Polymer80, Spectre Frame

[mitch1]

I was having problems with the slide catch. It just would not engage. I talked to Dave at Polymer80 and he offered to send me another complete unit but I asked him to hold off till I could try a couple things first. I measured the barrel lug and it is .437. I measured the distance between the locking block bridge to the slide catch and it was only .420.
Dave agreed to send me another locking block so I was free to work on my existing block. I cut it down from .300 to .278 and everything works now.
Everyone else's might vary, I am using a Accurate Arms .22LR conversion. And by the way I emailed them asking for the dimensions so I could check mine and zilch for response( zero customer service in my book) while Polymer80 I rate very high for customer service.
I have found so far at least I did not need to shim the trigger housing and I initially cut the slide rails on the snug side. Since then I have opened them up a little and live fire using Remington 36gr is cycling very well. At least so far no stovepipes or failure to cycle.
I have only run 2 mags thru it so far though. Another minor point is I used a longer pin for the trigger housing than original

[Kayo Kelly]

Update; close to if not more than 1,000 rounds through it. It's working great now. The real issue is getting the rails clean and deep enough.

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[f308gt4]

Update; close to if not more than 1,000 rounds through it. It's working great now. The real issue is getting the rails clean and deep enough.

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Thanks for the info! Good to know.

Now, if I can just find a reasonably priced G17 slide...

[Kayo Kelly]

Glockstore.com

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[tr6guns]

Don't know anything about them but they are a lot cheaper.

http://www.lonewolfdist.com/Products.aspx?CAT=244

[f308gt4]

Glockstore.com

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Don't know anything about them but they are a lot cheaper.
http://www.lonewolfdist.com/Products.aspx?CAT=244

$450 for a complete slide seems a bit steep to me, when you can buy a brand new G17 from Riflegear for $499.

Lonewolf doesn't seem to have any G17 assembled (or even bare) slides in stock.

I'm leaning towards just buying the G17 and maybe selling off the frame...

[Kayo Kelly]

The real issue is availability.

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[JAE]

Lone Wolf is currently moving their manufacturing from an overseas plant to a USA one. Slides will not be available until October or possibly November. Due to their policy they only advertise in stock items available to be back ordered and since production hasn't moved completely they cannot be backordered. They indicated they never saw the Spectre and the demand it would bring. This information the result of several phone calls and patience.....

[f308gt4]

Let's recap the issues (I know of):
1) Most builders are treating them like a 1911 and making them tight expecting them to break in. This is resulting in general frustration. Some of this has to do with the nature of the medium (plastic), some to do with a lack of prints/geometry/ability to measure. Lesson learned is to make it loose. Very loose IMHO.
2) The platform appears to require more break in than a 1911. This is overshadowing the problem.
3) The conversion barrel and long slide models are sensitive to grain weight of the bullet and spring rate. I'll report back on this after some more testing of my G24S with 9mm after I get my 15# spring (stock is 17#). As an aside to this it appears the stock 17# is marginal at best with 115 grain on a G17 and this compounds the issue of fit and function.
4) The "credit card shim fix" is interesting but for the life of me I see no relevance to the failure to go into battery. Perhaps for the FTE but not for FTF. I sit here at my desk with both frames and wobble them around but just don't see the issue. If the gun cocks the trigger, the firing pin works, etc.. Then the rear part of this assembly is good enough to do it's job. I shimmed them tight anyways but I have a feeling this is a red herring and of minor relevance (if any).
5) It may be possible that the disconnect bar is too high. I say this because I noted the failure to go into battery and bench testing/analysis showed that indeed it was rubbing to a pretty high degree. It's important to note that this bar does several things: cocks the trigger, releases the firing pin, pulls on the prigger spring, etc... As a test I tried filing this down a little, being careful to keep the rounded edges, and testing after every little bit. I wound up with almost 1/32" filed off (yes, that is A LOT!). As measured from the small bend in the bar to the final height with a small machinist ruler the OEM one is 5/32" and my modified one is 4/32". The modified one goes into battery with both slides (G17 and G24) MUCH easier than the unmodified. This was the G17 that ran a couple hundred with no failures at all. I should note that both slides are Lone Wolf setups as OEM may differ.

Of all these things #5 is pretty interesting. Did P80 get the trigger pin too high? Am I just not being patent enough with break in? What is the risk of modifying this component by filing it to a lower profile? Obviously if it's too low the trigger will not reset and the firing pin would not be released. Certainly the gun runs much smoother with it a bit lower. My next testing session, time permitting, will involve swapping the slides between the two frames (one with cut down trigger bar) and seeing what is what. Also the different recoil spring in both. The ultimate goal being the reliability and interchangeability the platform is supposed to provide.

Thoughts and feed back on the above items appreciated. I'll post my findings after test days. I appreciate the rest of you doing so.

Thanks for the advice. Finally finished mine, and tested it out at my place in NV. I'm using a stock G17 slide, and all Glock parts.

I did do the credit card shim before testing, just in case, though I think I agree with you that it probably doesn't do anything. I used an old NRA membership card for the shim.

I did mill out the rails "loose", but maybe didn't go enough. I was getting a fail to return to battery quite a bit on my first few mags. A quick push on the slide would fix it.

But, it started getting less frequent as I put more shots downrange, and my last 3 mags fired without any issues. Maybe it just needed to "break-in"? Unfortunately, I ran out of time, and will have to try again next weekend.

Just in case, I may try to sand the rails a bit more.

My disconnect bar seems to be OK, and height wise, everything matched up with my friends G17. Maybe the issue is with the Lone Wolf setup? Or, maybe the bar needed to break-in on my pistol? I'm going to take a closer look at it and see if I notice any wear marks on the disconnect bar, and lightly polish if I find any.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with how it came out. The grip chop is pretty cool, and I can continue to use my existing cache of G19 mags.

[dwalker]

A shooter at the WNPL USPSA match shot his Spectre today and seemed please with it. He said he finished the frame last night (with a dremel) and cannibalized his wifes g17 for parts.

I noticed the frame and insert bears and uncanny resemblance to my XD 45 tactical, so I have no fear as to the nylon rear slide rails. I just need the parts to finish it and all will be well. Guess I will have to wait until Lone Wolf is back up and running.

[Kayo Kelly]

Briley.com has bare Glock slides in stock for $260.00

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[Svetlana]

1. All OEM parts with the exception of front night sights and steel guide rod
2. No fitting issues, though in retrospect, when you mill the rear rails, I suggest a dremil or a flat file and go super slow, leave more material at the top. Using a drill press is just too hard to control
3. A few failures to cycle, installing a stronger steel guide rod fixed it, ran smooth after 500 rounds
4. Yes, the rear rail cracked after about 2000 rounds, looking to get a replacement

[Svetlana]

How are the rear rails holding up under use?

-Dave

[Kayo Kelly]

That doesnt look good. How many rounds do you have through it?

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Fast forward to about 3:40. The shim mod goes in front of the trigger assembly where the pen is pointing to. You may have to double or triple up depending on how much you play you have.

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[Nelson_2016]

Well I'm glad I found a forum where the Polymer80 "Spectre" frame is being discussed in some depth.

I just completed one of these frames, and so far I'm impressed with neither the company nor their product.

In fact if I had seen this discussion earlier I might not have bought a Spectre frame.

Anyway, among other things, I'm confronted with the loose trigger housing problem, and I'm wondering: (1) Does every frame have this issue to some degree, or are some of them actually rock-solid? And (2) What might be the potential consequences of not installing a shim to tighten up a loose trigger housing (e.g., early failure of the trigger housing pin)?