Glock Slide Cuts - Question

[Mntneer357]

I realize this may be a dumb question, so I'll beg forgiveness in advance. I legitimately do not know. I'd like to ask the P-F cognoscenti for guidance...

I have been seeing what seems like a lot of "boutique shops" chopping up the slides of Glocks. On the side, on top, pretty much everywhere they could think to remove metal, someone has. My question is does this serve some legitimate, functional purpose, or is this yet another case of "fools and money being parted"? I completely understand and agree that "because I wanted to" is sometimes reason enough. I was mostly curious IF these modifications improved function somehow.

I appreciate y'all's time and direction.

Slainte!

[jondoe297]

One of my buddies is into the "glock chopping/gun bling" thing. If you ask him, you'd think that a Glock is completely unusable unless you spend $2k+ getting it "customized" by Zev/Salient/etc.
To answer your question though, for the vast majority of people who spend the money on it, it falls under fools and their money being parted (at least in my opinion).

[Gio]

In my opinion, these modifications are all for show and have no functional purpose, outside of adding forward cocking serrations, which are more of a personal preference than necessary. Removing weight from a Glock slide is extremely detrimental to reliability. Combine that with adding a light on the gun or +p ammo and it will compound the problem.

No one I know of who shoots a Glock at a high level cuts any weight off their slides.

[Beat Trash]

Forward slide serrations would be nice to have. But to me, it's not a big enough of an issue to justify the cost of having the slide cut and refinished.

Some people like to have their Glock pistol looking special. Kind of in the same way that a snow flake is special. I wonder how these same people react when wear marks start to show up on the slide from holster wear.

I actually like the wear marks on the edges of the slide that occur from holster wear and other wear marks from honest training and usage of the gun. To me it gives my gun character.

[Gray222]

I got a slide with front side serrations and top "dragon scale" serrations done.

I intended on using an RMR on this slide and needed extra grip space in case I could not get to the rear of the gun in a pinch grip.

If I was not using an RMR I would not get serrations.

http://i.imgur.com/ducvq3W.png

[SLG]

I like front cocking serrations, but not much else.

Regardless of my personal preference, it is essential to spend mucho dinero on rocking your glock, otherwise you won't be able to properly defend yourself.

[Mntneer357]

Thank you very much to those who have taken the time to reply. I appreciate y'all sharing your knowledge.

I *thought* all these "modifications" looked to be mainly cosmetic, (and still highly questionable even then) but what the hell do I know? I'm not 'zactly on the bleeding edge here. I wholeheartedly agree that FCS are legitimately desirable, for some users. But slides that look like Swiss cheese and gold barrels? I'm sitting there thinking to myself "is there some serious purpose for this kind of thing?"

FWIW, I shoot & carry Glocks. They're what work for me at this point of my life and my level of training. The only thing I do to them is add Trijicon night sights. But, I'm always trying to learn and I had to ask about this newish trend I'm seeing.

[martin_j001]

I very much like and prefer to have front cocking serrations myself, so I started looking into the companies that offer the work. Ended up purchasing a Zev slide when they went on sale over Black Friday, which allowed me to try an RMR as well. Luckily for me, the model that went on sale was not one with the cut-outs or "windows", which do not appeal to me in a major way.

[PD Sgt.]

While there are some arguments for forward slide serrations, I have never owned a Glock that needed them (for me) to chamber check the pistol; they are not that heavily sprung and there is no mainspring/hammer resistance to overcome. I feel the same way about one handed manipulations; the sights I use are squared off and allow me to clear/charge the weapon.

I have concerns that substantially lightening the slide can change the mechanics and reliability of the pistol, especially if one does not alter the recoil spring weight. I personally like to be able to use the stock weights so that I know wherever I go I can find a stock RSA that will work in my pistols, I do not need a special non captured spring weight to run my tacti-blaster.

I get that a lot of these mods come from the competition world and allow faster splits and flatter shooting. The problem is they also bring a narrower window of reliability in a lot of cases. I have been to several classes where as the day went on and guns got dirtier, the Zev or Salient guns began malfunctioning while my stock 17 kept plugging along.

Personally, I think for the money some spend on the cuts/windows, you would be better off with a quality barrel fit which actually should gain some accuracy as long as the chamber accepts your favorite ammo, and more practice ammo for the gun.

[Mntneer357]

The problem is they also bring a narrower window of reliability in a lot of cases. I have been to several classes where as the day went on and guns got dirtier, the Zev or Salient guns began malfunctioning while my stock 17 kept plugging along.

Honestly, **that** was the first thing that crossed my mind when I started seeing some of these pistols. I figure when you start screwing with the geometry & design parameters of a thing, you're heading for reliability headaches. I figure Glock had engineers that set the damn thing up to run reliably, why give Murphy a chance to come dick that up??


Personally, I think for the money some spend on the cuts/windows, you would be better off with a quality barrel fit which actually should gain some accuracy as long as the chamber accepts your favorite ammo, and more practice ammo for the gun.

In my given situation, more ammo for training is pretty much tops on the list.

[PD Sgt.]

For me more ammo or training classes is the answer as well, the barrel thing is more if you feel you have to spend money upgrading the pistol, which I have done as well to a couple of my Glocks.

[GardoneVT]

I have been seeing what seems like a lot of "boutique shops" chopping up the slides of Glocks. On the side, on top, pretty much everywhere they could think to remove metal, someone has. My question is does this serve some legitimate, functional purpose...


Looking cool as one misses a 5yd target is a legitimate purpose these days.


A relevant note: Wilson Combat recently returned my M9A1. As it's my practice gun it is a pistol the local range staff have seen me shoot all the time. Not much in the way of comment besides the usual tropes of slide cracks and "the safety will getcha kilt".

After taking it back to that range yesterday ,suddenly that same pistol is an artifact equal to the Ark of the Covenant in reverence. After showing the groups I did the guys all said "Wilson Combats are accurate!" True enough-but the custom work I ordered had nothing to do with the barrel or slide geometry. A fiber optic front post is great- but that isn't why I can shoot it well.

Sad reality of it is the guy who diligently shoots a stock Glock 17 for years and improves won't get the recognition his range buddy shooting manhole cover groups with a Salient does. Human nature is wonky like that.

[Lost River]

I have to be honest,

When I see a guy sporting a Glock/M&P whatever, that has holes all over it, gold barrel etc, I have the opposite reaction that many have.

I don't think "Wow that is cool!"

My thoughts usually runs towards "Mouth breather/Tool", and look to see if he his wearing a flat brimmed hat, and driving a "Bro" truck.

[jondoe297]

I like front cocking serrations, but not much else.

Regardless of my personal preference, it is essential to spend mucho dinero on rocking your glock, otherwise you won't be able to properly defend yourself.

Indeed. It's entertaining to hear my friend attempt to justify it. In the end I just tell him "Man, just admit that you do it because you think it looks cool and stop trying to act like it made the gun run better".

[jondoe297]

I have to be honest,

When I see a guy sporting a Glock/M&P whatever, that has holes all over it, gold barrel etc, I have the opposite reaction that many have.

I don't think "Wow that is cool!"

My thoughts usually runs towards "Mouth breather/Tool", and look to see if he his wearing a flat brimmed hat, and driving a "Bro" truck.

In my experience, 'round these parts, the person is usually wearing a flannel shirt, kuhl pants, saloman shoes, and sports an "operator beard". He's also worships Chris Costa/Travis Haley/Steve Fisher.

[Larry Sellers]

In my experience, 'round these parts, the person is usually wearing a flannel shirt, kuhl pants, saloman shoes, and sports an "operator beard". He's also worships Chris Costa/Travis Haley/Steve Fisher.

Uhhhhh I have kuhl pants and flannel......but no slide cuts......


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[blues]

I have to be honest,

When I see a guy sporting a Glock/M&P whatever, that has holes all over it, gold barrel etc, I have the opposite reaction that many have.

I don't think "Wow that is cool!"

My thoughts usually runs towards "Mouth breather/Tool", and look to see if he his wearing a flat brimmed hat, and driving a "Bro" truck.


In my experience, 'round these parts, the person is usually wearing a flannel shirt, kuhl pants, saloman shoes, and sports an "operator beard". He's also worships Chris Costa/Travis Haley/Steve Fisher.


Isn't it heartwarming when two disparate groups find common ground? :rolleyes:

(Says the guy that waited from 1988 until 2017 to put night sights on his Glocks. :p)

[BillSWPA]

I have seen enough people get their hand in front of a muzzle that I dislike forward slide serrations. I would never spend money to encourage a student to potentially make that mistake with my gun.

The only reason to consider cutting a slide in my opinion is to use a sight system that you absolutely cannot use with the standard sight cuts. In the case of a Glock, that would likely be limited to a red dot sight.



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[hiro]

I got a slide with front side serrations and top "dragon scale" serrations done.

I intended on using an RMR on this slide and needed extra grip space in case I could not get to the rear of the gun in a pinch grip.

If I was not using an RMR I would not get serrations.



Why would you not just rack it off the RMR?

[JonInWA]

I'm in the "fools and money" crowd. While there's absolutely nothing wrong with embellishments to increase pride of ownership or commemoration (engraving comes to mind) I draw the line if changes can induce operational difficulties.

Personally, I think that the money is far better spent on practice, training, ammunition.

I've never felt the need for forward cocking serrations on any of my guns; on those that have them as an OEM feature (like my HKs) they're pretty much an ignored feature.

Best, Jon

[jondoe297]

Uhhhhh I have kuhl pants and flannel......but no slide cuts......


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I have a pair of kuhl pants and salomans. My Glock isn't missing any slide material though. I think you need to hit all of the requisite points to fall into that category. :o

[blues]

https://www.mematic.net/resources/memes/hipster-barista.jpeg

"I don't know what a Glock is but it sounds vaguely obscene. And why would you need to circumcise it anyway?"

[Larry Sellers]

I have a pair of kuhl pants and salomans. My Glock isn't missing any slide material though. I think you need to hit all of the requisite points to fall into that category. :o
Hahaha yes!! Only slide material missing is due to holster wear on my end.

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[RevM]

The only slide cut I would do in any gun is to fit an RMR!

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170214/bdd941ee0dfbc6754fae61fc5c564d50.jpg

SIG, not a Glock but the same rule applies.

[busdriver]

It's probably worth mentioning where all these slide lightening cuts came from. Open guns. Specifically 5 inch government slides, with .355 caliber bull barrels and compensators. That's a lot of reciprocating mass. You add the comp slowing the slide down and suddenly you need a very light recoil spring to get the thing to function. Cut slide mass and you can up the spring weight and get more reliable feeding. Even with all that I'm running a 9 pound progressive on mine.

A lighter slide will make the gun feel snappier. If you're running a 5 inch government slide and bull barrel in a limited gun with USPSA normal loads (which are reduced a bit from duty .40) some might want that. There's also plenty of folks shooting the STI Edge, which are actually designed to be as heavy as possible.

In a 9mm Glock for 3gun I could see it. But for all that money, I'd just buy a 2011.

Shooting duty/defense ammo? Stupid.

[hiro]

Being a noob, I told myself, "learn to shoot, get the basics sorted to better have a base of knowledge to be able to tell the difference between what are basically subtle differences". (I regret filing the finger bumps off the front strap for that reason, I got impatient and forgot what I'd told myself).

Having watched Frank Proctor's videos on slide manipulation I've been using grip tape in lieu of front serrations on my G17. I like the efficiency of movement they offer and the tape is just in front of the ejection port, I don't see any advantage their being any further forward but its more than likely one of those "you don't know what you don't know" things. I don't really get the fears people have for getting your hands too close to the muzzle, if you're manipulating the slide, your trigger finger shouldn't be anywhere near the trigger.

I chose to buy a pistol that doesn't have front serrations, at the time of buying I didn't have the experience I do now. If Glock offered a version of Perfection (tm) with front serrations, I'd go for it. If I choose to further ignore my original plan and have the slide modified, I'd go for the minimalist cut (https://www.instagram.com/p/BLmkoWhDMJh/?taken-by=frank_proctor_wotg&hl=en) and aim to take as little weight from the slide as possible.

Grip tape works, it looks fugly and the cool guys will laugh, but hey, who cares?
13928

As for making the slide lighter? Why? If Mr_White, SLG and umpteen others can shoot sub .25 splits with a regular slide, it's not the slide needs improving to shoot faster.

[Surf]

Framework, yes I like to do it on a Glock, just like I prefer to work a 1911 frame. When I finally became more open minded about polymer framed pistols and got into Glocks, I thought why not fix what Glock got wrong from the factory? This was early on and while I knew of others just getting into more mainstream "Glock smithing", I thought it was a natural progression to carry over into a Glock since I was doing similar work already. As it turns out, polymer pistols take well to the work and the Glock while very shootable out of the box, is so easily custom fit to an individual if they are having issues.

I don't do any slide work as it is just not important enough on the Glock for me to want to add them aftermarket but I would welcome factory cuts. My Glock work visually is pretty tame compared to others and while I don't really care too much about the visual "bling" aspect, I do like the benefit of fitting the Glock to my hand.

[spinmove_]

Framework, yes I like to do it on a Glock, just like I prefer to work a 1911 frame. When I finally became more open minded about polymer framed pistols and got into Glocks, I thought why not fix what Glock got wrong from the factory? This was early on and while I knew of others just getting into more mainstream "Glock smithing", I thought it was a natural progression to carry over into a Glock since I was doing similar work already. As it turns out, polymer pistols take well to the work and the Glock while very shootable out of the box, is so easily custom fit to an individual if they are having issues.

I don't do any slide work as it is just not important enough on the Glock for me to want to add them aftermarket but I would welcome factory cuts. My Glock work visually is pretty tame compared to others and while I don't really care too much about the visual "bling" aspect, I do like the benefit of fitting the Glock to my hand.

What sorts of frame modifications do you do to Glocks?


Sent from mah smertfone using tapathingy

[Rex G]

Forward serrations leave my "brand" when somebody bumps his head on my pistol. ;)

[Gio]

It's probably worth mentioning where all these slide lightening cuts came from. Open guns. Specifically 5 inch government slides, with .355 caliber bull barrels and compensators. That's a lot of reciprocating mass. You add the comp slowing the slide down and suddenly you need a very light recoil spring to get the thing to function. Cut slide mass and you can up the spring weight and get more reliable feeding. Even with all that I'm running a 9 pound progressive on mine.


The other thing to add to this is a 1911/2011 gunsmith can control the rearward motion/speed of the slide by altering the angle between the firing pin stop and hammer and/or adjusting the mainspring weight. This can allow you to make a slide much lighter without necessarily increasing the speed of rearward slide movement. You can then adjust your recoil spring weight on a lighter slide to slow down the forward motion of the slide as well and not affect the timing of the gun.

There is nothing that can slow down the rearward motion or unlocking of the slide on a Glock except a stronger recoil spring, but then that will speed up the forward motion of the slide (even more so on a lighter slide). Bad things happen when you alter the timing on a Glock (or any similar striker fired pistol), and you will start to have issues with the slide outrunning the magazine springs.

[Hambo]

I think of all the metal-pecker holes as "Debris Entry Ports". The only function I can see is that same as those curvy edges on flashlights that are supposed to take meat out of your opponent when used as an impact tool. If you bitch slap somebody with a two pound metal pistol, such as a 1911, they notice the impact. If you smack them with a G, not so much. If you smack them with a G with a cheese grater slide, at least you cause some bleeding and keep a DNA sample.

The only thing I like is forward serrations, but I don't like them enough to pay for them if they aren't already there.

[SAWBONES]

At the risk of addressing a topic not mentioned by the OP, yet related, I'll opine that modification of a Glock gripframe in order to better fit the user's hand does make some sense, but modifying slides by various cuts and doodles, nah. (A slide cut for a red dot sight would be an exception.)

But in any case, it somehow offends my sense of value to pay ~$400 for a polymer-framed pistol, and to then pay some aftermarket guy an additional large amount of money, often more than the price of the gun, to get that polymer frame sculpted, contoured, textured or whatever.

I'd rather begin with a sidearm that fits me in stock form, or if I'm going to pay for modifications, then the base gun ought to be made of metal, and of best quality to start with.

[ScotchMan]

I agree with those who commented about holster wear. Nothing looks cooler to me than a gun where the finish is gone because of all the use its seen. It gives it character and it speaks to the shooter, their mindset and priorities. As soon as this catches on, we will see services you can send your gun to that rub fine grit sandpaper on it for an hour and send it back to you so you too can be an operator.

[RevM]

... As soon as this catches on, we will see services you can send your gun to that rub fine grit sandpaper on it for an hour and send it back to you so you too can be an operator.

Too late. Google "distressed firearms" ... often in conjunction with cerakote.

[hiro]

Too late. Google "distressed firearms" ... often in conjunction with cerakote.

Fucking Instagram...

[Surf]

What sorts of frame modifications do you do to Glocks?


Sent from mah smertfone using tapathingyThis explains my preferences.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b9M3UGkgDI&t=8s

[JCS]

I agree with those who commented about holster wear. Nothing looks cooler to me than a gun where the finish is gone because of all the use its seen. It gives it character and it speaks to the shooter, their mindset and priorities. As soon as this catches on, we will see services you can send your gun to that rub fine grit sandpaper on it for an hour and send it back to you so you too can be an operator.

Jagerworks has made thousands off of this principle https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170214/6db1c222f89dbdc4a310a5a1c5c4c5bb.jpg


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[Joe in PNG]

Jagerworks has made thousands off of this principle

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I suspect there may be a Punisher Skull on that gun someplace.

[Gray222]

I agree with those who commented about holster wear. Nothing looks cooler to me than a gun where the finish is gone because of all the use its seen. It gives it character and it speaks to the shooter, their mindset and priorities. As soon as this catches on, we will see services you can send your gun to that rub fine grit sandpaper on it for an hour and send it back to you so you too can be an operator.

I agree.

http://i.imgur.com/HubsAcX.jpg

[OnionsAndDragons]

Aside from the forward cocking serrations, RMR cut and maybe a small patch of serration on the top if you want to skip having good one-handed manipulation techniques; the rest is nonsense.

In fact, Vogel is pretty adamant that lightening a Glock slide without adding commensurate weight of an RMR or similar is just dumb. I'm going to side with that guy on Glock shooting pretty much always and forever. :P

[Mntneer357]

I think of all the metal-pecker holes as "Debris Entry Ports".

That's what *I* was thinking too. I still can't fathom WHY someone would all but invite Murphy to stop by. So, "fools and their money" then....

I have noticed, as OnionsAndDragons referenced, folks who are most certainly very real-deal (like Mr. Vogel, or Mr. Langdon, or Mr. McNamara) seem to keep their firearms pretty straightforward. I think that is called "a clue" in some circles.

Slainte!

[JAD]

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170223/82ef80791919cc2b039e3e66cb0228e2.jpg

This poor little guy is only two months old.

I like the orange dust on the triggerguard-- H/T@JMCK.