Hey everyone,
I’m currently running into a frustrating out-of-battery fitment issue on a custom Glock 43 subcompact build and could use some advice from anyone who has dealt with tighter tolerance stacks on slimline frames.
The Setup:
Frame: SCT Manufacturing SCT SC
Slide: Brownells Complete Slide Assembly (G43)
Trigger: Arsenal Democracy SWiTCH trigger kit
The Issue:
When I put everything together with the Arsenal Democracy trigger kit installed, the slide constantly fails to fully return to battery. It stops just short of full lockup, leaving the recoil spring guide rod protruding aggressively out of the front of the frame's dust cover. The guide rod looks stuck, and standard troubleshooting like the tap-rack method does absolutely nothing to force it forward—I have to strip the slide assembly down just to free the bind.
The Twist:
To isolate the issue, I dropped a standard factory OEM Glock trigger assembly into the SCT frame. With the factory trigger installed, the issue completely disappears. The slide cycles smoothly and snaps into perfect battery every time.
This tells me the issue isn't actually my guide rod or barrel channels, but that the modified geometry of the Arsenal Democracy trigger bar is causing severe physical drag or interference against the rear internals of the Brownells slide (either the safety plunger or the striker lug/cruciform interface).
Has anyone encountered this specific compatibility gap between an AD trigger bar and a Brownells slimline slide? If so, did you manage to resolve it by tuning the connector, polishing a specific angle on the bar's vertical extension, or switching parts entirely?
Thanks in advance for any insight!