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So I finally got around to doing a few cheap mods on my G22 gen 3 the other day.
1. Glock grip tape from Guntape.com ($5 from amazon.com)
2. 25 cent trigger job
3. Ghost Ultimate 3.5lb connector
4. Painted night sights with nail polish
I think in all I probably spent less than 30 bucks.
-The grip tape was probably the most difficult mod. I chose this one as opposed to some of the pre-cut options for cost and aesthetic reasons. Most of the ones available are simply ugly.
It came in 3 strips of a rubbery black material with adhesive backing. The instructions say to use masking tape on your gun, and then trace the shape of the piece you want to cut out.
I took this a step further and used clear packing tape instead. This way I could clearly see the shapes that I was tracing, and I used a fine point sharpie. Then, I applied the packing tape to the back of the grip tape, and carefully cut out the shapes with a pair of scissors. Be sure to apply your stencil to the BACK of the grip tape piece that you are going to cut, otherwise you will end up with a mirror image of the piece you need, like I did a few times.
Clean the surfaces of your weapon with some alcohol before applying to ensure good contact. On some curved surfaces like the beavertail and the backstrap, you may have to cut small slits in the edges of the grip tape piece in order to accomodate the contour.
I made quite a mess.
Overall, I am quite happy with this mod. I did my best to make it look as nice as possible. Only downside now is that it no longer fits into my blackhawk serpa holster
Any suggestions?
-For polishing the trigger components, I used some off-the-shelf metal polish I got at the drug store. I started off doing it by hand, but got impatient. Since I don't have a dremel I cut a q-tip in half, and stuck it in the chuck of my power drill. Hey, it worked.
Afterwards, the take up was MUCH smoother, and I had a very clean break. Felt like the trigger was definitely lighter.
-I installed the Ghost 3.5 Ultimate connector afterwards and immediately had problems with the trigger. Firstly, the slide was very difficult to rack. Secondly, upon racking the slide and releasing the trigger to the reset, the trigger would sometimes release the firing pin without me pulling the trigger again. This concerned me greatly as the last thing I want is an ND.
I finally got around to reading the instructions (duh) on Ghost Inc's website, and lo and behold, it is not a drop in replacement. I found I had to bend the connector ever so slightly, as it was angled too far away from the trigger housing and was releasing prematurely.
The final trigger pull was a bit heavier than before, and I'm not fully convinced that it's better than just my stock polished connector, but at least the trigger was resetting properly now. I will give it a try for a while and see how it works out.
-Finally, I painted my sights. My Glock came with tritium night sights, not sure which brand, but it was formerly an LEO pistol and they are getting rather dim. I am going to replace them with something else at some point, but I figured I'd give this a try. I got some funny looks at the drug store when I was trying to find the perfect color of fluorescent safety-orange nail polish, but whatever. I'm secure in my masculinity.
It was a relatively straightforward operation: Clean sights with alcohol swab. Paint sights. Use acetone to remove excess. Don't inhale too deeply. Repeat for a couple coats.
Looks a little yellow in this photo, but it's just the lighting.
Overall, I'm very happy with these mods. They cost me very little, and it was a fun little project to occupy my evening. I would definitely buy some more of the guntape.com stuff for my other guns as it's very grippy without tearing up your hands like skateboard tape.
Hope you enjoyed this write-up. I'd love to hear any feedback.
1. Glock grip tape from Guntape.com ($5 from amazon.com)
2. 25 cent trigger job
3. Ghost Ultimate 3.5lb connector
4. Painted night sights with nail polish
I think in all I probably spent less than 30 bucks.
-The grip tape was probably the most difficult mod. I chose this one as opposed to some of the pre-cut options for cost and aesthetic reasons. Most of the ones available are simply ugly.
It came in 3 strips of a rubbery black material with adhesive backing. The instructions say to use masking tape on your gun, and then trace the shape of the piece you want to cut out.
I took this a step further and used clear packing tape instead. This way I could clearly see the shapes that I was tracing, and I used a fine point sharpie. Then, I applied the packing tape to the back of the grip tape, and carefully cut out the shapes with a pair of scissors. Be sure to apply your stencil to the BACK of the grip tape piece that you are going to cut, otherwise you will end up with a mirror image of the piece you need, like I did a few times.
Clean the surfaces of your weapon with some alcohol before applying to ensure good contact. On some curved surfaces like the beavertail and the backstrap, you may have to cut small slits in the edges of the grip tape piece in order to accomodate the contour.
I made quite a mess.
Overall, I am quite happy with this mod. I did my best to make it look as nice as possible. Only downside now is that it no longer fits into my blackhawk serpa holster
Any suggestions?-For polishing the trigger components, I used some off-the-shelf metal polish I got at the drug store. I started off doing it by hand, but got impatient. Since I don't have a dremel I cut a q-tip in half, and stuck it in the chuck of my power drill. Hey, it worked.
Afterwards, the take up was MUCH smoother, and I had a very clean break. Felt like the trigger was definitely lighter.
-I installed the Ghost 3.5 Ultimate connector afterwards and immediately had problems with the trigger. Firstly, the slide was very difficult to rack. Secondly, upon racking the slide and releasing the trigger to the reset, the trigger would sometimes release the firing pin without me pulling the trigger again. This concerned me greatly as the last thing I want is an ND.
I finally got around to reading the instructions (duh) on Ghost Inc's website, and lo and behold, it is not a drop in replacement. I found I had to bend the connector ever so slightly, as it was angled too far away from the trigger housing and was releasing prematurely.
The final trigger pull was a bit heavier than before, and I'm not fully convinced that it's better than just my stock polished connector, but at least the trigger was resetting properly now. I will give it a try for a while and see how it works out.
-Finally, I painted my sights. My Glock came with tritium night sights, not sure which brand, but it was formerly an LEO pistol and they are getting rather dim. I am going to replace them with something else at some point, but I figured I'd give this a try. I got some funny looks at the drug store when I was trying to find the perfect color of fluorescent safety-orange nail polish, but whatever. I'm secure in my masculinity.
It was a relatively straightforward operation: Clean sights with alcohol swab. Paint sights. Use acetone to remove excess. Don't inhale too deeply. Repeat for a couple coats.
Looks a little yellow in this photo, but it's just the lighting.
Overall, I'm very happy with these mods. They cost me very little, and it was a fun little project to occupy my evening. I would definitely buy some more of the guntape.com stuff for my other guns as it's very grippy without tearing up your hands like skateboard tape.
Hope you enjoyed this write-up. I'd love to hear any feedback.
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