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Polymer 80% handgun build question


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How hard/reliable are these to make?

 

im an average joe without a milling machine or fancy tools. I’m an electrician. How hard is this and is it worth messing around with. 
 

ive talked myself out of this only due to me convincing myself that it won’t last/be reliable. 
 

what else do I need tool and parts wise?

Edited by Atlasguy321
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I am also curious.

 

there is another company that makes a pretty fool proof looking item for their

pistol lowers. 

 

I think this is the website

https://www.matrixprecisionparts.com

 

I have not ordered anything from  them and am not endorsing them nor are they paying me anything.

 

Just wondering...

 

miranda

Edited by Miranda
left out a very important 'not'
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I just built one a few weeks ago.  You have to drill the holes straight, need a drill press or something to keep the drill 90 degrees to the frame or you will fight the pins.  The rear rails don’t fit. I had to fit it to the frame, kinda a PIA.  The whole thing had to drop lower in the frame to align with the pin hole.   Had to piece out the lower parts kit, because no one had a kit in stock.  Only have about 200 rounds through so far, but no malfunctions yet.  Something is binding when I try to put the slide assembly on, not sure what it is yet, takes some wiggling and cussing to get it on, but once on, it’s fine.  I would build another  one.  Actually I have another one, for a rainy day.  Polymer 80 frames. 

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As far as I can tell just the rails.   It’s based on gen 3.  I used a gen 4 barrel ,trigger assembly, and all the slide parts had them laying around. Everything else was gen 3.  Used a Brownells branded slide.  

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just fyi if you're doing this to get a better grip angle and/or stippling, brownells (and perhaps others) sell "80%" fully finished & serialized frames.  actually cheaper than the true 80%s.

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From start to finish it took about 2 hours.  1.5 hours of that was hand filing and sanding the areas you have to remove.  It was fun, would do again. It's just something to do during the cold months.

 

I didn't use a drill press (I do have one) just a hand drill and a vice and then hand files.

 

They are on sale again on Brownells too, so that's nice.

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I have a friend who built two P320 80% kits on his home ShopSmith.  He builds cigar box guitars in his spare time so he’s accustomed to doing fine work, and the triggers in his are better than any off the shelf 320 I have ever shot- and considerably crisper than my GG kitted X-fives.

 

Another friend built a Glock Poly80 with just hand tools, he took his time, used good quality parts, and it’s really very good, at least as good as any Glock I’ve ever handled.

 

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if you have any mechanical skills at all, they are real easy. Here is a guy on the tube who has made a lot of videos on how to get a good build right from the start and what to look out for along the build, pretty rudimentary stuff but his techniques are sound. He has a play list of all his polymer 80 videos here. 

 

 

 

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I wonder what the total cost of a Polymer 80 pistol is by the time you've purchased all of the frame internals, slide, barrel, magazine(s, sights, etc. needed to make it a complete functioning pistol.

 

Except for the anonymity associated with not needing an FFL, I expect financially it's a bad deal compared to buying a new Glock.  

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I've built 2 of them. I do have a milling machine so it was quite easy. They recommend using a hand drill even if you have a drill press or mill for the holes. Using a dremel and file would be quite easy if you have any mechanical skills.

 

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9 hours ago, SteelCityShooter said:

I wonder what the total cost of a Polymer 80 pistol is by the time you've purchased all of the frame internals, slide, barrel, magazine(s, sights, etc. needed to make it a complete functioning pistol.

 

Except for the anonymity associated with not needing an FFL, I expect financially it's a bad deal compared to buying a new Glock.  

I built mine manly for something to do and I don't like glock grip as much. The first one I built I used mostly new parts and a slide blank that I machined. I had a lot more than a factory Glock but I have better parts than factory glock. It would have been about the same as buying a glock and adding upgrades. My second one I acquired parts over almost a year and made a few. I have less in it than a factory glock not counting optics. 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Kokeman
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I have started to see complete serialized factory guns recently online for around $500. All have been the full size version but that seemed fairly cheap. Maybe cheaper than building one? 

Edited by gator11
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  • 5 weeks later...

Everything I've seen makes the pistol seem easier than an AR 80% lower.

 

Seen a few in action, once the bugs are worked out they seem to work.

 

I did a Polymer80 AR lower for an AR.22 rimfire build, couldn't be happier with it. I had access to a mill so it made it much easier, but cats who've done aluminum lowers with routers say it's super simple.

 

I'd say depending on your aptitude and confidence, decide if you want a ghost gun and go forth. You aren't saving any money on the AR versions, and sometimes Glock lovers are in the marketplace for around $200.00ish. But it's pretty cool to say you built your lower from an 80% unit.

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I've done a 556 and a 762 80% lower for builds at home. If you mess it up it isn't that big of a dollar loss to have learned a lesson. And your second one will be better than your first one. I considered it as basically the fee for an independent study class on the guns I was building.

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