okie john
05-12-12, 12:30
I learned about the TigerSwan Glock from this thread and others: https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=99921&highlight=TigerSwan+Glock
I’ve always felt that I should be getting better accuracy from my Glocks, I’ve read good things about (some) aftermarket barrels, and I had an extra late Gen2 G17 lying around, so after a brief email exchange, I sent it to TigerSwan for the full treatment, plus a tritium front sight blade. When it came back it had
• Unpolished Scherer 3.5# connector
• Fitted Wilson match barrel
• LAV slide catch
• Glock extended slide stop
• Dawson Precision adjustable rear sight
• Tritium-filled front sight, .125” wide
Along with the new parts, TigerSwan returned all of the stock parts. This is unusual in my experience—most gunsmiths insist on keeping the old parts to offset the cost of work.
The 2,000 Round Challenge
I was worried that the pistol might not be as reliable with a match barrel, so I shot the 2,000 Round Challenge. The slide failed to lock back a few times the first day because I was riding the Glock extended slide stop with my thumb. I tend to do this even with a stock Glock slide stop but it’s worse with an extended one, so I reinstalled the standard slide stop that afternoon and the problem went away. The TSG17 finished the 2,000 Round Challenge with no other issues. This included shooting the IDPA classifier and an IDPA match, plus a lot of work from the holster on El Presidente, Mozambiques, training on parts of the IDPA classifier, Bill Drills, and general goofing around.
After I zeroed the pistol, I shot groups at 25 and 50 yards with S&B 115-grain ammo to get used to it. A few days later, I confirmed my 50-yard POI and tested the Wilson barrel against the factory barrel at 25 and 50 yards. Groups from the Wilson barrel were about 1/3 smaller. Once I was sure of my POI at 25 and 50 yards, I started testing at 100. The front sight blade is slightly narrower than an IPSC target at that range, so I held to see an even amount of target on each side and the top.
I started with a 15-shot group, slow fire, offhand. One shot missed the target entirely, but the other 14 fell into a round group with a 15.5” extreme spread. I also fired a 10-shot group, again dropping one off the paper, but got a group with an 13.125” extreme spread. About 60% of the hits in each group were out to the right, probably because of wind. Both groups were round as opposed to being strung vertically. POI was about 7” below POA, and groups were roughly centered for elevation on the A-zone.
Accuracy and POI Tests
I tested the TSG17’s factory barrel against the Wilson barrel at 50 yards. I fired a 10-shot string, then switched barrels, then repeated this twice for each barrel. The Wilson barrel put all 30 shots into a group at 50 yards with a 9” extreme spread. The group from the factory barrel was 3.25” lower than the group from the Wilson barrel. I missed the target once, but the remaining 29 shots went into a 14” group. Both barrels made groups that were basically round, with evenly dispersed shots. Again, all shooting was offhand, slow fire.
Notes on Parts
Scherer 3.5# connector
Unpolished. I would have preferred OEM, but it seems to work.
Wilson match barrel
I definitely saw more accuracy in slow fire beyond 25 yards. When I shot faster or at shorter range, groups were slightly smaller but probably not enough to matter. Whether that’s enough to warrant the price of the barrel is a personal matter, but the benefits of a better-than-stock barrel add up over time.
I did not chronograph loads in each barrel. The differences would have been the differences between individual barrels, not between all Wilson barrels and all factory G17 barrels.
LAV mag catch
This part is so well known that I can’t say anything about its quality or utility. It’s a bit too short for me—I prefer a factory extended mag catch that’s been shortened slightly and de-horned—but that has to do with my right thumb and nothing else. If it works for you, get it.
Glock extended slide stop
On the first day, I rode this slide stop with my thumb, which kept the slide from locking open, so I switched back to the stock part. Also, since this is a Gen2 gun with a 2-pin frame, it needs the slide stop with the little shark-fin thing that went away when the third pin came along. Again, this is a personal matter, not a flaw in the part itself.
Sights
The rear sight is a Dawson Precision adjustable, which is very well made. I haven’t dropped it on pavement yet, but it’s probably just a matter of time until I do, and I’ll report back on durability at that point. That said, around the 1,900 round mark, which included two IDPA events, a lot of holster work, and some daily carry, the rear sight slide came slightly loose. Over the last 40 years, this has happened to me on every gun with adjustable sights that I’ve ever carried or used much in the field. A liberal application of blue LocTite to the sight body clears it up overnight, which is what I did in this case.
Click adjustments are positive and crisp. It took less than 20 rounds to center the POI and get elevation close at 10 yards. Then I fired a quick 10-shot group that held the 10-ring at 25 yards. Then I fired several 50-yard groups to tweak windage and elevation. This took maybe 20 minutes, and I shot less than 50 rounds. That beats the hell out of spending an afternoon with a sight press, a file, and a bunch of front sight blades.
There are a couple of less than desirable features about this sight. I ordered my gun with a 0.125” tritium front sight blade. The rear notch is a little too tight for a this blade. Glock factory night sights give a tighter sight picture than I prefer, and the sight picture with this setup is even tighter than that. Unfortunately, it looks pretty hard to open up the notch because of the rear sight blade’s thickness.
Also, TigerSwan talks about how you can rack the slide with one hand using this sight. You can, but the front of the rear sight body is only 0.20” tall. The front of a Trijicon HD rear sight body is 0.23” tall, so the Dawson offers slightly less surface for one-handed racking.
Overall Impressions
The TigerSwan G17 is not a fine work of art carved from raw steel like a Hagn single-shot rifle. Nor is it a gorgeous recrafting of an existing arm like a Bowen revolver. It’s an assemblage of thoughtfully chosen parts, and except for fitting the barrel, anyone can hang the same parts on their G17 that TigerSwan did on mine.
Each of these parts has a fine pedigree. For me, the draws were the Wilson barrel, the 3.5# connector, and the Dawson sights. The other parts were not well-suited to the way I shoot, but they do very well for others. You can always order the gun without the parts you don’t like, and I will next time.
Custom gunsmithing is always a mixed bag. You pay, often dearly, to change how a firearm behaves, which nearly always makes it less valuable to anyone else. And the more you invest, the lower the percentage of that investment you’ll get back if you sell the gun.
The pistol cost me $389.00. TigerSwan’s work cost $377.94 (essentially the cost of the parts) for a total of $766.94 plus tax and shipping. On one hand you could say that I’ve paid for an HK and gotten a Glock. On the other, you could say that I have HK accuracy with cheap magazines, easy maintenance, and a wide range of holsters and other gear, plus Glock’s logistical tail and customer service. And if I need to sell this pistol, I can easily return it to stock condition and resell the custom parts to recoup some of my investment.
Would I buy another one? Yes. The accuracy is nice but I’m not sure that it matters as much as I once thought. I definitely appreciate the ease of zeroing. Most important is the ability to get a precise zero, which has driven me nuts with fixed sights on Glocks for the last year or so. (In my experience, different loads shoot to different places in the same pistol, and the shift isn’t just in elevation. Being able to zero quickly and easily is HUGE.) I’ve carried it concealed for several weeks now, so I trust its reliability, but the rear sight has chewed holes in a couple of my shirts. I’d definitely like to have a G21SF with these mods for hunting deer in the thick brush that we have in western Washington. I’ve killed several with revolvers, and I’d like to try it with a street gun.
Let me know if you have questions.
Okie John
I’ve always felt that I should be getting better accuracy from my Glocks, I’ve read good things about (some) aftermarket barrels, and I had an extra late Gen2 G17 lying around, so after a brief email exchange, I sent it to TigerSwan for the full treatment, plus a tritium front sight blade. When it came back it had
• Unpolished Scherer 3.5# connector
• Fitted Wilson match barrel
• LAV slide catch
• Glock extended slide stop
• Dawson Precision adjustable rear sight
• Tritium-filled front sight, .125” wide
Along with the new parts, TigerSwan returned all of the stock parts. This is unusual in my experience—most gunsmiths insist on keeping the old parts to offset the cost of work.
The 2,000 Round Challenge
I was worried that the pistol might not be as reliable with a match barrel, so I shot the 2,000 Round Challenge. The slide failed to lock back a few times the first day because I was riding the Glock extended slide stop with my thumb. I tend to do this even with a stock Glock slide stop but it’s worse with an extended one, so I reinstalled the standard slide stop that afternoon and the problem went away. The TSG17 finished the 2,000 Round Challenge with no other issues. This included shooting the IDPA classifier and an IDPA match, plus a lot of work from the holster on El Presidente, Mozambiques, training on parts of the IDPA classifier, Bill Drills, and general goofing around.
After I zeroed the pistol, I shot groups at 25 and 50 yards with S&B 115-grain ammo to get used to it. A few days later, I confirmed my 50-yard POI and tested the Wilson barrel against the factory barrel at 25 and 50 yards. Groups from the Wilson barrel were about 1/3 smaller. Once I was sure of my POI at 25 and 50 yards, I started testing at 100. The front sight blade is slightly narrower than an IPSC target at that range, so I held to see an even amount of target on each side and the top.
I started with a 15-shot group, slow fire, offhand. One shot missed the target entirely, but the other 14 fell into a round group with a 15.5” extreme spread. I also fired a 10-shot group, again dropping one off the paper, but got a group with an 13.125” extreme spread. About 60% of the hits in each group were out to the right, probably because of wind. Both groups were round as opposed to being strung vertically. POI was about 7” below POA, and groups were roughly centered for elevation on the A-zone.
Accuracy and POI Tests
I tested the TSG17’s factory barrel against the Wilson barrel at 50 yards. I fired a 10-shot string, then switched barrels, then repeated this twice for each barrel. The Wilson barrel put all 30 shots into a group at 50 yards with a 9” extreme spread. The group from the factory barrel was 3.25” lower than the group from the Wilson barrel. I missed the target once, but the remaining 29 shots went into a 14” group. Both barrels made groups that were basically round, with evenly dispersed shots. Again, all shooting was offhand, slow fire.
Notes on Parts
Scherer 3.5# connector
Unpolished. I would have preferred OEM, but it seems to work.
Wilson match barrel
I definitely saw more accuracy in slow fire beyond 25 yards. When I shot faster or at shorter range, groups were slightly smaller but probably not enough to matter. Whether that’s enough to warrant the price of the barrel is a personal matter, but the benefits of a better-than-stock barrel add up over time.
I did not chronograph loads in each barrel. The differences would have been the differences between individual barrels, not between all Wilson barrels and all factory G17 barrels.
LAV mag catch
This part is so well known that I can’t say anything about its quality or utility. It’s a bit too short for me—I prefer a factory extended mag catch that’s been shortened slightly and de-horned—but that has to do with my right thumb and nothing else. If it works for you, get it.
Glock extended slide stop
On the first day, I rode this slide stop with my thumb, which kept the slide from locking open, so I switched back to the stock part. Also, since this is a Gen2 gun with a 2-pin frame, it needs the slide stop with the little shark-fin thing that went away when the third pin came along. Again, this is a personal matter, not a flaw in the part itself.
Sights
The rear sight is a Dawson Precision adjustable, which is very well made. I haven’t dropped it on pavement yet, but it’s probably just a matter of time until I do, and I’ll report back on durability at that point. That said, around the 1,900 round mark, which included two IDPA events, a lot of holster work, and some daily carry, the rear sight slide came slightly loose. Over the last 40 years, this has happened to me on every gun with adjustable sights that I’ve ever carried or used much in the field. A liberal application of blue LocTite to the sight body clears it up overnight, which is what I did in this case.
Click adjustments are positive and crisp. It took less than 20 rounds to center the POI and get elevation close at 10 yards. Then I fired a quick 10-shot group that held the 10-ring at 25 yards. Then I fired several 50-yard groups to tweak windage and elevation. This took maybe 20 minutes, and I shot less than 50 rounds. That beats the hell out of spending an afternoon with a sight press, a file, and a bunch of front sight blades.
There are a couple of less than desirable features about this sight. I ordered my gun with a 0.125” tritium front sight blade. The rear notch is a little too tight for a this blade. Glock factory night sights give a tighter sight picture than I prefer, and the sight picture with this setup is even tighter than that. Unfortunately, it looks pretty hard to open up the notch because of the rear sight blade’s thickness.
Also, TigerSwan talks about how you can rack the slide with one hand using this sight. You can, but the front of the rear sight body is only 0.20” tall. The front of a Trijicon HD rear sight body is 0.23” tall, so the Dawson offers slightly less surface for one-handed racking.
Overall Impressions
The TigerSwan G17 is not a fine work of art carved from raw steel like a Hagn single-shot rifle. Nor is it a gorgeous recrafting of an existing arm like a Bowen revolver. It’s an assemblage of thoughtfully chosen parts, and except for fitting the barrel, anyone can hang the same parts on their G17 that TigerSwan did on mine.
Each of these parts has a fine pedigree. For me, the draws were the Wilson barrel, the 3.5# connector, and the Dawson sights. The other parts were not well-suited to the way I shoot, but they do very well for others. You can always order the gun without the parts you don’t like, and I will next time.
Custom gunsmithing is always a mixed bag. You pay, often dearly, to change how a firearm behaves, which nearly always makes it less valuable to anyone else. And the more you invest, the lower the percentage of that investment you’ll get back if you sell the gun.
The pistol cost me $389.00. TigerSwan’s work cost $377.94 (essentially the cost of the parts) for a total of $766.94 plus tax and shipping. On one hand you could say that I’ve paid for an HK and gotten a Glock. On the other, you could say that I have HK accuracy with cheap magazines, easy maintenance, and a wide range of holsters and other gear, plus Glock’s logistical tail and customer service. And if I need to sell this pistol, I can easily return it to stock condition and resell the custom parts to recoup some of my investment.
Would I buy another one? Yes. The accuracy is nice but I’m not sure that it matters as much as I once thought. I definitely appreciate the ease of zeroing. Most important is the ability to get a precise zero, which has driven me nuts with fixed sights on Glocks for the last year or so. (In my experience, different loads shoot to different places in the same pistol, and the shift isn’t just in elevation. Being able to zero quickly and easily is HUGE.) I’ve carried it concealed for several weeks now, so I trust its reliability, but the rear sight has chewed holes in a couple of my shirts. I’d definitely like to have a G21SF with these mods for hunting deer in the thick brush that we have in western Washington. I’ve killed several with revolvers, and I’d like to try it with a street gun.
Let me know if you have questions.
Okie John