ZEV Duty Slide
“I mounted my optic without any issues, assembled the gun, and BAM…back in action!”
So I picked up a Glock 45 Gen 5 when they were first released, but it was only an iron sight gun. The MOS version was not released yet, and I was impatient, so I told myself I’ll worry about getting a dot on the gun later. Eventually, I wanted to mount a pistol RDS onto the slide, so my options were limited on how to go about it. I had to either send the slide out to get milled, sell my gun and buy an MOS version, or look for an aftermarket slide I could swap out. This is where I’d like all of the people who will read this to benefit from my experience. I made the decision to send the slide to C&H Precision to get an MOS plate system cut on my slide. The only way to accomplish this was to move the rear sight forward of the optic, because the rear sight dovetail is cut into the slide at different locations for irons only guns vs. MOS guns at the Glock factory. The rear sight dovetail is usually where the mill cut either starts or stops when converting the slide from irons to MOS style plate system.
Once I got the slide back, it looked pretty clean. I had a Trijicon RMR mounted on it and Sevigny iron sights. I carried it concealed as an off duty carry weapon for a while, but I felt the need to shoot it from a duty duty style holster like a Safariland RDS holster, but it would not work with the irons forward setup. The rear iron sight will not allow the gun to get proper lock up with the ALS system. I did some research on the interwebz and found the ZEV Duty slide. This is an aftermarket drop on slide which is a direct mount, pre-cut to a RMR style footprint. It comes with some angled front and rear cocking serrations and a quality coating on the slide. (The slide is stripped of all parts, so I moved the slide internals from my factory slide over to the Zev slide. They all assembled without any issues). I mounted my optic without any issues, assembled the gun ,and BAM…back in action. The gun felt more balanced than with the irons forward and shot noticeably better when at the range. I was able to find the slide at a discounted rate at The Musa Store, link below, which always seems to have some really good prices.
One question or topic that is frequently debated is utilizing a pistol RDS with either a direct mount/cut or a plate system, like the MOS. There are no solutions, just trade offs. Each mounting method has its pros and cons, so what it comes down to when making your decision is your intended purpose for the gun. A direct mount will remove some human and mechanical error when fastening the optic to the slide. The amount of failure points of the optic design and the slide cut design are reduced versus a plate system. A plate system has screws to mount the plate to the slide, and usually a mounting stud system that has to be in place to then mount the optic to the plate. There are a couple layers of potential failure points with this style of RDS mounting. The use of the proper strength and length of screw/stud hardware and thread locker is absolutely necessary to ensure your reduced chance of the optic flying off under recoil and hitting you in the face. Notice I said reduced and not eliminated. The issue for some end users with a direct mount style is that you may be limited to only a certain optic and if something new and proprietary were to be released, you would not be able to upgrade your optic, because you are married to a certain footprint. This is true for some optics like the rail clamping style optics offered by Steiner, Holosun and Aimpoint, but for the most part, Trijicon established a market-wide standard footprint that most manufacturers are utilizing. There will always be some proprietary features from companies, but that is how they make money and I see that as an excuse to buy more guns! Either way, you are not wrong in what you choose, but know the ins and outs of both.
I have put close to 6,000 rounds through this Glock 45 setup in a combination of classes I attended or instructed. I have had zero issues with the slide or the stock Glock internals I moved over to the Zev. The slide can be found for $280-$330 range if you look hard enough, which makes it reasonably affordable. Milling services may be cheaper, but then you have to send your slide out, potentially wait up to 12 weeks from some of the more popular and reputable machining companies, and there are always add-ons which drive the price up. A slide cut may only run $150, but then it costs $50-$100 for cerakote or nitride, which you should get for the new exposed metal from the cut, and long lead times. All said and done, it costs about the same or more and your gun is out of service for potentially a long time. All of these points should be considered if you are trying to convert an iron sight gun to slide mounted RDS capable.
- Ryan
