Combat Armory had barrels for $35, I got one on a G-17 slide build now, check them out.

 

For $10 more you could have a Black Nitride one made of 4150 at 3CRT

 

So I got a Lone Wolf G17 slide with LR01 machining for $99 and got them to flash nitride it too (at 75% off), so I have a cheap slide but it looks pretty nice.

It might not be everyone's cup of tea, but as an experiment I got a SeeAll sight with tritium that fits the RMR cut (at 50% off). I haven't shot it yet but it's lower profile than a red dot and has no electronics to break or battery to die and was cheap.

Now it's time to complete it and I'm really tempted by AIM Surplus. I'm thinking of their $60 Premium TiN coated barrel, $40 slide parts kit and their $30 steel suppressor height sights.

It seems like I can get all that for about as much as a decent barrel from a "better" brand.

I want to pull the trigger but I thought I would post to see if anyone has experience that will sway me away to another deal.

I could save another $35 if I went with their standard barrel and plastic sights but I like the cosmetics and steel.

Should I pull the trigger or go another way?

p.s. I'm pretty handy but with a nitride slide and TiN barrel, I probably won't be able to fix any incompatibility cleanly. I like the idea of a coated barrel for cleaning and lubrication but any combo is going to be a "fingers crossed" situation.

They work well.

 

They work well.
View attachment 1186739

Yep, that's it but mine is sitting in a slide cut instead of on an adapter so it looks a lot lower.

How do you feel about losing your irons? I want the steel suppressor height sights so maybe I'll be able to see them if the SeeAll sight goes bad. I don't know if that will work but I think it's worth a shot.

 

BCA? I'm going to have to look in to that.

Not my first build but my others were parts kits with barrel, trigger and frame upgrades, not assembling uppers from all aftermarket parts. I've messed around with ARs, AKs, 1911s, FALs. After all that, a Glock build is nothing special if you are OK at working with plastics (pretty easy).

I'm not in love with Glock factory parts but I've always used Glock slides, strikers, extractors and other small parts. This is the first time I'm thinking about trying to really go for budget.

 

AIM says their barrels are 1:10" twist and 416R stainless steel. BCA says 1:16" and 4150 steel. It doesn't sound like BCA makes them to me.

I'm not sure if that's good or bad.

I have heard that some "blemished" AIM barrels had bad throats which sounds like something BCA would/could do but beside that some people say they aren't the most accurate past 20 yards and the coatings wear off more easily than you would expect. If that's all, it seems like an OK tradeoff for a barrel that costs half as much as the popular brands. I just don't want it to be worse than that.