My Fab Defense KPOS for Glock Review Part One

My experience with the Airsoft EMA Roni Carbine Conversion Kit for Glocks was so positive, that I went out and bought the Fab Defense KPOS Carbine Conversion Kit for my Glock 23. Going to get rid of my other firearms, and am ready to go Glock-crazy.

There were two things that convinced me to by the KPOS instead the Roni; First is that the clearance of the KPOS over the ejection port of the Glock was much wider and lower than that of the Roni. This means less or none of the stovepiping issues I found with the Airsoft Roni.

Second was the fact that the muzzle tube of the KPOS is much bigger and allows for more room for the muzzle blast of expand, unlike the much more enclosed space of the Airsoft Roni's muzzle tube, which resulted in flame damage to the muzzle of my Glock's slide.

This picture shows the kit's clearance over the ejection well

This pic shows the muzzle clearance to the pistol

I bought the unit for P32k at Armscor, and it came with the following items:
- Large, black polymer case with gray foam lining;
- Carbine conversion unit;
- Special rear back plate for use with the KPOS;
- Tool for rear plate removal;
- Manual;
- Under the arm sling;

EMA Airsoft Roni Review for Glocks Part One

I was able to buy an Airsoft EMA Roni Carbine Conversion Kit for my Glock 23. Price has risen since a couple of months ago to Php 8.5k for one with markings, and Php 7.5k for one without markings.

'Physical Appearance'
Finish is not so good, the color is a bit flat, and there are tool markings on some areas. My Glock 23 fit well into the unit, but some adjustment was needed to push the muzzle tube in so it will be closer to the muzzle of my unit. The muzzle tube is held in place by a screw at the bottom that can be tightened or loosened to adjust the muzzle tube's position. Overall fit to the unit is good, but there is a slight gap on the bottom behind the grip.

The whole thing smells like the plastic inside a new car, so I imagine it is made of the same or similar material. I found that wiping the whole unit with tissue paper thoroughly removed much of that smell.

Airsoft Carbine Kit Conversion Options for Real Glocks

I finally made the jump, and bought an Airsoft EMA Roni Carbine Conversion Kit for my Glock 23. Before I make the review with pics, I would just like to discuss all the airsoft options for the Carbine conversion of Glock pistols as I learned. Take note that all of this was gathered thru informal conversations with the sellers on my way to getting my Airsoft Roni.

I will not be naming the stores or place where I learned these things, first because I am not sure if they will agree to it as I did not ask their permission to reveal these information. Second is I am not sure of the legality of some of these conversions, I think it is sort of a gray area.

I will be discussing options for the Glock, but will spare a paragraph for the 1911 conversion that I saw.

'Main Options for Glocks'
There are about four airsoft options available for converting Glocks into carbines, and these are the Hera-Arms PDW Kit, the Fab Defense KPOS Kit, the EMA Roni Kit, and the Folding Machine Gun Kit.

According to the seller, the Hera Arms Kit was the first kit that was "explored" for use with real guns, and it worked well. The only problem with the Hera Arms Kit, is that it is not as easy to fit your Glock into it, it seems you need to make some permanent changes that will take a bit more time to do. In short, it is not a quick, drop-in conversion like the Roni. I forgot to ask the price for this unit.

My Glock 23 Review Part Three

'Trigger Disassembly'
I wanted to install a New York Trigger on my unit, and to do so I needed to disassemble the Trigger Assembly. To do this, I first needed to remove the three pins on the frame of a typical Glock: The Trigger Pin, the Trigger Housing Pin and the Locking Block Pin. I was able to easily remove both the Locking Block and Trigger Housing Pins with a slight tap with the help of a small nail. However, I had a hard time removing the Trigger Pin. After a couple of hard taps and nothing still happening, I decided to check in the internet as I felt something was wrong. Besides, I didn't want to ruin my Glock just because of something I missed. When in doubt, check the internet.

And true enough, it turns out that you don't need or want to force out that Trigger Pin. The key to removing it, is to sort of move the Slide Stop Lever back and forth while maintaining force against that Trigger Pin. After a couple of wiggling, the Trigger Pin just sort of slid out easily out of the frame. Its an alignment issue, apparently the spring on the Slide Stop Lever sometimes gets caught in the groove of the Trigger Pin:
- http://glocktalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1184726

The internet can really be such a great help, I sometimes wonder how things would've been if it weren't around.

'New York 1 Trigger'
I thought about tinkering with the Glock trigger because I wanted to be able to shoot quickly and accurately with it. I read in some respectable sources that experts say the best trigger job available for the Glock would be a so-called "New York 1 Trigger (NY1)", coupled with a 3.5 lb. Connector. When I saw a NY1 Trigger available locally during the recent Gun Show, I immediately bought it as a first step of finding that "ideal" trigger.

The standard, Out of the Box trigger for a Glock 23 is a light slack, followed by a heavy, squishy break, or something like, "light-light-heavier-heavier squishy-break". What the NY1 Trigger does, is make that light slack heavier, or something like, "heavy-heavy-heavier-even heavier squishy-break". It makes the Glock trigger a little bit safer because of that heavier trigger slack pull.

My Glock 23 Review Part Two

'Stiff Magazine Spring'
Of the two magazines that came with the unit, I had no problem loading on one with all 14 rounds (both had +2 magazine basepads). The other magazine, however, would only load up to 12 rounds, and no more. I figured something could be wrong internally in the magazine, so I disassembled it. I couldn't find anything wrong with it, though, so I re-assembled it again.

After re-assembly, there was a slight improvement in that the magazine would now load 13 rounds, but I had trouble loading the last round. I decided to just let the magazine stay loaded with 13 rounds for a couple of days, allow the spring to soften up a little, and maybe I would be able to load all 14 rounds later.

After two days, I tried to load the 14th round, but it still wouldn't go in. I finally disassembled the magazine, then separated all the parts individually. Again, couldn't find anything wrong, so I re-assembled the magazine, then tried loading the magazine again. The 14th round finally was able to fit into the magazine, but only after a lot of pushing and handling.

Left it again for a couple of days, then removed the rounds, and put them back in again. I was able to load the 14th round, though still with a bit of difficulty. I don't know what happened with this particular magazine, probably some tolerance or fit issues as the other magazine was working fine.

'Disassembly and Trigger'
It turns out that all that was needed to be able to consistently and quickly disassemble the gun was a lot of practice. After disassembling/assembling the gun again and again, I can now do it on the first attempt. One thing good about disassembling/assembling the Glock, is that you do not have to take out/in any disassembly lever before you can slide out, like on the 1911 or my P250. Its so simple: Nothing to take out/in, no loose lever, just slide out, and then slide in. No doubt in my mind that this is the easiest gun to disassemble/assemble that I have tried out so far.

My Glock 23 Review Part One

I've always wanted to own a Glock, ever since I first started hearing about it a lot in the mid 80s. It was relatively new then, the first truly commercially successful "plastic" gun. Considering that before that time, the most successful gun was the M1911 family of automatic pistols, which by then was already 70 years old.

The polymer frame, and the relatively new trigger system was just so different, so high-tech. Even more impressive was that its success, as it was then slowly being adopted by more and more law enforcement and military agencies all around the world.

When I finally could afford one a couple of years ago, the supply of the pistol to the Philippines suddenly dried up, when the company decided to stop distribution of the unit in the country due to some controversy over some of the guns bought here ending up in Japan. So I had to wait a couple more years to finally get one, when the gun became available again.

Its a Glock 23, in .40 S & W, with what looks like a 3rd Generation frma. The licensing and release of the gun was an adventure in itself, one that I will relate later. For now, however, I am just going to review the gun first.

'First Impressions'
I'm impressed with the gun box that comes with it. It square with highly rounded edges, and has the company name "Glock" in big letters on the front. The unit came with:
- Two magazines;
- A cleaning brush tip;
- Instruction and other manuals in a sealed envelope;
- Magazine Sleeve;