Glock 17L Build

Try the OEM recoil spring first before you go messing around with spring weights. The G17, G17L, and G34 all use the same recoil spring assembly.

For the fun of it, I built a 17XL. 17L with comp and all the mall ninja stuff. As for the springs, I changed it depending on my load. I loaded a 9mm major to make the Comp effective and it worked great.

I just built a G-34 on a gen 3 G-17 frame (Gen 3 are all I can get new here in Ca) with a solid Lone Wolf slide, 4-lb Apex trigger set and Brownells match barrel. Then I had it finished in a five-color Cerakote camo. The sights are regular height (not tall) TruGlo sights, I don’t have any experience with the suppressor height ones to share.

I went with Wolff stock recoil spring weight on a captured stainless guide rod.

Shooting 115, 124 and 147 bullets through it to date, there isn’t any recoil difference that i can tell between the new 34 and my open-slide gen 4 34 or my open slide 17L. (For what it’s worth the open slide getting clogged isn’t a big deal. I carried my open-slide 34 for over a decade on duty, 9.5 years of that on our SRT team. Neither my gun, nor the three others who bought and used their own 34’s, ever had an issue with crud having any affect on the gun…and our County is primarily desert and high mountains with tons of sand, grit and dust that blow everywhere. But I get it, my newest 34 is solid-top as well .)



Can the 17L slide fit and work on a 19 frame? Thats one I haven’t ever tried. I have seen 17 frames with the grip frame cut to 19 length work for a “17X” type hybrid though, those are pretty cool. (And, IMHO, those make more ccw sense than my Glock 45 with the long-butt 17 frame and 19 slide does.)

Once your gun is all done show us what it looks like and how it shoots for you .

Stay safe.

The only way a G17, 17L, or G34 slide will work on a G19 frame is if you use a Gen 5 G17, 17L, or 34 barrel. The locking lugs on Gen 1-4 17/17L/34 barrels are too long to work on any Gen G19 frame. Glock changed the locking lugs on the Gen 5 17/34 barrels to match the G19 barrel locking lugs.

Glock releases the 17L every 4-6 years. We are due for another release soon! It’s built on the Gen 3 so all the states can have them

I am very familiar with the Polymer 80 940CL frame. I have built several pistols with the 940CL.

Here is one with a Gen 3 G34 slide



And a 940CL that had been modified to use a Gen 4 slide with a Zaffiri Precision G34 slide.



Even though the 940CL is easy to convert to use Gen 4/5 slides, you must still use a Gen 3 recoil spring assembly. There just isn't enough room to fit the G4/5 dual spring setup.

JayZee said:

I am using a Polymer 80 Frame that was built to be a 19 frame with a 17 series slide.
Its called the PF940CL.
It allows for the 19 grip and a 17 slide...too bad they dont have one in 10MM..G20/40 slide on a 29 grip..
They didn't make too many of the 940CL.
Wish I got one in white..anyways.
Thank you for that information though!
Glad to see Glock is making it easier to rub various slide/frame combos.
I already run a G17 slide on this G19 frame and its flawless in operation.

Mass was were I lived. Glocks already sell for more than MSRP generally and G17L don't come around often there. I am in a free state now, and building an extra 17L slide is less expensive than an entirely new 17L.

Also to note the open slide, call my paranoid but I never liked it. Glad to see Rio has had no issues with them regardless of the environment.

I will get photos of the "before" and "after"
Only downside to the 17L slide is it isn't RMR cutout like my 17 slide is...but FWIW I know it can be cut if I need it that bad.

Edit- I will proceed with a stock spring and see how it runs with factory and reloads.

Click to expand...

Do yourself a solid and get a real 17L. It’s a blast from the pass, and every Glock Fanboys dream come true. You don’t need a RMR, just Front Sight focus and Squeeze the trigger!

here an idea of how LONG the 17L is compare to the 34

I think that ^ is a 17XL

C0untZer0 said:

I think that ^ is a 17XL

Click to expand...

That a 17 XL Magnum

When built properly, a Polymer 80 frame can be just as reliable as a factory pistol. A lot depends on how it was finished and what parts are used. I always suggest stick with OEM Glock parts no matter what frame you use. That recommendation goes for factory Glock frames, 100% complete aftermarket frames and 80% frames.