Glock Lightening Cuts... Lightening or Extortion?

Glock Perfekshun

first, maybe I should have said "manufactured demand" or "racketeering" instead of "extortion", though I feel that all apply to the lightening cuts in conjunction with the MOS platform. with the lightening cuts, Glock has created a problem and they sell the only solution.

if you didn't know, I dislike the MOS platform for many reasons. the M3 screws, the aluminum plates (from glock), I just feel the whole thing was poorly designed. when I went through the glock armorer's course for the first time, it was a glock circle jerk. they shit all over RMR cut optics because the screws, when not properly fit, can bind the extractor depressor plunger and cause failures to extract. instead of telling people to be aware of this, they circle jerk the MOS cut.

cue the lightening cuts.

so the glock Gen 5 has these "lightening cuts" on Glock 17 (and comparable models) and larger, to include the G34 and G17L models. I have done extensive work to both of these and encountered the "lightening cuts" several times, including on the underside of Gen 3 slides manufactured after the introduction of the MOS platform.

my first experience was with a G17 Gen 5 and it was the first time i saw these cuts. ok, i figured it was a 1-off and welded the gaps shut. no big deal. I put it in the mill and milled everything on the left side flat, then bolted the plate up.

the second time i encountered this was in a 17L build for a customer. he wanted extensive work and nearly no part remained stock. i was so pissed at the limited run of 17L  that I failed to see the pattern.

let's talk about the lightening cuts.

luckily, i have a calibrated set of mitutoyo calipers at my disposal and can google the weight of steel. 

many tables are available that list steel as 7.85 grams per cubic centimeter. this is the average weight of steel due to the fact that Glock doesn't list what steel it manufactures its slides from, but notes that it is carbon steel, most likely of the 6300 series.

these lightening cuts are, according to my mitutoyo calipers, 8.0mm in depth. they are, from the top, 15.12 and 25.55mm long, respectively. all are 4.95mm wide.

assuming these are squared measurements without rounded corners, these two measurements ({15.12 x 8.0} x 4.95) + ({25.55  x 8.0} x 4.95} 

simplified, this is (598.752) + (1011.78) = 1610.532 mm 3

1610.532mm 3 = (1610.532 / 1000) = 1.610532 cm 3

(1.610532 cm 3) x (7.85g) = 12.64 grams saved on the weight of the slide.

these calculations are if these measurements were taken at the widest and longest points of these measurements.

using the Trijicon RMR as a reference, the optic alone weighs 34.02 grams.

i would argue that these "lightening cuts serve no purpose other than to prohibit other manufacturers from milling any optic that does not rely on the poorly designed MOS plate system, which is attempting to be replaced with other proprietary systems, like the COA collab with Aimpoint.