Polymer 80 Slide help

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  • bbaca

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    Ive had an agency arms syndicate 80% frame and lower parts kit sitting around for a year and finally decided to mill it. Took me the better part of last Sunday but i managed to get all the parts in, and have a zaffiri slide and barrel for it. I’m having a couple issues and wondering if there are any 80% gurus that can help me out here since the local shops wont touch it due to lack of serial number.

    My main issue is that the slide gets a little hung up as it goes on, then the ejector hits the back plate. I can’t see anything obvious that its binding up on or that is clearly wrong. I taped the jig tightly closed when I went to mill it, and put it in a drill press vise to drill, but did use a handheld cordless drill. Photos for reference.

    This is my first 80 build so I have no idea what I‘m doing. All my research turned up was that the locking block may be out of spec or I should swap the ejector. Unfortunately I can’t try and get replacement parts as I bought the frame private sale not direct from manufacturer. Any ideas?
     

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    Grits1/5

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    I’m not an expert, but I would guess that the issue is your locking block. The block may have been out of spec originally, or it might have gotten squeezed out of alignment when fitting into your 80% lower. I might try removing it and bending it slightly, then making sure the pocket is milled out enough to accept it without excessive forcing. But I’m not sure if it’s too late for that with your holes drilled already. Some careful dremeling might save it, but I know you don’t want to remove much material from the locking block for safety reasons..
     

    bbaca

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    Do you have access to an OEM Glock slide to try on it?
    Unfortunately I do not. But, I took out barrel and spring from the 19 slide, and tested it on a 17 P80 frame. Obviously they’re 2 different models, but it did not have any resistance and didn’t hit the ejector in the back. clearly not the most accurate test, but it definitely convinced me it is not a slide issue.
     

    bbaca

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    I’m not an expert, but I would guess that the issue is your locking block. The block may have been out of spec originally, or it might have gotten squeezed out of alignment when fitting into your 80% lower. I might try removing it and bending it slightly, then making sure the pocket is milled out enough to accept it without excessive forcing. But I’m not sure if it’s too late for that with your holes drilled already. Some careful dremeling might save it, but I know you don’t want to remove much material from the locking block for safety reasons..
    When you say bend it slightly, can you be more specific? I agree it is possibly a locking block issue, but am not sure exactly what you’re getting at.

    The actual channel it fits into is not a portion of the 80% that requires at home milling, so if that pocket is too narrow it would be a manufacturing tolerance issue.

    I don’t think it took much force to seat the locking block, but I may try that. One youtube video recommended using a diamond file on a Dremel and lightly going over the rails of the block, and due to the cerakote transfer I do believe it rubs there as well.
     

    Grits1/5

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    When you say bend it slightly, can you be more specific? I agree it is possibly a locking block issue, but am not sure exactly what you’re getting at.

    The actual channel it fits into is not a portion of the 80% that requires at home milling, so if that pocket is too narrow it would be a manufacturing tolerance issue.

    I don’t think it took much force to seat the locking block, but I may try that. One youtube video recommended using a diamond file on a Dremel and lightly going over the rails of the block, and due to the cerakote transfer I do believe it rubs there as well.
    Carefully filing and dremeling might be your solution, but it’s easy to remove too much, and once it’s removed, it’s too late lol.
    As to the locking block not being properly aligned, I think that’s probably the main cause.
    If it was me, I think I’d check the alignment of the locking block. If anything is out of spec, I thought it might have gotten pinched when going into the frame. I might try removing the locking block pins, then trying to install the slide, wiggling it on to see if it will go on with the block unpinned. If it does, then see if your holes still line up
     

    bbaca

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    Good news, emailed polymer 80 asking for advice and ensuring part numbers were correct if I wanted to order a new block. The guy surprised me and said it was their unrevised block, and he is going to send me their updated version. Gonna try that out when it gets here then update the thread accordingly
     

    SMeyer524

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    Years ago I did a few of these builds. It’s definitely the locking block. It was a known problem and they were able to send me a new one, I’d try contacting them.
     

    bbaca

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    Years ago I did a few of these builds. It’s definitely the locking block. It was a known problem and they were able to send me a new one, I’d try contacting them.
    Their customer service is insane. Emailed them just trying to get advice and they’ve already sent me a new one and given tracking number. Hoping this is the fix
     

    bbaca

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    got the new locking block on. Definitely was the cause of the issue. Slide goes on fine now. Getting a little bit of failure to feed, but I noticed that when unloaded the recoil spring seems to bind up, likely just didn’t get the channel down small enough. Didn’t wanna go too much. Ill try filing it down more and see if that works.
    E598D703-F339-4895-B06D-9625BF281608.jpeg
     

    Jdcujo

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    got the new locking block on. Definitely was the cause of the issue. Slide goes on fine now. Getting a little bit of failure to feed, but I noticed that when unloaded the recoil spring seems to bind up, likely just didn’t get the channel down small enough. Didn’t wanna go too much. Ill try filing it down more and see if that works. View attachment 169409
    The binding is from exactly what you think it is with that channel.
     
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