Several months ago I got together with a friend for a fun shoot over at Oley Valley Fish and Game. I brought along my Smith & Wesson M&P and this buddy of mine brought along a Glock 35 and a Browning Hi-Power. At the time, he was in the process of having his normal competition gun overhauled with Tactical Cheetah graphics. In the interim, he brought out a couple of other guns that aren’t used as frequently.
When the fun shoot was over, I had the pleasure of putting some rounds down range with the Glock 35 and Browning Hi-Power. Both guns were fun to shoot but the Glock opened my eyes. It was the first Glock model that I had shot since getting more involved with shooting. The chunky frame and simplistic controls that once turned me away, were suddenly more appealing.
The one and only issue I had with the Glock 35 was the magazine release button. Unlike your typical Glock models, the 34 and 35 are competition ready guns with an extended magazine release. The typical magazine release, such as the one found on the Glock 17, is nearly flush with the frame. It doesn’t need to be depressed very far to drop the magazine, but my short thumbs had difficulty reaching it without changing my grip.
In an effort to eliminate this problem on my Glock 17 (which I purchased a bit later), I installed a Glock 34 Magazine Release button. The issue that I had after installing it, which was the exact same problem I had with the my friends Glock 35, was that the button ground into my hands. You see, the extended magazine release is just a longer version of the standard release. On the Glock 17, the magazine release sits nearly flush and its sharp edges didn’t bite into my support hand. The extended release, on the other hand, became painful after a couple of magazines. This just wound’t do on my new competition gun.
With a Dremel tool in hand, I began grinding down the sharp edges of my extended magazine release. Being plastic, the sanding drum on my Dremel made quick work of knocking off the sharp corners. I went back over the magazine release with a piece of 100 grit sand paper to clean it up a bit, but I may need to remove the button and go at it with finer sandpaper (to make it look cleaner).
In a matter of five minutes, I went from having a problematic extended magazine release to one that was far more comfortable. Once I finish smoothing out those sanding marks, I’ll run the gun back up to Custom Gun Finishes
to have it touched up.
5 thoughts on “Taking a Dremel to my Glock”
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Congratulations on coming over to the Dark Side, twice – first in buying a Glock, then in using a Dremel on it.
The first modification I made to my Glock 17 was to add a mag release from a Glock 21, except that I had a Glock factory armorer do it, so I could honestly tell my IDPA club that it was a factory installed part.
Only recently have I started taking the Dremeil to my Glocks. For instance, I found that relieving a bit of material from the front right edge of the underside of the trigger guard makes it a lot easier to get a really high grip on the gun, which enhances control for me.
I’m not sure that I’m brave enough to attack the actual slide with a Dremel but I’d love to see some pictures showing what you are removing.
I had a feeling you would be impressed with a Glock. They are the only handguns I own. Love them.
One option on gen 4 Glocks is to reverse the mag release so it is on the right side of the grip. Use the standard button and press it with the trigger finger of your strong hand (assuming you are right handed). This is better than shifting your grip to hit the mag release with your thumb.
I’ve been thinking about taking the dremel to my gen 5 17 frame. The top of the frame where my trigger finger rubs the frame seems to make my finger tip drag on the bottom of the trigger guard. Forcing my finger to be crooked on the trigger. Does anyone else have this problem?