-Notice: This is a review of a product that was bought with my own money, please read the original manufacturer for details on legality as I'm not responsible for any information that may or may not be misrepresented. Below are my personal opinions and should not be used as facts. Reader is responsible for his or her own actions on whatever direction(s) they may choose in life...
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Moving on....
The point of the Polymer80 Spectre (found here) or sometimes referred to the Polymer80 S150 v.1 which for all intensive purposes is a project for those of us who like to build and shoot our own firearms, its a polymer frame that fits Glock 17(L), 22, 24, 31, 34, and 35 parts. They were designed for use with the aforementioned models in 9x19, .40 S&W, and .357 Sig. However unlike the more modern versions of the Glock variants only utilize the 3 pin assemblies used in Glock generations 1, 2, and 3.
With the general information out of the way, I'm by no means a Glock owner nor a fanboy/hater of Polymer80 or Glock. I think Glocks are for duty and/or beginner shooters since they have a high value for a firearm, shoot well, and from some experience with multiple G19's and a .40 that I forget what model number among many it is, think they are a very dependable firearm. The manual of arms is simple and easy to teach and learn. I think Glock offers a wide range of products that will fit and suit the end users needs and expectations. Full disclosure, I don't get the ravings of Glock fanboys in the sense that they make rave reviews about a product that is just okay, it only fills a role of one thing that doesn't really do everything well. Triggers aren't that great, width isn't all that good either, and I of course must mention the angle of the grip which does take some time to get used to but overall isn't that much of a big deal.
No matter where you land on the subject of Glock, I think that a 80% receiver that isn't a 1911 is a great thing. Most 80% receivers are mainly military rifles and handguns are very limited. I remember running across some Sig castings awhile back and beyond that it's just many different 1911 frames that are usually casted aluminum or steel from a variety of manufacturers/sellers. I think the production of a frame that accepts Glock parts will open up the eyes of the 80% market to other handgun designs. I'm still hoping for a casting or molded receiver that accepts CZ parts... One can only hope...
To start off I like to do to go over the quality of the 80% receiver and other bits as I received it. Box and other goodies were as expected, comes with a steel rail insert, some screws, and all the drills and endmills. The frame came in the box in the red fixture and everything was satisfactory up until then. Upon closer inspection of the frame I found some minor mold issues.
Let me start off I'm by no means a expert in molding, however I've worked in the automotive world and have worked with molded parts before. All outside features are molded to perfection, the graining is good and the mold lines are great. Only mold issues are probably shooting it with too high of pressure because there is some flash shown on the picture below. Other molded non-issues are sink marks in the magwell where the round thumb indentations are. There are really no show stoppers in the end product, the flash can be removed with nips and filing and sinks are just cosmetic in a area that isn't seen.
Other than the mold I started handling it and can say that this is one fat frame and probably the angle of the grip doesn't help because it makes the pistol grip long from the beaver tail to the trigger. If you have large to extra large hands you'll probably have no problems. Those of us that have hobbit hands to medium size mitts might have issues with the slide stop release and actually holding on to the thing.
Note the above tacticool rail for your tactical whatever, it's very nice...
I placed a full sized CZ 75 pre-B next to it, hint hint CZ... Magwell has actually a nice flare to it and you can start to see the boxiness of the pistol grip. I can get my hands around a CZ and it fits nice but I can barely get my thumb fully around the Spectre. Shooting this, once it's fully registered in my home state, will require some effort in handling it during training.
A look at the internal portion of the frame, very well done.
I think the overall difficulty to get this to a working pistol is very minimal compared to other firearms such as a AR-15. I'm pretty sure with the right file one could finish this with a screwgun. Expertise level to finish this is actually pretty low too.
Apart from the rails, Polymer80 has completed a well thought out design in my opinion. I can't wait to start on this project and think that the end product will be a pleasant shooter. Again please follow all laws where you live, follow proper safety practices, and have fun!
Kind Regards,
-Van
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