Glock's own supplied (not anymore, though) MOS plates have a reputation for being too thin and pliable. I've had great results from Tango Down/FCD, with CH coming in second.

 

The biggest thing is that the Glock plates rely solely on two tiny screws and a total of about 6 threads to hold the optic to the gun. If you look at something like the C&H plates, as an example, they are bridged in front of and behind the optic to hold it more firmly with metal to metal contact between the optic and the slide. Additionally, C&H uses a "T plate" to fasten the optic to the plate and separate screws to fasten the plate to the slide giving the whole thing a little more meat. That said, I haven't been impressed with the screws C&H has been providing. They are a bit soft and strip quite easily. But that is easily solved by using other choices.

 

The biggest thing is that the Glock plates rely solely on two tiny screws and a total of about 6 threads to hold the optic to the gun. If you look at something like the C&H plates, as an example, they are bridged in front of and behind the optic to hold it more firmly with metal to metal contact between the optic and the slide. Additionally, C&H uses a "T plate" to fasten the optic to the plate and separate screws to fasten the plate to the slide giving the whole thing a little more meat. That said, I haven't been impressed with the screws C&H has been providing. They are a bit soft and strip quite easily. But that is easily solved by using other choices.
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I had a huge problem with C&H screws. The supplied set broke when I applied the proper torque. They sent out two sets of replacements and they too sheared right off when the proper torque was supplied. The situation escalated to the point where the owner of C&H called me personally to determine if somehow I was over-torquing the screws. We discussed exactly what I had done and what had happened. He then personally pulled a few samples from his stock and to his dismay, those broke when he applied the slightest amount of torque. He investigated and found out that the entire batch of screws was never heat treated. He called me back and apologized profusely. The following week, I received a whole new C&H plate and a bunch of screws which he assured me had been properly heat treated. I installed the screws, torqued them down and have not had any issues since. A bit disappointed that this happened, but I was happy with the owner personally working with me to fix the problem.

 

Forward Controls plates are nitrided steel and provide recoil fences to add support to the optics. That’s worth it to me over MIM Glock plates. If OEM plates work for you, great.

 

Gun companies should eliminate these optic plates and just direct mill for optics.

 

Optic companies should get together and come up with a standard system.

 

I can't say, because I only choose the red dots that don't require a plate. That way they mount lower and there are fewer parts involved.

Not sure why everybody doesn't do that. Luckily, all of my dot guns fit the shield footprint, because my favorite sites are Shield RMSc and SMSc with 8 MOA dot.

 

I agree with the thinking that the best thing that could happen here is, they all go with a common footprint and eliminate the plates. Seems to be wishful thinking though.

I have a number of Glocks with the factory plates on them, and a couple of those guns have over 10K-15K on them with no issues.

I also have a couple of the Holosun SCS direct mount sights and they too have worked fine.

I have to wonder sometimes if theres a correlation between how the sights were installed and if failures/issues occurred. Seems like a lot of people dont know what a torque driver is, or think their hands are somehow rated.

If you arent installing them properly, all the fancy, high dollar aftermarket plates arent going to help. Just like most of the other Glock "improvement" parts.

Marketing, the bane of the gullible.

 

Its kinda of a mechanical aptitude test. If you fail, ya gotta blow a hundo as penalty for not getting it. Aftermarket plates remind of those $1,000 speaker cables....

 

Plates? We don't need no stinking plates!!

Direct mount or nothing for me. I'd NEVER run a plate. They need to go away.

 

Having had plate and direct mount varieties, I'm definitely inclined to purchase direct mounts in the future. As an added bonus, my direct mounting Holosun SCS and Vortex Defender CCW (I'm sure others also, but those are the two I have experience with), co-witness with the factory sights.

 

I think Mr. Mackey would say it best... "Plates suck, Mkay?!"

 

I totally agree with this discussion. I purchased a Glock 19 after market slide and I had to get a quality SwampFox RMR which perfectly mounted to slide directly.

 

Never had an issue with the OEM plates....the plastic sights are another story

 

I order two set of screw from here Battle Werx they seem to be better . Optic Mounting Screws

 

Those came up when I was researching my first personally owner RDS. (I shot plenty of other guy's bad set ups for a few years) This was before I discovered the SCS MOS direct mount.

I was also considering having a plate welded or somehow permed to a slide to remove at least one failure point. But you're still stuck with the piss poor thread depth/bite of the thin slide.

It's just not acceptable.

 

Surprised the European Union hasn't forced a standard like they did to Apple. The number of mounting options could be narrowed to three different types: Acro, RMSc, and picatinny. Think that would fit 99% of the applications. I would say RMR but it is a larger footprint and would be too large on the sub compact guns.

That's my official list. I've spoken so we will see if congress or the POTUS will act. It's really out of my hands now and may be too late for the Big Beautiful Bill but I'll make some calls.

 

Thanks to all, it provided info on the Glock plate suck issue for me.
I like that some after market slides have the RMR cut and don't need a plate.

 

Yeah, Glock slides are not better than what’s available in the aftermarket. In fact, I would say the aftermarket builds better slides in terms of finish, optics compatibility, and design. Glock makes a duty slide and that is it. There is a whole other world out there and the aftermarket duty slides are usually dirt cheap and come with a better choice for optics.

 

Early on, I tried the "cheap" aftermarket slide route to see if I really wanted to bother or not. Seems the $150 slide wasnt heat treated properly, and in short order, was deforming and having light strikes and failures to fire.

As with anything, you tend to get what you pay for, and when you go "cheap", you usually end up spending more in the long run.

If youre going to go with something aftermarket, Id pick one of the better known companies that has a good rep, and that normally doesnt deal in junk, and will back up what they sell. Its bad enough to get an inferior product, and then have to deal with some of the BS you get into with some of these smaller companies.

 

Early on, I tried the "cheap" aftermarket slide route to see if I really wanted to bother or not. Seems the $150 slide wasnt heat treated properly, and in short order, was deforming and having light strikes and failures to fire.

As with anything, you tend to get what you pay for, and when you go "cheap", you usually end up spending more in the long run.

If youre going to go with something aftermarket, Id pick one of the better known companies that has a good rep, and that normally doesnt deal in junk, and will back up what they sell. Its bad enough to get an inferior product, and then have to deal with some of the BS you get into with some of these smaller companies.

That’s not a slide issue. It’s a firing pin or firing pin spring assembly that causes that particular issue. The slide was probably fine but the cheap internals were not.

Word to the wise. Do not buy a cheap complete slide or frame as they will probably come with MIM parts and the parts are crap and need to be replaced and at a minimum it will need a good firing pin.

The get what you pay for is a marketing ploy to get you to spend more money and is not a tried and true rule. Yes, if you buy crap parts you will get crap results but if you know how to shop you can buy fantastic parts for not much money. I use a mix of Glock parts and the aftermarket for the products I use and sell. Not all Glock parts are the best but they are, in general, good. Glock makes the best trigger housings, trigger bars, and frames. If you don’t know what or where to buy internal parts, go with Glock as they are typically good. Glock parts for sale by vendors are typically marked up by 50-100% over cost. That’s not a get what you pay for that’s just a hefty profit.

Even some of those well known brands have switched to MIM parts for their Gen 5 and subcompact models. I’m not a fan of MIM gun parts as the gun industry is not making parts as good as the aerospace industries and, in my opinion and experience, are going to fail more quickly than billet. The reason gun manufacturers use MIM is for cost savings, period.

 

C&H plates rock. Pricey but top notch.

OP use whatever you want.

A 'search' will discuss issues with factory plates

 

C&H plates rock. Pricey but top notch.

Did this change over the years? I'm not trolling... I just remember in the early years of the RDS renaissance, I often read complaints about C&H which left a mark on their name in my mind.

Perhaps I'm confusing them with another company who was making plates back then. I don't want to rub another company's bad rep onto C&H if I'm remembering incorrectly.

 

A pair of C&H plates on order, feedback will follow.

 

People have good things to say about C&H Precision.

I went with Forward Controls Design for a couple of the optics I have that require adapter plates.