The One-Night Glock Clone: Strike Arms SAP-C DIY Build Review

The Glock clone market is alive and well and in a lot of ways is continuing to grow at an exponential rate. From the looks of things at SHOT Show 2025, the sheer amount of parts, options, and even serialized frames that are available for this common pistol footprint is not going to stop. In a lot of ways, the Glock Gen 3 clone market has reached the amount of customization options and DIY accessibility as the AR-15 market has. So it's only natural that Strike Industries would start their own firearms brand - Strike Arms (more about that here). I’ve been fortunate enough to receive not only one of the new Strike Arms SAP-C serialized frames, but Strike Industries was also kind enough to send along every other part needed for a DIY build - similar to what you’d do if you had ordered a bunch of AR-15 parts off of PSA. Today we’ll go over the cost of all the parts, what they offer compared to a stock Glock, and hopefully demonstrate just how easy it is to go from a box of parts into a functioning pistol in just one evening.

More from Strike Industries @ TFB:

• Strike Industries Unveils New Strike Arms SAP-C Glock 19 Frame
• New: Strike Oppressor Lite V2 from Strike Industries
• Strike Industries Introduces Their Own Polymer G19 Strike Mag

The One-Night Glock Clone: Strike Arms SAP-C DIY Build Review

Going over cost first, no one is going to argue that going the Strike Arms route is going to be less expensive than just buying an off-the-shelf Glock Gen 3. You can find those for about $500 in new condition and for about half that in used condition. What Strike Arms and Strike Industries are trying to offer customers here is a way to have the satisfaction of building their own gun while having access to modern features that allow even more customization - most notably the 4-slot dust cover rail, and the ability to mount optics right out of the box through the use of the Strike Slide. Below is a list of items they sent and their associated cost.

• Strike Arms Pistol Compact Frame (SAP-C): $149.95
• LITESLIDE for GLOCK™ G17 or G19 GEN3:  $249.95
• Strike Barrel for GLOCK™ G17 or G19:  $197.95
• Slide Completion Kit for GLOCK™ G17 or G19 GEN3: $69.95
• (2X)Aluminum Extended Magazine Plate for GLOCK™ G19 (9mm):  $77.90
• (2X)Strike Magazine for GLOCK® G19 (9mm): $23.90

Total Strike Build Cost: $769.60

The way I see it, you’re getting the same functionality and upgrades that you’d normally get from a Glock Gen 5 MOS pistol, but with a much more flexible options mounting solution, as well as an aesthetic that is different enough from the traditional blocky Glock look, but also isn’t as zany as some of the more “Gucci Glocks” that are floating around out there that I personally don’t have a taste for. Obviously, most of that $770 value for me is largely also going to depend on how reliable and durable the pistol is, which we’ll go over in a future article after I’ve had plenty of time to abuse the SAP-C.

Assembling The Gun

Having grown up in a family that very much valued the 1911, as well as the M9 pistols, I was an early adopter as an adult of both and I’ve had my fair share of at-home gunsmithing nightmares with both as well. When I picked up my first Glock (an old LE trade-in G17) I was astonished at just how simple the slide assembly and fire control assembly were. This is partially what makes the Glock Gen 3 such a great DIY gun - it’s really simple to put together and with all of the parts listed above you’ll have a functioning Glock with about 30 minutes or so of assembly time.

Firing Pin Channel Liner

After this, you’ll want to take the firing pin channel liner that comes with your slide completion kit and insert it into your slide. You can do this with the included tool and you may or may not have to use a small light hammer and a few light taps to properly seat the firing pin channel liner (if you don’t have a channel liner tool, you can also use a 7/32 round punch. The only thing to note here is that the rounded or beveled end of the channel liner should go into the slide first with the more flat side of the liner being the end that faces you when you look at the rear of the slide.

After this, you’ll want to apply a tiny bit of pressure with your thumb while you simultaneously insert the firing pin assembly into the firing pin channel with the raised portion of the firing pin facing down. You’ll know that you’ve inserted the firing pin assembly far enough into the channel when you let go of the firing pin safety plunger pressure and everything stays in place. Once this is done, you can move on to installing the extractor and the plunger we assembled earlier.

Extractor Plunger and Extractor Installation

Your gun will technically work without these parts, but your pistol will be a one-shot wonder without them, so it's best to get this part right on the first try, so you’re not waiting another few days for new parts to arrive.

All you need to do is drop the extractor into the slide with the rounded end matching up with the rounded hole inside of the slide's ejection side. It’s virtually impossible to misalign this part. Once that’s seated you’ll want to hold the extractor in place while you insert the plunger spring, bearing, and plunger into the rear of the slide through the small hole on the top right-hand side of the rear of the slide where the cover plate goes. The plunger assembly should gently hold the extractor in place.

The next part can be tricky without a properly secured pistol, so if you have a small vise or pistol block, now is the time to use it. For this part, it’s also handy to have a small punch and a light armorer hammer handy as well. The last piece of most of this puzzle is the slide cover plate which I found to fit quite tight on the Strike slide. You have to maneuver this part in while you depress both the firing pin assembly and extractor assembly. To do this simply use the punch to depress the rounded parts in the rear of the slide, and tap the pre-staged slide cover plate in till everything lines up.

Final Pistol Assembly

After the slide assembly is all put together, you’ll essentially have a field-stripped Glock pistol. In the case of the Strike Liteslide, there is an included optics cover plate for those of you who don’t want to use a red dot. The slide itself is cut for standard Glock pistol sides, so I decided to use some Tyrant CNC Night Fission sights to fill in the gaps. I ended up slapping on my Trijicon RMR HD using the included optic mounting hardware and then I put the pistol together like you would any other 9mm Glock.

Final Thoughts On the Build

I found the process of putting together a Glock for myself from just a box of parts pretty satisfying. I think a kit like this, as well as a Strike Arms SAP-C frame, would be a great gift for a budding gunsmith or a family member who just loves to put together guns. There isn’t anything too difficult about putting one of these together and unlike assembling an AR-15, putting together a Glock runs significantly less risk of losing springs and detents… mostly because there are much fewer of them or none at all.