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My GLock 19 mods


dirtypool40

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Ok, for carry and some light Production work as practice.

I don't want to "whittle" on the gun at all, just drop in parts.

The gun will be a 19, not a 17 or 34 or any other permutation. Yes, I would rather shoot / carry a bigger gun / caliber, but the 19 is as big as I can hide reliably and 9mm ammo is everywhere, even here.

Here's what I am leaning towards.

Heinie Sites - will they shoot point of aim from the box?

Plastic slug plug

Ti Striker (what brand do you reccommend)

"Lightening strike" (or similiar) 3.5# connector, to shorten and lighten things with drop in parts.

Do I need to fiddle with the recoil springs / guide rod?

Where's smokeshawn when I need him? And Oh yeah, where's the best place to get this stuff?

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My opinion only, though I am practicing what I preach:

Heine sights will shoot POI if you buy the ones specifically for Glocks as a set.

Plastic plug is no harm, but not production legal in USPSA.

Stay away from the Ti striker if you are gonna carry this gun.

Use a 3.5 OEM connector, and lightly polish the impact areas on the striker.

Stay with the stock recoil system.

You can get all of these parts through Brownell's.

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true, and that was my intent originally, but I figured I would ask the GLOCK-gurus about mods that don't hurt.

As to sites and plug being legal, I'm a standard guy at heart, but figure to shoot it in a match once in a while.

So no striker, and no aftermarket connector?

I was thinking night sites, but all I want is a dot up front, same as my bomar / FO front. Can I get Heinie's without the 8 pattern?

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For a carry Glock, occasionally used in Production, I'd do no more than better sights, possibly a 3.5 connector, and some of EricW's cool grips. (Or an Agrip if you don't like sandpaper).

You don't need anything else.

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DP,

Heinie Slant Pros should be perfect. I also like the Novak (nite) sights. You can get the Novaks in a Bar-Dot configuration for nights sights. The bar, in the rear, is right under the notch...damn small...and easy to not get confused like with other systems with lots of dots...it is not "busy".

I use Novaks or Heinie Slant Pros...they both give a clean sight picture...no glare, crisp lines.

A 3.5 pound connector should be a go. No reason not to try it out...less than $20. Also, you can put in a Glockmeister trigger spring. It is stronger than stock...and it actually helps you pull the trigger (making the trigger pull lighter). Another cheap part.

I don't see any reason/need for changing the striker.

Chris Patty (cpty1) sells "A-grip". It is like velvet. Not supposed to hang up on clothes. Check it out.

The plastic plug isn't legal for USPSA Production.

Shoot it a bit, then look into the 25 cent trigger job (easily found online). you may want to go ahead and clip a few coils from the drop-safety plunger spring (order some spares and go to town).

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Man between Flex, Fo, Chris, and Finney you are handled. I pretty much agree with the above. I love the basic Heinies from Brownell's $55 and I don't feel bad about opening the rear sight notch a little to make them a little easier and faster. Of course you could go high $ and get the straight eights with tritium. Ditto on the .25c trigger job and the 3.5 lb connector. I tried the lightened parts and just didn't see enough of a benefit for the cost. Besides on a carry gun I like the hammer like reliability of the glock. The one area you could play and not compromise too much would be in the Guide rod spring weight category. Full length steel rod and 13lb spring (brownells again) should help the little guns behavior somewhat.

Just for comparison the 17 that I carry daily has the .25c trigger job, a little skate tape, and Glock night sights (were on the gun when I bought it). Bone stock and as reliable as a bowling ball.

Take care, Craig

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If I were going to replace the striker, I would replace the striker with a lightened steel striker and not a TI model.

Glock Parts

Not to bring a flame war down on my head, but why the negative feelings about Titanium firing pins?

The reason I ask is I have had one in one of my older Glocks,1997. It has fired many thousands of rounds and it has never been a problem. I just inspected it while cleaning, after a range session, and can't find any unusual wear or any other problem. By the way I checked it under a magnifying lamp just to be sure.

Now the kicker. This is a gun I have carried for years, and never gave it,Ti firing pin, a thought.

I think any part can fail, I just don't get the whole don't carry anything other than stock mind set. I think you should prove any part before carrying it, but after all pistols are full of parts. It just seems like some put too much faith in stock over aftermarket. Yes there is some junk aftermarket parts out there, but stock parts fail too. Check any police training pistol range.

FWIW: I worked as a gunsmith as my profession for seven years and I'm a retired LEO Sergeant from the Major Crimes Unit. So I have been to a few court proceedings and never seen a modification to a gun used in open court.

Sorry Massod (SP)?

Just a question, am I missing something?

Thanks in advance for not flaming me on this. Thanks

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hkps1,

Not going to hit you with a flame thrower, but here's my take on it:

My personal experience with Titanium is not as good as yours. DKOL had a Titanium striker in his Glock 35 at TN state last year and the end that strikes the primer broke clean off in the middle of a stage. If this had been a carry gun, it could have been ugly. I had a Titanium cylinder on a revolver that blew in half well within SAAMI specs at a match, once again, glad I wasn't defending the homestead. A metalurgist told me that once you get a metal as hard as titanium has to be for use in guns, then it is very brittle.

I have two Glocks(competition guns) with 2.5 pound triggers, both using only stock parts except for the striker springs, and my other two Glocks(carry guns) have 3-3.5 pound triggers with 100% stock parts. I have thousands of rounds through the two competition guns, and hundreds through the two carry guns, and I trust them. This is just my experience, but OEM parts are manufactured to work reliably in a Glock, and they do. I have seen them break, but it is extremely rare. At the range, I have ran hundreds of shooters through GSSF, USPSA, and IDPA. Most of the time when a Glock stops, they admit to aftermarket parts, and a change to stock parts gets them running again.

I am not against aftermarket parts, and there are some good ones, and I have used them in many guns, but not on carry guns.

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Maybe I'm just lucky. I have heard of two, counting the one you just told me about, titanium firing pins having problems. I have seen one stock FP and heard of three with chipped ends. Gotta admit that there are way more stock FPs around here, maybe 1000 to 1, so that is not a good comparison.

I guess I will keep better shooting logs and see if/when mine bites the dust. I am confident that this Glock has over 10,000 rounds through it, but don't remember at what point I installed the firing pin. I would guess somewhere around the 2 or 3,000 mark. But that would flat be a guess.

I only asked the question as I have read the comment several times on this and other boards.

Thanks for your input.

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No flames, I just never felt that the benefit was worth the money. If I wanted to put the money of titanium into my glock trigger it would be going to Charlie Vanek. As FO mentioned I like the fact that my glocks run and run and run and run and run with stock parts. I especially feel this way about a carry gun. I am not concerned about the Massad Ayoob hysteria, in looking at some case law a good shoot is a good shoot regardless of the gun. The only mechanical part I have changed out is the guide rod and spring in order to get the recoil where I want it with competition loads.

Craig

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HKPS1, you obviously frequent some of those other forums. You won't see any flaming taking place here. To answer your question specific to my post, I've used, and also sold the TI strikers for a while and broke one myself, and had to replace another one that a customer had break. Also saw some light primer strikes at a match that could have been caused by the TI striker. We put the stock striker back in and the light strike problem disappeared even though we didn't change ammo. I finally settled on the lightened steel version which seems to be much more durable due to the steel makeup, and seems to be a good compromise between the stock and the TI strikers from a weight perspective. Lightened enough to provide the benefits of a TI striker, but with enough mass to eliminate any light strike issues when used with some of the harder primers.

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If the pistol will be carry AND competition I would still set it up as to be strictly a carry gun. As if competition wouldn't be a factor.

Heinie Slant-pro's Race-Cut from Custom-Glock Racing

(Simply the best, my g19 has the same basic sight picture as my g34)

3.5 connector

(Ghost Rocket 3.5 fitted for reduced over-travel, but stock will work just fine)

Not a big believer in aftermarket "titanium/lightened" this & that even for competition. Ghost is the only non-stock part I will use(other than springs) when putting a 2.5 trigger on a Glock.

A Glock just doesn't need much. JMHO :ph34r:

Daniel Tripp

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Thanks for the responce guys. I just wanted to hear some of your reasons. On another note my new Green G17 is sitting at my favorite gun shop while I am sitting in Dallas working. Dang it.

I have to buy this one to replace the G19C my wife took after her first ever range visit. She was addicted after only one magazine full. Well at least she has good taste, except maybe for her taste in husbands. <_<

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What I like about the Vanek triggers that I've felt is that there's not a sharp break, so it's more like a revolver or LDA pull (which is the point of a rolling trigger on a 1911). If Charlie can setup one of his triggers to feel the same way, but have a 3-4 lb pull, I'd carry it. Personally, I just don't want an uber-light trigger on a carry gun... not that I have any good reasons for that preference.

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Mr. Stanley,

Besides the factory 3.5 connector, the onyl other thing I did to my carry G36 was to avoid the Straight Eight configuration of the Heinie night sights:

Heinie Rear: Brownells No. 394-100-322

Trijicon Front: Brownells No. 892-505-000

Works for me...

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cool, but a G36 is the only one they list with a different site height.

What height front do I need to match a Heinie rear for a G19?

I like the black rear, dot front set up. Nelson you've got it nailed.

PaulW, I'll take you up on that. I MAY be able to sneak home a few days early, maybe as early as next weekend. Keep your fingers crossed.

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