¶
The Glock pistol is, all variants included, quite likely the most common pistol in the world. Designed as a service weapon, glock brand pistols are commonly carried by soldiers, police, and security forces.
| Glock | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Type | Pistol family |
| Caliber | multiple |
| Manufacturer | Glock Ges.m.b.H. |
| Website | 1 |
¶ Glock Design Notes
Main article:
Glock Variants and Frames
Glocks are organized by model (also called variants) and generation. Currently Glock is on Generation 5 but most 3d printed frames (and 80% frames) stick with Gen3 parts as those are the most common and interchangeable.
3D printed Glock frames also require special rails which are described below.
As a brief overview, a Glock 17 refers to a full sized Glock in 9mm. A G19 is a compact 9mm and a G26 is a sub-compact 9mm. G43 is a slimline 9mm. A beginner should stick with a Gen3 G17/19 in order to not get confused. Somebody wanting to branch out should look at the main article above which details what is interchangeable with what in greater detail.
¶ Parts Availability
Multiple companies specialize in aftermarket Glock parts and build kits. They can often be found specifically by searching for completion kits or 80% build kits.
Aftermarket 9mm G17/G19 kits are commonplace. G26 and G43 kits are slightly less common. OEM kits can be harder to find and other caliber variants often must be purchased piecemeal.
todo do we want a list of known sellers?
¶ Build Notes
- OEM glock parts tend to work flawlessly. Aftermarket parts can be questionable. If this is your first build save yourself some potential trouble and get OEM.
- Most build kits will not include a locking block. This $20-$30 part must be purchased separately.
- Glock lower parts kits can be used (almost) interchangeably across all Gen3 frames. The exceptions are:
- The locking block (frame specific, often omitted anyway due to the 80% market being larger)
- The ejector (rarely a kit will include multiple ejectors; more commonly only a 9mm is included)
- The slide lock leaf spring (most kits will include a 17 and 19, some will also include a 26 and/or gen5 spring)
- Glock upper parts kits, also known as slide completion kits, are universal. Barrels and barrel springs are not considered part of a slide completion kit.
¶ Rails
A true Glock frame has front and rear rails that are embedded into the injection molded frame. 3d printers can't pull off that trick so they usually use drop-in pinned rails instead.
Most 3d printed designs rely on rails which are designed to be hand machinable out of aluminum or steel. The most common rail system would be the one used by FMDA's DD frame but it is not the only option.
Now that 3d printed frames have grown in popularity a handful of companies have popped up which manufacture and sell rails:
- Spookyrails (now defunct)
- Riptide Rails [https://riptiderails.com/]
- Aves Rails [https://www.avesrails.com]
¶ Projects
There are many frames but the two most common lineages come from FMDA and PY2A. They are grouped by frame (crossovers are categorized by slide.
- FMDA DD Series (lots of variants)
- FMDA DD17.2 (standard)
- FMDA DD19.2 (compact)
- FMDA DD26.2 (sub-compact)
- FMDA DD43.1 (slimline)
- PY2A Series (also gen5 and crossovers)
¶ Accessories
There are numerous accessories on Thingiverse and many of them are actually halfway decent. Things such as printable sights, cover plates for RMR cuts, holsters, magazine extenders, extended mag releases, and just about any other alterable plastic part has been modeled there.
In addition there are the scene releases
- Mag extenders
- Menendez Magazine
- MGFA