Good Experience: Glock Factory Services (Refinish)

[shotgunshooter3]

Late last year, I picked up a used Glock 47 slide on eBay to complement an LE trade-in Glock 45 (9mm) I bought as a backup USPSA gun. The slide had been “polished” by some bored yahoo, but it came with suppressor-height sights, all internals, and a Chinesium optic—so I figured it was still a decent buy.

My original plan was to Cerakote it, but local shops wanted north of $100. That’s when I remembered Glock offers a full suite of factory services that aren’t exactly well advertised. I reached out to Glock customer service, and after a little back-and-forth they said they’d take a shot at refinishing the slide. The caveat: no guarantee of results. If it met their standards, the cost would be $75. Sold. I boxed it up and sent it their way.

About a month later, I got a call from a Glock rep: “We can’t do the Gen 5 finish, but we’re pretty confident the Gen 1–4 finish will take. If it doesn’t work, there’s no charge.” I’m not especially picky, so I told them to go for it.

The next day, they called again to say it took the finish perfectly and was ready to ship. A few days (and $75) later, the slide was back on my doorstep. They even reinstalled the non-OEM sights and optic (an Aimpoint ACRO clone). As a bonus, Glock replaced the extractor, striker, firing pin channel liner, and backplate.

All told, I’m very happy with the outcome—$75 and a month without the slide feels like a solid trade. No range report yet, but… it’s a Glock 9mm. I’ll be shocked if it gives me any trouble.

Long-term, the plan is to outfit the G45 frame with an Overwatch Precision trigger and a tungsten guide rod to more closely mirror the G34 I primarily run for USPSA. The optic will probably get replaced too, but we’ll see how it holds up.

BEFORE:

Glock 47 %22Polished%22.jpg (2.79 MiB) Viewed 682 times

AFTER:

Glock 47 Refinish.jpg (3.57 MiB) Viewed 682 times

[bullsi1911]

I never knew Glock had that service. I have a very early G22 (imported in the first month they were brought into the US) that is beat to absolute hell. Wonder what it would take to make it look new again?

[shotgunshooter3]

I never knew Glock had that service. I have a very early G22 (imported in the first month they were brought into the US) that is beat to absolute hell. Wonder what it would take to make it look new again?

Give them a shout. In my experience they were very responsive, though it did take them a few weeks with the gun (albeit that was over the holidays):

https://us.glock.com/en/contact-us

Side note, now I want a Glock hat like on their banner photo on that page.

[GrapeApe]

Looks good

[Zee]

Cool!

[Wambli Ska]

Not bad! A lot less ugly

[jkp]

They have world class customer service. I had a couple that weren't running well and drove to their HQ near ATL during Covid. They sent an armorer to my vehicle in parking lot, took guns inside for a bit, and came back all fixed.

IMG_1761.jpeg (2.38 MiB) Viewed 622 times

[Bigslug]

Responding to OP and JKP:

Very cool for the both of ya.

One of the many things I like about the platform is that they've got both interchangeability and production cost down to where if one comes in for service, WHY NOT completely re-gut it with new parts? And the ten-minute-turnaround aspect from problematic gun to gun working flawlessly.

I like working on old guns - the tuning and the tweaking and the craftsmanship - but when it comes to them being a functioning tool (especially in quantity), give the the Glock aspects every time.

[shotgunshooter3]

Responding to OP and JKP:

Very cool for the both of ya.

One of the many things I like about the platform is that they've got both interchangeability and production cost down to where if one comes in for service, WHY NOT completely re-gut it with new parts? And the ten-minute-turnaround aspect from problematic gun to gun working flawlessly.

I like working on old guns - the tuning and the tweaking and the craftsmanship - but when it comes to them being a functioning tool (especially in quantity), give the the Glock aspects every time.

I bet as a sum of its parts, a Glock MIGHT cost $100 to make. More power to them, and no complaints from me for them basically rebuilding my slide.

One reason I stick with the Glocks for my USPSA pursuits, besides having a pile of mags and holsters, is they're so easy to work on that a 10 year old could detail strip them. Additionally, since they are easy to work on, it's easy to play with things like weighted guide rods and spring weights, and go back to stock if needed. Add in how accurate the Gen 5+ barrels are, and the gun is ubiquitous for a reason.

The ergos aren't the best, but, if you can physically hold the gun and reach the trigger that can be overcome. Initial reports are that the Gen 6 is WAY better, but for now I'm good with my stable of Gen 4's and 5's.

I've tried to talk myself into switching platforms a few times (shiny new toy syndrome), but I've never walked away from a match feeling held back by the gun. At this point if I were to switch, I would probably switch divisions and start playing with 2011s.

[Gene L]

Glock is a very reputable company with many services for their customers. I can remember, back in the day when they changed the profile of law enforcement and the gun owning public. When I was still at work, we did a program for women in defensive shooting. They brought their own handguns, and some brought revolvers. My instructors who were 30-something deputies had matured with slide guns to the point they didn't know the handling procedure of reloading a revolver. Glock kinda made the revolver disappear.

[Wambli Ska]

Responding to OP and JKP:

Very cool for the both of ya.

One of the many things I like about the platform is that they've got both interchangeability and production cost down to where if one comes in for service, WHY NOT completely re-gut it with new parts? And the ten-minute-turnaround aspect from problematic gun to gun working flawlessly.

I like working on old guns - the tuning and the tweaking and the craftsmanship - but when it comes to them being a functioning tool (especially in quantity), give the the Glock aspects every time.

I bet as a sum of its parts, a Glock MIGHT cost $100 to make. More power to them, and no complaints from me for them basically rebuilding my slide.

One reason I stick with the Glocks for my USPSA pursuits, besides having a pile of mags and holsters, is they're so easy to work on that a 10 year old could detail strip them. Additionally, since they are easy to work on, it's easy to play with things like weighted guide rods and spring weights, and go back to stock if needed. Add in how accurate the Gen 5+ barrels are, and the gun is ubiquitous for a reason.

The ergos aren't the best, but, if you can physically hold the gun and reach the trigger that can be overcome. Initial reports are that the Gen 6 is WAY better, but for now I'm good with my stable of Gen 4's and 5's.

I've tried to talk myself into switching platforms a few times (shiny new toy syndrome), but I've never walked away from a match feeling held back by the gun. At this point if I were to switch, I would probably switch divisions and start playing with 2011s.

At the volumes they work I doubt there is $50 worth of materials in the gun. Probably most of the price of the gun is manufacturing (machines, maintenance, tooling and personnel), logistics, distribution, marketing and sales costs.

[CPJ 2.0]

Responding to OP and JKP:

Very cool for the both of ya.

One of the many things I like about the platform is that they've got both interchangeability and production cost down to where if one comes in for service, WHY NOT completely re-gut it with new parts? And the ten-minute-turnaround aspect from problematic gun to gun working flawlessly.

I like working on old guns - the tuning and the tweaking and the craftsmanship - but when it comes to them being a functioning tool (especially in quantity), give the the Glock aspects every time.

I bet as a sum of its parts, a Glock MIGHT cost $100 to make. More power to them, and no complaints from me for them basically rebuilding my slide.

One reason I stick with the Glocks for my USPSA pursuits, besides having a pile of mags and holsters, is they're so easy to work on that a 10 year old could detail strip them. Additionally, since they are easy to work on, it's easy to play with things like weighted guide rods and spring weights, and go back to stock if needed. Add in how accurate the Gen 5+ barrels are, and the gun is ubiquitous for a reason.

The ergos aren't the best, but, if you can physically hold the gun and reach the trigger that can be overcome. Initial reports are that the Gen 6 is WAY better, but for now I'm good with my stable of Gen 4's and 5's.

I've tried to talk myself into switching platforms a few times (shiny new toy syndrome), but I've never walked away from a match feeling held back by the gun. At this point if I were to switch, I would probably switch divisions and start playing with 2011s.

At the volumes they work I doubt there is $50 worth of materials in the gun. Probably most of the price of the gun is manufacturing (machines, maintenance, tooling and personnel), logistics, distribution, marketing and sales costs.

I doubt there’s half that in materials.
There’s some steel that any jackass can buy. It’s not the steel they use,(because it’s not advertised) but is comparable for discussions sake. And that’s a random jackass price. Not the truckload quantity pricing they get.

It’s the metric buttload of $150k+ machines, coolant, personnel, utility bills, etc that you mentioned. And while the frames likely cost a few bucks worth of plastic, the molds and machines add up to the price of a new house very quick. Molds get into the tens of thousands easily to have made. I’m assuming they make their own, but even the material cost for molds is insane.

[Bigslug]

It’s the metric buttload of $150k+ machines, coolant, personnel, utility bills, etc that you mentioned. And while the frames likely cost a few bucks worth of plastic, the molds and machines add up to the price of a new house very quick. Molds get into the tens of thousands easily to have made. I’m assuming they make their own, but even the material cost for molds is insane.

^^^ THIS!

Let's talk for a minute about a job I DO NOT want. . .

Safariland is the dominating industry standard for LE duty holsters. With their various retention gizmos, they're a pretty intricate and complex piece of gear.

Like you say, each holster mold can run into five figures. . .they need right and left hand versions. . .they need to make internal widgets that may or may not be generally interchangeable with the rest of the line. . .they have to keep up with industry changes for every G.D. flavor-of-the-month handgun that every starry-eyed 20-something cop thinks is magically going to fix his crappy shooting. . .they have to figure out how many total machines to have dedicate to each mold . . .how long each production run is going to be. . .factor in down time for re-tooling a machine to do a run of a different model holster.

Glock's recent discontinuing of a lot of models undoubtedly has much to do with streamlining this kind of crap. Up through Gen 4, trigger bars and locking blocks were specific to the 19/23 and 17/22 platforms. They kept making Gen 3's only to keep "grandfathered" guns on the California "safe handgun" roster. And so on. To the degree that they can, they seem to be working hard at trying to have one part number that works across the line. That's really commendable. Yes, they need to make a pickup truck, an SUV, and a commuter car, but if they can all use the same seats, mirrors, and lug nuts, then roll with that program! Makes their job easier to produce the stuff; makes my job easier to keep it running.

[CPJ 2.0]

I service a couple of injection molding places. One makes
shotgun wads. Make plastic pellets melty, squirt them in a two piece mold, put em in a box and ship them. Pretty neat to watch, for a few minutes. Then it’s pretty repetitive. Still cool to see a butt load of wads dump out every few seconds though. They fill up a roughly 4’ cube sized box pretty quickly. The answer to how many wads fit in that box is….a lot.
I’ve seen shotgun wads, random plastic shapes, milk crates, trash cans, shipping pallets, etc being squirted from melty plastic. I really need to ask for some scrap pellets, they make great shooting bag filler.

[PFD45]

I can only imagine what Linefinder would have to add to this.

As I recall, he had some stories about injection molding. . .