have built my first LW and now for some good stuff, frame MODS
Plugs and rails glued in without any problem. I did not use a hand vise to hold the plugs like seen in some build video because I did not see the point. Once you insert plugs, they fit tight and flush and did not need help to hold them.
So on to the build
While I was waited for the glue to cure another 24 hours, I started some sanding and shaping.
Frame sands easy with plenty of stock for shaping.
Shot about 25 rounds to see how it functions, looking for what problem might show up and they did.
Snap caps run great but as of now this is a one-shot wonder. One shot and it stove pipes.
I think I know what the problem is. The dust spacer under the front of the slide seems to me to be binding the RAS causing it to not go far enough back to clearly load the next round. Next time I get to check this out I will remove the dust cove spacer and see how it runs without it.
Up-date coming
I am in the process of tracking down some bugs in this build. So far it shoots fine but only 3 rounds before I get a feeding jam. With using a g17 slide I have to use a dust cover insert to make up the difference in the g19 to g17 slide. I had trouble with this insert from the first and had to hand work it to get it to fit.
In post G-17 gen-4 slide with dust cover
I opened up the dust cover so that it wouldn't bind the RSA, this helped but I think there is still a problem in this spot. I am leaning to think I might have the wrong RSA for what I am trying to do with this build.
I have a G-17 gen4 slide with a G-17 gen5 barrel all on a LW G-19 frame. If you look at the post on how I had to get the dust over to work, notice that the G-17 gen5 RSA does not go the full length of the slide, it catches in the middle of the dust cover, so the true length of the RSA is more like a G-19 RSA. I don't have a G-19 gen5 RSA to test my theory, but I will get one to test soon.
I have to say!! This is a tight build; the slide is smooth without any I mean any wiggle in the slide.
Pin holes are dead on right, no trouble at all pushing in and out.
The trigger pulls suck big time at 7lbs. but I haven't worked on it at all yet. I should be able to help that, or I will replace it.
I have used Lone Wolf part kits in the past without any problems, but I am not a fan of their upper parts kits.
This is two builds in a row that LW safety plungers will not work with their gen4-5 trigger bar. They set too high for the slide to rack back (shark fin will not so over it). I changed it out for a rook (works fine) I tried a ZEF (works fine) but no-go on the LW.
I'll post up some more on this problem soon.
Here is what happens when you try to shape the Lone Wolf magwell.
You can see it doesn't take much to get into the slide catch that hold the magwell on.
I tried to get one out of my box of magwells to fit but all that I have are for P80s and these are to long to fit and are not close enough to make fit. SO here is what I am trying to do to change the looks for the awful Lone Wolf magwell.
I glued the magwell on with the same glue that I used to glue in the rails and rail tabs. You have to be careful when using epoxy on your frame because if you paint you have to cure it at least 200F and some epoxy will get soft and runny when heated up. The way I look at using Loctite 380 is if it can be used for rails it must be able to take some heat, we will see if this is true when I paint.
I used a lot of glue, letting it ooze out all over then wiping off excess, hoping I can sand it to shape the magwell.
Here is how it has turned out so far.
Left, is the new try; right, is the first try.
On the left, you can see how the glue is holding shape as I sand. This seems to work but I still would not take a lot of stock off. This is close to what I will go with for this build, and I still have to clean up the rear of the magwell. I'll post on this next.