80% glock frame questions

[boopiejones]

I have a polymer80 glock frame that I recently completed with a stock glock 17 slide and all stock glock lower parts. I don't currently own a factory glock, so I have nothing to compare this to and I ran into a few issues when performing a function test:

1) the slide racks back really smooth EXCEPT when the trigger is held down. consider this scenario: I rack the slide, pull the trigger and hold it down while re-racking the slide (to simulate live fire/trigger reset). when I do this, there is a sticking point which I have determined is the part of the trigger bar that extends upward and contacts/resets the firing pin safety (I don't know what this specific part of the trigger bar is called, so I will refer to it as the "arm"). it looks to me like the front corner of the arm is too sharp, so the arm gets caught on the firing pin safety rather than the safety gliding right over the arm and being pushed upward. I've tried this about 50-100 times and can already see the metal getting worn on the leading corner of the arm. is this normal? or should I put a slight angle in the leading corner of the arm to ease the transition, or something else? to be clear, the slide DOES rack back when I do this, but there is a definite sticking point where the arm contacts the firing pin safety.

2) I tried installing a lone wolf extended mag disconnect, and frankly it sucks. it only holds the mags in place very lightly and the mag will fall out when I push the mag down from above with the slide removed. the stock disconnect works great. is this a known problem with the lone wolf disconnect, or did I perhaps get a dud, or maybe it isn't compatible with the P80 frame? it looks like the little catch on the lone wolf disconnector is not as pronounced as the stock glock disconnect, but it's very small so I could be wrong.

thanks in advance for the help.

[SkyHawk]

IMO, do not use 3rd party parts on the Poly80 frame. A factory extended mag release is $3, get one.

As for the slide sticking - be sure your trigger housing is not loose in the pocket. It should have a tight lockup with the frame, with no movement. Also be sure it is reasonably level, and not riding too high. Post a pic of the trigger housing from the side if you can.

[boopiejones]

the trigger housing did have a little bit of movement, which I understand is due to the first generation P80 frames having too thin of a wall between the housing and the magwell. I saw some advice online where people inserted a thin piece of plastic (like a cut up credit card) into the void between the housing and the wall to thicken it up and reduce the movement. I did that, and it made the housing move less, but it didn't fix the problem.

i'll post some pics in a moment.

I did order a glock brand extended mag release, and will give that a try when it arrives.

[boopiejones]

https://goo.gl/photos/LXeTBnP6cSfKjaVy6

here are some pics

1) completed pistol
2) side view showing housing is level
3) view of magwell showing the credit card piece that was inserted
4) picture of "arm" on the trigger bar that seems to be sticking on the pin safety

[boopiejones]

here's a video further explaining the problem

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8eIfiTArek&feature=youtu.be

[SkyHawk]

Are you using a stock Glock connector? And is that a fresh new style gen 3, factory Glock trigger bar or?

Lastly, are you sure you have the trigger spring in correctly?

[MosinVirus]

I never tried to build one so I have no idea what might be going on, but... I did watch your video.

The arm on the trigger bar you are pointing out is what lifts the striker safety plunger, it is supposed to contact it and push it up.

SkyHawk, looking at his video, at the very end, I could see the spring is installed correctly.

[boopiejones]

thanks for the responses. I think I really need to find someone with a stock glock 17 that I can compare side by side.

yes that is how I installed the spring, and yes it is a stock glock connector and trigger bar. other than the 80% frame, everything is stock glock and brand new.

I believe the sticking point is the front corner of the arm getting caught on the face of the safety plunger before it lifts it up and out of the way. when I don't have the trigger depressed, the arm has some "give" in it, which allows everything to cycle smoothly. but when I do have the trigger depressed, there is no longer any "give" and that's when the sticking occurs.

after inspecting everything more closely, I don't see how it could ever cycle smoothly in stock form, as both the safety plunger and the trigger bar arm have flat faces. I assume that filing a slight angle into the front upper corner of the arm will solve the problem by allowing the safety plunger to glide upward immediately upon contact.

[SkyHawk]

There are various versions of the trigger bar. I can tell you do not have a Gen4 bar, but I can't tell what version of the bar you have while it is installed.

Some of the bars have slightly different profiles for the hump that lifts the safety plunger.

You could try polishing the face and bevel of the safety plunger and also the tip of the bump on the trigger bar.

And the obligatory 'have you shot it yet' question..

[MosinVirus]

thanks for the responses. I think I really need to find someone with a stock glock 17 that I can compare side by side.

yes that is how I installed the spring, and yes it is a stock glock connector and trigger bar. other than the 80% frame, everything is stock glock and brand new.

I believe the sticking point is the front corner of the arm getting caught on the face of the safety plunger before it lifts it up and out of the way. when I don't have the trigger depressed, the arm has some "give" in it, which allows everything to cycle smoothly. but when I do have the trigger depressed, there is no longer any "give" and that's when the sticking occurs.

after inspecting everything more closely, I don't see how it could ever cycle smoothly in stock form, as both the safety plunger and the trigger bar arm have flat faces. I assume that filing a slight angle into the front upper corner of the arm will solve the problem by allowing the safety plunger to glide upward immediately upon contact.

Well, I don't know if the lift arm and the plunger are the issue, and I actually don't think it can be (not the combination anyway).

The glock trigger bar moves rearward as you pull the trigger. Thay means that the arm is forward of the plunger when trigger is at rest.

When you pull the trigger, the arm slides rearward and presses the plunger up. That is why the rear slope of the arm has such a shallow angle.

When the gun fires, the arm is already under the plunger and the slide starts moving off to the rear. So the arm "could" potentially hit the slide at the front side of the plunger opening... I guess. Not sure if the plunger can go deep enough in the slide to allow the arm to actually impact on the edge of the plunger hole in the slide.

Check if you see any marking on the forward edge of the plunger hole in the slide. Also examine if the front of the trigger bar safety arm has any marking on it.

If not, could be something else.

[boopiejones]

@MosinVirus, you're correct... it is not the arm and plunger. I looked at everything further, and compared the locations of the various parts of the slide and frame that come into contact with each other when the slide cycles. the plunger never goes in front of the arm when the slide is in the forward position, so that cannot be the issue.

it looks like the friction is actually at the back of the gun, the tab on the top of the connector, where it comes into contact with the ramp on the slide that pushes the tab over to reset the connector. in any event, things seem to have smoothed out considerably as I have racked the slide hundreds of times over the last couple days. so I think things are all good.

@Skyhawk... no, I have not shot it yet. I haven't had time to get to the range and I kinda wanted to figure out this issue first to make sure it doesn't blow up in my face when I pull the trigger lol

[SkyHawk]

The ramp and connector interface is what I was going to suggest you look at next. That is probably what you are feeling. I would cycle the action some more then go shoot. A light tab of grease on that tab and/or the ramp can't hurt.

Let me know what sort of ejection you get. On my 9mm build, the cases usually eject straight up and back and land on the brim of my ball cap. I am using a 9mm ejector, but it seems that a tweak may be in order so it gets the rounds ejecting to the right a bit more. A 40 ejector may work better so I might try one, since it may hit the case rim more to the left side. It may also just need more break in, but my action is pretty smooth so I don't think the slide speed during recoil is the problem.

These frames just aren't made to the precision tolerance that a real Glock frame is made.

[MosinVirus]

@Skyhawk... no, I have not shot it yet. I haven't had time to get to the range and I kinda wanted to figure out this issue first to make sure it doesn't blow up in my face when I pull the trigger lol

SkyHawk is right in asking, because shooting the pistol may actually smooth everything out. Or at least "show" you where this hard rubbing is taking place once you take the pistol apart after shooting.

[boopiejones]

The ramp and connector interface is what I was going to suggest you look at next. That is probably what you are feeling. I would cycle the action some more then go shoot. A light tab of grease on that tab and/or the ramp can't hurt.

Let me know what sort of ejection you get. On my 9mm build, the cases usually eject straight up and back and land on the brim of my ball cap. I am using a 9mm ejector, but it seems that a tweak may be in order so it gets the rounds ejecting to the right a bit more. A 40 ejector may work better so I might try one, since it may hit the case rim more to the left side. It may also just need more break in, but my action is pretty smooth so I don't think the slide speed during recoil is the problem.

These frames just aren't made to the precision tolerance that a real Glock frame is made.

I cycled some snap caps thru it and they are ejecting to the right, but I realize that may change significantly during live fire. I need to find time to get to the range and report back here with the results.

thanks to everyone for their help!

[MosinVirus]

I cycled some snap caps thru it and they are ejecting to the right, but I realize that may change significantly during live fire. I need to find time to get to the range and report back here with the results.

thanks to everyone for their help!

Are you in Cali? If so, might you be in Los Angles area? And if so, might you go to Angeles Shooting range? And if so, would you let me observe?