From national security services to armed forces and police officers, Glock pistols are synonymous with sharp looks, precision aiming, and superior manufacturing. There’s no way you haven’t heard the name Glock since its name-dropped in hip-hop songs, displayed frequently on TV shows and in movies, and attached to the side of virtually every police officer. There is a reason that Glock is a term used with handheld firearms. It's an absolute gem of a weapon.

It’s the handgun that started it all. Gaston Glock’s first firearm was formerly designed to acquire a deal to provide the Austrian Army with firearms. It is an exceptional device of design for someone who had only studied but never produced, firearms alone. The polymer lower receiver lessened its weight where metal was not needed. Yet at the same time, it kept a traditional all-steel frame. For instance, the G17 can stand up to a wide array of substantial harm, including being run over by a vehicle or being frozen in frost, as well as dust and other environmental factors while prevailing completely secure. The Glock’s seventeen-round magazine had the highest ammunition range compared to any available pistol on the market at the time.

But most importantly, the Glock is one of the handguns that are easy to use. And there are only three external handles you have to master: magazine release, slide stop, and slide lock. The external security is a second thought, given it’s incorporated into the trigger and deactivated when you place your forefinger on the switch.

So, to own a customized Glock is to own one of the sturdiest and most precise weapons on the planet. But what if you want to take it a step further? You might be wondering how are you able to modify and improve your Glock? Well, you're just in luck, my friend because in this post we’ll go over the basics of customizing Glocks.

Glock Modifications

There are thousands of Glock modifications that can alter your pistol's appearance, capabilities, precision, and control. And, to be completely frank, customizing your Glock is utterly fun for responsible gun owners. Those who have customized their Glocks can agree that it improves the firearm’s power and at times, even its accuracy. So, customizing your Glock is more than adding a dash of your personality to your gun. It undoubtedly improves its performance at any event or practice.

 Let’s be real here: it’s more than valid if you want to change your Glock’s appearance. It’s your money and you can pimp your handgun up however you like. Who are we to judge? 

So, where do you start? What can you upgrade? And what modifications should you be investing in the first place? Let’s review each section to have a better understanding of how to customize your Glock. 

1. Custom Bling and Finishes

We all know that everyone here loves and owns a Glock for a reason. They're one of the most popular and in-demand guns on the planet. But there's just one problem: a million people own the same gun as you. Since all standard Glocks look the same, this is why adding a custom coat of paint or a few pieces of "bling" to your Glock can help it stand out and give your pistol some much-needed identity. There are a number of manufacturers offering state of the art custom finishes for glock pistols, the most famous one being Robar Guns.

By any chance, do you find the standard pitch-black Glocks to be too bland and boring? Have you been planning to give a loved one a Glock for self-defense and home protection? Do they enjoy impressive bling and you want to give them a Glock fit for them? Then, custom bling and finishes for Glocks are the adjustments that will highlight your or your loved one’s essence.

Let’s start with the basics of customizing your Glock with bling and finishes that will reflect your personality. 

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Re-finishes

From spray-on, multi-colored paint coats to hot bluing, there are plenty of ways to refinish your Glock. And here we're big fans of custom Glock pistol coat jobs. There are literally hundreds upon hundreds of places to get these coating jobs done. And most probably, there’s a gun store near you that can do an exceptional job with your Glock. But we prefer online personalization shops like:

  • Larry Magill's Glock Store
  • BattleWerx
  • Cerakote

As opposed to bluing, here's the great thing about coats: you can get your Glock in any color you want.  And since Glocks are so popular, there are hundreds of places that offer Glock refinishes on the market. Are you interested in a hot pink Hello Kitty Glock? You can order it and have your Hello Kitty Glock in your nightstand firearm safe. Want to paint it pitch-black with a Batman logo? You’ll be feeling like the hero Gotham deserves by summoning the Dark Knight with your Batman Glock. Without a doubt, the possibility of altering Glocks to your heart’s whim is what’s makes us the most excited about owning Glocks. 

Bluing

When it comes to customized coloring, bluing provides far more than a shiny blue-tinted appearance; it uses a black oxide coating to protect your gun against corrosion and rust. Technically, you could head to a shop to purchase a bluing agent cream and hot blue your Glock yourself. But since there are plenty of starter kits on Amazon, you can also order them and do it yourself in the comfort of your home. In this same line of thinking, you can even Parkerize your gun. Not only it gives your gun a more matte look instead of a shiny coat, Parkerzing your Glock protects it against corrosion and rust. So, you’re not only personalizing your Glock, you’re making it more weather resistant. 

"Bling"

In addition to total refinishing and bluing, you can also slap a few stickers, plates, or icons on your gun for a few bucks. In fact, you can customize pretty much every part of your Glock to make it unique with little to no effort.

Here are a few handy ideas if you want a quick and affordable ‘bling’ for your Glock:

  • Pick up an engraved magazine release. 
  • Get custom thread protectors. 
  • Get your Glock laser engraved. 
  • Buy colorized parts as mags, inserts, and magazine catch. 
  • Swap out your locking block with something fancy. 
  • Buy a few rear-side cover plates and swap them out regularly. 

The list goes on! You can pimp up your Glock to your heart's content. Look at these beautiful finishes for yourself or a loved one:

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2. Grip Modifications

Despite that every person on the planet has a slightly different shooting style, Glock grips come standard. So, one of the first things new gun owners do is modify their grip to fit their preferences. Indeed, Glock grips are great, but they have a few design elements that we don't absolutely love.

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For starters, Glock grips often have finger humps. These bump-outs are supposed to help the gun slant upwards––for whatever reason––when you're gripping it. But since no other pistols have these humps, it can make shooting a Glock a little challenging. You can get those finger humps removed with a grip reduction — which is probably the single most common aftermarket Glock modification.

A Glock grip reduction modification can significantly diminish the grip’s general depth on Glock devices. For instance, this modification grants shooters––particularly those with smaller fingers–– a huge boost in support to grasp and manage gun control. 

Additionally, we highly recommend stippling your grip. Glock grips are really smooth, which again can make gripping it tight a little challenging. Stippling adds rough dots and ridges to your grip that makes it easier to hold onto. Now, there are plenty of ways to go about stippling, and everyone has different preferences. For example, we prefer stippling on the front of the trigger guard. It makes it easier to rest your finger against that guard during fire practice. Some people go so far as to get 360-degree stippling, so it's definitely a personal preference.

3. Mag Modifications

By far, the easiest way to completely change the performance of your Glock is to purchase an aftermarket magazine. You can immediately increase your rounds, which adds an entirely new experience at the gun range. But, let's be honest, some Glock mags are also just beautiful. We love the see-through mags because, well... they're awesome.

Don't forget about all the other mag customizations as well. There are fabric mag packs, custom Glock pistol mag plates, and ever-so-useful mag holders. In general, magazines are one of the most customized Glock components — partially because they're super-easy to change and replace.

4. Trigger Modifications

Glock triggers are a hot topic for Glock owners. Some Glock-fanatics adore the out-of-the-box grip, while others are less-than-enthused with its overall quality. However we often notice Glock triggers get squishy after a while, so we highly recommend at least having a backup plan. When it comes to trigger mods, you're not short of options. You can:

  • Add connectors (like the Ghost from Brownell) to reduce the weight (the standard connector is 5 lbs.)
  • Add competition spring kits for a better pull
  • Completely re-gut your Glock with a total trigger overhaul kit (Apex is great!)
  • Get a new striker
  • Invest in a trigger bar
  • etc.

Honestly, the list goes on. You can choose to either pinpoint your issue areas or completely retrigger the entire Glock. Either way, customizing your trigger can help you make the gun your own. Obviously, any competition shooters will immediately customize their triggers, but even casual shooters may want to decrease the weight for a lighter and more natural pull.

5. Sights and Optics

We're suckers for a great set of optics. Sure! The iron sights on Glocks are decent. In fact, they're a classic. But they won't cut it if you want to shoot long-range regularly or do some advanced competition/target practice. Again, the sight you choose is entirely based on personal preference. 

However, we can hardly recommend the following sights based on reviews, experience, and (of course) community input:

  • XS Sights New DXT2 Big Dot Night Sight
  • TRUGLO Tritium
  • Streamlight 69290 TLR-6
  • Trijicon Bright and Tuff

Here's the thing. Yes! Glock OEM sights are decent. But why stick with decent? Your handgun could be the difference between life and death. In that milli-second, accuracy matters. Luckily, we’ve reviewed some of the best tactical lights for your Glocks that are thankfully common to find. Identifying an aftermarket sight is super easy, and some of the companies that provide this reliability are like TRUGLO and Trijicon. These two companies are building insanely accurate sights at an incredibly fair price point. 

6. Tactical Lights 

Like we’ve mentioned before, you need safe and valuable accessories that improve your Glock’s performance and quality. Now, one of those invaluable equipment tools is an adjustable tactical gun light. This feature helps distinguish the target while you're aiming with your weapon. But this light identifies the target in a more agile and more comfortable way no matter the time. For a complete list on the best tactical lights for your Glock, check out our other article here, where we present you with some cool options and their cheaper alternatives.

A tactical light for your Glock is notably necessary because a fastened tactical light gives your hands freedom. This way, you can easily control the gun as you wish. As opposed to a mobile spotlight, these need one of your hands to hold it, frustrating your movements and focus. So, having a tactical light can only be an advantage to your night-time adventures or self-defense scenarios.  

A tactical light will also enhance your target aim. It will improve your agility and will help you through any motion during the night. Without a doubt, a tactical light is a necessary tool that will help you recognize your targets. And not only is necessary, but it also looks amazing and cool. Admit it! 

7. Custom Slides

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The aftermarket slide industry is flourishing nowadays and when we first set out to test out Glock slides, we were quickly met with a pretty big problem: there are so darn many of them. We're talking about thousands of custom slides to choose from!

For instance, there are windowed slides and these are amazing if you happen to own a custom Glock pistol barrel. And thank the sweet heavens above, there’s also a favorite of mine: Damascus steel slides. These are a beauty that few are able to resist! But for those who surprisingly aren’t interested in steel slides, there are also colored slides, engraved slides, and optics cut slides. You name it and you can have it.
Honestly, this section has been one of the hardest to write because there are so many options to choose from. And this can easily overwhelm you. We had a really difficult time choosing between the massive number of slides out there on the market.

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Here's what we narrowed it down to:

  • Norrso slides
  • Zaffri slides
  • Jaggerwerks slides
  • WingTactical slides

In our humble opinion, these companies are absolutely outdoing the competition. But you're certainly free to choose the slide that best fits your personality.

8. Unique Barrels

When paired with windowed slides, custom barrels are one of the easiest and most intense ways to customize your Glock. Their price ranges from affordable to expensive––like everything, of course–––but to be real with you, this is a modification that you shouldn’t go for the cheapest option. So when you’re looking for Glock barrels, accuracy is not the main thing you should keep an eye out for. Why? Because it’s known that after-sale barrels don’t provide more accuracy than OEM (original equipment manufacturer) Glock barrels.

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We’re not saying that aftermarket barrels don’t provide accuracy at all. We are just shooting out a few warnings here. Aftermarket barrels can be a bit tricky. If you choose the wrong one, you may end up lowering your performance. But out-of-the-box Glock barrels are seriously impressive. They're market-tested and backed by millions-of-dollars in research and development. This is why these custom Glock barrels are used across the globe regularly. Some aftermarket barrels have a huge reputation to match. For instance, remarkable companies that manufacture match-grade, aftermarket barrels like ZEV have a tighter fit than the Glock barrels. These tighter fitted barrels deliver a  more set lockup than the stock barrels. Compared to other OEM Glock barrels and their normal hex rifling, these types of barrels have chambers with a tighter lockup and are button rifled. These features deliver improved accuracy with the correct ammunition, yet again, there is a trade-off.

So the real question is: should you upgrade your stock Glock barrel to an aftermarket one? Well, since it goes beyond aesthetics, this is a great question every Glock owner wonders at some point. You see, Glocks can't––well, honestly, Glocks shouldn't––shoot lead bullets. All Glocks––except the Glock .45–– use polygonal rifling, so lead bullets can cause buildup–––and quick. Custom barrels can help bypass this by introducing a variety of new shapes and performance aspects to your pistol. 

That being said, barrel manufacturers like Lone Wolf and KKM continue to sell out new lines of barrels, so there's obviously some value in these aftermarket barrels. For dependability, the KKM barrels are definitely still very solid and work flawlessly within company specifications rounds. Yet again, we’ve noticed that there are KKM barrels that don’t support well 9mm barrels.  Therefore, beware of this factor since it can provide you sloppy roads. In conclusion, with the correct ammunition, the custom barrels manufactured by KKM and ZEV–– for example––can do an outstanding job. Now if you choose to go with inexpensive ammunition and reloads, prepare yourself to be disappointed. 

My Custom Glock Project

Now that we've covered everything that has to do with cool custom Glock mods, I'd like to share with all of you the before and after pictures of my custom Glock project featuring Firing Squad modifications and many other upgrades. Let me know what you guys think in the comments.

Before

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After

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Features:

  • Model: Gen 4
  • Signature Ribcage Slide
  • Fishscale stippling
  • Double undercut index,
  • Battle worn burnt bronze and black cerakote
  • Overwatch precision trigger
  • Leaupold deltapoint pro optic

Final Thoughts

Glocks are fantastic pistols and we would be hard-pressed to think of a more recognizable and renowned handgun brand. But that doesn't mean they're perfect. Everyone has different visual and performance tastes, and you may want to customize the aspect and texture of your Glock to fit your needs. For instance, one of the more famous accessories is the 3.5-lb ghost trigger set which gives a much lighter and more continuous pull. Or you can even get magazine additions to increase a few more rounds. Or just slap a sticker on your Glock to make it stand out from the rest. What really matters is that now you know what reliable and invaluable tools you can add and change in order to enhance your Glock’s performance and quality.

Now, in this article, we’ve learned about the different possible ways to modify your Glock. This is your moment to portray your true essence or offer yourself the best comforts possible with your own Glock. Based on the way that you like, your weapon can become a little bit more shootable and usable. You don’t have to be an expert or an advanced Glock user to have an ideal Glock that is more accurate and comfortable. To put it simply, you have nearly limitless options at your fingertips. Turn that OEM Glock into a unique Glock that screams your name. So, get out there and get customizing!

The responses below are not provided, commissioned, reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any financial entity or advertiser. It is not the advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

Comments4 comments

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S
Steve

That is a beautiful custom job man. Nice work. Definitely should make that a side job for yourself, helping/directing others how to customize their Glock. Great article.

W
Wayne

Same as Jon, I would like to order a steel frame for a 17

T
Ty

that glock is sick.

J
Jon

So where do I purchase a glock 34 steel frame?