read more here - CCF RaceFrames

The velocity of the .357SIG is apparent here by causing a geyser 10 feet high.
GUN TEST
CUSTOM CCF/
RACEFRAME
Illustrating the lack of muzzle
flip is this image of a round of
.357SIG brass just leaving the
ejection port, as the slide
moves straight back.
Making a good gun even better!
By Gary Paul Johnston
here firearms are the issue we continue to
be amazed at the technical, design and
p roduction bre a k t h roughs that emerge at
an ever- i n c reasing pace. One of these is
the use of plastic in firearms. First it was grips, and
then small parts and finally frames.
When the Glock 17 emerged 25 years
ago, it rocked the firearms industry. The
Glock has always been an impressive pistol and has taken simplicity and reliability to new levels. I bought my
first 9mm Glock 17 in the early
1980s and both my wife, Nancy
(also a police officer) and I carried
and shot it for many years.
Since then, I have owned and
tested a couple dozen Glock
pistols (factory and custom) and
have had good results from them.
Over the years I have written a
number of times about my amazement of a man
with little or no experience in the firearms business
developing a design such as the Glock. Think about it, this
pistol incorporates rock-solid principles together with the
most modern technology. If you’re not impressed, consider
the overwhelming number of police agencies abroad and in
the US that have adopted or approved the Glock for carry.
W
Caspian M24 slide has matching cocking
grooves front and back. Note the rounded
triggerguard, true MIL-STD-1913 rail and
extended thumb rest on the CCF/Raceframe.
48 • Gun Buyer’s Annual 2009
Gun Buyer’s Annual 2009 • 49
Custom CCI/Raceframe .357SIG
All this being said, I still find problems
with the Glock. For 99.999% of those I
have instructed in the use of the Glock, it
points high. Okay, here ’s the drill, hold
the Glock in a close-in, low ready, or
whatever ready hold you love. Now look
at the target, close your eyes and bring
the pistol up to eye level. Now tell me
your front sight is not at least one degre e
high as compared with your rear sight. Is
it more like 2 degrees? How rare. Is this
a problem? You decide.
Realizing that the Glock pistol is
potentially a true 21st Century personal
p rotection handgun, Ray Harms and
Larry Gaglio of CCF/RaceFrames decided to take the bull by the horns to
bring the Glock all the way. With a
b a c k g round in the AeroSpace Industry
and firearms, Harms and Gaglio saw
a number of areas for improvement in
the Glock pistol, in particular the frame,
and Harms had an idea on how to
accomplish them. The two men began
with the G17 and G22, which use essentially the same frame, as do the Glock
17L, 24, 31, 34, 35, 34 and 37 pistols.
CCF/RaceFrame Details
The CCF/RaceFrame is made of
metal, not plastic, and two kinds of
metal are offered. These would include
a i rcraft quality aluminum alloy and
stainless steel. While firearms designers
have proven that much can be done
using plastic, CCF was well aware that
the latest capabilities in investment
casting and precision machining also
amounts to an equal quantum leap
in what can be done with metal. The
resulting improvements in the CCF/
RaceFrame are more than a few.
The tang of the new frame is more
of a “beavertail” and is upswept to
allow getting on the pistol faster in the
holster and also to protect big hands
f rom slide bite. There is an incre a s e
in the front strap undercut to allow
the gun to sit lower in the hand,
and this high-cut feature also eliminates
knuckle pre s s u re in the middle finger of
the strong hand. A relieved area aro u n d
the magazine release provides the
access of an extended release without
the negatives of such a part being
accidentally depressed.
A welcomed change is the absence of
the hooked triggerg u a rd and the bottom
of the triggerg u a rd is also smooth, as is
the inside surface to eliminate fingers
rubbed sore from lots of shooting in
practice. The inside of the triggerg u a rd is
also relieved to eliminate trigger finger
pinch. With the CCF/ RaceFrame there
are also no finger grooves on the fro n t
50 • Gun Buyer’s Annual 2009
The CCF/RaceFrame’s frontstrap
eliminates the
finger grooves in
favor of raised
aggressive
checkering.
Genuine Novak
LoMount Night
Sights adorn the
Caspian slide.
Note the extended
tang on the
CCF/RaceFrame.
(Above) Any number of light/laser
combinations are right at home on the
CCF/RaceFrames rail. Seen here is a Laser
Devices Weapon Light mounted “piggyback”
with LaserMax’s UniMax Green Laser.
(Below) SureFire’s X200 Tactical
Weapon Light is small but powerful.
Note the recessed mag release.
The slide is disassembled from
the CCF/RaceFrame in the normal
manner. The Buffer Technologies
Glock Buffer lessens felt recoil.
strap, but instead, deep checkering for
m o re positive purchase for everyone.
CCF’s thumbrests are shallower than
those on the Glock polymer frame and
they include a 1911A1 forward relief to
s t rengthen one’s natural grip and
i m p roved trigger reach due to better
ergonomics. In fact, several law enforcement agencies are evaluating the
CCF/RaceFrames as a possible solution
pertaining to the American Disabilities
Act with officers having difficulty qualifying due to grip size and trigger reach.
The beveled magazine well entry is
slightly enlarged and the magazine
well is of straight taper eliminating the
“hour-glassing” found inside the polymer frame (due to shrinkage in manuf a c t u re), which tends to grab the magazine. The result is that magazines insert
easier and drop fre e .
Match grade accuracy has been
achieved with CCF’s machined locking
block, which is supplied with the frame,
and pinholes are put into the locking
block and frame at the same time. This
block also significantly improves lockup,
which spells accuracy.
Reduced felt recoil is accomplished
not only by improved ergonomics but
also by the CCF/RaceFrame’s lower
b o re-to-hand ratio in addition to
i n c reased weight. With the components
housed in rigid metal, the trigger- re s e t
distance is reduced and is more positive,
and the trigger pull is not only greatly
i m p roved but also consistent. What’s
m o re, the “spongy” feeling and overtravel is eliminated. With an integral metal
frame, rail to slide surface is increased,
resulting in durability improvement and
smoothness of travel.
Integral with the dust cover portion of
the frame is a true MIL-STD-1913 rail.
Unlike the MIL-STD-1913 “style” rail on
virtually all polymer frames, this one will
accommodate mounting any M1913
accessory. Big deal? Maybe not, but
i t ’s there if you need it. If so, the
CCF/RaceFrame’s rail is friendly to virtually all tactical weapon lights, lasers and
so on. We found that weapon lights fro m
S t reamlight, Sure F i re, Insight Tech-Gear
and Laser Devices worked perfectly on
the CCF/RaceFrame’s rail, as did the
new red and green UniMax lasers fro m
LaserMax. The pistol can, of course, also
be used with the revolutionary handheld
Liberator from First Light.
As for natural pointing, the CCF/
RaceFrame is available with two interchangeable backstrap inserts. Made of
soft black polymer (the only things that
a re polymer on this frame), these backstraps slide into a vertical dovetail on the
frame and lock via a crosspin. One of
these backstraps duplicates the factory
Glock grip angle. The other insert is more
flat, resulting in the pistol pointing lower,
and gives the gun a feel more like the
model of 1911 pistol. For the vast majority this insert causes the sights to be
aligned right on target when the gun is
brought to eye level.
Although CCF/RaceFrames anticipated that the aircraft aluminum alloy
frame would be the most popular, they
w e re wrong, as requests for the stainless
steel frame have been 10 to one. The
tough lightweight aluminum alloy with its
h a rd-anodized gray finish is great where
weight is a prime concern, but the additional weight of the matte finished stainless steel frame is what everyone currently seems to want. The alloy frame
weighs only 3 ounces more than the factory polymer frame and the stainless
steel frame weighs 16 ounces more and
feels like a 1911.
Gun Details
As fascinating as this state-of-the-art
frame is for use with a factory Glock, I
wanted to try one on a fully custom pistol. Caspian Arms makes custom slides
in stainless steel for Glock pistols, so I
o rd e red one of their Model 24 6-inch
slides with a .40 breech face and had it
sent to CCF/RaceFrames for fitting.
This Caspian slide comes with angled
slide-cocking grooves front and back
that are both functional and attractive.
The front slide grooves are useful for
proper “pre s s u re” checking of the condition of the pistol, as to whether or not a
round is present in the chamber. This is
done by coming up under the frame (or
above) and bringing it to the rear enough
to feel the presence of a partially extracted casing.
After fitting, the frame and slide were
then shipped to Jarvis Custom where a
Jarvis 6-inch match barrel was fitted to
the slide/frame combination. Since this
was a long slide pistol suitable for handgun hunting, I decided to build it in
.357SIG caliber, knowing that I could
also have a 6-inch .40 barrel made for it
if I wanted one. Having been able to hit
small game targets at 200 yards with a
.357SIG, I have no doubt that this round
is effective to at least 100 yards.
The assembled pistol was shipped
to Novak Design where the slide was
machined for a set of Novak 1911
LoMount Bar-Dot Night Sights. These
slightly-higher-than-standard sights were
chosen for the fast holdover they pro v i d e
using the white bar in the rear sight
as a base for raising the front sight.
Once the pistol was sighted in, Novak
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Gun Buyer’s Annual 2009 • 51
Custom CCI/Raceframe .357SIG
put his logo on the slide, glass beaded it and then matte blued the slide
and barrel to contrast perfectly with
the matte stainless frame.
the Safariland ALS, but was out
and in my hand like lightning
when I wanted it. In fact, I plan
to replace my Glock frame
with an alloy CCF/RaceFrame.
Holsters
1/3
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When I received the finished pistol, a fabulous custom Del Fatti
Leather rig with two matching magazine pouches was waiting for it.
Called the Com-Tac LtWt, this rig
has a 15-degree muzzle rear rake
and is cut for a 1-1/2-inch belt
oop. Made of the
finest leather, this holster and its pouches
w e re ord e red in bro w n
rough-out leather and
w e re made specifically for the 6-inch
CCF/RaceFrame pistol. It proved to be
ideal for field carry for
the long gun, but was
also quite easy to
conceal under a coat.
While the CCF/
RaceFrame impro v e s
the Glock’s performance immensely, it
does not affect any of
the many holsters for
the Glock. All points
used by any holster to
s e c u re the Glock are
p reserved and unaffected by any
i m p rovements in the CCF/RaceFrame.
Thus, if your factory full-size Glock works
in it so will one converted with a
CCF/RaceFrame.
Wanting to check out the CCF/
RaceFrame with a couple of new tactical
rigs, I replaced the long .357SIG slide
group with that from my .40 caliber
Glock 22. I tried this combination with
BlackHawk’s new Tactical SERPA and also
Safariland’s 6305 ALS (Automatic Locking
Range T i m e
Custom made for this
custom pistol was a
Com-Tac Rough Out brown
belt holster from Del Fatti
Leather. It just doesn’t get
any better than this.
Here the CCF/RaceFrame
with the G22 slide is
seen in Safariland’s
new ALS/SLS Tactical
Holster, one of the most
secure rigs available.
The handling of the custom
long slide stainless CCF/
RaceFrame is superb. The trigger let-off seems improved by
about 300 percent and operation is as smooth as silk. The
pistol fits perfectly in the hand
and points naturally with the
sights aligned on target when I
raise it to eye level.
After each shot of powerful
.357SIG, the pistol stays put
in the hand and recovery time
is almost instant, this
because the gun comes back
pointing at the target (not
over it) and also due to the
increase in weight. As with
the many Glocks I have fired,
malfunctions are “never.”
In speed drills on a steel
reactive hostage target from
For more information:
CCF/RaceFrames LLC
P.O. Box 29009, Dept. CH
Richmond, VA 23242
804-622-4277
www.ccfraceframes.com
Insight Tech-Gear
23 Industrial Dr, Dept. CH
Londonderry, NH 03053
877-744-4802
www.insighttechgear.com
Caspian Arms Ltd.
75 Cal Foster Dr, Dept. CH
Wolcott, VT 05680
802-472-6454
www.caspianarms.com
Laser Devices
2 Harris Ct, Ste A-4, Dept. CH
Monterey, CA 93940
800-235-2162
www.laserdevices.com
Jarvis
1123 Cherry Orchard Loop, Dept. CH
Hamilton, MT 59840
406-961-4392
www.jarvis-custom.com
LaserMax
3495 Winton Pl, Dept. CH
Rochester, NY 14623
800-527-3703
www.lasermax.com
Novak Design
PO Box 4045, Dept. CH
Parkersburg, WV 26104
304-485-9295
www.novaksights.com
Safariland
3120 E Mission Blvd, Dept. CH
Ontario, CA 91761
800-347-1200
www.safariland.com
BlackHawk Products Group
6160 Commander Pkwy, Dept. CH
Norfolk, VA 23502
800-694-5263
www.blackhawk.com
Streamlight
30 Eagleville Rd, Dept. CH
Eagleville, PA 19403
800-523-7488
www.streamlight.com
Del Fatti Leather
907 S Main St, Dept. CH
G reenwood, WI 54437
715-267-6420
www.delfatti.com
Sure F i re
18300 Mt Baldy Circle, Dept CH
Fountain Valley, CA 92708
800-828-8809
www.surefire.com
Action Target, the sights
came back right on target as
the 125-grain .357SIG bullets
slammed into the hostagetaker portion, knocking it back
and forth from right to left. At
100 yards I had little trouble
hitting head-sized rocks when
standing using a two-hand
hold, and at 25 yards, the pistol produced 5-shot groups in
the 1.5- to 2-inch range.
When I switched uppers
and assembled my Glock 22
.40 slide group recoil didn’t
seem much diff e rent and
accuracy was outstanding,
possibly due to the special
locking block that comes with
the CCF/RaceFrame. I didn’t
do a comparison between my
as-issued G22 with the CCF/
RaceFrame, but that will have
to wait until I convert that gun.
Those who carry a Glock 17,
22, or other full-size model will
be impressed with the improvements the metal CCF/RaceFrame brings to the table. Look
for other models to follow.
System) Tactical Holster, which also has
Safariland’s SLS (Self-Locking System).
Designed by holster guru, Bill Rogers,
the ALS is one of the most impressive
holster security systems on the stre e t .
Locking into the pistol’s ejection port,
the ALS positively secures the pistol with
the SLS as additional backup. What’s
m o re, both systems are operated with
the thumb of the strong hand. My
CCF/RaceFrame-equipped G22 was
s e c u re in both the Tactical SERPA and
PERFORMANCE
C u s tom CCF/Raceframe .357SIG
Accuracy
Load
CorBon 125 JHP
Federal 124 JHP
Hornady 147 JHP
Winchester 125 JHP
Velocity
Small
Large
Average
1396
1341
1244
1346
1.43
1.52
1.31
1.58
1.84
1.81
1.74
1.93
1.61
1.55
1.49
1.77
Bullet weight measured in grains, velocity in feet per second (fps) by Alpha Chronograph,
accuracy in inches for five 5-shot groups from a 25-yard bench rest. Elevation: 7,000
feet, Te m p e r a t u re: 74 degrees Fahrenheit, Humidity: 38 percent.
52 • Gun Buyer’s Annual 2009
Gun Buyer’s Annual 2009 • 53