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By Paul K.

**Warning** the following article may contain sarcasm. If you are a GLOCK fan boy, or have be running GLOCKs since before I was born, then please scroll right to the comments and comments flaming. Reader discretion is advised.

If you own a GLOCK and you are thinking about modifying or upgrading the frame in any way, STOP. Don’t waste one cent or minute of your time trying to “perfect perfection” and just do it right the first time. Head over to LoneWolfDistributors.com and buy a Timberwolf frame, and you’ll never look back . . .

Before you ask, “Why would I spend $200 on a new frame that has to be registered as a handgun?” or “But that’s 40% of the cost of another GLOCK!” let me just remind you where you messed up in the first place. You decided to buy a Block. That’s right, rather than taking the time to shop around a few gun stores, or check out the wares at a local gun show, you marched straight in and said, “GLOCK please”.

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Now I don’t have to tell you there were plenty of other options out there just as reliable and more ergonomic than a GLOCK pistol, because you know that by now. You’ve already found all the other guns that might have been a better buy while you spent hours googling all of the GLOCK mods available on the market. Now you are telling you self, “It’s ok, just a little stipple job won’t hurt or change much. If I just add a beaver tail grip it will still be a GLOCK”, or “If I only sand off those finger groves, it would just be like a gen 2”. The next thing you know, you’ve got your soldering iron and dremel out and you’ve melted the shit out of your GLOCK frame. Or worse, you sent it off and PAID for someone else to do it.

While it may seem harsh, I think you know it’s true. My point is really this, if you don’t like the grip of a  certain polymer pistol in the year 2016, then don’t buy that pistol. There are a ton of other pistol options that will fit your hand better and are just as reliable as whatever gun you are looking at. Just because GLOCK has been around longer, does not mean the other hand guns are not as capable or more comfortable.

Oh, you’re still here? then you are either scrolling down to the comment section to flame me or you hate GLOCKs and like where this is going.

However, you might be like me. You might have several hand guns and just like to own and carry guns of all types. Maybe you have avoided GLOCKs for a decade and finally decided to break down and buy what is probably the world’s most popular pistol? Maybe you wanted a small, light weight pistol capable of carrying 15 rounds in a magazine that had the smallest overall dimensions and lowest bore axis of all of its competitors?  Then, after you brought your new toy home and opened the safe to let your other heaters meet the new family member, you realized just how different the GLOCK grip angle was.

You found out that when you brought up all of you other pistols to the ready, the sights were pretty much aligned with the target. But when you brought the GLOCK sights up you were way over the target. When you might carry a Kahr K9 one day and a P226 another (depending on the weather), you realize it might be beneficial for all of your pistols to point naturally for you.

Whatever the case, you’re here now at a crossroad. You can either go to town and travel down the dark path of bastardization that is trying to remold a polymer frame… or you can just start with a frame is setup how the GLOCK frame should have come from the factory.

Enter the Lone Wolf Distributors Timberwolf frame. This frame comes in 2 sizes, full size and compact. The compact will work for you Gen3 G/19,23,32,38 and the full size works for Gen3 G/17,17L,22,24,31,34,35 and 37. If you don’t see your GLOCK listed above then you are SOL and can go to town with your dremel. Good luck!

Lone Wolf has two options for each of the lowers:  just the frame for $200, or a complete lower with a lone wolf trigger for $250. Unless you currently have a custom trigger in your GLOCK that you will be transferring to the new frame, just buy the complete lower. Especially since it is a registered firearm.

The aluminum Lone Wolf trigger is a step up from the factory plastic GLOCK trigger. The pull is slightly better, but the shape is much improved over the stock trigger. The factory GLOCK trigger is kind of wedge shaped, and puts a lot of pressure over a small surface area on your finger, so the trigger feels heavier than it is. The Lone Wolf trigger is very flat and distributes the pressure evenly making it easy to squeeze smoothly and comfortably.

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The main reason to get this frame is the grip angle. This ditches the “aim at the dirt” grip angle of the factory GLOCK and gives the gun a grip angle similar to a Sig, HK, or 1911. It’s awesome. When you choose which back strap you like better (comes with 2, a flat one and a palm swell) you can instantly see how it compares to most other pistol manufactures. Add in the ugly but extremely functional beaver tail and now this frame is beginning to make sense.

It also comes with an oversized magazine release, similar to the GLOCK Gen 4 magazine release. The finger groves are still there but are much less pronounced so they are not as obtrusive if you don’t like them. Add in the deeper undercut trigger guard, 1913 picatiny rail, and the extended slide release, and you completely understand why it is a fools errand to try and sand paper and add a bunch of crap to a factory GLOCK lower when the Timberwolf solves all of these problems and more.

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My only complaint with this new frame is how it does not offer more traction than the factory Gen 3 frame. I prefer more aggressive grip textures, but that will have to be solved with some grip tape or a bicycle inner tube (works better than a Hogue wrap). That is my only gripe with the Timberwolf frame, but I understand not everyone likes gripping sand paper. So thanks to you soft handed desk jockeys, Lone Wolf has decided to appeal to the masses leaving tier 1 operators to have to resort to $0.50 modifications.

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Now you might be asking, “What am I supposed to do with the factory frame now?”. You’re going to save your pennies and buy yourself a custom Lone Wolf slide and barrel there Chief. Then you can slap that new laser etched or custom milled slide on your new Timberwolf lower and you will have a complete custom anti-GLOCK. Just reassemble your original factory GLOCK and just like that, you’ve justified buying 2 pistols while only having to tell your significant other about 1! Another reason to go with the fully assembled lower.

All trolling aside, the Timberwolf frame makes for a great gun. Its more ergonomic, points more naturally, and has better features than the factory Gen 3 GLOCK frame. And if you have small hands the grip circumference is a lot smaller than factory GLOCKs.

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Yes, I know you can certainly train around the factory GLOCK grip angle, and some people might prefer the factory grip angle. If that is the case, then the Timberwolf frame is not for you. I tend to think the people that really like the GLOCK grip angle are people who have started with, and were trained on GLOCK first. Naturally they think everything else is weird in comparison after that. I just think there is a good reason why a majority of engineers at most firearm manufacturers have gone with a similar, more vertical grip angle. After all, you shouldn’t have to train yourself to overcome a design flaw……Trollz off.

This is why the Timberwolf frame is worth every penny and moves a great gun a lot closer to perfection.

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85 COMMENTS

        • Uhh, nope. The frame is the same in 2017. It takes Gen 3 or 4 trigger and bar. But the Gen 3 bar is preferred(no bump). The TW frame always took the Gen 4 trigger module since the LW frame is a “short” frame like the Gen 4 is. A Gen 3 module will not fit. Never did.
          They LW frame is a true MIX of Gen 4 and Gen 3 characteristics. A hybrid. It works for me. I love mine!
          Locking block is the same AFIK. But the LW locking block is a nicer CNC billet instead of Glock’s cast piece.

          The slide that fits properly is a Gen 3. You CAN use a Gen 4 slide if you want. But there will be a cosmetic (only) difference. I dont know why Gen 4 people say they are being “left out”. Not true.
          see this for more and photos:
          http://www.glocktalk.com/threads/glock-gen-3-gen-4-interchangeability.1435237/

  1. Or just get a Gen4 Glock…. Honestly, the best pistol pistol marksmanship I’ve ever done was with a Gen4 Glock 21. Pointed as naturally as a 1911 (yeah, they made the grip angle a LOT more aggressive with the Gen4), and the grip had plenty of real estate for my large hands.

      • And a heavier, bulkier gun with half the mag capacity. 1911s are nice, but there are much better handguns out there today. And safeties don’t belong on a defensive handgun. I’ve never had an AD despite years of owning and shooting Glocks and other similar pistols.

  2. For some reason I like the little 43. Not enough to buy one, but it fit my hand much better than a 19 ever did. If there were as many conversion barrels for my pistol of choice I’d never give them a second glance, but it’s tempting to have one handgun that can swap to 9mm, 10mm, .40SW, and .357 Sig with drop-in parts.

  3. You guys have this modification plan all backwards. If you are concerned about grip angle being right or stippling to enhance your grip, you need to modify your HAND so that you can grip the Glock perfection as God Himself intended.??

  4. Bought a high capacity Austrian 9mm in 1984 as my first handgun. Still have it, totally reliable and have never regretted the purchase. Hint it WASN’T a fanboy Gluck.

    • Not hard at all yet. Haven’t had it that long. Aside from the grip angle being a little better the trigger is really a lot better than stock. I’ve had not issues yet but have less than 500 rounds. Internals look identical to the glock frame so we will see.

  5. The frame looks really similiar to the new 80% glock lower from polymer80. Then you buy a few parts and a comete upper and bam a wild ghost glock has appeared. Lol if i only was born gifted with mechanical prowess and could do such a thing.

  6. Oh so we’re all gonna fight tonight? Ok then. 9mm is weak and for feminized girly men. Real men use .45 or bigger. Time to join the winning team.

    • Holster options are every G19 holster on the market. It is pretty much identical to the stock frame everywhere except the front of the rail where it is more square than stock. I have a leather kydex holster so if fits with no issues, but a full kydex holster might not “snap” in as well. You would either need a heat gun to heat up the holster at that point and “re-mold” it, or sand the frame down a little. But any leather or hybrid holster will work fine I believe.

  7. Let’s face it, the Glock is a POS. Not a POS like a Jennings. It is a POS like the AK. Cheap, reliable and acceptably accurate. It is a utilitarian piece of plastic that gets the job done so stop buying into the Glock perfection and accept it for what it is. If you want a gun that is not a POS, get a Springfield, SiG, H&K or a 1911.

    • +1. Good comparison. Just like an AK was made for an illiterate peasant, (you can pour sand into the damn things and they keep shooting) glocks are made for people who have little to no experience with accurate fun to shoot guns. That is why they sell big at police departments, gun shows and in less than lawful areas. Glocks (and the 9mm they rode in on) are European junk.

        • Typical Glockster — just doesn’t get it. We aren’t saying Glocks are garbage. We are saying that they are reliable, servicable, and inexpensive. They just are not up to the out of the box quality of many other equally reliable and servicable pistols that don’t need trigger and sight work to satisfy a lot of owners who are using them for self defense.

      • >> Just like an AK was made for an illiterate peasant

        Have you actually read the AK operating guide/manual?

        For that matter, did you know that there is one? Turns out the “illiterate peasants” were expected to be able to read some quite long and complicated words.

        Seriously, this ridiculous picture that some Americans seem to have about USSR circa 40s-50s is, well, ridiculous. There was a lot of bad shit going on under Stalin, but education was set up pretty damn well, even for the peasants. That was one thing that Bolsheviks always took seriously.

        • Right, so the average Russian was smarter than the average American at that time? Have you ever seen (or taken) tests from the American school system pre-1960? Our education back then was second to none. There manual may be complicated but it does not mean they all read or understood it. My guess is like most peasants they learned and were good with their hands. Look the point of the post was that an AK is essentially a bulletproof gun that is cheap to build and lasts as long as the energizer bunny. They are not my idea of a gun that is fun to own and shoot beyond its pure functional spartan bones. Just like a glock.

      • See the thing is I am not the typical Glockster. And yes the comment I replied to did say it was European junk so don’t say he didn’t.

        I own 2 Glocks, they do exactly what I want them to do. For fine, fun shooting, I am a Smith and Wesson revolver guy. But I would never call Glocks junk – there are plenty of low end firearms that qualify.

        I guess it is cool these days to bash Glocks because you like your more refined whatever. I guess it makes you look cool and sophisticated. That’s fine, more power to you and your self-worth. I love my PPQ and its fantastic trigger and ergos but my Glock 19 has a nicer recoil impulse. However, it is bulky so I choose to carry my Ruger SR9c. So obviously I am Glockster? No. I appreciate them for what they are and they are NOT junk. They are fine guns and have done the job for a lot of people.

        In fact, they are so junky the SEALS have been using them for years. And of course, they only use junk.

      • Wait, a poster said European junk, really! Many consider European manufactures top of the line, Hk, Sig, Berretta, CZ, Benelli…..
        I Have respect for what I consider a glock to be, a highly reliable tool that does its job as good as any, but might not be as pretty.

      • Well, he specified 1911 separately (I still think he misspelled “CZ” but leave that aside), so I’m guessing he did mean the XD. Based on what tdi has said in the past (and if I am getting this wrong, tdi, I do apologize), he *really* doesn’t like the complete lack of external safeties on the Glock and finds the XD with a grip safety vastly preferable.

    • Glocks are actually more reliable than all the pistols you mentioned. Yeah, they are ugly, definitely not a POS. Accurate to 100+ meters is more than good enough for a pistol.

  8. Or you could go full BA and get a stainless CCF race frame. 1911 grip angle, no finger grooves, HEAVY checkering on the front strap, and because there’s no plastic really, the trigger pull is ridiculous. Only problem is they don’t make them anymore, so you kinda need to get lucky. I got lucky and put a stainless Caspian slide on it with a comped LW barrel, holy crap talk about a flat shooter.

  9. Thank you for this little nugget. It’s been my issue all along. Learned on revolvers and 1911s. Liked glocks but hated grip angle. Always had to cant the grip forward. Also I have large palms but smallish fingers, so the wide grip was also always a problem. Thanks again.

  10. I got a GLOCK because I actually like it stock.

    If I wanted to spend money to make it different, I’d just buy another gun. And have!

    I enjoyed this writing though. I noticed a lot of adwords links, though, which concerns me. I submitted an article that was very hyperlink heavy, which probably doesn’t play well with the adwords thing.

  11. Absolutely NO excuse for stupid sights, lack of slide serration, insufficient trigger guard undercut, stupid accessory rail, finger grooves that dont fit the same hand after it’s in a glove, a hump on the backstrap for stupid unique-ness, lack of gripping traction, lack of cutouts to rip magazines out, and unattentive trigger quality

    But

    “Now I don’t have to tell you there were plenty of other options out there just as reliable and more ergonomic than a GLOCK pistol, because you know that by now.”

    No, not plenty

    Anyone saying there are, havent spent days rolling in the mud/dirt doing mallninja stuff

    At the risk of being sued, i’d blatantly call out those that failed me in multi-day rifle classes that went with me in a thigh holster: HK45, P220, CZ97, PX4, and STI. Those that didnt: M&P, SVI, and as always, GLOCK. (All are fullsize in 45acp)

    Those i havent mentioned, i havent personally tried that way so i cant say. But a lot of your “alternatives” simply are not as reliable as a Glock in adverse conditions. (For endurance under perfect condition, just about any decent gun will do)

    Let’s leave the 5k SVI-branded 3lb boat anchor out of this. It simply swings way too slow. M&P has some quirkiness i dont like, namely the ambi slide stop. I’m a lefty and i’m spoiled by a clean starboard side of the gun. I could cut it off but i dont really know the long-term implication.

    All the above stupidity of a Glock can be amended by some googling, and a bit of time and cash. No PhD required. For the trigger, just pull it 1000 times to smooth it out a bit. Dont mess with the internals. You never know who made that “factory minus connector”.

    So yeah, despite all kinds of ways a Glock sucks, that’s about my only choice for serious purposes.

    • Perfect. Couldn’t put it any better. I have put maybe $100 into my decade old gen 3 22 which was basically a stainless guide rod and spring, sights and did very light polishing of the trigger and I can hit anything fancy 1911 fella’s can with their $3k-5k guns. Then we swap and they can’t believe a .40 glock shoots that well.

  12. Glock canted their grip more than traditionally common, because of their low bore axis/high grip on the back strap. The trigger, hence trigger finger, is the same distance below the barrel on a Glock, as on any other gun, +- a fraction. So, the higher your rear grip, the more forward canted your hand will be. The sharper angle of the actual magazine carrying protrusion simply follows how your hand is already rotated more downwards. Nothing weird, arbitrary or mystifyingly Gastoinian about it. Just basic ergonomics. Just to rub their eye for “Perfection” in, Glock even moved the trigger pivot to a position in front of the trigger face, so the effective trigger pull direction is on a bit of an upward incline as well.

    Stick a hammer and attendant linkages back there, and the rear of your hand is forced down to the same distance below the bore as your trigger finger, like on a Sig. Then, Sig’s vertical grip makes sense. Which, despite current folklore, is not necessarily a bad thing, as the less forward canted wrist allows for more force and better control to be applied to the trigger during a long, heavier double action pull. Something the revolver makers figured out a century ago, when they realized double action wheelguns benefitted from a more vertical grip than the one on a SAA.. 1911s and CZs are somewhere in the middle, as are Kahrs, since they wanted to emulate 1911 ergonomics, despite not being forced to by a hammer.

    • Raising the beavertail to reduce the leverage is absolutely correct. But whether a hump at the back is needed or not for the forward canted wrist is a personal thing. Doesnt work for me, nor for a lot of other folks. It’s effectively the distance between the pinky and the palm and everyone is different.

      If you read my above comment I’m a huge glocktard, yet all my glocks have the most extreme amount of grip reduction – finger grooves eradicated, butthole filled up and shaved down to the magwell’s rear edge, and cutouts on the sides to aid in ripping the mag now that the butthole is gone. And yeah cross-platform compatibility is a thing too. I’m a 1911 guy for competition and recreation, and i train myself to operate as many guns as possible for the day when SHTF and I no longer have the luxury to target practice with random pickups.

      YMMV

      • The “hump” is really a separate issue from the angle of the grip itself. And much more arbitrary/discretionary. I personally can’t stand the hump, as it feels too bulky, until I start shooting-. Then they help keep the gun from moving around. Those that really, really can’t stand them, tend to prefer the 17/22/31/37, where the hump is moved far enough down to no longer interfere with normal sized hands gripping the gun normally. I do believe the hump, is what makes the 26/27/33/39 so improbably shootable despite their two finger grip. As opposed to other 2 finger grips (even the 42), they don’t squirm around nearly as much, in no small part due to the hand filling hump.

  13. I agree with the Glock / AK analogy. Lone Wolf makes some nice upgrades. I’ve got Glock, Ruger, Smith, and Sig handguns. All have advantages and disadvantages.

  14. After I buy the Timberwolves frame, I might need a new barrel, guide rod, spring and slide to optimize performance.

  15. All kidding aside, Glocks do work. Maybe not with a whole lot of style (though many claim they love the looks), but they do work. There’s a lot of reverse snobbery going on too, with people blinging out their Glocks.

    I think of them as the 1982 Toyota Tercel of handguns. They work, oftentimes vastly better than one of the stylish alternatives, but get no points for style.

  16. I seem to recall Lone Wolf announcing Timberwolf frames in the large frame format, i.e. Glock 20/21 sized, as well, but nary a mention on their webpage. Was I mistaken?

    • It’s delayed. This is normal, the 17 frame they came out with first, and then the 19 frame, and even the Polymer80 frame now, all had several redesigns to be right by the time they were for sale. They will have a 20 frame next but it’s still being designed.

  17. Perfect solution to the Glock grip problem.

    Buy 2000 rounds of ammo in bulk, total cost about $450 max. Get the proper training, Thumbs forward & Isosceles stance. Go to the range and shoot it, problem solved.

  18. Have got a Timberwolf gen 3 19 complete gun with the larger grip insert installed and instead of a piece of innertube used the grip sleeve from an old 3 M tape gun. Also using a Gen 3 19 Glock with finger grooves smoothed down, rounded and relieved undercut trigger guard, restippled, and a Grip Force adaptor to add a shelf to alleviate slide bite and straighten up the grip angle. By far prefer the Lone Wolf Timber Wolf version. You are corret, it does not pay to send out a Glock for anything that cannot be done yourself with regular tools. Considering heating the back strap to press down the hump without melting the checkering. Maybe, maybe not.

  19. I have owned Glocks. I now own a 0% Timberwolf Glock that is built 100% by Lone Wolf parts. I Far prefer their slide, frame, USA made Alpha Wolf barrel, and every internal part except the connector. I went with a Ghost PRO for that.

    The person that wrote this article hits every single reason that I ditched stock Glock and went Lone Wolf. It could have been me who wrote this article. Not as well, but I would have covered ALL the same points. I will never go back. Lone Wolf FTW from now on.

  20. There are more then just 1 Manufacturer making Frames to Correct
    The Glock Bump/Hump/8 months pregnant issue go away and yes it’s
    a manufacturing problem ” Glock, just make the damn Frame fit 100 % of Human Hands”

    • BigDave and Sal Romero, Glock Gen 4 with finger grooves flattened and a moderate relief on the underside root of the trigger guard is helpful and should have been done in Gen 3 in the first place. Lenny McGill’s Glock Store also renders a nice meltdown grip reduction and reshape of the trigger guard. The Polymer80 M949 is promising, though for my perspective the trigger guard is cut up too aggressively.

  21. Paul K., the author of this article, couldn’t be more right. I have owned Glocks before they were the “cool” thing to own and remember the snide comments “don’t get to close to the oven or your gun will melt” my favorite “how’s that Barbie Doll plastic gun holding up”. Anyways all that unnecessary crap being said, if your going to get an aftermarket receiver Timber Wolf is the best in the business, worth every penny. Don’t waste time with anything else. As a firearms instructor and gun Smith I can’t tell you the problems a cheap aftermarket glock receivers can cause. This was actually a great article.

    • As of June 3, 2017 : Since the article was written and that Glock was in my humble opinion mistakenly not awarded the US Army and other services handgun contract, there appears to be a more receptive attitude towards what we shooters would like to have available in this product, which the Lone Wolf “Timberwolf” frame delivers, one blog is reporting for 2018 a return to a smooth front grip strap without finger grooves in a Model “M” Gen 5. Also there are currently cataloged iron and night sights factory installed in lieu of the plastic. Will be looking forward to Glock offering from the factory frames without the backstrap hump and even more radical finger groove humps on the full sized guns as fabricated by gunsmith organizations like Lenny Mc Gil at the Glock Store, these make sense where there is the proper spacing for these with correct finger placement between and not on top of the points.

  22. Did anyone notice he was like “don’t try to add sand paper and other crap to your Glock frame to try to make it better, it’s 2019, just buy the timberwolf.” And then in the next paragraph, “however, the timberwolf has a non aggressive texture and is not very slip resistant. I suggest adding some grip tape and a bicycle inner tube to make it more aggressive.” So basically do the things to the brand new frame you bought to replace the other brand new frame that you said you shouldn’t have to do those things to make it right, to make it right?

    • Well said Nero. This is an old article. In the last 4 years we have Polymer 80, PF940, ZevTec, and now Palmetto State Armory in the game with great offerings. No need to cut, glue on, stipple, melt, or grind it can be bought as you might want to alter it. To each his own requirements and needs. The manner in which Lone Wolf made the backstrap slide in place, like the Ruger SR9/40/45 could also be done with the front strapfor flat or finger groove option. One more thing.

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