Tag: Polymer80

Categories
Handguns

You Asked, They Delivered: The PF940CL 80% Pistol Frame

Polymer80 Glock Frame

Polymer80 announced a new Glock-compatible 80% pistol frame called the PF940CL. This new user-completed frame combines a full-size slide and barrel with the company’s short grip. The result is a gun with a longer sight radius and increased velocity with the improved concealability of a compact handgun.

Table Of Contents
  1. The Basics
  2. When Can I Get One?
  3. What's Included?
  4. Whoa – Did Someone Say Ghost Gun?
  5. My Thoughts

(Ed. note: The above photo is of the PF940CL and is from Polymer80. The other photos are of me building and shooting a handgun made with a prior generation Polymer80 frame.)

The Basics

The new Polymer80 PF940CL is a non-firearm part that can be finished by the end user to make a functioning handgun. It is fully compatible with “3 pin” Glock parts.

Polymer80 PF940CL

When completed, the gun will safely shoot 9mm, .40 S&W or .357 SIG depending on the slide and barrel assembly you install. Slide assemblies for the G17, G17L, G22, G24, G31, G34 and G35 pistols are all compatible with the frame. This means you can run a long slide on one of these frames if you like.

While the top of the frame is full sized, the grip portion is cut down to the compact length for easier concealment. Since Glock magazines are fully compatible within a pistol series, you simply use a Glock-compatible compact magazine in this gun. For example, you would use a Glock 19 magazine with a Glock 17 slide assembly.

[Don’t miss my review of the Glock 17.]

Some people might question the usefulness of this setup. However, a chopped grip with a full length barrel has been popular for decades.

For concealed carry, the extra grip length of the full size pistol increases the likelihood of printing. A shortened grip length reduces this possibility while still allowing you to carry a respectable amount of ammunition: 15 rounds in the 9mm.

When Can I Get One?

Polymer80 says it expects to begin shipping the new 80% frames around the beginning of October, 2018. I expect initial demand to be strong, so finding one at launch may be a bit difficult depending on how many Polymer80 can get into the pipeline. I expect plenty to be available in time for Christmas.

What’s Included?

Unlike some companies, Polymer80 is good at including almost everything you need to complete the receiver and turn it into a working gun.

Polymer80 Glock Frame

In the kit, you will get an 80% frame plus the company’s locking block and rear rail system. Also included are drill bits and an end mill. The drill bits and end mill are needed to make the necessary holes and remove material to make this a legitimate receiver.

Whoa – Did Someone Say Ghost Gun?

Wait…you mean that the Polymer80 PF940CL is one of them ghost guns?

Well, without getting into a detailed explanation of why it is completely legal to build a firearm for your own personal use, yes – this kit will (with your labor, tools and the missing Glock parts like a barrel and slide) allow you to build your own pistol.

Big Notable Caveat: It is completely legal to build your own gun under US federal law. Some states in the US might have their own laws that govern this. Likewise, readers outside of the United States are likely to run into issues.

For more on this topic, I’d suggest reading my article on the legality of building and owning your own gun without serial numbers.

My Thoughts

I’ve built a Polymer80 gun in the past, and I highly recommend that others try it out for themselves. I found the creation process was enjoyable. The final result was quite pleasing.

Unlike the pistol I built, this one is improved with rear metal rails. My pistol was an older design with the rear plastic rails. These required a great degree of hand fitting. The new system on the Polymer80 PF940CL is superior.

Polymer80 Glock pistol

The photo above shows me shooting my personally owned and made Glock compatible pistol that uses an earlier generation Polymer80 frame.

These kinds of kits run about $150, though I’ve occasionally seen them go on sale. By the time you add in the finishing parts, you are not saving much money (if any) on a factory Glock pistol.

However, if you enjoying building things, I found the price is more than worth it. Before it fell off of my fishing boat, it was a great shooting pistol.

Last Update: October 23, 2022

Disclosures

Polymer80 is not an advertiser nor have they “sponsored” this article.*

I have no business interest in any firearm manufacturer and accept no advertising from them. In fact, you will not find any pop-ups, pop-unders, auto-playing videos or other annoying foolishness on this site.

GunsHolstersAndGear.com is a for-profit website. I do not charge readers a dime to access the information I provide.

Some of the links on this page and site are affiliate links to companies like Amazon and Palmetto State Armory. These links take you to the products mentioned in the article. Should you decide to purchase something from one of those companies, I make a small commission.

The links do not change your purchase price. I do not get to see what any individual purchases.

*Sponsored articles are often nothing more than a direct payment for a site to publish an article about the product in question. Sometimes the article is even written by the company and not by the website publishing it.

There are quite a few sites that take the money and publish the content without ever disclosing this to their readers. Be careful where you invest your time.

Categories
Handguns

Polymer80 PF940SC: The New 80% SubCompact Glock Frame

Polymer80 PF940SC frame

Polymer80 PF940SC frame

It appears Polymer80 is set to release a new 80% Glock compatible pistol frame at the 2018 SHOT Show. Called the PF940SC, the new unfinished frame is designed to be compatible with the sub-compact sized Glock pistols like the G26 and G27.

Polymer80 offers a number of 80% receivers that allow you to complete various machining and assembly operations to turn them into working firearms. This allows the hobbyist shooter to literally build their own gun.

Before now, the company offered only two sizes of Glock compatible 80% frames – one for full sized guns and another for the compact (Glock 19 style) frame. The new PF940SC would allow shooters to build a complete set of Glock compatible pistols.

The 80% frames are not copies of the Glock frame. Rather, they are new designs that are compatible with standard Glock parts. As a builder, you can simply order OEM parts kits and build your own pistol with this frame once you complete the needed machining on the frame.

Building a Polymer80 Glock
With the original Polymer80 Glock compatible frame, you had to mill the slide rails. The PF940SC does not require milling the rails.

The new frame uses reinforced polymer for a combination of strength and modest weight. A jig is included along with the tooling needed to machine the frame. Polymer80 opted to use a Picatinny-type accessory rail to allow the use of a light or laser when completed.

A stainless steel locking block with front rails and a drop-in rear stainless steel rail module are used. This is similar to the design used on the existing compact frames, and a significant improvement over the original full size frames. The original full size frame uses polymer rear rails that have to be milled, filed and hand fitted. It works, but it does take a lot of time to perfect.

Shooting an 80% Glock pistol
I built a Glock compatible pistol (full size) with a Polymer80 frame. I look forward to trying out the new PF940SC also.

Polymer80 anticipates a retail price of $149.99 when they come to market. This is in line with the company’s other Glock compatible frames.

If you’ve never built your own firearm using an 80% lower or frame, you might be surprised at how easy it is. It requires time and tools, but can be done as a Saturday project. Many guns – from AR-style rifles to 1911 compatible pistols – are made by hobbyists, and are completely legal under federal law. Check out my article on the legalities of home made guns without serial numbers for more information. If you are ready to jump in and build your own, you can click here and buy one of the Polymer80 frames from Brownells. It will be shipped right to your door without any need for the ridiculous fees associated with gun transfers.

Disclosure

GunsHolstersAndGear.com is a for-profit website. I do not charge readers a dime to access the information I provide.

Some of the links on this page and site are affiliate links to companies like Amazon and Palmetto State Armory. These links take you to the products mentioned in the article. Should you decide to purchase something from one of those companies, I make a small commission.

The links do not change your purchase price. I do not get to see what any individual purchases.

Categories
Handguns

Full Conceal FC-G17: Bad Idea?

full conceal fc-g17

A recently formed Nevada company, Full Conceal, Inc., is showing a new prototype product online called the FC-G17 that might be one of the worst ideas for a handgun that I’ve seen in a long time.

The FC-G17 appears to be an 80% receiver kit with a chopped grip and rail attachment. The receiver appears to be a heavily modified version of the Polymer80 PF940 80% lower that allows you to build a Glock 17/22 clone. I recommend reading my G17 review here for additional information on these pistols.

Although information is limited, it appears that Full Conceal takes a PF940 frame and removes the trigger guard and most of the grip area. The company replaces the trigger guard with a new piece that bolts to the accessory rail of the frame. This new piece acts as both a trigger guard and magazine holder (see the images.)

I see several potential problems with this design. The first is a problem with its use in self-defense.

Full Conceal suggests that it is ok to carry this completed pistol without a holster on its website. I can only assume this means that the gun is not meant to be carried with a round in the chamber. If this is true, one would have to draw the gun, remove a magazine from the front of the gun, insert the magazine into what’s left of the magazine well and manipulate the slide before the pistol could be used for self-defense.

full conceal with magazine

Of course, having an open magazine well invites debris and other material into your firearm that could prevent the insertion of the magazine at the time of need, or otherwise render it inoperable.

Another potential problem that I see is that this kit contains an unfinished receiver. Most shooters will not want to machine the frame to make it into a firearm. I’ve completed a PF940 frame, and while it is not terribly difficult to do, it does require time, tools and additional parts. Most people don’t change the oil in their car; I wonder how many have a drill press with a cross vise to machine the rear rails on this?

Of course, there is also the question of reliability that comes with a novice machining a firearm. With the PF940 kits, you have to hand fit the slide and there is some degree of break in required. I just don’t know if this is a good idea for a self-defense firearm that is marketed for the general shooting public.

Like I’ve said in other posts, I like innovation in the gun industry. While I think this specific product is a poor idea for the vast majority of self-defense situations, I still like the idea of rethinking our concepts of what a concealed carry firearm should look like.

While I would not recommend this product in its current state, I hope the company continues in its “outside of the box” thinking and develops something that will really improve some aspect of the carrying of arms for defense.

What are your thoughts on the FC-G17? Am I off-base and this is a great idea? Is it just good idea that needs refining? Or is this a disaster waiting to happen?