I just put together perhaps one of my nicest builds, my brand new Glock 43X clone.
This build started its life with the SCT Manufacturing SC frame, a Glock 43X sized clone lower. Personally, I’ve had a couple Glock 43X and currently a Glock 48 build, but my problem with the Glock frame itself is that it has very little texturing on the frame which makes it a bit slippery. I’ve always had to run some sort of aftermarket stick on grip like Talon Grips. That works but I think it’s ugly. Since getting rid of all my 43Xs, I’ve moved on to the Shadow Systems CR920X, which is about the same size but has a much better, stickier grip texture. But when I saw that SCT Manufacturing made a 43X-clone lower, I thought it’d be fun to put one together.
Aside from the better texture, the SCT frame also has other minor upgrades like the double undercut, which I appreciate because that works with how I grip a handgun. It also has index points for the thumbs, a more aggressive beavertail hook, and utilizes a picatinny rail instead of the Glock slimline rail. Overall, I personally appreciate everything that the SCT lower presents over the 43X.
Personally, I purchased the stripped SC lower for about $50, but you can buy a preassembled lower for about $90. I knew that I was going with some aftermarket parts for the lower anyway, so the stripped lower works better for me. But overall, I think the price of this lower is the best thing about it. To get a serialized Glock clone lower, whether it’s a 43X, 19, or 17, for about $50 is just a crazy deal. Especially for one that actually provides good features and is functional.
To outfit the lower, I went with stock parts for things like the pins and springs, but the main controls that I’d interface with, I went with Tyrant CNC’s extended mag and slide release. I’ve used version 1 of these controls on all my other 43X’s, so I thought I’d try these updated version 2 controls. So far, they feel good, so no complaints.
For the trigger, I’m running the Overwatch Precision TAC drop-in kit. This is what I run in my EDC Shadow Systems MR920. It’s something that I’m very comfortable with, I think it looks great, and it's probably my favorite trigger for the price.
Moving to the star of the show and the upper assembly, we have the Norsso Reptile XP slide. I’ve always been a bit on the fence about the Reptile line of slides from Norsso. They were never really my favorite looking, that’s why I’ve always bought the Norsso Piranha slide. But man, in hand, this is one of the sickest slides I’ve ever seen. It’s so aggressively looking but also very functional. The slide milling designs work so well for racking from the front or rear serrations. Then up top, we get two side ports which match perfectly with the Norsso C Port barrel. Aside from looking insane, the ports should help to reduce felt recoil, a byproduct of just shooting such a small gun and lightweight gun. This is another reason why I never really liked the 43X. It’s just overly harsh for my taste, which is again why I switched to the Shadow Systems CR920X. I do think it has a bit less recoil> It’s nothing mind-blowing, but I do feel a difference. This is partly due to the much better grip texturing. I’m currently running the Radian Ramjet and Afterburner combo in my Shadow Systems MR920, and I love it. I want to run the same setup on the CR920X. Radian has announced such a thing but at this point, it’s basically vaporware because they keep pushing the product back. Since that’s not coming out anytime soon, having this ported Norsso build is going to be a good alternative.
Lastly, I have the Holosun EPS Carry MRS green dot. The EPS carry is kind of the go-to for smaller guns at this point. This is the first one that I own, but I don’t doubt that it’ll function just fine for EDC, considering the quality of all the other Holosuns that I own and how vetted this optic is.
I was able to take this build to the range and live fire it with about 300 rounds. 250 rounds of Federal American Eagle 115gr and 50 rounds of Federal American Eagle 147gr. These are basically the only two range ammo that I shoot, so that’s what I used for my testing.
In terms of reliability, I had one malfunction. A failure to feed. I wish I had a reason for this, but it is what it is. I’m kind of surprised at how flawless the build ran otherwise. It is ported and I’m running an OEM normal recoil spring with normal stock weight. Not tuned or anything and it ran just fine at both the extreme ends of everyday 9mm bullet weights, 115gr and 147gr. For me, I’m happy with the reliability.
For the upper itself. In terms of function, I think it’s great. Again, the milling and serrations on this upper are extremely functional and grippy, but not so aggressive like the Piranha slide that your fingers can get cut up on the sharp corners. Everything here works beautifully.
When it comes to the porting aspect of this upper, I would also say that it works great. On this range trip, I shot both the Norrso build and my Shadow Systems CR920X. This was the comparison that I most cared about because I do EDC the CR920X quite a bit, so I wanted to know if the porting reduces felt recoil or not. I would say that it certainly does. It’s not like a night and day difference where recoil is completely eliminated or anything like that, but it is less. Personally, I felt enough of a difference that I put the Norsso upper on my CR920X lower to see how’d that would work in case I wanted to just EDC that setup moving forward. One thing that I do want to point out is that with the Norsso upper and the ports, I feel that the setup ran softer with 115gr ammo, which is why I shot so much more of it than 147gr.
When it comes to the lower, there’s good and bad. Personally, I ride the meat of my left hand pretty high on the grip, and with slimline guns, I’ve always pinned the slide release too hard, causing it not to lock back after the last round. Surprisingly, this was not a problem with the SCT lower. Extra surprising because of the extended Tyrant slide release, considering that it’s one of the furthest sticking out slide releases that I’ve ever used.
For the bad, I personally think that this lower could be grippier. The main side panels are basically the same stippling texture as that of a Polymer 80 lower, which is probably my favorite, but there isn’t enough of it. I’d rather have the stippling around the entire grip rather than just the sides. The horizontal lines aren’t doing it for me and the smooth indented area on the sides of the grip doesn’t help either. Again, in comparison with the Shadow Systems CR920X lower, which I used to compare with the SCT on this range trip, the CR920X is about the same size but was less slippery because of all the extra texture.
My other complaint with this lower would be with the mag opening chamber, in that it doesn’t drop free with Shield Arms S15 mags. To me, these are basically the standard that manufacturers should work around. Obviously, make the stock Glock 10-round mags work, but so many of these S15 mags have been sold and they are so synonymous with the 43X platform that all manufacturers should make their lowers work with these mags perfectly. The fact that the mag doesn’t drop free greatly reduces the appeal of this lower for me, just because it makes mag change drills much less practical in a sense. That alone would make me not EDC this lower and that’s a shame.
Something else to note about S15 mags in this lower is that this combo leaves a little gap at the bottom of the grip. That’s not a functional problem, just aesthetically a bit ugly. I personally ordered the SCT magwell that would work with this lower to hopefully fix the problem.
So let’s sum it up. The Norsso upper is a win for me. So much so that I’m going to keep testing it out, and if all does well, I might swap it over on my CR920X lower because it does offer enough felt recoil reduction that I would want to EDC it. On the other hand, with the SCT lower, aside from the other complaints, the fact that it doesn’t drop free an S15 mag is a problem for me and I can’t EDC this lower. It’s going to be another range toy lower.
If you're considering buying any of the products mentioned, please support my work by using the affiliate links below.
Norsso N43BN Reptile XP Slide for G43/43X
https://norsso.com/slides/n43bn-reptile-xp-for-g43/
Norsso N43 9mm C Port Barrel
https://norsso.com/barrels/n43-9mm-c-port-barrel/
SCT Manufacturing - SCT 43X SUB COMPACT ASSEMBLED POLYMER FRAME
https://alnk.to/8tSD0Pv
SCT Manufacturing - SCT 43X SUB COMPACT STRIPPED POLYMER FRAME
https://alnk.to/2uKRF6C
SCT Manufacturing - SCT Billet Magwell For SCT SC Polymer Frame Black
https://alnk.to/aARIMIJ
Holsun EPS Carry MRS Green Dot
https://alnk.to/hDu21lo
TYRANT CNC - EXTENDED SLIDE RELEASE FOR GLOCK® 43/43X/48
https://alnk.to/8ENnZIK
TYRANT CNC - GLOCK® 43X/48 EXTENDED MAGAZINE RELEASES
https://alnk.to/9IhVSCs
Overwatch Precision TAC Drop In Kit
https://overwatchprecision.com/store/glock/drop-in-kits/
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