being a problem moving forward.

With the SRO, I should also talk about its general design. A point of concern that I brought up in my first video was that because the SRO overhangs the footprint and moves much closer to the ejection port, there would be a problem with spent shells bouncing off the optic as it’s ejected. Again, because I didn’t record myself, I couldn’t really keep track of where spent shells were going. However, there were two notable instances. In the first, I noticed a shell fly forward, ahead of me. It would make sense that the shell extracted right at the SRO and that caused it to bounce forward. On the second occasion, I noticed a shell flying straight up then landing on my hat. Again, it would make sense that the SRO caused the shell to do this. In my first video, I mentioned that I included two parts in my build to help with shells ejecting at the SRO and those parts are the Gen 5 ejector and the APEX Tactical Failure Resistant Extractor. I can’t judge the ejector too much in this build because I don’t have a lot of time with it and it seems to work, but the extractor I can speak upon.

An OEM Glock extractor for a Gen 3 Glock is around $20. The Apex Tactical Failure Resistant Extractor is $60. So for three times the price, how did it perform. I’m going to say flat out that this thing is trash. Total garbage. This part is often recommended over the OEM extractor because it is supposed to be milled better and has a better angle of attack so it can better pull spent shell casings out. When I tested this gun, I noticed a ridiculous amount of failures to eject. Literally the very first mag. The first shot went off. The second shot went off. The third shot was a double feed failure to extract. I thought maybe because this is a new gun and there’s a lot of aftermarket parts, things just needed to break in. So I continued and the failures just kept coming. I was never able to shoot more than 3 shots because of some sort of failure to extract. There were a bunch of double feeds and on many occasions, the spent shell would still be in the barrel and get lodged in there by the next round. I had to find a cleaning rod to force the spent shells out of my barrel. After trying a few different types of ammo from different manufacturers, I just knew that something had to be up with a part. I locked the slide back, looked down the mag chamber, and noticed that the extractor looked more rounded than I’ve ever seen any other extractor. So, I stripped the slide, pulled the extractor out, and guess what? Like 75% of it had sheered off and there was only a little nub left that was attempting to extract spent shells. What a piece of junk. Again, I had failures within the first handful of shots so it was possible that this thing broke off after one shot. After figuring this out, I borrowed a stock extractor from someone I was shooting with and things ran flawlessly the rest of the day. Not a single similar malfunction since. I can’t tell you how disappointed I am with this part. I contacted Apex about this and they’re sending me a new one but man, I don’t know if I’m willing to go through testing this thing again because it could be a ticking time bomb. I may work for a while then bam! The extractor sheers off again and if this happens when I need to defend myself, it’s game over. The gun will essentially be a one-shot pistol. I’ve put in a stock Glock extractor and it will likely be used for a while considering that I know it works with my setup.

Back to the topic of the SRO’s overhanging design, I do want to mention that I noticed that this optic gets dirty a lot faster than others that I’ve tried. Because it’s so close to the ejection port, a lot of gasses expel and build upon the glass. After shooting for a bit, I thought that I was fogging up the glass because it was a rather cold day. But the fogging never went away and it was pretty obvious what was going on when I looked at the front glass. There’s not really a fix for this so I’ll just have to deal with cleaning the SRO more often.

The next part that I want to talk about is this Tyrant Designs extended slide release. I removed it immediately upon returning home because I was so ready to replace it. This is the third one that I’ve purchased, one was for my Glock 43X and two for Gen 3 Glocks. The one for the 43X works flawlessly so no complaints there. The first Gen 3 release was fitting kind of weird so I got rid of that one. The second was better but I noticed that it was also bent kind of weird. When installed, there seemed to be a lot of play. There was a lot of play and It was able to move to and from the frame a lot more than it should. Well, in shooting, this resulted in the slide release actually lifting up and jamming itself between the frame and slide instead of locking back. This is the first time that I’ve ever seen this happen. Another reason why I think this particular one was bent wrong is that I noticed the mag that I was using got chewed up by the release. A part of the bar just stuck out too much and continually hit the edge of my mag causing damage. Luckily the store that I purchased the release from was cool with calling this a manufacturer’s defect and will let me return it. I’ve replaced the Tyrant with a Tango Down Vickers Slide Stop. I’m not sure how I feel about this slide stop yet so we’ll see what happens with it. Hopefully, it will be more reliable than the Tyrant.

Next, the only other part that was giving me problems was the L2D dimpled pin set that’s holding everything in place. Three of the pins were fine but the smaller top pin kept walking out. After a few mags, it would move from right to left. It just seems like this pin is a little bit too narrow. This could also be a contributor to my slide release problem because the slide release has a spring that sits in a groove on this pin. So if the pin is walking, the spring isn’t seated properly and that can be why there’s more than a normal amount of play. Luckily I still have the dimpled pin set that came with my PFC9 so I just put those pins back in but kept the L2D trigger housing pin because if you remember, the PFC9 only came with 3 dimpled pins for some reason and the trigger housing pin was plain flat. The L2D trigger housing pin worked fine in this frame so I’ll keep it to have a complete 4 dimpled pin set.

Moving on, let’s talk about the Norsso Piranha EDC slide. Like I said in my first video, I love the way this slide looks. It’s super aggressive. But, that aggressiveness equates to rather sharp corners on the serrations. Because I was having so many malfunctions, I ended up having to manipulate the slide a lot. I had to rack this thing so many times and in doing so, I noticed at the end of the day, my hand’s index and thumb got cut up quite a bit. Only one cut was visible and the rest are those cuts that you don’t see but when you run them under water they start to sting. So, the slide is a tough call. It looks really good and runs perfectly but is it worth cutting my hand up to use it? I’m not sure yet. This slide is actually already sold. I have a buyer lined up and now I just have to decide if I want to pick up the ported version of this slide or go with something else.

Since we’re talking about the slide, let’s cover the barrel since they run hand in hand. First off, as I mentioned in my first video, this Lantac 9ine barrel was already showing some wear on the hood after a few hand manipulations so I wasn’t sure how it would hold up long term. Well, I got my answer. This barrel is developing wear faster than any other barrel I’ve owned. It’s not too bad right now after 250 rounds but just think long-term. The marring is already pretty deep in comparison to some of my other barrels that have more use so I don’t know about this one. The length of the barrel is also developing some wear but that’s a little bit slower. All this wear is of course, largely related to the slide. Maybe the two are just rubbing a bit too much but that’s just something that you figure out through trial and error. These are aftermarket parts so who knows how they’ll run together. They certainly weren’t designed for each other so I can’t really complain here. However, on a brighter note. This is the most accurate barrel I’ve ever shot. But, of course, that’s not completely just attributed to the barrel. The gun is a sum of its parts. Everything works together. And I have to say, the setup that I’ve put together here has helped me to be more accurate than I’ve ever been.

Then also connected to the barrel and slide, we have my stainless steel guide rod. I’m running stock 18lbs and that seems to be functionally ok. It ran all loads perfectly but I did notice some primer drag. Again, the gun runs so this is something that I’ll eventually get to. Messing with the weights is an unnecessary thing at the moment.

Finally, let’s close with the trigger. I’m running the Johnny Custom Glocks Legacy Universal Hybrid system. Now, because this part is such a major component and it costs so much, I want to make a video solely dedicated to it. I think it deserves that. But for now, let me just say that this is the best trigger that I’ve ever used. When talking about accuracy, we have to partially contribute that to the trigger and I personally have never been more confident with a trigger than this Johnny Glocks Legacy trigger. Again, I’ll make a video dedicated to this thing so keep an eye out for that.

And that’s about it. I realize there are a few more parts to this build but if I didn’t mention it, those parts just worked as they should and that’s good considering all that I went through on just my first range outing with this setup. It was a major pain to troubleshoot at first but once I got this build going, man is this thing sweet. It is absolutely my most favorite handgun right now. This thing is just amazing. But once I get everything really dialed in, I think this thing will be perfect.

So, I’ll be sure to keep you guys updated on this build and hopefully will be able to take you along with me on my next outing.

If you're considering buying any of the products mentioned, please support my work by using the links below.

Clear Pistol Display Stand https://amzn.to/3f7eJa5

My Recommended Firearm Accessories https://www.amazon.com/shop/haihoangtran

Want to support my work?

Consider visiting the shop and buying "Absolutely Nothing"
https://www.HaiHoangTran.com/shop/absolutely-nothing

or

Become a YouTube member!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLUO-2ltlWfydRZ7pRRnXkw/join

Become a Patron!
https://www.patreon.com/HaiHoangTran

or

Buy some official merch!
https://www.youtube.com/haitran/store

PayPal
https://www.PayPal.me/HaiHoangTran

or

Just shop on Amazon via this link!
https://amzn.to/2FgsDnG

Gucci Glock 2.0 | CR Precision V2 + Killer Innovations Velocity Barrel + Jagerwerks B.R.O.S.

in

In this post, we are continuing with the most current iteration of my Gucci Glock build. If you’ve been keeping up with this thing, you’ll be able to tell that there are some pretty major changes, particularly to the upper. Since my last update, I’ve sold my Norsso Piranha EDC slide, 10-8 Performance sights, Tyrant Designs slide plate, and Lantac 9ine Match Grade Barrel. The slide was something that I was kind of planning to sell from the start because, as I’ve said, I was thinking of going with the Norsso Piranha Ported slide. But after getting to use the EDC for live fire, I’ve found that if I had to do a lot of slide manipulations, the sharp serrations on the Piranha actually cut up my thumb and index finger. I guess maybe that’s why it’s called the Piranha, because it bites and tears your hand up. Anyway, I figured that although I love the way that slide looked, I would rather have something that I didn’t have to worry about if I ended up having to do a lot of slide manipulations. Then because the slide was being sold, I might as well sell the sights that were already installed and a good fit for the next owner’s Holosun 507C, which I also sold him. The Tyrant rear plate had to go too because it matched the slide. Lastly, I sold the Lantac barrel because it just made sense. That barrel worked extremely well with the Piranha slide. The combination was extremely accurate in my testing. Letting the buyer get all of those parts will just work out better for him because I did all the trial and error. So that means that I had to replace everything that I sold.

The first thing that I had to find was a new slide. For this, I decided to go with the CR Precision V2. I’m going to be honest. Times are hard right now if you’re into gun building. Parts are extremely hard to find and sometimes you just have to get what you can find. This slide is kind of that for me. I wouldn’t say it’s my first choice but it’s up there. I’ve been eyeing this slide for a bit and timing was just right as it was the only one that I could find in stock and actually like. I love the front end of this slide. The oval front serrations are pretty unique. Then we have the top of the slide that features some side angle lightning cuts and center peep holes. At the nose, we also get an angled cut into the sides. I like this because it’s a good way to show off a barrel if you went with a nice one. The cuts are just deep enough so that if you have a fluted barrel, people will be able to see it but they’ll get just a peep and it keeps them guessing. I like the subtle yet not-so-subtle design of this front end. I also like it because it’s not really something that I’ve seen. If you look for aftermarket slides a lot you’ll start to notice that many of them look alike. For me, this is one of the designs that stand out but it’s not crazy over the top. However and moving to the back, we get a crosshatch pattern that makes small diamond serrations. This rear end is what’s kept me from buying this slide sooner. Not only is this a pretty common design but I don’t think it’s the best match for the front. I would much more prefer to have the front’s oval serrations in the back as well and I think that would’ve taken this slide to the next level but it is what it is. You can’t be too picky when buying off the rack.

Now, there are a few things that I do want to mention for those interested in this slide. First, my slide arrived Cerakoted. I wanted to mention this because the product page for this slide on the CR Precision website doesn’t say how the slide was to be finished. Again, mine is Cerakoted and I personally do not like that. I have another slide that’s been Cerakoted and from experience, this coating just gets damaged too easily if you holster your gun a lot with a Kydex holster. The two materials just don’t mix. Not to mention that my brand new slide arrived with quite a few scuffs so that was a bummer. I did some buffing and that reduced the scuffs a bit but they are still noticeable if you know where to look. I also don’t like Cerakote on a slide because it adds just a slight bit of thickness which requires some extra breaking in. That was definitely the case here as my barrel kept getting caught up in the slide and I had to wiggle the barrel in and out a few times before it would seat properly.

The next thing to know about this slide is that it is cut for the RMR footprint. But instead of doing a traditional RMR cut where there are posts up front and screw holes in the back, CR Precision went the ZEV route and got rid of the front posts, and made raised bosses where the screws mount. This will only be a problem for those who want to run an optic like the Holosun 509T where an RMR adapter plate is used and the optic clamps onto that plate. I can’t verify if the 509T will work with the CR cut because I got rid of the one that I owned but I know that it didn’t work with the Zev cut with the raised bosses. Just something to keep in mind.

Finally, I want to mention that although this is a Gen 3 slide, none of my Gen 3 extractors fit in this slide. They do not seat properly and dramatically stick out. The only extractor that I’ve found that fits this slide is the Apex Tactical Failure Resistant Extractor. I personally do not want to run this extractor because it’s given me a lot of problems in the past but at this point I have no choice because, again, this is the only extractor that fits in this slide. After contacting CR Precision, it turns out that some of their slides have a burr in the extractor channel and that’s what’s causing this issue. It just kind of blows my mind that there wasn’t enough care to check for this type of thing prior to shipment when it is a known problem. For those who buy this slide and run into a similar problem, contact CR Precision and they’ll remedy the problem for you. I’m not sure if they’ll exchange the slide out or just file the burr down. I would personally recommend getting a new slide because I wouldn’t want a brand new slide filed down and have a portion of it not coated. Because I have the Apex extractor that fits, I’m just going to try running it for a while and see how things go. Hopefully, all is well or I’m going to have to figure something out. At the moment, I can’t say I’m too happy with the service from this company. For an expensive slide such as this, it shouldn’t have arrived damaged and quality control should’ve been better. I personally will likely not be buying another slide from this company.

Moving on and to cap off the slide, I got the Rainier Arms slide plate. This was a pretty obvious buy because this rear plate also features that crosshatch diamond pattern so it was a good pairing with the rear serrations.

I also picked up the Rainier Arms Fiber Optic Suppressor Height Sights for Glock. With the 10-8 sights that I had on my Norsso slide and in conjunction with the SRO, the sights were just a little too short for my liking because they were barely visible. With the Rainier Arms sight, I’m getting about a lower fifth cowitness whereas the 10-8 sights were giving me something like lower tenth. I’m much more confident with the height of the Rainier Arms sights if I had to use them in a pinch. I also think that these sights give a lot of bang for the buck. The feel like quality upon first impressions and give more features than some of the competition in the same price range.

Next, we have the Killer Innovations Velocity Non-Threaded Barrel for the Glock 19. Like the LacTac barrel I previously had, I bought this one because it’s a looker. This is a fluted barrel but and like the Lactac, this is another barrel that went with a more unique fluting design than the typical straight or spiral lines. I really don’t even know what to compare this pattern to. My imagination says rocket ship but it’s definitely up to interpretation. In any case, I like this barrel because the fluting extends pretty far forward and it works well with those front slide cuts that I mentioned earlier. Again, subtle and keeps you guessing. Also, check out the milling on this hood. There’s actually a window cut through it. I’ve never seen this before. I think if they did this on both sides of the hood, it would’ve been that much better and it would’ve matched the CR slide so much more considering the top slide cuts. But I’ll take it as it is. This is a really good looking barrel.

I also want to point of that my Rainier Arms sights came with a green fiber optic rod preinstalled but also came with a spare yellow and spare red rod. I took the green rod out and installed the yellow to better match the gold barrels. Remember, it’s the little details that really set these builds apart.

Finally, the last change to this build is the Jagerwerks Battle Ready Optic Shield or the B.R.O.S. This is something that I ordered long before and it just finally arrived. As you can see, the B.R.O.S. is essentially a shield for the SRO and it should help a lot to increase the durability of this optic. This product product also features a little lip that wraps closer to the bottom of the SRO and is suppose to act as a brass deflector to help with those spent shell casings ejected at the SRO. I’m kind of skeptical of how effective this will actually be considering how small the lip is but we’ll see after some testing. The B.R.O.S. does add some extra bulk to the SRO but I’ll take it. The extra protection is well worth it.

And those are all the new upgrades to my Gucci Glock build. Right now, in the studio, I can say that I’m largely happy with where this setup is. Everything looks good but really no point in having a good looking gun if it doesn’t function reliably unless you just want an expensive paperweight. I’m going to go shoot this thing as soon as possible and hopefully, I’ll be able to record that outing for you guys.

If you're considering buying any of the products mentioned, please support my work by using the links below.

Clear Pistol Display Stand https://amzn.to/3f7eJa5

My Recommended Firearm Accessories https://www.amazon.com/shop/haihoangtran

Want to support my work?

Consider visiting the shop and buying "Absolutely Nothing"
https://www.HaiHoangTran.com/shop/absolutely-nothing

or

Become a YouTube member!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLUO-2ltlWfydRZ7pRRnXkw/join

Become a Patron!
https://www.patreon.com/HaiHoangTran

or

PayPal
https://www.PayPal.me/HaiHoangTran

or

Buy some official merch!
https://www.youtube.com/haitran/store

or

Just shop on Amazon via this link!
https://amzn.to/2FgsDnG

Gucci Serialized Polymer 80 PFC9 Build

in

I want to share with you my 99% complete Gucci Polymer 80 build. I say 99% complete because I’m waiting on one part that’s made to order and it’s possibly still weeks away. In this post, I want to go over the various parts of this build and my initial impressions of them.

Alright, let’s get started on this P80 build. First off, the lower. The foundation of this build started with a serialized P80 lower. For those unaware, yes, Polymer 80 has the 80% lowers that we all come to know but they also sell 100% completed serialized frames and they actually sell completed firearms, out of the box ready to go. Those firearms are marketed as the PFS9 for the full-sized version and the PFC9 for the compact. This is how my lower started its life. It was a PFC9 complete firearm.

I personally knew that I only wanted the serialized lower. I wanted something that I can carry without trouble. The legality of carrying an un-serialized firearm is going to be dependent on location. Even in places where it’s legal, an un-serialized gun can just be one of those things that you can be harassed for if law enforcement happens to disarm you for whatever reason. At the end of the day you may not get charged for it, but it can just make life a bit more difficult and waste some time. For a carry firearm, which I do intend to carry this thing once in a while, I’ll just stick with the serialized version.

So, why did I buy the fully assembled PFC9 instead of just the lower? The biggest reason is that the lower only just wasn’t available to me locally and the complete was. This made buying the complete a no-brainer but before doing so, I made sure to have a buyer lined up for everything but the frame. I made that happen and the lower ended up costing me less than half the price of the 80%.

Now that I have the lower, the next task was to get a slide. For this, I went with the Norsso Piranha EDC. I’ve been eyeing this slide forever and it is possibly my favorite looking slide of all time. It just looks super aggressive. This thing has a bunch of angular slide cuts which equates to front and rear serrations. Then you have the knurling on top of the slide. Put all that together and you get a one really detailed, well milled slide.

Norsso actually also makes a Piranha Ported slide and it looks exactly like the EDC but the Ported has a window cut between the top knurling. I was and am still kind of considering buying the Ported Piranha slide but I’ll explain why that is in a bit.

This slide also features an RMR cut and that’s important to me because I red dot everything now. If a Norsso slide is in stock, it usually comes with the RMR cut because that’s the most popular footprint but there are other options if you don’t mind special ordering a custom slide. The RMR cut is fine for me because, on this slide, I have the Trijicon SRO mounted, which has an RMR footprint. I actually had a Holosun 507C on here for a bit but come on, I’m building a Gucci Glock here and what’s more Gucci and in your face than the SRO? Aside from the hype, this thing is just great. Massive sight picture and it fixes my biggest gripe with the RMR and that is the bottom loading battery. Here, the battery tray is up top and batteries can be changed without taking the entire optic off and possibly throwing off zero. However, one thing that kept me from buying this optic for so long is just its general design. As you can see, the SRO overhangs the footprint and moves closer to the ejection port. The problem with this is that, very often when brass ejects and because the SRO is so close to the ejection port, brass will hit the optic then bounce elsewhere. I haven’t fired this gun yet so I don’t know my situation but there are a few different things that I included in this build to help alleviate the problem.

First, I got a gen 5 47021 ejector. If you’re unfamiliar with Glocks and building Glocks, what’s important to know is that gen 3, 4, and 5 9mm Glocks all have different ejectors. Gen 3s come with a 336 ejector, Gen 4s come with a 30274 ejector, and Gen 5s come with 47021 ejectors. The Gen 3 336 ejectors are the worst. They are extremely inconsistent and eject spent shells in all directions including left and back at the shooter. That’s obviously not ideal so just stay clear of that. The Gen 4 30274 ejectors improve upon this and are much better with a lot of shells ejected towards 4 to 5 o’clock. Normally, this would be fine but because I’m running the SRO, the gen 4 ejector would most definitely fling shells at the optic. So, I’m running a Gen 5 ejector because it more often ejects at 3 o’clock which gives me the best chance of clearing the SRO.

Then to take it one step further, I’m also running the Apex Tactical Failure Resistant Extractor. If you didn’t know, the stock Glock extractor is a major contributor to failures in P80 builds. It’s a cheap part that’s not designed all that well. Apex noticed this, went to the drawing board, and designed something that gets the job done. The claw is milled at a better angle which more effectively grips the spent shells, pulls them back, and gets them to the ejector. So if you build some sort of Glock and are have failures to eject, combine this extractor with a Gen 4 or 5 ejector and that should take care of most issues.

Finally, the last thing that can be done to help protect the SRO from ejected brass is to get the B.R.O.S. from Jagerwerks. This is essentially a steel shroud that adds extra protection for the SRO. If you’re unfamiliar with this optic, a quick search would show that the general opinion of it is good. The only potential negative is that because of the big round design, the optic loses structural integrity and is not as durable. If dropped, there’s a much greater risk of the optic failing than many other well-known options. Well, the B.R.O.S. is hopefully the answer to that problem. It should add a lot of protection for the major points of impact and actually has an extended section at the lower corner to help deflect those spent shells. At the beginning of this video, I said that this build is 99% complete and that’s because the B.R.O.S. is the only part that I’m waiting on. I placed my order about 5 weeks ago and the processing time is 4-6 weeks so I’m hoping to get it soon.

For the sights, I went with the 10-8 Performance Glock Tall Sights. .315H for the fronts and .395H with a .140 notch in the rear. 10-8 offers other taller heights for the fronts but that just comes down to preference. For the rear, there is an option for a larger rear notch and that would’ve been ideal as the irons are meant as a backup so having that larger notch would help with faster acquisition but this was the only option available when I ordered and they still do the job. The notch sizes aren’t that dramatically different anyway.

With backup irons, I personally like about a lower fourth co-witness when running a red dot and this combination provides that when I had a Holosun 507C on this slide. Since switching to the SRO, these sights are pretty low. They’re like lower 10th co-witness now. Is it still usable? Yes, but it definitely takes me longer to adjust and find them. This is definitely not ideal in my opinion. I thought about switching the sights out but I’m just not sure yet because I don’t know how permanent some of the parts of this build are yet. There are some things that may be moving around so I’ll just have to wait and see. Besides, at this point, I’m pretty comfortable with red dots and realistically never use irons anymore so for something that’s a last-ditch effort, these work.

Next, let’s talk about the barrel. For this, I went with the LanTac 9ine match grade barrel and I have to say, this thing is a work of art. The milling on this barrel is very well done from tip to tip. As you can see, this is a fluted barrel but it has a much different fluting design than the typical straight or spiral lines that’s on the market. I don’t know if there’s a specific name for this pattern but it reminds me of a water dropper pipette from science class and apparently, this is a proprietary patent-pending flute pattern. If you didn’t know, barrel fluting lessens the weight of a barrel but can actually increase its rigidity. The fluting can also help to dissipate heat. That’s all great but I’m going to be honest and say that I bought this barrel purely for aesthetic reasons. The milling just looks so good. I bought this barrel after the slide and this is what made me regret not getting the Piranha Ported slide because to me, if I’m going to buy a fancy fluted barrel, I want to show it off with some slide cuts. The ported slide would’ve been perfect for this barrel because it runs front to back and would’ve shown off this fluting which also runs front to back. The two would’ve just been a good match. But not showing off the barrel can also be a good thing because the barrel is eventually going to start showing some wear in the finish. This particular one has a black DLC (Diamond Like Carbon) coating and I’ve had a few barrels with something similar and the coating tends to wear pretty quickly. This gun has not been live fired, only dry fired to check for function and there’s already wear developing on the hood. That started happening within the first hand full of slide racks even though I made sure to heavily oil the hood. It’s just something that happens with this type of coating and it’s just going to get worse. So again, having a slide without the window cuts might be a good thing because the barrel may look good new, but it’s one of the parts that gets beat up a lot.

Moving down from the barrel, I’m running a stainless steel guide rod with a stock weight 18# spring. Because this build is such a mix of different parts and so far away from stock, I thought that it’d be a good idea to run a recoil spring assembly that I can switch the springs out on because that may be something that I’ll have to do. There’s going to be a lot of testing necessary for this build and a lot of trial and error.

Finally, the last visible thing on the slide, the rear plate. For this, I went with the Tyrant Design plate and as you can see, it has a chevron arrow design which I thought matched very well with the front serrations. This is also why I went with the matching Tyrant extended slide release. Again, chevrons, and in this instance, it faces the same directions as the front serrations. These are the little details that really add up.

Now, Tyrant does also make a matching extended mag release but I went against it because it’s a typically narrow gen 3 mag release design. I don’t hate that, but it’s definitely not preferred. The Tyrant mag release is also full aluminum. This is a problem for me because the Glock mags are polymer. Polymer mag release on polymer mag is ok, metal mag release on metal mag is ok, but when you mix the two, the metal mag release will eventually chew up the polymer mags. It just depends on the design of the mag release but this is usually a case of not if but when because it will happen eventually. It may take one use. It may take one hundred uses. You just don’t know until it happens and this is not something I want to gamble with on a carry pistol. Instead, I found another extended mag release on eBay which gives the larger area of a gen 4/5 mag release and I have to say, this is the best mag release I’ve ever used. With others, I’ve always had to reposition my hand to activate the mag release. This is the first instance where I don’t have to do that. I can drop the mag without any major changes to my grip and that’s a complete win. On top of that, this release gives me the look of an aluminum release at the button, but that button is held on by two screws to a polymer catch. So, I will have no issues with the mag release eating up my mags. As of right now, this is hands down my favorite mag release for Gen 3 Glocks. I would like more options than just the straight lines but I’ll take it. This is a very well-designed mag release.

Next, the trigger. For this, I went with the Johnny Custom Glocks Legacy Series Univeral Hybrid. This is a drop-in kit so it came with the entire trigger assembly meaning, the shoe, trigger bar, connector, trigger spring, ejector, and trigger housing. In addition, I also picked up the Johnny Glocks upgraded striker and safety plunger. This is my first Johnny Glocks trigger so I can’t say too much about it. I’ve only dry-fired with it so I don’t have too much of an opinion. I’ll make an update in the future once I’ve run some live rounds through this setup.

I should mention that the Legacy comes with 4 different weight striker springs and two trigger springs. The various combination allows you to get quite a wide spread of trigger pulls weights and feels. I’m currently running the 5.5# striker spring and 5# trigger spring. This combination gets me about a 3.75# break. I’m good with that for now but will definitely be playing with the springs to get my perfect setup.

Now, the main reason why I purchased this trigger is because it is actually compatible with all generation Glocks and will fit any Glock-like frames such as the P80, Nomads, Shadow Systems, and etc. Pretty much anything that takes Glock parts, this trigger system should work in so long as you have the right size frame. I was interested in this because I like to do these builds. So to have something that I can swap in and out and make work in everything, it’s just extremely convenient. I can have one trigger to test in all my Glock builds and get a feel for what works. That being said, I don’t know if this trigger system will be a permanent part of this build. As I’ve said, it’s meant to be my trial donkey. It’s just in here for testing purposes so it might come out when I put my next build together. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Moving up front, I have an extended slide lock. This is something that’s come to be a must on all my Glocks. I personally think the ones that come stock is just too short. It makes dissembling the gun more difficult than necessary and the extended slide lock definitely helps with that. This particular one is extended but there’s a slant or graduation to the extension. Up top, it’s pretty much stock length and gets more extended as you move down. This slant extended slide lock has become my favorite design because it’s more ergonomic. With some extended slide locks, the manufacturer just makes them too long and if you rest your thumbs forward, your thumbs can catch the slide lock and just get irritated or ripped up after shooting for a while. I don’t see that happening with this design and it still provides that extra ease of use. The slant actually makes gripping the slide lock much easier. So, I’m a fan of this design.

Lastly, I think the only other notable thing is the pin set. These particular pins are from L2D and as you can see, all of them are dimpled. I actually got the idea for these pins from my completed PFC9 P80 because it came with dimpled pins. But for some reason, only the front 3 pins were dimpled and the back trigger housing pin wasn’t. So I thought, I’m already here. I’ve blown a bunch of money everywhere else so might as well pick up the L2D pin set and make all four pins dimpled, so here we are.

And I think that’s it. I think that’s every notable part of this build. This setup took months to get to where it is right now and that’s partly because of all the shortage in the gun industry and partly because I keep changing up the parts. To be realistic, it’s very likely that there are still going to be a few major changes coming up for this build. I have a few people interested in buying some of the stuff you’ve seen here and I just have to decide if I’m good with this build as it is or not. I’ll definitely keep you guys updated if there are any major changes.

If you're considering buying any of the products mentioned, please support my work by using the links below.

Clear Pistol Display Stand https://amzn.to/3f7eJa5

My Recommended Firearm Accessories https://www.amazon.com/shop/haihoangtran

Want to support my work?

Consider visiting the shop and buying "Absolutely Nothing"
https://www.HaiHoangTran.com/shop/absolutely-nothing

or

Become a YouTube member!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLUO-2ltlWfydRZ7pRRnXkw/join

Become a Patron!
https://www.patreon.com/HaiHoangTran

or

PayPal
https://www.PayPal.me/HaiHoangTran

or

Just shop on Amazon via this link!
https://amzn.to/2FgsDnG

maglula UpLULA Mag Speed Loader

in

I personally don’t like to load gun magazines too much. It’s fine at first but after a few hours on the range and a few hundred rounds, loading a mag gets tedious, to say the least. Depending on the gun that you buy, you may get a speed loaders but these are generally just designed to push the follower down at the back. When you load a round, it’ll hit the pin at the back of the loader that pushes the follower down. This causes a stop-and-go motion and I consider this to be an unnatural motion. It’s just one of those things that you have to try for yourself to understand. This type of speed loader helps to speed things up and lessen hand strain but I just think that things can be better.

After some research, I came across the maglula UpLULA, which seems to be one of the most recommended speed loaders on the market. This particular one is advertised to be universally compatible with all magazines that hold 9mm, .357, 10mm, .40, and .45 cal.

Looking at the UpLULA, the product itself is fairly simple. It is spring-loaded and the two sides can be squeezed together. At the top, there’s a lock that allows for the UpLULA to be stored at the compressed size. On one of the sides, there’s a small notch for use with unloading but we’ll get to that in a bit.

To use the UpLULA, we slip it over the top of a magazine with the prong or what maglula calls the steel beak, over the follower. From here, we squeeze the sides of the UpLULA together, then push the whole thing down. This will cause the steel beak to push the follower down, allowing us to load a round. The thing that’s really nice about this speed loader is that it’s the loading motion is very streamline. There’s none of that stop and go as with the manufacturer provided loader. After loading just a few roads, the motion became second nature and I got pretty fast at it. I was actually loading faster with my right hand than my left hand can grab the next round. I would say that this is pretty good.

On my first few attempts at using this product, it seemed like I wasn’t able to fully load a mag with the UpLULA. I have 15 round mags and it seemed like I could only load 14 rounds. It looked like the steel beak was taking too much space in the mag and didn’t allow for loading of the last round. But after some fiddling around, it turns out that I just needed to exert more force. Again, because that steel beak is taking up some real estate in the mag, you’ll have to push down harder than usual. Definitely harder than if you’re using the manufacturer’s speed loader.

Then if you want to unload the mag, you can use the notch that I mentioned earlier. You essentially use that to push the round out of the mag instead of using your thumb. To be honest, I think the thumb method is faster so I’ll likely not be using this feature.

I should also mention that a few different manufacturers make hard shell cases for the UpLULA so if you want to protect your investment, these are a good buy.

Overall, I have to say that I really like the maglula UpLULA. It does exactly what I wanted it to and that is to help me load a magazine faster. I really have no complaints about it but I haven’t used it for very long. Only time will tell if it’ll hold up in terms of durability. Fingers crossed that it’ll last for years to come.

If you're considering buying any of the products mentioned, please support my work by using the links below.

Hermitshell Hard Case for Maglula UpLULA https://amzn.to/2KrYPKN

Want to support my work?

Consider visiting the shop and buying "Absolutely Nothing"
https://www.HaiHoangTran.com/shop/absolutely-nothing

or

Become a Patron!
https://www.patreon.com/HaiHoangTran

or

PayPal
https://www.PayPal.me/HaiHoangTran

or

Just shop on Amazon via this link!
https://amzn.to/2FgsDnG

Hornady RAPiD Gun Safe

in

I personally have a few different safes but I’ve been wanting a little more inconspicuous. Something that can be put in plane sight that gives me quick access to its contents without screaming that it’s a safe or in a break-in situation to “steal me”. After some research, the Hornady RAPiD Gun Safe seems to be the best option for what I was looking for.

If you couldn’t tell, this thing looks like a retro digital clock. It looks like something that people wouldn’t necessarily want to steal if they were in a dash to get in and get out with the most valuable things possible and I think that’s the biggest appeal of the Hornady RAPiD Gun Safe. It’s unassuming to say the least. But don’t let appearances deceive you. Behind the boring facade are some pretty nice features.

Constructed from 14 gauge steel and weighing in at about 18 pounds, the RAPiD Gun Safe is no slouch when it comes to build. This safe is designed to be heavy-duty and tamper-proof. But to be realistic, with enough time and if someone really wants to get into something, they’re going to do it. Something like the RAPiD Gun Safe is more intended to be good enough for those dash and grabs. It’ll be able to slow the thief down and possibly make them lose interest.

At the front of the RAPiD Gun Safe is the discreet tempered glass front display panel which contains an RFID reader, clock display, access code keypad, and the backup battery panel. In talking about this panel, I should talk about how we would get access to the inside of the safe and there are three ways to do so. First, the safe comes with a set of tubular keys. These are used to open the safe from the back if you so choose and as a backup when it is not possible to use the other methods. The next way to open the safe is by using the access code keypad. This system allows for a 4-6 digit combination code to be set and used. Finally, we have the RFID reader that is hidden behind the clock display. This is used in conjunction with registered RFID tags to open this safe in the fastest way possible. Included with the RAPiD Gun Safe is one watchband tag, one key fob tag, and two stick-on decal tags. Hornady does offer various other RFID tag options at an additional cost but keep in mind that only 5 tags can be registered with this safe at a time.

Inside the safe, we get an interior dimension of 2.2"H x 9.2"W x 6.9"D. I do want to note that there is a rubber tray inside the drawer and I’m not sure if the listed interior dimension accounts for this as it does take up some space. The tray is removable but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend that because there is some visible wiring under it. There’s probably less chance of damage to the unit if the tray is used.

Now, this safe can of course be used for anything but as the name implies, it is intended to be a safe that gives users rapid access to their gun. For reference, here is a Glock 19 Gen 5 in the safe. As you can see, the 19 fits perfectly fine when the slide is pointing side to side. The 19 will not fit with slide pointing front to back. If you want to orientate a pistol pointing front to back, you’ll need something the size of a Glock 43X which is just a bit smaller than the exact width. Pistols smaller than the 43X will, of course, also fit. With the 43X, there’s a few millimeters of extra space on either end to get it in there comfortably. Left to right, there’s easily enough room for a Glock 17 or other similarly sized firearms. Now, I don’t have two Glock 19s to test but it doesn’t look like there’s enough space to fit two of those, at least comfortably. My Glock 43X and Glock 19 both fit in there but that does require some slower manipulation to not haphazardly bang them against each other. For my personal use, this is a one gun safe. The setup that I currently use it in isn’t the most ideal, but I think that if you have the nightstand stand space for this safe, it’ll be a great fast option for your home defense weapon if it were to be needed.

Moving to the back of the safe, we have two USB-A 2.0 outlets and a 12V power connector. In conjunction with 12V power, you can use 4 AA batteries to provide backup power in case there is a power outage.

Overall, I really like this safe but there are a few things that I want to bring up. First is the front access code keypad. Not that it doesn’t work, I just don’t like it that there are numbers visible. The numbers just throw things off when you look at the front panel and make the unit look less like a clock and more so like there’s possibly more to this device. The number pad makes the safe less inconspicuous. I would’ve much preferred the dot system that Hornady uses with the RAPiD Vehicle Safe. However, in a dash a grab, thieves may not have the time to be paying too much attention to make that distinction. But, that’s a gamble that I’d rather not have to take.

Another thing that can be changed is the drawer opening system. When the safe is unlocked, the drawer automatically comes out and this is because there is a spring at the back of the drawer. It is compressed when the drawer is closed so when it opens, the spring decompressed and pushes the drawer out. However, the drawer is only partially opened by itself. The user still has to fully pull the drawer out in order to access the firearm. In a situation where seconds matter, I would just like it more if the drawer were to completely open by itself and I can get whatever is in there right away.

My next issue is with the program button. This button sits at the back of the drawer and is used to program the RFID tags and touch code. The various instructions say to press and release this button to activate it but from my experience, the button doesn’t really respond to press and releases. Most of the time it doesn’t activate and to get it going, I have to press and hold. This can be problematic as there are other functions of the button that utilizes press and holds. So, using this button isn’t exactly intuitive. Maybe it’s just this particular unit that’s having issues, I don’t know. I just know that mine isn’t working as intended.

My last annoyance would be with the safe’s programming that deals with deleting previously registered RFID tags. The way that this safe is set up, you cannot delete just one registered RFID tag. They all get deleted at the same time. So if you have 5 tags registered and only want to delete one, you can’t do that. You’ll have to delete them all and re-register the tags you want to use again. It’s just a clumsy way to go at it but at least this is likely not something most users will have to deal with over and over again. It’s more so a set it and forget it approach and in that sense, this is more so an annoyance than a real issue.

Again, I like the RAPiD Gun Safe overall. It provides me with a low key way to store my firearms and if you’re looking for something similar, this safe is a definite recommend.

If you're considering buying any of the products mentioned, please support my work by using the links below.


Hornady RAPiD Gun Safe https://amzn.to/3qk6aLH
Hornady RAPiD Vehicle Safe https://amzn.to/30iraI7

Want to support my work?

Consider visiting the shop and buying "Absolutely Nothing"
https://www.HaiHoangTran.com/shop/absolutely-nothing

or

Become a Patron!
https://www.patreon.com/HaiHoangTran

or

PayPal
https://www.PayPal.me/HaiHoangTran

or

Just shop on Amazon via this link!
https://amzn.to/2FgsDnG