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Polymer 80 Glock Kits - anyone build one?

38K views 149 replies 20 participants last post by  drobs 
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#97 ·
I've built quite a few of them. It is fun to do, if you're into this sort of thing. If there is an issue with if, it's that you can get a used LEO Glock for less than the cost of a bare bones build. If you shop around and wait for sales you can get right at the cost. These are not less expensive alternatives to a Glock. It's not live you can build one for $200.

So, other than the no serial number aspect, they cost more than a used Glock and slightly less than a new Glock on sale.

As far as function, I have not see any difference in them over the Glocks I own. They all go PEW PEW PEW. I have not seen any malfunction with the P80s other than the standard are failure to feeds one might get when running the first 50 rounds or so. Once everything is broken it then function fine.

There are some build tips on youtube that will help you with getting any bugs out of the the generations of frame variation and parts variations.

The neatest part of this is that these can literally be made with two files, a razor blade and and drill that works.

The ergonomics of the are great for my hands,. But then again, so are Glock's.

I just enjoy the assembly and customization. They are also cheap to learn to stipple on.

A few pics of some of them.



Birthday Present for Wife







 
#98 ·
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Mine feels more comfortable in my hand, it feels like it's a larger grip, so I've got more to hold on to. The angle is fine, I've never had a problem with the 1911 or Glock angle, maybe I'm just not that fussy when it comes to that. The texture feels way better, but maybe that's cause it's new & my other one is several years old now. I like the undercut trigger guard which I used to not think was that big of a deal, but it grew on me pretty fast.

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#100 ·
a question for those of you who have built these.. but lets say for some reason your frame gets damaged, or you want a different stippling job and want to start over with a clean frame, or whatever reason... how easy would it be to make the necessary cuts on the new grip piece, and put the metal cage you already have fitted and broken into your slide into that?.. easy enough?

i wonder because one of the reasons i dont really like plastic framed guns is.. plastics easy to damage, or you may want to change something about it, and youre kind of locked into it if you dont want to buy another pistol, go through the 4473, pay a few hundred.. so im wondering if the polymer 80 would be easier to make changes to, or repair without having to go through that drama?
 
#109 ·
i had an idea for a P80 build.. tell me what you think

look at the custom G34 below.. notice how the section of the spring cover that extends beyond the dust cover is chamfered, and tapers up towards the muzzle? i like that look.. you can buy a G19L slide that has that extended spring cover that can be machined for the same tapered nose look and place it on a G19 frame for a G19L that looks more like a miniature G34

 
#120 ·
I've shelved the compact 19 with red dot. Debating taking the internals out of the slide and trying them in non-rmr slide that I have.

The subcompact runs perfectly. It's become a truck gun for me. I bought a set of Ameriglo Hackthorn night sights for it. Need to put them on.

Not sure I posted it here but I got a replacement set of rails from Polymer 80 for the subcompact. They were billed as "tuned" rails. I emailed them with a picture of the gun and they sent the rails and a return prepaid envelope for the original set. Those rails made the gun into a reliable working firearm.

I may try getting a set of "tuned" rails for the 19. See if that helps.
 
#121 ·
I finished my P80 g19 build last week, and finally got to test fire it yesterday.

I'll withhold final judgement until I pass the recommended break in round count...I probably put right over a hundred so far.

I had a few issues that didn't entirely make sense to me but suspect the biggest issue was the recoil spring rubbing inside the frame...which I worked on again and think it should be good?

Gun would fire a round, then give a light primer strike, I'd eject it, it would fire and the cycle would repeat...then it would fire an entire mag with out issue, but then repeat the light primer cycle again.

It had the worst behavior when using my gen 2 mags...thinking the spring and followers need replacing? Best function was with a magpul 21 rd mag.

Like I stated, upon my return from the range I did more material removal in the recoil spring area, and will take some ~1000 grit paper to the rails. Then hopefully next week I can test again.
 
#123 ·
I watched a video of a guy cutting off a bit of that spring. I did not cut mine, but did have trouble with it during the install. I even had the take down bar fall out of the gun the first time I put it all together and worked the slide a bit. It was a problem for sure getting it into the correct position all the way, but once there, so far so good.
 
#125 ·
Well, I finally got back to the range with the p80.
I did more work removing a tiny bit more material for the recoil spring channel, plus I decided to remove that tiny bit of flat take down spring as I couldn't figure out just where the slide would hang up, and thought why not?
(if cycled slowly it would sometimes get stuck before going into battery, but would go home with little effort)

Had a single issue on the second round, fail to fire, but then it ran like a dream once I re chambered a new round. (just used gen 3 and up mags and some of the mag pull ones)
Only issue I am finding is after around 150 rds one of the pins started to walk out. Otherwise good to go.

I'll be trying out more of these p80 kits when funds allow.
 
#127 ·
I like the idea of a white frame, that should look pretty cool. I'm leaning towards a "g26" size for my next build as well.

I put another 150 rds in my "19" size gun and only had a single failure, it was the same thing, gun fired, then light primer strike, eject, and shot fine for everything after that. If I ever get it to ~ 500 rds without any failures I'll consider it good.

Still having an issue with the pin walking out, I just keep taping it back in and keep going. I'll look into it later.
 
#128 ·
I have a 19 and this 26 in white. The 26 was smooth. Both were 60% off else I’d not have gotten them.

But I have an addiction to building these.

The stippling in the white 26 is interesting because it burns so you can blend the black into the outline.

They have the frames out for the 20/21 now so 45 ACP and 10mm are available. Not too many slides out for these so a factory complete upper is the way to go.
 
#129 ·
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I wonder if the white frames are similar to the lighter colored polymer accessories like hand-guards, magazines, grips, etc. & can be fairly easily dyed to whatever color you want. I haven't seen a lot of great deals on the frame kits lately, unless it's a complete build kit & always in 9mm. I've seen complete build kits for the 9mm for $450. I'd really like to do one in 10mm & another in 40 but a 27 & 22 this time. Hard to find the slides for some of them, at least at a reasonable price. If I could find a complete build kit for a G20, 22 or 27, at a comparable price to those 9 kits, I'd snap at least one up real quick.

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#134 ·
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Depends on when, where & how you build. One of the sites had complete 9mm kits for $450. You can probably get a used LEO trade in cheaper, but I doubt a new one. I built my G23 for $440. Again, I could probably find a used one for less, but not getting near a new one for that. Since I also don't want a Gen 4 or 5, & I like the 80% frames even better than the gen 3, I'm probably not going to be getting any factory new glocks anytime soon unless it was a helluva deal. :thumb:

Here's just one 9mm example, it comes with the slide assembled & a match grade barrel for $439. https://80pbuilder.com/radius

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