Hey all-

I have always been a "no aftermarket parts in my Glock" -type, with few exceptions. Overwatch Precision triggers, maybe, but nothing else.
If anyone has been watching the auctions, OEM Glock slides with a barrel are going for more than a complete gun due to the 80% phenomenon.
So, who makes a legitimate reliable alternative to OEM Glock? Is there a slide that you would trust when shooting for life, money, or meat? One to mount on a P80 frame.

Bruce

I have run enough rounds through a Brownells branded slide to trust it.

I've got one of the Brownells slides and it is well machined and has a nice, durable looking finish. The price is right on them, too.

Brownells makes a good slide with no fitment issues. Lone Wolf as well.

The Brownells ones look pretty attractive. I don't see anything from them in calibers other than 9mm.
Lone Wolf has been at it the longest. The different lines (Alpha Wolf?) are a bit confusing. Different levels of quality or what? I have a hankering for a 10mm Longslide. It seems that LW is the only option there.

Bruce

I have one Lone Wolf slide, a stainless one. It is "ok." Bead blasted on the outside but some minor machining marks on the underside. The bead blast would also best be described as "adequate." OEM parts all fit into the slide fine, I just was hoping for a little "nicer."

There is a small company here in NC that seems to be making a good product. ROCK SLIDE USA Lots of options for cutouts and finishes. You can buy a bare slide or get a complete upper. Prices seem to be in line with what's out there. Not the fastest shipping, but when the product does arrive, it is pretty solid.

I have seen the Rock Slide name out there but didn't know anything about it.

Bruce

I've got a Gen5 G17 frame that I've been mulling over what slide to get for it. Plain jane aftermarket slides are all but impossible to find, and I'm rather OCD when it comes to using a non-numbers matching factory slide and/or barrel, though I'm on a couple of waiting lists for just such a slide if one should show up. Even with the contorted, mutilated, tarted up Gucci Gen5 slides, there are only two or three brands that seem to show up everywhere. I'm not adverse to using aftermarket parts by any means, since I've had excellent results in the past augmenting my mostly factory Glocks that I rely upon. But in the end and in spirit, it's a damn GLOCK and I strongly prefer that any build that I do maintain the tried and true KISS principle, the foundation that makes Glocks what they are. Designer slides and titanium-coated fluted barrels are just too...wrong, at least in my mind.

But it's been a lot harder and more painful to follow through on that ethos than I ever imagined it would be. Gen5 support is nothing like it is for the Gen3 Glock format.

I've got a slide from Gabe Suarez's outfit.

https://suarezinternational.co...ot-slides-for-glock/

Around holiday times, he might offer slide/barrel/parts bundles for a good price. At least that's how I got mine.

I have run Zev, and a cheap and not cheap Swenson. All three have been flawless. All run on P80 frames. All run Faxon barrels and utilize mostly Glock upper parts sans an APEX extractor in the Zev slide.

I bought two assembled Zev butterfly slides for my G19 clone at a Black Friday sale.

Sold one on eBay, so the other one cost me about $40.

It runs great and I had enough left over for a box fluted barrel.

I have a custom lone wolf slide I ordered about 14 years ago. It has held up well. I carried it daily for about 3 years, and I was happy with the quality back then. Enough, that I've got 2 builds in the works and had planned on ordering through them. The cost has been my concern. They cost more than buying a whole firearm new from the manufacturer.

I replaced my G34 slide with a Suarez as it was the same price as a quality optics cut anyways. Great fit and finish. Hard to judge accuracy as I changed the barrel out as well but it's a shooter. All dimensions are proper and the rmr cut is proper which isn't true for all slides. The machining is very well done. I'm happy and will continue to buy from their shop. The quality is there for sure.