Overview

Costs

Item: Police Trade-in Glock22 Gen 3
Price: $259.99 USD
Vendor: https://officerstore.com/LE-Trade-In-Glock-22-Gen-3-40-S-W-3-Magazines-Grade-2

Item: Ported Slide
Price: $159.95 USD
Vendor: https://aimsurplus.com/products/aimsurplus-w3-pvd-slide-for-glock-17-gen-3-black

Item: Ported Barrel
Price: $44.95 USD
Vendor: https://aimsurplus.com/products/aimsurplus-ported-dlc-barrel-for-glock-17-gen-1-4

Item: Glock Upper Parts Kit
Price: $119.99 USD
Vendor:https://www.glockstore.com/Glock-Complete-Upper-Parts-Kit

Item: Holosun 507Comp
Price: $314.49 USD
Vendor: https://www.eurooptic.com/Holosun-HS507COMP-Red-Competition-Reticle-System-Open-Reflex-Sight-w-Shake-Awake.aspx

Item: Apex Action Enhancement Kit (Trigger)
Price: $119.99 USD
Vendor:https://www.apextactical.com/apex-glock-action-enhancement-kit-1

Item: Big Mouth Aluminum Magwell with Brass Insert
Price: $89.95 USD
Vendor: https://www.glockstore.com/Big-Mouth-Aluminum-Magwell-w-Brass-Insert

Item: Metallic Pin & Extended Controls Kit
Price: $49.95 USD
Vendor: https://www.glockstore.com/Tear-Drop-Mag-Catch

Item: Tear Drop Extended Magazine Release
Price: $34.95 USD
Vendor: https://www.glockstore.com/Tear-Drop-Mag-Catch

Item: Pure Tungsten Guide Rod and Spring Kit
Price: $174.99 USD
Vendor: https://www.glockstore.com/Super-Heavy-Tungsten-Guide-Rod

Total: 1,369.20 USD

*Price is as of the writing of this article. Prices subject to change at vendor discretion.
**Vendor(s) identified are only listed to show where I sourced the item(s) from.

My Perspective

Glock 22

Well, we kind of already started out in the wrong direction here, didn’t we. Well, not really. These days, it is very hard to find just a lower for a Gen 3 Glock 17, at a decent price anyways. Fortunately, the Glock 17 shares the same frame as the Glock 22, and I was able to find this Glock 22 at a decent price. It had a few wear marks on it, but nothing that I wouldn’t put there myself after a few range sessions.

Ported Slide and Barrel

As the Glock 22 is chambered for 40S&W, I needed a new barrel. I had wanted a ported barrel anyways, so that wasn’t an issue. With an ported barrel, you also need a ported slide. I already knew that I would need a new slide since the Gen 3 Glock 17s are not optics cut. As it is cut for the porting as well as having lightning cuts on the side of the slide, this was going to be lighter in the front than a factory barrel and slide. We can fix that.

The slide did come stripped, so I had to build it out with a parts kit from GlockStore. The kit had everything I needed from sights to springs. There were plenty of videos on the internet to figure out how everything went together.

Full Tungsten Guide Rod and Spring Kit

I already had the guide rod and spring kit, and this is what really started this journey. When ordering the kit, you have options to select a specific spring weight or a full spring kit. If you select the full spring kit, it is only available uncaptured. More on this soon. Each spring on their own, via GlockStore is $9.95. The full spring kit, containing 6 springs ranging from 11lb to 22lb. Cost wise, this options adds just about the same cost as buying each spring individually. The full spring kit will net you about a $5 savings over buying all the springs individually, but if you know what weight you want and don’t need spares, go with what you know.

When choosing options, you will see “Captured” and “Uncaptured” options. This really indicates if the spring can easily be removed from the guide rod, or if there is an endcap that keeps the spring compressed on the rod. But, with ease of changing springs, also comes its offset, making it more… interesting to install. Uncaptured, you really need to pay attention and, honestly struggle, more. But, that struggle makes to extremely customizable to the load you are shooting and the performance you are looking to achieve. Going with the full spring kit, you can only select “Uncaptured”.

The Full Tungsten Guide Rod is advertised as 5 times heavier than the factory plastic guide rod, and it is noticeable. This alone reduces muzzle rise, but by itself it does cause increased muzzle dip after the shot. So, time to add some weight to the back.

Holosun 507Comp

First, I am a huge fan of Holosun optics. They work and they come at a great price, with a great warranty. The 507Comp is a larger optic. It is not enclosed, which is becoming more popular, but it does have a very large sight window. This is not an optic designed for concealed carry. This is very much intended for competition use. Featuring a wide array of reticles that you can choose from on the fly, this is one of the best competition optics currently available, in my opinion.

Trigger

Most any Glock owner will tell you that Glock triggers are not the best. They are mushy, have lots of pre and post travel, and are not crisp. Unless it is for duty/carry use, I always replace my Glock triggers. My first attempt with this build, was to use a Timney Alpha Competition trigger. It did not work. After install, the trigger would pull but it would not engage and drop the firing pin. After several attempts to adjust and a call to Timney, they ended up taking it back. Instead, I went with the Apex. I have used Apex triggers in the past and they significantly improve the feel of a Glock trigger. And the best part, it installed and worked on the first try. I will give Timney a try again in the future, as their customer service was great, but it just wasn’t happy in this build.

Big Mouth Aluminum Magwell with Brass Insert

This was kind of a win-win for me. Adding a magwell for faster reloads, while adding more weight to the back/bottom of the gun to help reduce muzzle dip after shots. The magwell is very large and perfect for competition use, in my opinion. That large size does absolutely negate it from a viable concealed carry magwell, but that was not the intention here.

Installation couldn’t be easier. Drop brass weight in grip and screw it in. Put magwell on (over front of grip first) and screw in to brass weight. Done. It really was that simple.

The fit was snug, and that is a good thing. Once screwed in, there is no noticeable movement of the magwell, even when squeezing hard with an intentionally low, bad grip. On top of that, because the brass plug is captured via a screw, there is no noise from it flopping around in there.

Another added benefit, I don’t need to buy mag extensions just to prevent larger magazines from looking stupid. Standard Glock 17, 17 round magazines fit flush to the bottom of the magwell, but make it very difficult to get it out if there is an issue where it gets lodged in there some how. The magwell leaves plenty of space for the frames of magazine extensions but I found that standard 21 round Glock magazines work perfectly fine. They stick out just enough to get a good finger grip to pull out, but don’t stick out so far that they look dumb.

This upgrade added 3oz of weight to the rear/bottom of the gun.

Control Manipulation Enhancements

With the intention of reviewing this setup for competition use, I also knew I would need to add features to enhance the manipulation of controls, namely the slide and magazine releases. These two options were easy to install with basic tools like punches, a mallet, a small screwdriver, and an armorer’s block. The magazine release was the hardest part, needing to fit the small screwdriver down the body to more the spring, but it really wasn’t bad. The installation of both kits took less than 15 minutes.

The Tear Drop Extended Magazine Release, in my book, is a must for fast reloads. It has increased surface area making it easier to find and easer to press if you are slightly off on your thumb positioning. The purpose of the Metallic Pin & Extended Controls Kit was primarily for the extended slide release, with the added bonus of stronger slide pins. Like the extended magazine release, the extended slide release makes it easier to find and easier to actuate in a rush.

Conclusion

The gun is extremely balanced and incredibly flat shooting. The overall weight with an empty magazine is 1.79 pounds (0.81kg), making it 2.4 ounces heavier than a factory Glock (1.55lbs or 0.71kg), assuming it had the same optic mounted. This is after the removal of a good amount of weight from the porting of the barrel and slide. The result is an already soft shooting pistol (it is only 9mm after all), shoot even softer and flatter, allowing for faster follow-up shots. I do want to try a non-ported barrel. That fireball that comes up is very distracting.

I am very happy with the way the pistol turned out, but would I do it again? Yes and no. Yes, if it was my first time. I learned a lot about the platform and have a great sense of accomplishment from it. However, in looking at the total cost, I could have bought a pretty nice pistol that had most of the features I wanted out of the box. Minus the optic, the total build was right at $1,000. For that, I could have gotten a steel frame pistol that weight more and didn’t need the porting. Then again, I now have one of the most prolific pistols in the world, pimped out and ready for competition, or end of world where loot drops will allow me to keep it running for a very long time. You can’t say that about many other pistols (outside of a 1911).

Check back soon to see how it holds up over time.