Polymer80, Spectre Frame

[Awesomesauce]

Well good luck with that.

[atlastrekker]

I'm surprised there isn't competition. I wonder why?

[strongpoint]

P80 sent an email today announcing presale of the compact version. Available with or without textured grip; incorporates serialization plate (they told me this was coming in an email exchange a few months ago); builds out to G19 or G23; available for $150 via retailers; expected to ship out in early February.

[Cuda440]

P80 sent an email today announcing presale of the compact version. Available with or without textured grip; incorporates serialization plate (they told me this was coming in an email exchange a few months ago); builds out to G19 or G23; available for $150 via retailers; expected to ship out in early February.

Also the new model uses a steel drop-in rear rail section that houses the trigger housing and is located by the trigger housing pin.

I'm fairly certain that 90% of the problems people experience with the current frame come from a variance in the location of the trigger housing in relation to the frame rails.

If the trigger housing is not deep enough in the frame, you end up with the gap that everyone shims with a credit card, but you also end up with a trigger bar that's too high in relation to the rails and it engages the sticker too much making for a long trigger pull or even a trigger that won't fire

[strongpoint]

Polymer80, Spectre Frame

Also the new model uses a steel drop-in rear rail section that houses the trigger housing and is located by the trigger housing pin.

I'm fairly certain that 90% of the problems people experience with the current frame come from a variance in the location of the trigger housing in relation to the frame rails.

If the trigger housing is not deep enough in the frame, you end up with the gap that everyone shims with a credit card, but you also end up with a trigger bar that's too high in relation to the rails and it engages the sticker too much making for a long trigger pull or even a trigger that won't fire

Thanks for pointing out a highly relevant change; my list wasn't meant to be comprehensive. All of this makes me wonder whether (and when) these changes will filter back into the full-size model.

[MosinVirus]

Ahh, the metal rear rails change everything. I might have to get one of those.

[Psychbiker]

Are the smooth frames thicker than the textured ones? Anyone know?

[TaylorNight]

New Models

With shot show coming to Vegas in January, you got to know there are going to be a lot of announcements on new products. I still want my Echo Trigger from last year.... LoL

[Nelson_2016]

As per my observations, the trigger housing pocket in the Spectre frame is slightly too big. For example, when I look at the ejector as it sits in the frame of my Glock pistol, it is level, i.e., the top of the ejector is parallel (or very nearly parallel) to the rails.

And when I drop a trigger housing into a Spectre frame, without any shim, it doesn't quite sit level; it is tilted slightly forward.

Also the new model uses a steel drop-in rear rail section that houses the trigger housing and is located by the trigger housing pin.

I'm fairly certain that 90% of the problems people experience with the current frame come from a variance in the location of the trigger housing in relation to the frame rails.

If the trigger housing is not deep enough in the frame, you end up with the gap that everyone shims with a credit card, but you also end up with a trigger bar that's too high in relation to the rails and it engages the sticker too much making for a long trigger pull or even a trigger that won't fire

[firebert]

P80 sent an email today announcing presale of the compact version. Available with or without textured grip; incorporates serialization plate (they told me this was coming in an email exchange a few months ago); builds out to G19 or G23; available for $150 via retailers; expected to ship out in early February.

Available for preorder on Brownells

http://www.brownells.com/handgun-parts/frame-parts/frames/pf940cv1-80-frame-polymer-black-for-glock-19-23-32-prod97837.aspx

$121 for those of us with FFL discount

[Awesomesauce]

If the trigger housing is not deep enough in the frame, you end up with the gap that everyone shims with a credit card, but you also end up with a trigger bar that's too high in relation to the rails and it engages the sticker too much making for a long trigger pull or even a trigger that won't fire

As per my observations, the trigger housing pocket in the Spectre frame is slightly too big. For example, when I look at the ejector as it sits in the frame of my Glock pistol, it is level, i.e., the top of the ejector is parallel (or very nearly parallel) to the rails.

And when I drop a trigger housing into a Spectre frame, without any shim, it doesn't quite sit level; it is tilted slightly forward.

What would you two recommend to mitigate this, if the builder was to use the provided plastic jig and common tools, but not precision milling equipment? Nelson_2016 already pointed out how a builder with a hand drill could be off by a few degrees, and the potential results.
(I am a visual learner) Nelson_2016 could you provide some side-by side photos of the contrast?

[strongpoint]

Available for preorder on Brownells

http://www.brownells.com/handgun-parts/frame-parts/frames/pf940cv1-80-frame-polymer-black-for-glock-19-23-32-prod97837.aspx

$121 for those of us with FFL discount

Glockstore.com has both versions available for pre-order at $125.

[Nelson_2016]

What would you two recommend to mitigate this, if the builder was to use the provided plastic jig and common tools, but not precision milling equipment? Nelson_2016 already pointed out how a builder with a hand drill could be off by a few degrees, and the potential results.
(I am a visual learner) Nelson_2016 could you provide some side-by side photos of the contrast?

Do you have access to a drill press? I used my mini-mill for which I know the table is highly perpendicular to the spindle, but I think any half-decent drill press will be better - in terms of perpendicularity - than drilling it with a hand drill.

They way I do it is to lay the jig (with frame inside) down flat on the table; then line up the bit with the jig guide hole as best I can; then I turn the machine on and hold the jig down with two fingers of one hand - rather lightly - using enough force to keep it lying flat on the table, but lightly enough to allow it to move a little bit in the horizontal plane, so that the drill bit will find the center of the jig guide hole.

The drill bits that Polymer80 provides are a little too small, IMO, so I think of the first set of holes drilled with them as pilot holes.

IIRC, I ended up using a #32 drill bit (0.116") for the trigger housing pin hole, and a 3mm bit (0.118") for the locking block upper pin hole.

I think I ended up also going slightly bigger for the trigger pin hole. IIRC, Polymer80 supplies a 5/32" drill bit for this hole, which I used first, but I ended up using a #21 drill bit (0.159").

(BTW, I measured the hole size in a Glock locking block, and it was 0.159", while the Polymer80 locking block had a 0.156" hole. So if you have any alignment trouble installing the locking block, it seems reasonable to drill this hole out a little bit with a #21 drill bit if need be).

When I drilled the holes in mine, I took my time and I was very careful to get them exactly where the jig would have me put them.

So with the trigger housing pin hole located as accurately as I could get it, it took a 0.020" plastic shim to tighten up the trigger housing. If I really exert some force on the ejector, I think it still moves a tiny bit, so I believe that a 0.025" shim might be optimal for my frame, but all I had on hand was 0.020" material, so I used it.

And BTW I measured a few credit cards, and they all measured about 0.031", so they're in the right ballpark, and they may have worked too.

What I did is to cut a small piece of the plastic sheet out so that its shape (profile) matched that of the front wall of the trigger housing pocket (I'm sort of a perfectionist and I have a tendency to go to an extreme) and then I just placed it against the wall when I dropped the trigger housing in.

If I ever do it again I might just cut out a rectangular piece of plastic roughly the same size and shape as the front of the trigger housing, and attach it to the front of the trigger housing with a drop of glue or epoxy.

Anyway, I should say that many people have apparently been successful drilling the holes with a hand drill, so it can be done that way if you're careful, but in my case having and using some machine tools, I can't force myself to do it that way.

One other thing I should mention is this: I noticed that when I put the frame in the jig, and put it in the vice in preparation for milling, the very end of the frame (where you have to mill down the raised part - I think it's called the "dust cover"), had a tendency to rise up a little bit, so that the raised part was no longer level and parallel to the edge of the jig.
(This won't matter as far as drilling the holes are concerned, but it might be an annoying issue when you're filing/milling/grinding down the raised part).

I used two small C clamps - one in each upper corner of the jig - to hold the assembly together (along with the vise of course, which held the lower part of the jig together).

So anyway, when I noticed that the end of the frame had risen up a little bit, I pushed it back down and held it down while I tightened up the C clamp, and that held it in place.

[Awesomesauce]

Thanks! regarding the flex in the jig, Poly80 shipped (not sure if they still do) their AR15 lower jig with little screws to hold the jig together to prevent that flex you describe occurring in the PF940 jigs.

I'm going to take your suggestion about gluing plastic to the trigger group(vice wedging in a shim), I have some Loctite-380 that may work well for that.

For the through-holes, I have access to a drill press, but it is probably not 100% level and true. I have a 4" vise that I was going to use to hold the jig stable with (horizontally) but not cinch it down. that would allow it a little freedom to align itself with the bit, as you described.

[Nelson_2016]

I'll try to attach a picture of how I was holding the jig.

Also, to cut out the obstruction in the recoil spring channel, I used an 11mm ball nose end mill that I got on ebay for about $10 or something like that.

I'll try to attach pictures of it, and the nice job it easily did.