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”.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.