Originally Posted by
Sanch
Great info, thank you so much for this. I think I'd like to keep the rear sight. It seems really useful, but I don't have any experience on a red dot handgun yet.
I went on KKMs site and they only seem to sell 1/2x28 threaded barrels, so unless they can custom thread me one, I don't think it's an option.
I may just forgo having matching barrel threads and if I want to share my single suppressor across multiple Glocks, I have to change the piston. Not a huge deal I guess, I do have the pistons and the wrench. And if I want to put the silencer on a subgun, I need to change the piston and add the fixed spacer thing anyway. I don't really need to swap silencers onto different glocks quickly. Even in my wildest LARPing fantasies I struggle to think of a scenario where I dont have a few minutes to change the piston.
The other main reason I wanted to avoid Gen 5 is I already have a ton of spare Gen 3 Glock parts stockpiled away for a rainy day. Enough to build 2 new Gen 3 Glocks. I like having spare parts and if I have to go Gen 5, then I will need to buy a few of the parts that dont interchange to keep on hand. Not the end of the world I guess.
Otherwise my option is to get a Unity or Agency Gen 3 slide, which then locks me into their proprietary system that I doubt will last 20 to 30 years. The Glock MOS might not even last 20 to 30 years but it's almost guaranteed to last longer than any third party proprietary mounting system. Also, the Unity Gen 3 is out of production.
I looked up Agency Arms, and it's $1100 (yikes) for a stripped slide Gen 3 Glock that takes AOS plates. Plus $140 for the Acro plate. I could use my Gen 3 threaded factory M13x1 LH barrels though.
But for that price, and the fact that I don't trust the AOS plates to be available for as long as MOS plates, I think I'd rather just buy a new Gen 5 Glock plus some spare parts, and deal with having to change the piston. For about half the price, and get a whole new gun, that people say is vastly better than Gen 3. I talked myself out of sticking with Gen 3 based on HCMs knowledge.
If someone puts forth a solid argument that AOS plates will be available for new optics for longer than the MOS system, then I would drop the $1100 on the Gen 3 Agency slide and go that route, to not have to deal with this again in 10 years. I really hate buying new accessories for my guns. I have limited time to spend on guns and dont live fire or dryfire enough as-is. This research right now is actively taking me away from dryfiring tonight.
What I'd like to do is get this one red dot sight handgun, and in 5 to 10 years see what new better dot tech exists, and just get a new plate for it and buy that new optic. And do the same in 10 to 15 years on the same slide. Not have to deal with "now I have to buy the new Gen 7 Glock to get a gun that has a plate that fits with the Acro P4, but the Gen 7 Glock means a new threaded barrel, new holster, new spare parts, and a New X, Y, Z to go along with it"
I plan to live about 30 to 40 more years max and if I could squeeze out a red dot Glock now in 2021 that will last until I die, with simple optics and plate changes every 5 to 10 years, that would make me very happy. And let me dedicate more time to training. Eventually, advances will become marginal anyway. The difference between a 2010 handgun red dot and a 2015-era one are huge. 2015 and 2020 a little less so. And I expect maybe the optic I buy in 2030 or 2035 can last until 2050 with just battery changes, as long as it doesn't break. So if I can get 10 to 15 years out of a plate system, I think that may be enough.