Polymer 80 problems

[Blaxone]

[DB>]

Offhand the first two pix look like something (AKA the rail) is not "square" with the grip frame?

That's just a "mark 1 eyeball" guess... I've done a bit of "smithing" and a couple 10/22 builds, but not attempted a handgun build as of yet.

Firearms present a fairly challenging "DIY" project... I've seen all too often that a "factory" firearm needs a fair bit of TLC and fine tuning to function optimally. It's a stretch to expect good results in a typical DIY scenario unless you've got a fair amount of machine shop experience and plenty of patience. Odds are pretty good that if you've forced things into a misaligned condition (or holes are not precisely aligned), you've got a lovely paperweight.

[wpage]

Call

Have you called or contacted polymer 80?

[mossy]

contact P80, tell them the issue. they might send you a new frame if its out of spec and you destroy the old one.

https://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=1387661

[Mute]

Take out the roll pin on the front rail block. Use a nice sturdy wrench and squeeze that front rail further down into the frame. If you use just hand pressure, you might not get it to seat in far enough. I had the same issue. It's just a tiny amount, but enough that it put to much pressure on the slide rails to function smoothly.

[SVT-40]

Put the rear rail and the front locking block in the frame with their pins. Don't put in anything else. Place the frame upside down on a piece of glass and see if the front of the locking block is high in the front.

It's not uncommon to need to smooth or polish the top of the locking block so it rides smoothly in the slide. Also look for sharp edges on the rear rails as well as the locking block rails. Some gentle relief of those edges will help.

You also don't mention what slide you are using. If all of these parts are new they will need some time to "wear in together".

You should also smooth the sides of the polymer frame with very fine sandpaper were the recoil spring rides. It should be as smooth as possible. Your's looks rough in that area. The polymer should not stick out more in this area than the sides of the locking block.

After doing all of the above use some grease on the frame where the recoil spring rides as well as every other contact point. Rails, Barrel (all points including the locking lugs). Then spend about an hour hand cycling the slide. It will smooth out.

[frahuang]

Take down lever spring is sitting a little high from the picture, you may need to trim the spring a little off the bottom so it sits flash within the frame.

[johnk518]

Take down lever spring is sitting a little high from the picture, you may need to trim the spring a little off the bottom so it sits flash within the frame.

I second this. The little metal spring often is too tall catching the slide on the front.

[wilderness medic]

Willing to bet your block is out of spec. I did two of them and both were. P80 took over a month to get the correct one back. They obviously know there was a huge problem with ones they made but still do not have replacements on hand.


Take the block out, and try putting it in the slide and moving it back and forth. It will probably bind. P80s with the correct block are stupid simple and hard to mess up.

[AlHO1966]

Why do the holes in the grip look so big? And some of your locking block holes look wallowed out? Did you drill all the way through the jig or flip it over and do one side at a time? Did you clamp the jig in a vise? Looks like you could have put it in clamped wrong and made the jig bind. They warn about this in the directions

[Blaxone]

Wow, Thank you so much for all of the feed back, I have in fact contacted polymer 80 and im waiting to hear back from them, in the mean time I'll go ahead and attempt some of the tips listed in the comments above, Again thank you guys so much for all the support!!!

[alexisjohnson]

There are a few common issues with p80's. The first issue is that a lot of the rear rails or locking blocks are out of spec. Its a super common issue and p80 needs to get with it. If that is the case, then the slide won't slide smoothly or you won't be able to even put it on the frame.

second major issue is if you don't clear out the recoil spring channel. If its sufficiently wide enough, it'll catch the recoil spring and it sometimes won't return back into battery.

third issue is the takedown lever spring (or whatever you call it). there is an indent that it needs to pop into and you need to use a punch or something in certain cases to really get it in.

Definitely make sure you use a drill press (don't do it with a hand drill). Do one side, then the other. Also make sure the locking block is properly seated....you can use a plastic mallet to tap into place. Sometimes it'll require a big of force.

My buddy in az has built a bunch of these and i've helped him troubleshoot a lot of these issues...

[BrassCase]

Built two and had to work the rails on both, now they both shoot well. One thing I found was some differences on the slides. Take out the front rail block and then slide it up down the slide and see how it moves, does it hang up at all? I have had elevation issues between the front and rear rails. The rear rails are more like guides hence the light construction. You can knock off the square corners on the rear rails with a slight radius which may help.