I remember the first time I held a Glock. It was 1986, and the strangest part was my dad was the guy who handed it to me. Pop was a dyed-in-the-wool 1911 guy and here he was talking about what a great gun this plastic thing was. “Don’t criticize the cuisine until you taste it.” He said it with a smile on his face.

The first magazine went down range from the 25 yard line easily. The group was a little high, but smaller than the palm of my hand. The next two magazines showed similar results. Small groups, but high. I also noticed the slide kind of bit the web of my hand on the left side. Okay, I can live with that, I’ve got baseball-mit sized paws.
Little did I know that da
y, a love-hate relationship with Glocks would continue for over 20 years. I’ve owned about a dozen, and carried a few on duty, sometimes a few at the same time and they were all Timex-dependable. The only downside? For me, it was the grip — and maybe my Herman Munster hands if you wanted to get technical. Every once in a while I would get a really high grip out of the holster and get a little bite. I have a scar on the web of my hand from all the years of ringing that bell. I looked at it as a small price to pay for a fighting tool that goes bang every time I press the trigger.

When I first put my hands on a Robarized Glock I realized I was feeling, as some marketing guy might say, the “New and improved!” version. I knew I had to have the grip treatment done to mine, and I especially wanted the beaver tail — no more slide bite. My Robarized Glock 23 is the only non-1911 carry gun I tote around.

Improving Perfection

For those who don’t know it, Robbie Barrkman is never satisfied and is always striving to make his products better. If you ever have the pleasure of watching him work in his shop you can almost see the gears turning in his head. I know you can hear them sometimes, because they go “click, whirr.” I’ve heard them.

What my eyes would see as perfect, Robbie sees flaws. This intense desire for perfection has turned out the world’s best sniper rifles, and made a “perfect pistol” well, um, more perfect. Or as Hondo, my six-year-old would say, “Perfecter Dad.” When I thought there was nothing else Robbie could do to make Glocks more user friendly, he introduced the Alloy Extreme or Notta Glock as I’ve heard it called.

Robar and CCF Raceframe got together and created the Alloy Xtreme line of handguns. CCF’s frames give Glock shooters the option of putting some metal in their hands. They offer replacements for the polymer frame with a more ridged stainless steel or aluminum frame with interchangeable back straps and a beaver tail. All of which makes the feel more 1911-ish, if you will. If you have trained your hand to the traditional Glock backstrap there’s even an insert to make your hand feel right at home. For me the 1911 angle and the no-bite-beavertail-like extension made my hand feel right at home.

Not Just A Frame

The Robar team does it all, and the frame is just the beginning. Parts are just parts until master craftsmen fit them together and Robbie’s team at Robar are just the crew for the job. Robbie demands the same perfection from them as he does from himself and it shows in every aspect of the Xtreme. Everyone in the shop works on the guns like they were going to be carrying the gun personally. I saw it myself when I worked in the shop for a few days to get some hands-on as to what goes into the Xtreme.

Robbie chose to put XS Big Dot sights on the guns for the simple reason they’re the best sight for quick and accurate work. Some writers commented they couldn’t shoot accurate groups with XS sights. These sights aren’t designed to shoot one hole bullseye groups while standing on a square range with your vicious opponent being a piece of paper. They’re designed to save your life in a gunfight — and they work. Having said that, I have watched the sight inventor, Ashley Emerson, and XS VP Dave Biggers shoot groups at 25 yards better than most can with “target” sights.

Robar finishes the guns with several coating options. The proprietary NP3 coating is unsurpassed in durability and self-lubrication. The NP3 thickness is maintained to within .0002" — that’s two ten thousands of and inch. I told you Robbie was tough on standards. Other options are Roguard — which only comes in Black — and Polymax, which comes in just about any color you want. If Robar doesn’t have your color in stock, the lab can make it for an extra charge.

Shoots Like A Dream

I shot the Xtreme in a .40 cal version, similar to the Glock 22. It felt more like a 9mm than a .40 — which meant it was Xtreamly fun to shoot. The pistol gobbled up about 800 rounds or so over the two days of testing without so much as a hiccup. Corie was responsible for about 200 of those, and she really enjoyed shooting the pistol.

Several of my cop buddies who carry the .40 commented on how much nicer the gun felt in the hand and how the recoil was much less than in a comparable polymer frame. And, in spite of the doom and gloom some writers may wring their hands about regarding being able to hit the target with big XS sights — everyone who shot the pistol was amazed with how fast and accurate the XS sights were.

The Xtreme can be purchased out of the box ready to run. If you already have a Glock (in certain models) and want to upgrade, you can have Robar do a Revive Package on the gun you already have. The program has four levels ranging from basic upgrades to the complete overhaul.

So there you have it, a more “perfecter” example of perfection, courtesy of Robbie Barrkman and the crew at Robar. I wonder what’s next — more, more-perfecter?

Robar’s Revive Packages

• Replacement frame in aluminum or stainless steel
• Complete swap out of all parts from your existing polymer frame
• Complete inspection, function check and test fire
• Complete metal finish in NP3, Roguard or Polymax coatings

• Level one upgrade plus:
• Cut forward cocking serrations in slide
• Supply and install XS 24/7 Tritium night sight set

• Level 2 upgrade plus:
• Supply & install match grade barrel
• Custom smoothed & tuned trigger with 3.5 lbs. connector

• Level 3 upgrade plus:
• Complete detail finish of frame including rounding out triggerguard, smoothing beaver tail, smoothing magwell, contouring finger grooves and removing machining marks

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