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| RMR, Vicker's Slide Racker, Suppressor Sights, Apex Trigger, Slug Plug not included with kit |
Quick Reference List:
Accessory Rail - Picatinny
Accessory Rail - Picatinny
Glock Holster Compatibility - Maybe, probably not
Slide Compatibility - Gen3, Gen4 with modificaiton
Slide Material - 416 Stainless Steel
Slide Finish - Black Nitride
Optics Cut - Yes, Trijicon RMR pattern
Optics Screw Size - 4-40, hex socket screws included
Optics Screw Size - 4-40, hex socket screws included
Lowered Ejection Port - Yes
Parts Kits OEM? - Frame, Yes; Slide, No
Barrel Length - 4.49 inches
Barrel Material - 416R Stainless
Barrel Finish - Black Nitride
Rifling Type - Conventional
Barrel Crown - Recessed
Besides the benefits of not having to go through a licensed dealer, there are a few advantages to using a Polymer80 frame. Although I don't find the hump at the bottom rear of the grip or finger grooves of a Glock frame to be horrible as some shooters do, I can't find a negative to not having them either.
The trigger guard is undercut. After my first 2-day pistol class, I got a blister on my middle finger from the Glock trigger guard (the dreaded Glock Knuckle), which made it quite painful just to hold a pistol for a couple weeks. If you look closely at the photo of the Glock frame below, you will see that it's now undercut for that exact reason.
The Polymer80 frames also have a very aggressive grip texture. You might find the texture a bit too agressive, but that's easily fixed with sandpaper. The rail up front is true Picatinny-spec, not the Glock rail, which is a bit unique.
The Polymer80 frames are relieved around the magazine catch button. This gives the effect of an extended mag catch button, but without actually increasing the width.
Unfortunately, Polymer80 frames will not fit into most form-fit holsters made for Glock pistols. Holster shown in the photograph was made specifically to fit a Polymer80 V2 frame, but works just as well for the CL frame. Since buying that holster, I have gotten set up to make my own Kydex holsters, and have made a couple. I'm a hobbyist; you don't have to go that far if you don't want to.
I'm one of those people that face-palmed when the Glock 19X was announced. WTF do I need a short slide with a long grip for? To each their own, but a compact grip with full-size slide is what I wanted, and that's what the Polymer80 CL frame is. I wear a man's large glove, and although the grip feels a bit small to hold, I can get all my fingers on it and I don't notice the size of the grip at all when I'm actually shooting.
The trigger guard is undercut. After my first 2-day pistol class, I got a blister on my middle finger from the Glock trigger guard (the dreaded Glock Knuckle), which made it quite painful just to hold a pistol for a couple weeks. If you look closely at the photo of the Glock frame below, you will see that it's now undercut for that exact reason.
The Polymer80 frames also have a very aggressive grip texture. You might find the texture a bit too agressive, but that's easily fixed with sandpaper. The rail up front is true Picatinny-spec, not the Glock rail, which is a bit unique.
The Polymer80 frames are relieved around the magazine catch button. This gives the effect of an extended mag catch button, but without actually increasing the width.
Unfortunately, Polymer80 frames will not fit into most form-fit holsters made for Glock pistols. Holster shown in the photograph was made specifically to fit a Polymer80 V2 frame, but works just as well for the CL frame. Since buying that holster, I have gotten set up to make my own Kydex holsters, and have made a couple. I'm a hobbyist; you don't have to go that far if you don't want to.
I'm one of those people that face-palmed when the Glock 19X was announced. WTF do I need a short slide with a long grip for? To each their own, but a compact grip with full-size slide is what I wanted, and that's what the Polymer80 CL frame is. I wear a man's large glove, and although the grip feels a bit small to hold, I can get all my fingers on it and I don't notice the size of the grip at all when I'm actually shooting.
I was an early-adopter of the CL frame, and not surprisingly, I did encounter a problem. With the black CL frame that I ordered around Black Friday 2018, holding the trigger back after firing would not allow the slide to return to battery. Polymer80 sent me a new locking block which fixed the problem. The blue titanium CL frame that came from Rockey Brass with the kit that I ordered a year later around Labor Day worked properly the first time that I took it out, without issue.
I also found that some magazines would not drop free from the early black frame. When the Polymer80 PF940C (Compact) frames were new, I ordered a grey one from Brownells, and I had the same problem with that one. The Brownells frame got sent back before I cut anything. I took some magazines to a gun show, and found a vendor that would let me try magazines in one of their compact frames for sale - same deal; some mags would drop free, but some wouldn't. I wrapped some plastic bags over a magazine, and stuffed it into the black CL frame that I had warmed up with a heat gun. Taa Daa!! All my Glock magazines now drop free.
The blue titanium CL frame from Rockey Brass didn't need to be stretched. All my magazines dropped free right from the start.
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| Rockey Brass Blue Titanium Frame Build Kit (Top), Older Black Polymer80 Frame With Glock 17 Slide (Bottom) |
I also found that some magazines would not drop free from the early black frame. When the Polymer80 PF940C (Compact) frames were new, I ordered a grey one from Brownells, and I had the same problem with that one. The Brownells frame got sent back before I cut anything. I took some magazines to a gun show, and found a vendor that would let me try magazines in one of their compact frames for sale - same deal; some mags would drop free, but some wouldn't. I wrapped some plastic bags over a magazine, and stuffed it into the black CL frame that I had warmed up with a heat gun. Taa Daa!! All my Glock magazines now drop free.
The blue titanium CL frame from Rockey Brass didn't need to be stretched. All my magazines dropped free right from the start.
Why wasn't I happy with the standard Glock 19 type frame and slide? My Gen3 Glock 19 is picky about ammo. NATO-spec (hotter than +P) and defense ammo cycles the 19 just fine, but a lot of your average off-the-shelf 115gr FMJ ammo is prone to short-stoking and stovepipes. My Glock 17s are reliable with almost anything you can find off the shelf, although there may potentially be some specialty loads that won't.
The CL frame is a bit of a 2nd generation frame for Polymer80. It uses a coil spring for the slide lock, rather than the leaf spring typical of Gen1 through 4 Glocks. This is a change that Glock also did, beginning with the 42.
Between the two CL frames, I've fired 1983 rounds, split between a Glock Gen3 17 slide, a Lone Wolf AlphaWolf 17 RMR-cut slide, and the Rockey Precision 17 slide.
It's not something that I have messed with (yet?), but a couple Polymer80 hobbyists have modified the CL frames to accept Gen4 slides. Previously, this was a problem with Polymer80 frames, because cutting the frame to work with Gen4 or 5 slides required removing so much material that they broke at the dustcover rail slots. With Gen4 slides often being cheaper than Gen3 slides, this could be a significant benefit, if you are willing to permanently modify your frame. Glock never offered a Gen3 M.O.S. (Modular Optic) slide option, so this could be a desireable mod for certain situations.
Slide
I ordered my build kit with the black radiused Glock 17-size slide. Slide appears to be exactly the same as the Wuelf slides on ebay. Both Rockey Precision and Wuelf offer either radiused or chamfered slides. Rockey Brass says they are American made with American 416R stainless billet steel.
The ejection port is enlarged, but only slightly (see photo above with Glock 17 slide and Rockey Precision slide). Cocking serrations are a bit shallow. Otherwise, the machining looks decent, without much in the way of tool marks, actually better than some of the Brownells slides. Finish is semi-gloss Nitride, and looks pretty perfect to me (Wuelf slides have a Cerakote finish).
The ejection port is enlarged, but only slightly (see photo above with Glock 17 slide and Rockey Precision slide). Cocking serrations are a bit shallow. Otherwise, the machining looks decent, without much in the way of tool marks, actually better than some of the Brownells slides. Finish is semi-gloss Nitride, and looks pretty perfect to me (Wuelf slides have a Cerakote finish).
Slide has an RMR cut with raised bosses around the screw holes. The cover plate was included in the kit along with 2 each of 2 lengths of screws. My Trijicon RMR fits quite snugly into the niche cut for it.
Barrel
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| Rockey Precision 17 Barrel After 2316 Rounds |
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| Rockey Precision 17 Barrel Hood After 2316 Rounds |
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| Chamber Support of Rockey Precision 17 Barrel is good |
I've gotten into the habit of checking ammo in new barrels before heading to the range. Like my CZ-75B, a lot of my reloads would not plunk into the chamber. Bullets were hitting the rifling and getting stuck. I tried some factory 115gr ball ammo, and I still had some of those stick in the rifling.
I've had a .38Super/9mm throat/leade reamer since 2008 or so. I used it to cut the KKM threaded barrel for one of my Glock 17s. I cut the leade of the Rockey Brass barrel just a little bit, and was able to plunk the 115gr ball loads and some reloads with XTreme plated 147gr bullets. That was good enough to get the barrel out to the range for live-fire testing. Initial results were decent.
I let Rockey Brass know about the barrel, and really expected to get a "you messed with it, so now it's your problem," response, but they apologized for the out of spec barrel, and said to let them know if there were any other problems with the barrel. This is how customer service should be done, folks!
The XTreme bullets shot well from the Rockey Precision barrel. I never could get these bullets to group from Glock or Rock Island barrels. From that, I would suspect that if I slugged the barrel, I would find that the bore is in the tighter end of the .355 to .356" range.
With initial testing out of the way, I carefully finished cutting the leade, so that I could shoot just about everything that I have available.
The Rockey Precision barrel was 13 feet per second slower than a genuine Glock 17 OEM barrel, firing rounds from the same box of 124 grain ammo. I think that difference may be statistically insignificant.
Bore has conventional rifling, so it is safe to shoot cast lead bullets, but check your ammo to make sure it fits the chamber before shooting it through the barrel. Me personally, I don't bother with cast bullets anymore. Almost everything that I shoot is polymer coated, which can be used with polygonal-rifled barrels.
The barrel has a recessed crown, which is nice, but maybe not as trendy as a tapered cone crown. It is a pretty plain-vanilla barrel, in the standard Glock pattern, with no fluting, flashy plating, or cosmetic cuts.
The bore, initially, did not look that great. After a couple thousand rounds, 950 of which with jacketed bullets, it's now looking pretty nice. Finish wear on the outside of the barrel is pretty minimal, considering the round count.
Overall, I'm very pleased with the Rockey Precision barrel. It's nothing special to look at, but I have not experienced any problems that I could trace to the barrel, and accuracy and consistency with a variety of bullets has been very good overall, provided that the shooter was up to the task that day (Ahem!).
I've had a .38Super/9mm throat/leade reamer since 2008 or so. I used it to cut the KKM threaded barrel for one of my Glock 17s. I cut the leade of the Rockey Brass barrel just a little bit, and was able to plunk the 115gr ball loads and some reloads with XTreme plated 147gr bullets. That was good enough to get the barrel out to the range for live-fire testing. Initial results were decent.
I let Rockey Brass know about the barrel, and really expected to get a "you messed with it, so now it's your problem," response, but they apologized for the out of spec barrel, and said to let them know if there were any other problems with the barrel. This is how customer service should be done, folks!
The XTreme bullets shot well from the Rockey Precision barrel. I never could get these bullets to group from Glock or Rock Island barrels. From that, I would suspect that if I slugged the barrel, I would find that the bore is in the tighter end of the .355 to .356" range.
With initial testing out of the way, I carefully finished cutting the leade, so that I could shoot just about everything that I have available.
The Rockey Precision barrel was 13 feet per second slower than a genuine Glock 17 OEM barrel, firing rounds from the same box of 124 grain ammo. I think that difference may be statistically insignificant.
Bore has conventional rifling, so it is safe to shoot cast lead bullets, but check your ammo to make sure it fits the chamber before shooting it through the barrel. Me personally, I don't bother with cast bullets anymore. Almost everything that I shoot is polymer coated, which can be used with polygonal-rifled barrels.
The barrel has a recessed crown, which is nice, but maybe not as trendy as a tapered cone crown. It is a pretty plain-vanilla barrel, in the standard Glock pattern, with no fluting, flashy plating, or cosmetic cuts.
The bore, initially, did not look that great. After a couple thousand rounds, 950 of which with jacketed bullets, it's now looking pretty nice. Finish wear on the outside of the barrel is pretty minimal, considering the round count.
Overall, I'm very pleased with the Rockey Precision barrel. It's nothing special to look at, but I have not experienced any problems that I could trace to the barrel, and accuracy and consistency with a variety of bullets has been very good overall, provided that the shooter was up to the task that day (Ahem!).
Parts Kits
Lower parts kit included with the kit is Glock OEM. Nothing more to really say about it. I will note that I installed a Gen4 ejector, rather than the Gen3 ejector that came with the kit. The Gen3 ejectors are more prone to chucking brass at my head, which is not the end of the world, but is unpleasant and distracting. I have done this with a few Glock frames also. I swapped the Glock smooth trigger shoe for an Apex trigger after initial test firing.
Upper parts kit is "Rockey Precision Enhanced Glock Slide Parts Kit." Here is where things get "interesting." The recoil spring assembly in the kit appears to be Glock factory. The guide rod has the same number as any other Glock 17 polymer guide rod. All the other parts in the slide parts kit appear to be from some aftermarket supplier. The firing pin and firing pin safety plunger have a bronze coloring (Same as MidwayUSA Swenson brand?). With the exception of the recoil spring, the springs in the slide parts kit do not appear to be either Wolff or Glock parts.
I have installed a couple channel liners in slides before. The channel liner in the Rockey Precision kit installed with much less effort than I have experienced before. I don't know if this is bad or just unusual.
With the slide fully assembled, depressing the firing pin safety in would not allow the firing pin to move freely in the slide like it should. I believe that this is due to the unknown-manufacture channel liner and/or spring cups. I wasn't feeling confident about the quality of the slide parts kit at this point, and I was really expecting to have failures to fire. I made sure to bring a pin punch to the range so that I could swap out the firing pin assembly in the event of light strikes.
The sights included in the kit may or may not be Glock parts. I'm not really sure, to be honest. I've never seen a Glock plastic front sight that's held on with a screw, usually they are staked in. Rear sight looks basically identical to one of the plastic take-off Glock sights I had in my parts box. At first, I opted to install a Trijicon rear sight, and Hi-Viz front fiber optic sight that I had left over in the parts box. I bought an RMR a while later, and then installed suppressor height sights.
I put the assembled Rockey Precision slide on a black Polymer80 CL frame that I had already finished with a Gen4 dot connector and polished trigger bar, and measured a trigger pull of around 6 pounds. This is about a pound and a half higher than it should be. After some dry firing and range session, it had settled down to about 4 pounds 10 ounces, which is about normal for this set up.
Live Fire
My fears of light strikes seem to have been unfounded. I initially could not release the slide with the slide stop lever, but it started to break in a bit after slingshotting it a few times. When using both standard and suppressor height sights, the pistol was and is shooting slightly low. This isn't so bad with the irons now being back-up sights, but it would bother me if I had just spent $125 on night sights with no elevation adjustment, and I wasn't using an optic.
There was a conveniently-timed Glock Operator course scheduled nearby, not long after buying the kit. I put the Rockey brass slide and barrel assembly on my now very well-used Glock 17 frame, and took it to the class. I fired 686 rounds of 115 grain FMJ Independence and Blazer Brass bulk-pack ammunition (I think they are both literally the exact same ammo, all with Blazer headstamp) during the class. I had 2 failure-to-feed stoppages with my #2 magazine (imagine a poop emoji here), which I had used in a previous class, and it had been dropped on concrete several dozen times, possibly stepped on, and then dropped in mud several times. With the #2 magazine set aside, there were no more failures. Those were the only two stoppages I have ever had with the Rockey Brass upper.
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| Rockey Precision Slide And Barrel Went With Me to Glock Operator Class, But On A Glock 17 Frame |
I tried challenging the build with a few different hollowpoint bullets, and a couple hundred rounds of 147 grain flatpoint bullets. Although some of the hollowpoint loads and the flatpoints were loaded hotter than the usual practice fodder, all fed so smoothly that you wouldn't notice anything unusual going on.
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| 124gr Xtreme Plated Roundnose, 124gr Acme Roundnose, 147gr Black Bullets Flatpoint, 125gr Zero JHP, 124gr Nosler JHP, and 124gr Gold Dot tested in Rockey Brass build kit pistol |
Total round count now sits at 2316 rounds, about equally spit between Glock and Polymer80 frames. I'm confident enough with it now that I carried the Polymer80 CL frame and Rockey Brass slide as my EDC until it got a bit too warm for a jacket.
I would buy another slide and barrel from Rockey Brass, but they have been out of stock every time that I've checked for several months now.
