Product Review PSA Dagger Compete Lower $100

[Mooner]

Herd good thing about Dagger, It is serialized.
I can EDC if I like it, if not I could always use another lower.

Pro

• It is serialized - Just gonna leave this alone
• $100 for complete lower
• Ergonomic - Really, it feels better than all my stipple frames.
  • If Glock and P80 frames feel a bit blocky, then try Dagger.
  • Texture - Finer texture than P80, feel and function nicely.

• Contour - Rounded edges on the front and back make it more comfortable.

• Thumb ledge - has built-in thumb ledge

• Finger hump - has one finger groove, seems to fit my hand perfectly.
• Magwell lip - has magwell lip on the bottom, again fits my hand perfectly.
• Mag opening - cut away for an easy mag strip.
• Back hump - has a hump that makes it more comfortable.

As I was comparing two frames, I now noticed I'm holding the P80 mostly on my front fingers and back palm. The right side of the frame is barely touching or with no grip. On the Dagger, most of my hand is in contact with the frame. Definitely feel more natural, I love the grip.

Con

• F’k roll pin - Why have roll pin at all, its Glock clone, just use Glock pin.

Not having experience with roll pins, I scratched the frame a little. After 30 min of smashing with no result… Had to look for a roll pin disassembly technique on youtube.

• Terrible trigger - Feels a little worse than a stock Glock trigger.
• Bad engagement - Maybe 50 percent on all uppers I tried.
• Rail are a lot smaller - both front and rear rail are much smaller than P80

I knew I did not wanna take out the roll pin ever again, so I upgraded everything I wanted all at once.

• My goto trigger assembly
  • OEM connector
  • OEM trigger spring
  • OEM G4 ejector with mod housing
  • OEM shoe w/ adjustable pre-travel from Johnny Glock
  • Pre Eh trigger bar
• Polished front and rear rail
• Mag release felt a little funny, too weak or something - swapped with
  • OEM extended mag catch
  • OEM mag spring

Took her out to the range last weekend. The dagger was the star of the night. I had a new shooter with me. First, he tried different P80s than Dagger, his eyes opened up with a smile. We both knew it.

I love it so far... probably EDC after a few more hondo rounds.

 

[It'sMe]

Thanks for posting.
What's not compatible? The striker itself? I see the only difference on the striker is a taller, or wider strike tip, but looks like it could be thinned down to work in an actual Glock slide.
BTW, I wonder if you could drill the rear roll pin area to accept a standard pin?

 

[Mooner]

Only got Dagger lower. No striker or upper parts. It is Gen 3 compatible. I haven't tested all parts but all LPK should be interchangeable. Except for roll pins.

About the roll pin, pin holes are bigger than glock oem pin size. Actually used oem pin to hammer out roll pins. Make sure you have hard surface underneath.

 

[Mooner]

found out few days ago PSA has a forum too...
PSA dagger forum

 

[One Ping Only]

How cool. That Dagger's grip looks optimum, although I don't know what I feels like in-hand. But your report confirms the appearance of being pretty ergonomic. Man I wished they offered an 80% frame, as I'd be all over that.

I've been thinking about the possibility of reworking the grip contour on my P80 compact(19) and large(20/21) frames, as IMO, they SUCK in comparison to, say the GST-9 grip ergos.. Problem is, I'm not sure just how far they can be reworked, if at all. We're using the Hogue Handalls on our P80 SC's that really sweeten the ergos on that frame, but I also have a Handall on a compact (19) that, while it's improved with some palm swell that gives you a far better contact in your hand, it also crowds the fingers and doesn't mitigate the 2x4 feel enough. YMMV. But I digress and don't want to derail your thread completely, Mooner.

BTW, they make a roll pin punch that makes those so easy to deal with. If you have a punch set for AR's, I think there might be one that fits properly. I have to look as I have a brand-new set, unused.

 

[Mooner]

I've been thinking about the possibility of reworking the grip contour on my P80 compact(19) and large(20/21) frames

I can measure the Dagger with my caliper.
Let me know if that's something you will be interested in.

BTW, they make a roll pin punch that makes those so easy to deal with. If you have a punch set for AR's, I think there might be one that fits properly. I have to look as I have a brand-new set, unused.

I got Dagger before AR or any roll pin punch set. I must say, I f'kn hate roll pins. Not quite sure the reason for roll pin vs glock pin, I can only guess it must have been cost saving measure

 

[NCShooter]

Are you able to replace roll pins with regular Glock pins? I'm facing the same issue on my newly acquired, police turn in M&P 40 first gen.

 

[Mooner]

Are you able to replace roll pins with regular Glock pins? I'm facing the same issue on my newly acquired, police turn in M&P 40 first gen.

Glock pin is bigger than Dagger's roll pin. Before punch set, I used Glock pin to punch out Dagger's roll pin.

PSA do sell Dagger's roll pin. Might wanna check out M&P site for parts

 

[Toad the Old]

Congrats,
I just picked one, feels really good, plus a Sig light for $120.
Did a post about the .22 upper.

 

[Michele]

Another great post by mooner I forgot about . Maybe highlight or pin these ?
@Racer88

 

[Racer88]

Another great post by mooner I forgot about . Maybe highlight or pin these ?
@Racer88

Done! Pinned / "stickied" to the top of the section.

Hmmm... maybe I should add a dedicated PSA / Dagger section?

 

[Racer88]

And now in it's own dedicated PSA Dagger Build section!

 

[Alpa Chino]

Haven’t shot mine yet, I’ve got one in FDE in a sale. For now I’ve got a no name slide on it that I’d ordered for a P80 build.
I’ve got aftermarket G19 mags that have significant play. I dislike the magwell, looks like something is missing.
I’ve put grease on the slide and been racking it hundreds of times.
The HiPoint trigger has improved some.
Grittiness is mostly gone but considering taking it apart and MGB polish the snot out of the trigger group.

 

[Bongo Lewi]

Excellent, Smithers! Excellent!

I'm also doing a side by side comparison when my Dagger arrives. This post confirms a few of my assumptions.

 

[Steelart99]

FWIW, you should be able to measure the roll pin and purchase a pin of appropriate size off Amazon. Even if you get a pin that is too long, it can be ground off to length. Just a thought. Pins are available in a variety of alloys and hardness.

Let me know the diameter and length and I could help locate one if you needed that "Aid" .... hahahaha ... like we all don't know how to use internet search engines ...

 

[Bongo Lewi]

Mine arrived. What @Mooner said. Grip is awesome. Roll pin is annoying. I have roll pin punches but I guarantee when I find myself needing one I will not have them with me.

Search for "dowel pins" if you want to replace the roll pin. The roll pin appears to be SAE - 1/8" That's 3.175mm in metric. 3 mm pins are easy to find but will be slightly too small and probably fall out. Might be best to drill it out to M4 and buy the appropriate length M4 pin. If you don't have a drill press and decent vice I suggest leaving the roll pin as-is.

I'm also not impressed with the trigger but I planned on replacing that anyway. It's OK, not great. But I'm not going to bitch about the trigger on a complete, under $400 pistol that came with a threaded barrel, decent sights and ten Magpul mags. I've spent that much on the slide and upper parts for my P80.

 

[Bongo Lewi]

Great Caesars Ghost! The Dagger is my new favorite in the $400 or less realm. It is better balanced, has an awesome grip and it eats any ammo I've fed it without complaint. I did have a couple is FTE's today when shooting suppressed. But that was with S&B ammo which tends to have issues a couple of my other pistols as well. So I won't let that bug me. When I use up the remaining S&B ammo I probably won't buy it again.

I put another 200 rounds thru it today. The Dagger performs as well as guns costing $100, maybe $200 more.

 

[brian]

Great Caesars Ghost! The Dagger is my new favorite in the $400 or less realm. It is better balanced, has an awesome grip and it eats any ammo I've fed it without complaint. I did have a couple is FTE's today when shooting suppressed. But that was with S&B ammo which tends to have issues a couple of my other pistols as well. So I won't let that bug me. When I use up the remaining S&B ammo I probably won't buy it again.

I put another 200 rounds thru it today. The Dagger performs as well as guns costing $100, maybe $200 more.

What S&B ammo are you using? I've been using their ammo for quite some time, mostly the 115gr jacketed, and for me they tend to be my go to option as I have not had issues with it. Even suppressed I can't say I have had issues though I don't do suppressed fire a lot.

 

[Bongo Lewi]

What S&B ammo are you using? I've been using their ammo for quite some time, mostly the 115gr jacketed, and for me they tend to be my go to option as I have not had issues with it. Even suppressed I can't say I have had issues though I don't do suppressed fire a lot.

FMJ 115 gr. SB9R is their range/target variety. I bought 500 rounds on sale from Target Sports last year.

I rarely experience ammo problems. One exception being the 1000 rounds of .45 bulk reloads I made the mistake of buying. And new guns that need some break in time - and don't like weak loads.

I've read on other forums that S&B loads are inconsistent and primers are low quality. As as we know opinions are like .... I'll just say bellybuttons. Especially on gun forums. Ranges love it because it's usually cheaper than other brands.

My Camp Guard and Girsan 10mm dont like S&B either. But 10mm pistols do tend to be finicky about ammo. My TNW Aero takedown in 10mm also doesn't like it. The heavy springs the mfrs use in 10mm guns to minimize banging the Hell out of the internal parts require hotter and more consistent loads. I've found that more expensive ammo runs without a care in those guns.

Subsonic ammo... so many factors. The gun, the can, the ammo. Even the type of mount used on the can. Recreational shooting, I dont get my shorts in a bunch about an occasional misfeed. But in other circumstances, I'm careful to use the gear and ammo that I know works every time. There are no mulligans in defensive situations. I've found Glocks and Glock-like derivatives can be persnickety about suppressors, but it's manageable. The AA Illusion has worked great on my G19. But an older Gemtech - not so good. Conversely, the Beretta 92 and FN9... shoots any can all day long with no hassle. Every gun has a personality.

 

[Peepsight]

I have a Dagger complete lower coming soon. Hope it's as good as you guys say. I have a gen 2 g19 slide I may use on it.