RecoilRob
Member
I decided to put this one in the gunsmithing forum because it is taking quite a bit to get it working and thought others might be interested in the process this one is taking before undertaking a build of their own.
Using the PF940V2 Polymer 80 kit...which is full size Glock 17 along with a Swenson slide and barrel and Glock internals for both slide and frame. All was ordered from Midway for 'one stop shopping' convenience and everything arrived in good shape and in a timely delivery.
As I was grinding out the frame material that needs to be removed it hit me that anyone who might be wondering about the strength of these frames will NOT be worrying after getting everything trimmed down because the stuff is tuff! With Dremel and files everything looked just fine, then came the drilling.
This was the part that I'd been dreading being as the fixture is plastic and not the most super precise way to drill holes in sloping parts...but it's what we have so I did the best I could...and the holes came out semi-OK. They aren't perfectly aligned with one another on either side of the frame despite the bit fitting in the guides as it should. This explains part of why people have reported having some difficulty getting the pins installed.
Then the fun began! The rear frame rail section went in fine but the holes didn't line up perfectly and needed match drilled to get the pin through, and the front locking block/rails piece must have warped a bit during heat treatment because it was spread on the bottom and didn't want to go into the frame by about 1/16". That doesn't sound like very much, but the frame is TOUGH...so I had to bevel the bottom of the block tabs to get it started and then apply quite a bit of force to get it down into the frame. This isn't really a worry being as this will not often need to be removed....but again the holes didn't want to line up enough to get the pins through. I should have tried the pin in the block holes but I did try them in the frame and was easily able to get the pin to go into both sides...so I think the block warping had the holes a bit out of alignment. Ran the drill though and cleaned it up and got the pins installed. Phew!
Then with great anticipation tried fitting the slide.
And it had a big problem right away. Side onto the front rails and by the time it got to the back ones it was about 1/8" high and had to be forced down to engage them. Not good. Again I think it was warped because both front and back of the block met the frame as it was supposed to...so some material had to be taken from the underside of each rail at the front and a little off the top at the rear which then let the slide engage the rear rails with little pressure. Was a surprisingly small amount of material removed to correct the misalignment and I was beginning to appreciate the precision needed to build one of these pistols successfully. The slide engaged and slid back...then hit something solid. Double darn!
Ended up being the ejector making contact with the slide right at the edge of the striker hole. Being as the ejector was pointing up at an angle it was cut back until it cleared...again only a little material needed to come off and it ended up being shortened about .070". Hoping it will still kick them out well enough...we'll see in due time.
So now the slide runs full travel in the rails...a bit tight but it'll no doubt loosen up with cycling and I'd much rather have it too tight than too loose, but with barrel and recoil spring installed it goes on almost to the point where the disassembly latch will fully raise up but no farther. Again...solid contact and at this point I'm thinking it must be the bottom of the barrel contacting the locking block because it can't be depressed at all once the slide stops, so it just can't slide over the block and that's what we'll attack in the AM. Not going to cut anything now that I'm getting fatigued and really have to be careful when removing metal that can't be put back...got to be sure that's what is happening. The plan is to do all clearance grinding to the locking block rather than slide or barrel being as if I totally FUBAR it I can replace the block. Hoping that just a wee bit of material will let the barrel past and then we're on to the next problem! Sooner or later we'll get this thing running.
Just wanted to document my experience here as a possible warning to others who might be thinking about doing one of these....they don't always go smoothly if mine is any example. Of course with multiple manufacturers involved there's the real possibility of tolerance stacking but the Swenson parts seem to be pretty nicely made, so I believe most of what's going on is the frame kit. But they don't promise that everything will just drop in and work...and even with modern CNC machinery very small amounts of material are all that it takes to impair function, and fitting most likely will be required. Be prepared! Will update tomorrow as things hopefully are resolved.
Using the PF940V2 Polymer 80 kit...which is full size Glock 17 along with a Swenson slide and barrel and Glock internals for both slide and frame. All was ordered from Midway for 'one stop shopping' convenience and everything arrived in good shape and in a timely delivery.
As I was grinding out the frame material that needs to be removed it hit me that anyone who might be wondering about the strength of these frames will NOT be worrying after getting everything trimmed down because the stuff is tuff! With Dremel and files everything looked just fine, then came the drilling.
This was the part that I'd been dreading being as the fixture is plastic and not the most super precise way to drill holes in sloping parts...but it's what we have so I did the best I could...and the holes came out semi-OK. They aren't perfectly aligned with one another on either side of the frame despite the bit fitting in the guides as it should. This explains part of why people have reported having some difficulty getting the pins installed.
Then the fun began! The rear frame rail section went in fine but the holes didn't line up perfectly and needed match drilled to get the pin through, and the front locking block/rails piece must have warped a bit during heat treatment because it was spread on the bottom and didn't want to go into the frame by about 1/16". That doesn't sound like very much, but the frame is TOUGH...so I had to bevel the bottom of the block tabs to get it started and then apply quite a bit of force to get it down into the frame. This isn't really a worry being as this will not often need to be removed....but again the holes didn't want to line up enough to get the pins through. I should have tried the pin in the block holes but I did try them in the frame and was easily able to get the pin to go into both sides...so I think the block warping had the holes a bit out of alignment. Ran the drill though and cleaned it up and got the pins installed. Phew!
Then with great anticipation tried fitting the slide.And it had a big problem right away.
Side onto the front rails and by the time it got to the back ones it was about 1/8" high and had to be forced down to engage them. Not good. Again I think it was warped because both front and back of the block met the frame as it was supposed to...so some material had to be taken from the underside of each rail at the front and a little off the top at the rear which then let the slide engage the rear rails with little pressure. Was a surprisingly small amount of material removed to correct the misalignment and I was beginning to appreciate the precision needed to build one of these pistols successfully. The slide engaged and slid back...then hit something solid. Double darn!Ended up being the ejector making contact with the slide right at the edge of the striker hole. Being as the ejector was pointing up at an angle it was cut back until it cleared...again only a little material needed to come off and it ended up being shortened about .070". Hoping it will still kick them out well enough...we'll see in due time.
So now the slide runs full travel in the rails...a bit tight but it'll no doubt loosen up with cycling and I'd much rather have it too tight than too loose, but with barrel and recoil spring installed it goes on almost to the point where the disassembly latch will fully raise up but no farther. Again...solid contact and at this point I'm thinking it must be the bottom of the barrel contacting the locking block because it can't be depressed at all once the slide stops, so it just can't slide over the block and that's what we'll attack in the AM. Not going to cut anything now that I'm getting fatigued and really have to be careful when removing metal that can't be put back...got to be sure that's what is happening. The plan is to do all clearance grinding to the locking block rather than slide or barrel being as if I totally FUBAR it I can replace the block. Hoping that just a wee bit of material will let the barrel past and then we're on to the next problem!
Sooner or later we'll get this thing running.Just wanted to document my experience here as a possible warning to others who might be thinking about doing one of these....they don't always go smoothly if mine is any example. Of course with multiple manufacturers involved there's the real possibility of tolerance stacking but the Swenson parts seem to be pretty nicely made, so I believe most of what's going on is the frame kit. But they don't promise that everything will just drop in and work...and even with modern CNC machinery very small amounts of material are all that it takes to impair function, and fitting most likely will be required. Be prepared! Will update tomorrow as things hopefully are resolved.
