Glock 17 Upgrades For Competition

Here's Vickers, Hackathorn, and Harrington's take

Buy the connector with the poundage you want then look at every trigger part with a 5 power magnifier where all the parts interact with each other. You will be very surprised at the burrs and nastiness you will see . Get everything smooth and square. Hence the 25 cent trigger job . A piece of granite and some 1000 grit sandpaper is all you will need .

Since you haven't bought it yet.. upgrade to the 34..


but yeah a little elbow grease and polishing the internets does help.

tarosean said:

but yeah a little elbow grease and polishing the internets does help.

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I tried to polish the internets once but my router blocked me.

Sistema1927 said:

I tried to polish the internets once but my router blocked me.

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LOL.... Dang autocorrect strikes again.

tarosean said:

Since you haven't bought it yet.. upgrade to the 34..

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This is the path I was heading, but recently ran into a thread elsewhere claiming "less" accuracy from the Gen 4 G34 vs the Gen 4 G17/G19. This surprised me, but there were enough knowledgeable, experienced Glock shooters piping in backing up the claim, that I began thinking there may be something to this. I would kind of prefer the longer slide myself.

Not a suggestion on mods but I think it is a good idea to get a set of these the next time you place an order from Midway (just in case you lose one)

Firing pin cups https://www.midwayusa.com/product/6...-25-26-27-28-29-30-31-32-33-34-35-36-37-38-39

A good source for steel recoil guide rods and springs is Jager products http://jagerproducts.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=35

Lots of sources for after market competition sights, I use Dawson Precision but there are others.

JTQ said:

This surprised me, but there were enough knowledgeable, experienced Glock shooters piping in backing up the claim, that I began thinking there may be something to this.

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I have a g3-34 and a g4-34 MOS, I do not have a g4-17 to compare to, but both 34's outshoot my g3-17.

I do know there was some locking block issues with the 17/34 frame, among the other g4 problems.
Perhaps the 34's longer slide/barrel emphasizes the poor locking block, that is not seen in the 17?

So my sample size is pretty small, but thats all I have to go on.

Here is a pretty in depth article on modifications if you have time to read.

https://www.militarytimes.com/off-duty/gearscout/2012/01/01/make-your-stock-glock-rock/

I'm sorry but I forgot to mention this:

For a Gen 4 G17 a really nice but inexpensive upgrade is to replace the G17 slide stop release and the Magazine release with the ones intended for the G34. They are just a tad bit larger but make operation a lot easier. Make sure you get these for Gen 4. About $10.00 well spent money and will keep your G17 production legal in both IDPA and USPSA.

As far as drop I triggers I have 3 G17s, one gen 4 and two gen 3s. I put a Vogel drop in in the Gen 4 and polished the internals and put in lighter springs and connectors in the Gen 3s. The only benefit to the Vogel is you can adjust under/over travel. The drop in is $150 vs. $30 or so for springs and connectors. Just use Flitz and a Q-tip to polish in insides.

When the Gen 4s came out there all kinds of stories about ejection problems and so forth but mine has been great and exceptionally reliable, probably 10K rounds down range, all handloads with plated bullets. I haven't used it too much lately not because it doesn't do it's job but rather because I have migrated to revolver. I won a Gen 5 G34 MOS at a prize table last month so this is pushing me into the direction of getting back into shooting production and probably CO division. Too any guns not enough time.

There are many critics of Glock out there and the main thing they criticize are the triggers. I just got a Springfield XDm and to be honest I will take the stock Glock trigger over the SA trigger any day.

You may want to consider if you want to compete in stock class or not and what restrictions there are.

I only compete in GSSF and can't afford multiple pistols in the same model for the same match in different classes, so I use primarily a Gen 4 G35. It came from the factory with the worst trigger of any Glock I or the local Glock armorer had seen. He figured it was close to 10lbs, gritty, and unpredictable break.

Getting it now down to a 4.5lb break, smooth, and predictable while keeping it "legal" for stock class took a lot of parts swapping and experimentation.

It now has a Gen 3 trigger bar, (-) connector, and $.25 trigger job.

The only other modification it has is the Dawson fiber optic front sight. I have yet to achieve the perfect 500 score, but I'm usually in the 490s and 480s.



I first started competing in GSSF with the 10mm G29. It came with the nicest Glock trigger from the factory that I have ever felt. 3.5lbs, crisp, and predictable. I added the Dawson FO front sight, extended slide stop release, Pearce grip extender, and bought a couple of barrels for it. One is a Lone Wolf .40 S&W conversion barrel and the other is a KKM 10mm extended length barrel.

Neither barrel is more accurate than the factory barrel, which is freakishly accurate and capable of 1" groups at 25yds.

Good Ol' Boy said:

And on the 25cent job I've seen a few different videos saying to polish various parts. They are not unanimous in what to do. What are y'alls thoughts on the most important parts to work on?

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I just shoot mine a bit first and dry-fire a bunch, then take it apart and any wear areas I notice on the bar are the ones I concentrate on polishing.

A cheap trick I came up with is to cut a Q-Tip in half, then stick it in a cordless drill. Put some polish on the Q-Tip, and start polishing...

Good Ol' Boy said:

What do the rules say in both USPSA and IDPA as far as flared magwells go?

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Add on magwells then your options are.

USPSA Production - no
USPSA Limited - Yes, but will be down on ammo/power factor/ etc. etc. etc. etc.

IDPA it has to fit in the box, and not many do. Do your research on the one your interested in. (I believe the small Dawson Ice fits without the brass plug)

I would not consider most of the modifications I've made to my competition Glocks for a home defense gun. These are two very different applications.

3.5 connector
polish
smooth trigger, if it doesn't already have one
Warren Sevigny Comp sights

LW SS 3rd gen guide rod and gen 3 adapter. Get an extra plastic rod assembly for IDPA shoots that actually follow the rules (rare).

TT mag extensions
Dawson Ice magwell, or the Agency Arms mini magwell if competition is training for you.

Sometimes I'll try a softer striker spring and stretch it for the feel I want. Not a good idea unless you really understand testing Glock safeties.

Generally I keep a box stock G41 handy if my mods aren't kosher for whatever class I'm shooting. Nearly all shoots I've been to, you can shoot any pistol you want. Just mention what class you're in at sign up. I haven't seen a tech inspection, unless I'm winning. Don't sweat the fine print, if your new.

I have talon grips (the granulate type) on my competition guns. I certainly wouldn’t want them on a carry gun, but should be just fine on a home defense gun.

A common, though not universal, "modification" is to slap some skateboard tape on any portion of the grip where you're having a hard time maintaining non-slip contact.

But mainly - go shoot matches. Pretty soon you'll know what's working or not working for you.