GLOCK builds can be as addictive as AR builds. You can pretty much build whatever you can imagine with the myriad parts that are available.
No matter what you build though, you need to start with a good base. You can obviously go with a factory GLOCK frame, and there’s a lot to be said for that, but there are lots of other options available. One of those options are the full-sized and compact frames from SCT Manufacturing.
With the ups and downs of the 80% frame legal battles over the past year or so, I started looking into options for completed frames that were alternatives to GLOCK factory frames. I have a bunch of complete factory GLOCKs already, and have bought stripped GLOCK frames for builds, but I was looking for something different.
The SCT 19 frames caught my eye, both aesthetically and for their reasonable price, and I ended up ordering one from AIM Surplus.
What is SCT?
SCT stands for St. Croix Tactical and they’re a US manufacturer out of Hudson, Wisconsin. They’re been making OEM parts for the firearms industry since 2013. They do in-house design work, metal and plastic injection molding, machining and metal stamping. They even make springs.
They started offering GLOCK 19 sized frames a year or so ago in basic black polymer. That has since expanded to Flat Dark Earth, Outdoors Green, and Sniper Gray. They’ve also added GLOCK 17-sized frames to the catalog more recently.
While fully compatible with Gen3 GLOCK parts, the SCT frames have their own unique appearance as compared to a factory frame. They bear a strong resemblance to the Strike Industry Strike 80 80% frame, which hasn’t been available for quite a while now.
I have a Strike 80 and it’s my favorite 80% frame. It has a great styling to it and very good ergonomics. I’ve also seen the SCT frames compared to the Shadow Systems frames. Whatever the influence, the SCT is a good looking frame that makes your build stand out from the run-of-the-mill GLOCK builds.
Despite looking similar to the Strike 80 80% frame, the SCT frames are fully serialized and need to go through an FFL when you buy them. There isn’t an 80% option on these.
The frames are made from a proprietary polymer, but they feel pretty similar to a factory GLOCK frame. They have overmolded stainless steel rails, and an electroless nickel locking block and will take Gen1 through Gen3 parts.
There are a lot of aesthetic and functional touches to the SCT frames, many of which you don’t see on the factory GLOCK frame. They have serrations and a “bump out” on the guard that are supposed to help with recoil control, presumably if you use a two hand grip that wraps around the trigger guard. There are serrations on the beavertail to reduce glare and a contoured grip with aggressive texture.
The frame has a high beavertail and undercut trigger guard to allow a low bore axis grip for recoil control, along with thumb accelerator pads on either side of the frame. The grip angle is the same as a GLOCK, and there’s a standard Picatinny rail for lights or lasers. The SCT also has a flared magwell and recessed mag release to allow for rapid reloads, but not inadvertent mag drops.
Frames are available either stripped or fully assembled. If you get a fully assembled frame, which I did, a polished trigger assembly with an electroless nickel trigger bar and a polymer trigger with 5.5 pound electroless nickel connector. It uses steel trigger and locking block pins, a steel slide release and a polymer trigger housing pin. The mag release button is polymer. The ejector is a Gen4 ejector, which is a common mod on Gen 3 builds.
SCT says that their parts meet or exceed GLOCK OEM standards and they’re assembled by certified armorers and tested in-house with GLOCK factory slides. The SCT 19 and SCT 17 frames share all of the basic features differing only in size.
Hands On
As mentioned, my first frame was a black SCT 19. I opted for a complete frame SCT provided with installed lower parts from Aim Surplus. I tried it with a number of slides I had including a complete PSA Dagger slide assembly, an Arm or Ally slide, and a Steel City Arsenal slide. I also tried it with a GLOCK factory 23 slide and barrel assembly just to try it.
All of them fit and functioned just fine. The SCT 19 ended up being home to my Sniper Gray Dagger slide since they functioned well together and I liked the gray on black aesthetic.
I found the frame comfortable and had no issues getting to the controls. The frame cuts and texture provide a positive grip, and I like them a bit better than a stock GLOCK. I can’t really say if I got any better recoil control out of the SCT frame as opposed to a GLOCK frame since I never found the 9mm GLOCKs to have much of a recoil issue either way.
Probably the best thing I can say about the SCT 19 frame is that it works with no issues. It works well enough, in fact, that when I needed another frame I went back to SCT. I wanted a full-sized frame and actually messaged SCT asking if they had one in the works.
Their answer was “Stay tuned!” Sure enough the full size SCT 17 frames dropped not long after that.
I had two slides that I was going back and forth with for a full-sized frame. I had an unbranded stainless 17L slide I picked up a couple years ago and a Steel City Arsenal P40 Warhawk GLOCK 34 slide.
I’d been swapping them back and forth between a GLOCK factory frame, but wanted each one on a dedicated frame. I dropped some serious hints to my wife that an SCT frame would make a great Christmas present…but no luck.
I ended up ordering an “Outdoors Green” slide from AIM Surplus after the holidays.
The SCT 17 frame is just like the SCT 19, only bigger to accommodate the full capacity 17-round mag and longer slide. The Outdoors Green is basically olive drab, which was just what I wanted. I checked it with my factory GLOCK 17 slide, my no-name 17L, and Steel City 34 slides. It worked fine with all three.
Aesthetically I like the matchup of the Steel City slide and OD frame and decided to leave the 17L on my GLOCK frame and dedicate the SCT to the Steel City slide. The OD frame and P40 Warhawk slide go good together, and function has been perfect. I already liked the SCT 19 frame so the 17 was unsurprisingly good as well. Same features, just a larger grip.
XS Sights R3D 2.0 Tritium Night Sights
I took advantage of the frame upgrade on the 34 to update the sights as well. I had a set of basic optics-height sights installed already, but upgraded to suppressor height R3D 2.0 Tritium Night Sights from XS Sights. I’ve used XS sights on a number of my GLOCKs over the years and always find them solid, durable performers.
I got the R3D 2.0 model with tritium front and rear dots. I had been running an optic on this build for a while until I stole it to use on another project. I had been considering putting another optic on, but after using the XS sights I’m going to hold off and run with irons for a while instead.
The R3D 2.0 sights are CNC machined with anti-glare steel sight bodies and a black nitride surface finish. They have a large green dual illuminated front dot and two tritium dots on the rear sight for a classic 3-dot sight picture.
The 2.0 sights are made to be user installable and use 50% less force to install. I was able to tap mine into place with a micarta mallet with no issues. They’re very solidly constructed and provide a great sight picture. If I decide to go back to an optic later, this set will work just fine with that too. MSRP on the R3D 2.0 for GLOCKs is $148.49.
The Best Part
So I talked a lot about the frame build, function, and aesthetics but I saved the best part for last: the price. I think the SCT frames are a good deal with their construction, function and styling, but when you factor in the price they’re a steal.
Complete frames at AIM run right around $89.99 and I’ve seen them on sale for even less. Stripped frames are only $54.99. That’s a killer deal for an-above average base for a custom build.
You can always upgrade the triggers if you want but, as-is, out-of-the-box, my frames ran with all of my slides so I left them stock. I don’t have any other builds on deck at the moment, but if I decide to do another one, SCT will be the first place I look for a frame. Then again, if they start doing large frames for a .45 or 10mm, that could decide for me that I need to do another build.
SCT frames are available from AIM Surplus, Brownells, and Delta Team Tactical.