Polymer80 PF940C Glock 19

After binge-watching dozens of build videos on YouTube, I was convinced to give the Polymer80 frame kit a go of my own. I decided to purchase the Compact (G19) version, due to my fondness for the OEM Glock 19. I waited for a sale on the PF940C™ Compact Frame kit from Brownells and snagged it at $119.99. I bought my complete OEM “upper” (slide, barrel, guide rod, etc) from a private sale on a forum for around $330 shipped.

There is honestly something very attractive about putting together your own firearm. Although with Polymer80, it feels more like putting together a custom computer due to its simplicity. The package you receive includes a sleek black “shoe box” with the components listed from the pamphlet in the image above.

I found that for the frame parts kits, you are most likely to happen upon one that includes the extended version of the slide stop. The one I bought from Midway USA included this extended slide stop. Since Polymer80 supplies you with a couple pins, you won’t be using the pins from the frame parts kit you receive (Unless you prefer to use polymer pins).

This isn’t a tutorial on how to build one, simply because there are far better guides out there such as this video series.

The build itself was pretty straightforward. Mill down the 4 tabs on the top of the frame, and then the 2 holes on both sides. The bit that was supplied didn’t fit into my router drill, so I decided to take the long road and file down the tabs. After that was done, I drilled the holes with a standard hand drill. You could use a drill press but it really isn’t necessary. The P80 is a polymer frame, after all, so all you need is a careful hand and some patience. After a couple hours of filing and sanding, I fitted the OEM parts into the frame and racked the slide. Everything turned out fine!

I’ll be honest I was slightly nervous that I had messed it up when drilling the rear pin hole on the pistol grip. The hole was sitting slightly too high up, causing the trigger housing mechanism to protrude above the holes by a couple millimeters. I remedied this by drilling carefully into the grip holes and trigger housing holes to help line them up. A few weeks later I tested the PF940C out on a private range, and thankfully, to my surprise, I wasn’t turned into Swiss cheese. The Polymer80 Glock had cycled perfectly and was not, in fact, a Glocknade. Some people have issues with these builds, such as stovepipes, failure to feed, failure to return to battery, etc. Mine was fine, and I owe all of that to the aforementioned things, patience and a steady hand (and brains).

Magpul GL Enhanced Magazine Well

In an attempt to add some flair to the gun, I decided to install the new Magpul® GL Enhanced Magazine Well. This was just an afterthought I decided to roll with for appearance and testing purposes. I didn’t expect this part to make me a better shooter. However, my first impression of Magpul’s enhanced mag-well was negative. I found there to be one major flaw with it. My Magpul Glock 19 magazines would not seat properly into the handgun with this adapter installed. WHAT!? I had to push very firmly on the bottom of the magazine to get it to lock in place. I found this to be very disappointing from the perspective of someone who would want to use the gun/magwell combo for competition.

Eventually, after repeated inserting/removal of the magazines, something loosened up enough to make quick and firm inserting of the magazine to work well enough without thinking about it. I never heard of a “break-in period” for such functions. But nonetheless, I’m glad it works well enough for fun at the range. Not sure if this was a PF940 specific problem or if mine was an outlier, but I thought it was important enough to mention at the least.

Completed Firearm – Polymer80 Glock 19 PF940C