Product Review Dagger slide review SW1

[bkbrno]

I got this slide 1 year ago. When i first looked at it, it didn't excite me in person as it did in the pictures so I set it aside for another day. Fast forward and I find myself with a P80 frame I forgot about. I also had enough parts sitting around to complete it. I pulled the SW1 out and it had grown on me.

I go to slide it on and it goes half way on and won't go any further. A quick check on another P80, a GST-9 and a Glock 19 were the same, too tight. The slide was Cerakoted so I thought maybe there was too much paint in the rails. I carefully sanded out the coating and tried again. No-go. While looking down the rails, I noticed that the whole slide had a curve to it. Looking at the bottom side, it arced left. A straight edge confirmed that the whole slide was bowed.

I put in a warranty claim with PSA using their online system. And the saga began. First, no response. Then vague emails saying they are reviewing it. 3 more days, no response so I sent another email asking if they needed anything else from me. After 2 days, they asked for some pictures so I did my best to capture the slide with a straight edge on it and back lighted to show the gap. After 10 days of no action or resolution, I got a little snarky with them asked them for one of two response. 1. Send it in- here is your RMA or 2. Fuck off. Then, I left a 1 star review on their site. Then I joined the PSA forum and wrote up what I found. About 4 hours after that, I got an email from somebody up the food chain telling customer service to get the slide back pronto.

The slide in question is no longer in production so a PSA employee called me and we went over what he had in stock and decided on a SW2 slide. I didn't want anything fancier than what I paid for initially but he offered any configuration they had. Pretty sure they put my old barrel and recoil spring in the new slide.

The slide came and it works well. I have 4 Dagger slides and tried each one on each frame I have. They swap freely. The flawed SW1 slipped through the cracks. When I unwrapped the new slide, it was wet with oil so I stripped it down for a good cleaning. Glock says they should be run dry. The striker looked different. It had a gold tint to it like it was TiN treated. I didn't look under magnification but I didn't see any MIM mould marks. Interesting.

PSA makes a decent product but if you have a problem, they can make it painful. The final outcome was fine but it was painful getting there.

 

[Bobster]

Pictures of the banana-slide would be nice...

I've posted here about a bent recoil spring tab on a "regular" PSA slide. The RSA would just "fall out" when slide was removed is how I initially noticed it. It took a little while but they sent me a decent slide which is performing fine.

Meanwhile, I used a DLC SW1 on the Dagger FS frame during an Action Steel event with no ill-effects or malfies. Once I got the warranty slide back I put the SW1 slide on the LW frame (serialized they sent me under warranty), sighted it in and function-tested it and it ran fine.

I got this $140 special "stainless" complete slide a couple months back and slapped it on the LW frame, brought it to the range to check function and it barely did. FTFs out the ying-yang. It "looks" OK inside, barrel looks fine and everything hand-functions OK but I never thought to check to see if it was warped...

 

[bkbrno]

I have pictures however it is really hard to see in the pictures but really easy to see in person. I used a good straight edge on the outside right by the rail cuts, held it up to a light and noted the gap. Put the straight edge on the other side and did the same. The gap will be at the top/bottom on one side and in the middle of the other side. If you measure the rail gap at each point along the slide, the measurement will be the same. Because the slide is curved and the rails on the locking block are long, the true gap is reduced. I described it to PSA as the slide having Peyronie's disease. The technician told me the rail gap was undersized by .01". I asked about the curve and he said something about that's the secret sauce. I asked why my other slides didn't have the secret sauce and he changed the subject. If this was my only slide and only P80, I would have blamed the rails supplied and honed them down until they fit. I have several slides and this slide wasn't like the others. I have Rook and No Quarter locking block rails plus the rails that came with the kits. None of them worked on this slide but did on the other slides.

The curve started at the furthest back window cut. It was straight all the way to the mid point just around the ejection port, then it started to curve. Just my hunch, but I think that big of a cut weakens the slide or puts a bunch of stress in the metal and it does unexpected things at heat treat.

PSA stiff armed me for 10 days so I tried a little straightening. I figured I was stuck with it so nothing ventured nothing gained. I put it on my press and tried to bend it straight. I pressed until it was just straight. When I released the pressure, it popped right back where it was. I would say it was definitely heat treated.

Bobster, I remember the picture of your slide. That looked like someone forgot to turn the heat treat oven on. A quick check of the SS slide won't take much time. I would take both frames and both slides to to range and see if it is the slide or the frame causing the problem. If both slides work on the Dagger, the LW frame is the culprit. I've learned that it doesn't take much in the way of rubbing to slow things down enough to cause problems. I used a Sharpie to mark possible rubbing areas on my GST-9. After firing, here was one spot that had a slight rub on it. It looked like it had a good margin there but was closer than the other side by an RCH. I spent about 10 seconds sanding a little more off the high side and now it works great. I'm also learning that dynamic testing (shooting the thing) is a lot different than hand cycling.

 

[Bobster]

Bobster, I remember the picture of your slide. That looked like someone forgot to turn the heat treat oven on. A quick check of the SS slide won't take much time. I would take both frames and both slides to to range and see if it is the slide or the frame causing the problem.

The LW runs fine with the SW1 slide. And the SW1 works on the Dagger FS I have. I haven't got around to fully scrutinizing the SS slide yet to see what the issue is. I WILL be taking a straight edge to all my slides in light of your issue, though.

I passed on a Rockwell hardness tester at an auction one time. I think it went for $30-$40. I couldn't see a use for it then but I do now...

 

[Hvymax]

Crap I have this on the way. Slide should be here tomorrow or Tuesday. Same with the frame at my FFL. I hadn't heard a lot of negatives before this. I can't really call this a build. More of an assemble. Mount the optic and brake slide it onto the frame and done. I'll be checking for Peyronie's first thing. I kinda have high hopes after my AR's.

 

[Mooner]

For anyone that needs help with warranty issue there is a guy on PSA Reddit Mattbbb14 who is very active and helpful.

Reddit PSA

PSA Mattbbb14

 

[bkbrno]

Keep in mind, I have an unnatural ability to attract the one and only flawed product in a batch. I have several other Dagger slides and they run great. Other manufacturer's slides, at the same price point, don't compare to the Dagger. I have a couple of those too. I think you made a good choice and the SW2 and SW4 are my favorites. Just enough cut out to make it interesting but not too much cut away.

It was a little painful getting PSA to start the return process. I'm not on social media so that is not a way for me to get their attention. A negative review at PSA resulted in being contacted in hours. It was probably Matt that I talked to there. He offered me any slide they had in stock as a replacement. Can't complain about that. I asked for and received a slide that was less than what I had but liked it more. Sometimes simpler is better. I did request nothing with an optics cut. One thing leads to another then I'm shelling out a few hundred more for an optic. I would rather have more range ammo.

Thread drift. Supposedly, PSA has changed the design of there firing pin to be compatible with Gen 3 Glock. Previously, the tip of the firing pin was too fat to use on a Glock slide.

 

[Mooner]

PSA has changed the design of there firing pin to be compatible with Gen 3 Glock. Previously, the tip of the firing pin was too fat to use on a Glock slide.

Unlike other vendor blaming customers, PSA seems to remedy their design flaw rather quickly as issue arise.

Broken striker was very common and it was the main reason for me hold off getting Dagger slide.

I had my original Dagger frame warranty replacemented by Matt. It has cracked in front of front rails. Newer frame has metal plate embedded to reinforce that area.

As big as PSA are, it is very nice to see their designs iteration.

 

[Hvymax]

Keep in mind, I have an unnatural ability to attract the one and only flawed product in a batch. I have several other Dagger slides and they run great. Other manufacturer's slides, at the same price point, don't compare to the Dagger. I have a couple of those too. I think you made a good choice and the SW2 and SW4 are my favorites. Just enough cut out to make it interesting but not too much cut away.

It was a little painful getting PSA to start the return process. I'm not on social media so that is not a way for me to get their attention. A negative review at PSA resulted in being contacted in hours. It was probably Matt that I talked to there. He offered me any slide they had in stock as a replacement. Can't complain about that. I asked for and received a slide that was less than what I had but liked it more. Sometimes simpler is better. I did request nothing with an optics cut. One thing leads to another then I'm shelling out a few hundred more for an optic. I would rather have more range ammo.

Thread drift. Supposedly, PSA has changed the design of there firing pin to be compatible with Gen 3 Glock. Previously, the tip of the firing pin was too fat to use on a Glock slide.

Anymore I'm not interested in anything without an optics cut and a rail. See Dot Shoot Dot. Stupid easy and fast.

 

[Bobster]

One thing leads to another then I'm shelling out a few hundred more for an optic.

Yup, there is that. And I have found that all the optics cut slides have the tall 1/3 co-witness sights installed. BUT, PSA will sell you normal height front and rear METAL dot sights for $10-$11 (IF available and if bought separately). You just have to watch to see they aren't charging more to ship a sight (or other cheap item) than it is worth...

 

[bkbrno]

I still shoot iron sights well enough. I know the day will come. A good friend had some vision problems that made it impossible to shoot well. He got a J-point, one of the first slide mounted sights, and he was back in business. Some of the mounts were pretty ugly by today's standards but he added a red dot to all of his pistols.

I have one Holosun and I shoot about equal as irons. No advantage for now.