Upgrading or repairing your firearm with custom Glock parts can give you a better shooting experience by tailoring a weapon to meet your needs. Glock pistols are a popular choice for shooting sports participants, law enforcement and military personnel, and as self-defense handguns due to their straightforward engineering and high-quality standards. The result is a firearm that is efficient, reliable, and easy to use for the average shooter, but some gun owners demand more. While aftermarket Glock modifications can create the custom gun you’ve always wanted, too many DIY gunsmiths miss the mark when building out their pistol.
Where Do They Go Wrong
No one sets out to make a mistake when installing custom Glock parts. They’re excited about what that new aftermarket slide or precision barrel can do for their gun or impatient to get to the range and put their new Glock modifications to the test with a few boxes of ammunition. If they’re lucky, a mistake just leads to inconvenient Glock jamming that ruins a day at the range but is easily fixed on the workbench at home. If they’re unlucky, they may end up spending good money trying to correct the issue or find that they’ve created a very expensive custom Glock paperweight. Here are the top mistakes to avoid when you’re swapping out parts on your Custom Glock pistol:
Not Having a Plan
If you don’t have a customization plan, you’re planning on spending too much money. Know and understand the custom Glock parts you want to use in your gun, the order you plan on installing them, and what successful results will look like when you hit the range to test them out. This plan should reach as far as you’re comfortably certain of toward your final build, but remember to be flexible. You may find that as parts are added, other upgrades are no longer needed.
Not Centering Your Plan on Your Shooting Needs
It doesn’t matter how much your shooting buddy loves the custom Glock they made if you don’t share the same shooting needs they do. Every gun owner is different, and that means unique comfort and aesthetic preferences, likely tactical needs, and opportunities for skill improvement. Make sure your plan is based on what will help you have a better shooting experience. Custom Glock parts aren’t the place to play follow the leader.
Not Having (or Following) a Budget
Beyond the reality that very few gun owners have unlimited funds to play with when it comes to their Glock modifications, following a budget helps you approach your build more methodically for better success. This includes choosing parts based on quality, avoiding over-customization all at once, and ensuring your plan is staying focused on your needs. It also leaves you more money for ammo and keeps you out of the doghouse with your partner or spouse as those credit card bills start to roll in.
Installing the Wrong Parts
Will a new high-performance optic improve your target acquisition and accuracy? It can definitely give you a lightning-fast sight picture, but if your barrel has been polished smooth for the last 10,000 rounds or so, your sight picture wasn’t the problem. Make sure you’re using custom Glock parts that directly lead to a specific result, and don’t forget to double-check that there isn’t another underlying issue to address first.
Using the Wrong Tools
Right tool. Right part. Right job. That’s how to make sure you aren’t damaging your custom Glock parts or the rest of the weapon. When working on your gun, look for precision tools meant for use on firearms to lower the risk of damaging the parts or marring your finish. Decent gunsmithing tool sets that provide the basic screwdrivers and pliers you need are relatively inexpensive and available at many shooting supply stores or gun shows.
Incorrect Installation
Read your instructions, watch your videos, and never force a custom Glock part into position. That’s a good way to waste a lot of money on a snapped component or unusable gun. Your Glock modifications are precision-engineered, manufactured, and quality-tested for compatibility with OEM specifications. Make sure you know how to customize your firearm properly because warping, bending, or otherwise damaging these parts could result in a potentially catastrophic failure.
Upgrading Too Much at a Time
If you limit yourself to one to two Glock modifications at a time, it’s easy to backtrack and find the culprit if your gun starts jamming or fails to fire. If you add a half dozen Glock custom parts and assemblies all at once, the difficulty in tracking down the issue can increase exponentially. Limiting your current customization plans lets you focus on the proper installation and testing of only a couple of pieces at a time.
Failing to Safety Check Your Work
Your next range visit will be the moment of truth, but your workbench is for making sure that truth doesn’t blow up in your hands. Check and double-check that your custom Glock parts are installed and seated correctly. With the weapon assembled but unloaded and made safe, verify the correct function of the slide, trigger, safety, and magazine release. Try out your gun with lt some dry-fire drills, looking, listening, and feeling for any indication that something may be off in the weapon’s action.
Not “Breaking In” Your Upgrade Slowly
You’ve done your safety checks, but that doesn’t mean it’s time to go full speed ahead at the range. Start slowly with single shots well-spaced apart. Again, use all your senses to decide if something seems off in your handgun or if the custom Glock parts seem to be doing exactly what the plan called for. If there is an issue, obey all range rules, unload, step away from the firing line, and work to diagnose or fix the issue.
Customize Your Glock the Right Way
When you need high-quality custom Glock parts, we have you covered with Glock modifications built for real-world gun owners. It’s time you had a custom gun to meet your shooting needs that doesn’t take aim at your bank account. Order your Glock parts from Patmos Arms today.