View Full Version : The Unity Tactical ATOM Slide
Surprised there isn't a dedicated thread to this yet. A few months ago I started considering one but there really isn't a ton of info out there on them. Within the last few weeks several retailers have gotten some in and I finally got one so I figured I'd post some initial thoughts here.
The good:
1. Very aesthetically pleasing, better than most custom Glocks in my opinion because the front serrations not only match the rear, but also aren't awkwardly surrounding the G19 Gen 4 branding. The FDE is also very sharp and closely matches my X300U.
2. Glock channel liner comes installed (a plus that I recommended they included on their sight because I expected to have to install one) and everything else was the simple drop in that it should be.
3. The price isn't cheap, especially compared to an MOS, but it is very competitive with custom milling and refinishing. Plus it has the all the benefits of a second slide. This one will be my fauxland special and my factory slide is an easy swap. This is especially important for those of us in commie states that make it harder to just get a whole new gun.
4. Customer service was responsive and very helpful (on the second attempt to contact). My email was passed along to someone a little higher in the company and he offered to go beyond what I'd expect in CS. Note that me reaching out to them was not really a product issue. The Vortex Venom and Viper are stated to have the same lug pattern as the DR. I assumed that meant same dimensions. After a few weeks, I had tried both Vortex dots (huge shout out to Vortex CS here) on the DR/FFII mounting plate and realized that neither would work. In the same conversation mentioned when discussing the channel liner from number 2, I also suggested they edit the description of the DR plate to specify it doesn't work with either Vortex dot, which they did. Apparently a specific plate for those is on the way soon, as it has been heavily requested.
4. The versatility of the ATOM system itself, but that leads us to the bad...
The bad:
1. They don't advertise it as such, but it seems that Unity Tactical expects the need for the end user to fit the optic plate to his slide. This wouldn't be a huge deal to me, if I had known that going in. The instruction card that it comes with notes that each plate will likely have to sanded down slightly. Again, wouldn't be as bad if I had known that but after months of looking, waiting, and trying but failing to get various dots to work, I was already pretty frustrated. So once I finally had my Deltapoint Pro and the corresponding adaptor plate, I sat down with a few beers and went to work. It had already been a long day at work and the frustration and alcohol didn't help, so after maybe two swipes on each side of the plate with very fine sandpaper, I took a nylon hammer to it. While extremely secure, its not going to be super easy to remove.
2. It comes with BUIS, but of course not all optics sit the same. The slide may be universal because of the different plates, but the BUIS are not. I can barely see them through my DP Pro. Again, maybe mention in the website description which optics they work best with. Even with the DP rear iron sight addition, I don't think the front sight is high enough to have any type of co-witness.
3. Closely related to number 2, the front sight is crooked. I'm not even going to discuss that further.
4. Maybe it's the finish, but it appears that the slide is just slightly wider than a stock Glock slide because it really doesn't like my preferred holster, the Safariland ALS. The DP is obviously as issue with the DO model and front serrations are known to not play well, but I do believe that the slide as a whole is slightly wider too. Can't confirm this one though since I don't have calipers.
Overall, I'm torn with how I feel about it. It looks damn good, but it has been a significant pain in the ass to make work. And I still need to straighten the front sight and figure out how to get some type of cowitness. The biggest benefit is that it is a separate slide, so I can switch back to my stock slide in a few seconds. If Glock releases an MOS version of their FS model though, I'm not sure how relevant this thing will be.
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Nice review - a shooter at SF has been using one on a 17 and now 19 for awhile.
http://sigforum.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/430601935/m/6950043004/p/1
The DP Pro is too tall to be used with most types of sights when mounted on a pistol. I see it as the downfall of the sight.
I have considered trying this slide with a RMR, but I just don't want to shell out $1200+ to do it.
ETA - alcohol and gunsmiffing don't mix well.
Yeah I didn't get my hopes up about the BUIS working with the DP Pro. I knew that one going in, but it had a lot of potential strengths over the RMR including a better price so I figured I'd try it. I just don't see the RMR being worth its price and as this was my first go with a pistol red dot, I didn't want to dump a ton of money into the dot itself. Going with a cheaper sight was part of the reason I wanted the ATOM in the first place. I did order the Ameriglo stupid tall sights, hopefully I can get a decent cowitness with them and ditch the DP rear iron.
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I like the ATOM mounting system better than the MOS. FYI Mark Housel at L&M Precision now cuts factory slides for the ATOM stayed in addition to custom milling.
I have a 17MOS with a DP Pro. I like the optic much better than the RMR but it sits high. Dawson makes BUIS which will clear the DP Pro on the MOS - they are the MOS BUIS listed for "C-More" height.
I have my Gen 3 19 at L&M right now having him cut it for the ATOM system and RMR mounting plate. This will me my first trip into the RMR pistol world.
Good review. Something you did not mention, and I experienced on my Gen 4 Atom slide, was it shucked the brass out vigorously, by Glock standards.
Good review. Something you did not mention, and I experienced on my Gen 4 Atom slide, was it shucked the brass out vigorously, by Glock standards.
Not sure how much this would be due to the slide since it comes stripped.
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Not sure how much this would be due to the slide since it comes stripped.
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Didn't Randy Lee, discuss at length circa 2011, right here on M4, how the Glock slide design contributes to problems with ejection/extraction?
He was talking about lowering the ejection port. Does this slide do that?
And he discussed extractor designs over the years that are not a factor anymore.
He was talking about lowering the ejection port. Does this slide do that?
And he discussed extractor designs over the years that are not a factor anymore.
Not sure. I do know this -- I took a complete Gen 4 17, pulled the guts out of the top end, installed those same parts in the Atom Gen 4 17 slide, installed it on the same OEM lower, and it hucks the brass out much more vigorously than the same parts installed in the OEM slide. Also, my wife has an Atom Gen 3 19 slide with a T1, and that flings the brass out vigorously. Just two data points, but good ones in my experience.
It's not on their website but I'm pretty sure I saw it somewhere that they did incorporate a lowered port. I was saying more that since you have to provide all of the internals, some people may have different results there.
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Just got my Gen 3 19 back from Mark at L&M and very impressed with the Atom mount system. Hoping to put some rounds through it tonight and post some pictures.
Just got my Gen 3 19 back from Mark at L&M and very impressed with the Atom mount system. Hoping to put some rounds through it tonight and post some pictures.
Did you have to fit the plate to the slide at all?
This is where mine stands for now. Finally fully useable.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170527/316add1ba93a44264f052e40761c6198.jpg
I'm not crazy about the Leupold rear iron but it's about the only option. AmeriGlo makes the tallest irons I've found and they're still barely visible, so this is what I'm left with. And either the Unity dovetail is different or I was sent the wrong sights because the rear iron was cut for a much deeper dovetail.
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I think it's the nature of the DP Pro. It's pretty well documented to sit much higher than an rmr. Here's what's needed to cowitness with a DP Pro with even a deep slide cut. Dawson has custom height sights as seen here. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170528/0f46338b331e5e75a6b475d8aa3323a5.jpg
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Did you have to fit the plate to the slide at all?
This is where mine stands for now. Finally fully useable.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170527/316add1ba93a44264f052e40761c6198.jpg
I'm not crazy about the Leupold rear iron but it's about the only option. AmeriGlo makes the tallest irons I've found and they're still barely visible, so this is what I'm left with. And either the Unity dovetail is different or I was sent the wrong sights because the rear iron was cut for a much deeper dovetail.
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Yes, i sent in my RMR and he fitted it to the plate and I am using Ameriglo Suppressor Sights
Here is picture how it turned out
45766
Weird thing happened today. I bought another 6354DO for use with a different Glock and it works with the ATOM slide. The only issue is that the wings for the red dot are too narrow for the DP Pro, but no issues with the slide in the holster at all. I guess this is the recent manufacturing version that there are rumors of but my last holster made in Feb was not. Didn't see a manufacturing date on this one.
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WickedWillis
11-03-17, 17:26
So did you guys get all the issues worked out and can confidently say this is a reliable system?
So did you guys get all the issues worked out and can confidently say this is a reliable system?
I can. I’ve had mine listed to sell for a little while, but that is only because of the holster compatibility issue with the 6354DO, which later turned out to be a non-issue with the newer versions. If I had known that before sending my stock slide to ATEi, I wouldn’t have bothered and would just be keeping the ATOM slide. As long as it is understood that the plates require some fitting, I think it is a solid system.
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WickedWillis
11-06-17, 12:02
I can. I’ve had mine listed to sell for a little while, but that is only because of the holster compatibility issue with the 6354DO, which later turned out to be a non-issue with the newer versions. If I had known that before sending my stock slide to ATEi, I wouldn’t have bothered and would just be keeping the ATOM slide. As long as it is understood that the plates require some fitting, I think it is a solid system.
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Your slide for sale is actually what promoted me to ask, Wake lol. I love the ability to swap out optics if something new pops up in the future.
I’m actually pretty surprised that it’s still for sale. Makes me think I should’ve listed my milled slide instead. The only thing that I’d say the milled slide has going for it is the serrations. I like Doug’s slightly better, but that doesn’t really mean much because I use the RMR to rack the slide anyways. I also think the ATOM actually may have worked better in my 6354DO because of the irons being in front. I had to mod the holster a little around the milled slide with irons rear. Either way I think they’re both good options and ideally I’d keep both but I have a lot of other things to put the money toward before a third Glock slide for one frame.
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WickedWillis
11-06-17, 16:48
I’m actually pretty surprised that it’s still for sale. Makes me think I should’ve listed my milled slide instead. The only thing that I’d say the milled slide has going for it is the serrations. I like Doug’s slightly better, but that doesn’t really mean much because I use the RMR to rack the slide anyways. I also think the ATOM actually may have worked better in my 6354DO because of the irons being in front. I had to mod the holster a little around the milled slide with irons rear. Either way I think they’re both good options and ideally I’d keep both but I have a lot of other things to put the money toward before a third Glock slide for one frame.
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I had L&M do the mill on my G17 and I'm very happy with it. I have more than one G19 Gen 4's however, so I wanted to be able to possibly put the slide on one of them depending on what I had going on. I would be using it with the 6354DO as well, but with RMR's for now.
I had L&M do the mill on my G17 and I'm very happy with it. I have more than one G19 Gen 4's however, so I wanted to be able to possibly put the slide on one of them depending on what I had going on. I would be using it with the 6354DO as well, but with RMR's for now.
Oh gotcha, then you’re well aware of the system. As long as the holster is newer or you don’t mind modifying it a little bit, it’s a solid setup. I do think the RMR is superior to the DPP.
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Personally I think the Leupold DPP sight site too high on any handgun, esp compared to the RMR.
Personally I think the Leupold DPP sight site too high on any handgun, esp compared to the RMR.
Yeah I would tend to agree. It can work, but I've found that I prefer the RMR. I will say that I had absolutely no issues ever finding the dot in that huge window though.
Another brief update. After having my slide listed to sell for many weeks, I've decided to keep it instead of losing over $100 on it. One of my biggest concerns was the removal of the optic plate since it was such a PITA to install, but I'm amazed at how easy it was to tap out. I threw it in the vise and put a flat head on one of the recoil bosses. Alternating every 2-3 taps it slid right out, probably hit it no more than 10 times and I was pretty gentle. I thought for sure that the recoil bosses would be damaged enough that they wouldn't function but that's definitely not the case. The ATOM slide will get paired with an RMR and KKM barrel and comp while my ATEi slide will serve as my stock-ish Glock setup.
So I want to make sure I understood this correctly. The ATOM slide worked without (or with very minimal) modifications to your 6354DO holster? Any idea how it will work with the newer 6360RDS holster? I was really hoping to purchase an ATOM slide for a G17 then use it along with my RMR for duty use but was under the impression that the ATOM was not compatible with the ALS system
there is an als holster specifically made with the irons in front of the RMR, no light though:
https://holsterops.com/collections/optic-sight-holsters/products/als-p2-optic-sight-holster
So I want to make sure I understood this correctly. The ATOM slide worked without (or with very minimal) modifications to your 6354DO holster? Any idea how it will work with the newer 6360RDS holster? I was really hoping to purchase an ATOM slide for a G17 then use it along with my RMR for duty use but was under the impression that the ATOM was not compatible with the ALS system
I think I was mistaken. I don’t have the RMR at the moment but my 6354DO won’t work with the ATOM slide without modification. When I posted a while ago saying that my new one worked with the DP Pro, it must have been after removing the rear ATOM iron sight that sits in front of the optic. Not sure how I didn’t realize that, but there’s no way the slide will seat and lock into the ALS system with that rear iron in place. I already took a dremel to it though so I’m going to keep working it as this is apparently fairly common. No experience with the newer RDS holsters, but I think I was reading somewhere that the ALS system on them really wasn’t playing well with the ATOM’s chamfered corners.
ETA - so I just made it work. I have a Dremel 7300 I think, which is a very basic, low cost model. A few minutes with it and I easily removed the first corners of the ALS system that was interfering with the forward mounted iron sight. I had to remove a fair amount from that first section of it to allow the gun to fully seat into the holster and lock into the ALS system, but there is still enough material to lock it in securely. The good news is that unlike most other people that do this, I did it without disassembling the holster so it was super easy. Apparently that part can be a pain in the ass. It’s not pretty, but it’s inside the holster so who cares.
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I also just got an RMR plate for the ATOM slide. Probably less than two minutes from start to finish and the plate fit the slide very well. That time includes checking for fit so I did very minimal fitting. It seemed like I barely did more than remove the finish and the fit between the plate and slide is just about perfect. That was my biggest initial complaint with this system. Had I known that it would require fitting up front and had even a cheap dremel on hand, I would’ve had a very different initial impression. I’m really glad that I didn’t sell this slide. Now I’m just waiting on my RMR to come back from Trijicon.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171202/cd7f20cc614dcd1bf6bfc73466d5b15b.jpg
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I’ve been dealing with the ATOM slide and the Safariland 6384RDS for a few days. In my conversations with Unity and Safariland, they won’t interface properly and the ALS lock will either require a modification or you will need a shorter rear sight. The ATOM rear sight height is .421 and the ALS lock is designed to accommodate sights up to .400 tall.
I hope this helps.
Brian
Wake-have you continued to run the ATOM set-up? How has it held zero, etc...?
Wake-have you continued to run the ATOM set-up? How has it held zero, etc...?
I sold it not long after this thread and replaced it with a milled slide from ATEi, which I am much happier with. I got the generic RMR cut so that it would fit other RMRs if they came out later (this was right around the time of the type 2s coming out) and it’s worked perfectly. It also helped me to realize that I strongly prefer rear irons behind the optic, unlike the ATOM.
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Much appreciated. I'm going to dip my toes into RDS equipped pistols by trying a dovetail adapter, even though I'm told the adapter loosens up and becomes worthless after a few cases of ammo. If I can't figure it out in 2k rounds, it might not be for me.
Fire 4 Effect out of El Paso is offering the ATOM cut now for those who are interested.
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