Overall, a good value for the price. The Dagger seems solid for a budget gun. But it still has some caveats you would apply to any PSA product.
Over 500 rounds:
- Front sight came loose in the first 150 rounds
- 1 failure to feed magazine-related issue
- No extraction or ejection issues
I've been wanting to build a Glock clone just to have something that could use the same magazines as my AR-9 - and because they are fun to accessorize. I found that I could buy a complete dagger for less than a Polymer80 AFT kit. I ended up with a black DLC coated Dagger with threaded barrel and suppressor height night sights.
Due to the hump on the grip, the Dagger feels more like a Glock 19 in the hand than the straight backstrp on a Polymer80. I think I would prefer the straight grip and will pick up a Poly80 frame to try at some point. The grip texture on the Dagger is sand paper-like and comfortable.
There is also one finger groove on the front of the grip. Finger grooves either fit your hand or they don’t. The single finger groove is good for a consistent grip but the trend is away from finger grooves and PSA should have left this one off.
The Glocks and the Dagger are a little large for my hands so I replaced the magazine release with a Ghost Lo-Pro which required a little sanding to fit. The Ghost release doesn't stick out too far from the frame which is good because there is a scallop cut out for the release. It also extends back which makes it easier for me to reach. I also installed a Vickers Tactical slide release.
The trigger is surprisingly good for a Gen 3 Glock in that is was smooth and without a lot of creep. Just what you would expect for a broken in Gen 3 trigger. The hinged trigger doesn't bother me but that will probably be the next thing I replace anyway.
The sights are so-so. The tritium is not as bright as on my Trijicon, Night Fision, or Ameriglo sights but it's adequate. The u-notch in the rear sight is a little small. They seem to be regulated for 25 yards but I've been consistently shooting low with them even with a combat sight picture.
Before the first shooting session I lubed the gun with Lucas Oil Extreme Duty Gun Oil with the intention of doing a PF 2,000 round challenge type of test. For the test you clean and lube the gun and then run it for 2,000 rounds without any additional cleaning or lube. So far I have hit 500 rounds with the following issues - 1 of which was the gun.
1 Failure of the trigger to reset
As part of installing the Vickers slide release I went ahead and polished the trigger parts. However, when I put the pistol back together, the trigger return spring slipped to the side of the trigger cruciform and was dragging. During the first shooting session this caused one failure of the trigger to reset. After I reinstalled the spring there haven't been any more issues.
1 failure to feed from a Magpul 21 round magazine with an extra power spring
Two coils of the spring had ridden over each other and bound up. I replaced the extra power ISMI spring with the original MagPul spring and haven't had any further issues.
The fron sight came loose during the first shooting session
Front sight came loose during first 150 rounds. Could have been due to banging into the bench to clear an oversized reload but did not appear to have any thread locker on the screw.
So far I've made it through 500 rounds. 125 S&B 115 gr. factory FMJ and the rest assorted FMJ and HP reloads including 147 gr. Speer G2 and 115 gr. Sig V-Crown bullets. I've used Magpul 15 and 21 round magazines, Glock 17 and 24 round magazines. The pistol has fed and fired everything with no isses - except the one magazine related failure.
I haven't shot off a rest for groups but accuracy seems in line with what I can do with iron sights. Handling is pretty Glockish as you would expect.
Some have noted the finish on their Dagger wearing quickly. The wear on my slide seems normal but the wear on the barrel may be a little accelerated but not extreme.
The Dagger doesn’t fit in Glock holsters but it does fit in my M&P holsters. The extremely tall sights gouge the sight channel in my BladeTech holsters but it fits in an old Safariland without issue.
