Summer project GST-9

[Hawkeye]

I was looking for something to start for this summer and ran across this one I bought a while back for building another P-40 Warhawk compact.

GST-9, think they are the ugliest. The only thing I liked about it so far is the jig, it was tight and had enough lead in for drilling pin holes to make right on spot holes with little effort. The frame has plenty of stock for customizing.

My goal here is to complete my P-40 Warhawk collection.
I have a full-size Glock 17 gen 2.

First full size I have made years ago. Cheap red dot but it still works. I did the slide cuts myself.
Did this one at the same time for a set.

It is an SS80, I wouldn't recommend building these. This is one out of four that has not cracked. I don't shoot it anymore because of this cracking problem. It could be my fault but hey three bit the dust out of four. I may not be the greatest builder but that just a bad average.

So, I think I need a compact to complete this set.

The challenge will be the paint. Both are custom paint done at least six years ago so can I match the paint? I hope so or I might have to strip them down for repainting them all to match. This will probably take me all summer because its summer with Jeep trips and Kayaking, long days and garden, time is short.

 

[Peepsight]

I like the GST-9 looks better than the P80 personally. Glad I got mine before all the legal crap. I carry it the most.

 

[Racer88]

I love this. Is the image etched or machined into the slide metal? The lines, rivets, warhawk face? It appears to be etched into the metal - which I like!

And where did you get the slide?

Thanks!

 

[Peepsight]

PSA Dagger slide. Swenson barrel. All Glock oem inerds. Had issues with Lone Wolf trigger assy. Completed drop safety and sear engagement.

 

[Peepsight]

Those p40 slides really up the build price, wow!

 

[Hawkeye]

I love this. Is the image etched or machined into the slide metal? The lines, rivets, warhawk face? It appears to be etched into the metal - which I like!

View attachment 18413

And where did you get the slide?

Thanks!

I got this years ago from Steel City when it was on sale.
Looks to be milled, sandblasted, painted gun metal then black, buffed to remove black paint. I'll be repainting to match the P40- Warhawk set, I hope. Very nice mill job, dots and lines are milled too. The mouth is three layers, should be easy to repaint.

 

[Hawkeye]

Those p40 slides really up the build price, wow!

I'm sure it did but I don't remember the sale price. I bought it years ago for this build. Just never got around to it till now.

 

[USApat]

First full size I have made years ago. I did the slide cuts myself.

Did you do that red neck style with a die grinder and/or carbide bits? Or, with a mill?
I'm thinking it was a die grinder and carbide bits used and perhaps a cutoff wheel used at the beginning phases done carefully.

I have a plain slide here I might consider doing something similar but purely for cosmetic reasons and not for a ported barrel. I see you kept the center bridge at the top for rigidity. I have ported engines and cylinder heads that have little margin for error with inner cooling chambers, so this seems like something that is not too far fetched as long as the slide structure is not compromised.

 

[Hawkeye]

Did you do that red neck style with a die grinder and/or carbide bits? Or, with a mill?
I'm thinking it was a die grinder and carbide bits used and perhaps a cutoff wheel used at the beginning phases done carefully.

I have a plain slide here I might consider doing something similar but purely for cosmetic reasons and not for a ported barrel. I see you kept the center bridge at the top for rigidity. I have ported engines and cylinder heads that have little margin for error with inner cooling chambers, so this seems like something that is not too far fetched as long as the slide structure is not compromised.

I did the cuts with a Bridgeport mill. I am very good at hand work but I wouldn't attempt doing cuts with a cutoff wheel, to many things could go wrong.

If you have a drill press, you could punch some holes and then clean them up with a grinder and carbide burrs. I have never tried that, but I feel I could do it. I've done these types of cuts on other projects so I'm sure it could be done that way.

I like taking plain slides and doing some etching. You can etch barrels too.
Here are some etching builds that turned out well, I think.

You can even paint your etching just for an added effect.
If you want to do something that is easier to do you can use a sandblaster to create a similar effect.

Here I used a combination of etching (the spider on the barrel) and sandblasting the spider web on the slide.
There are lots of things you can do to a plain slide to bring it up a notch or two without having to cut it.

 

[serger]

People like you are so talented. I think I'm shitting
in tall cotton when I can assemble a basic pistol
and have it go bang every time I pull the trigger.

Bravo Zulu

 

[Hawkeye]

People like you are so talented. I think I'm shitting
in tall cotton when I can assemble a basic pistol
and have it go bang every time I pull the trigger.

Bravo Zulu

Believe me I am not that talented; I trashed out my first four builds.
I've just been at it awhile. Anyone can do this stuff. All you need to do is plan your steps in the right order. All you need is a Dremel and sandpaper. Before I started painting with an airbrush, I used rattle can stuff. If you ever want to take your build up a few notches I would be glad to help you plan it out and get started.
There are a few here that does the custom stuff with ideas on how to do custom upgrades that will help too.

What got me started was the idea that I could build something that is not only a one-of-a-kind. But something that would be passed on long after I'm gone.

 

[Hawkeye]

Sorry it's been a while since my last post, but this is my busiest time of year. planting garden and getting all of my flower beds cleaned up a long with some Jeep trips and taking the kayaks out for some short trips. I even get out and for shooting in this beautiful spring weather, but I did get back in the shop on a rainy day.

I gave up on outing a magwell on the GST-9 and went with an idea I used two years ago. That is using a magazine extension.

You can see that the grip of the GST-9 is wider than a Glock or P80.

One thing I will do is sand this part down so it doesn't stick out as much. Then I will build up some JB Weld to fill in and reshape to give a factory look and fit with a magazine extension.

I used tape to create a mold to hold JB Weld and let it set for two days to make sure it has set up all the way.

Still needs some fine sanding before paint but there is a lot of other mods to do before finalizing sanding and paint.

There's not much I can do with the larger grip. I can only sand so much off before it becomes too thin.

Night's Watch extended magazine turned out nice I hope all the tricks I used on this build will work out as well on the GST-9. Night's Watch is a Lone Wolf frame with inserted back strap. I was able to hide the seams when I stippled and plan on the same technique with the GST-9 to hide all the seams that this build has.

Here is a question for you guys.

Why would you create a slot (slide lock) with an oversize hole?
The only thing I can think of is it is for a lock. Insert a pin and your slide would be locked in, but why? What are your thoughts on why this is done this way. Being a toolmaker, this stuff bugs me.

 

[Racer88]

Why would you create a slot (slide lock) with an oversize hole?
The only thing I can think of is it is for a lock. Insert a pin and your slide would be locked in, but why? What are your thoughts on why this is done this way. Being a toolmaker, this stuff bugs me.

No idea! That is weird.

 

[brian]

The only thing I can think of is it is for a lock. Insert a pin and your slide would be locked in, but why?

I'd even wonder how. Any pin inserted would only be held in place by one side of the frame -- it couldn't extend to the other side as the slide lock bar would be in the way. I'm thinking it'd wiggle around and potentially even interfere with the innards at some point if not make the hole itself larger.