I had the opportunity to try some of AIM Surplus’s ported barrels and slides during GunCon 2025 in June. I’ve used a lot of Glock parts from AIM over the years, but this was the first time trying their slides, let alone a ported model.
I haven’t shot many ported pistols at all. I was pretty impressed with how they shot and arranged to get a Glock 19 slide and barrel for further review.
AimSurplus Glock 19 Handgun Slide
The slide I ended up getting was the AimSurplus Glock 19 Gen 3 Compatible Handgun Slide with RMR Cut and Top Window. That’s a mouthful of a product name, but basically it’s a Glock 19 Gen3 compatible slide with a slot cut for the ported barrel. The slide is made from 416 Stainless steel and has a black Nitride Finish. It has a beveled muzzle and front and rear side serrations as well.
Aim’s slide comes with polymer iron sights with a blacked out rear and single white dot front post. There’s also an RMR cut, complete with optic cover plate. All of the internals are supplied and installed. It’s ready to add a barrel and spring and guide rod assembly and drop on to your gun.
These slides are made for Aim Surplus and branded under their name. It’s worth noting that while I say branded, they’re actually unmarked. They’re clean and sleek with no obtrusive markings, so if you aren’t a fan of guns with billboards of print on them, you’ll like these.
The slides are made in the USA and have a pretty amazing price point. They’re listed at $179.95, which is a good starting point. As of this writing, they’re on sale for $152.96. What kind of performance can you expect from a $150 slide? Keep reading to find out!
AimSurplus Glock 19 Slide Specs
- Caliber: 9mm
- Color: Black
- Platform: Gen 3
- Model: 19
- Footprint: RMR
- Manufacturer: AimSurplus
- Sights: Polymer
- Price: $179.95, Sale Price: $152.96
AimSurplus Glock 19 Ported Barrel
To go with the slide, I got one of Aim’s 9mm Glock 19 ported barrels. The barrels are made from 416R Stainless Steel, and my example had a black DLC coating. There are two rows of porting that start 11/16″ back from the muzzle. You must use these with a slide that has a top window, such as the one shown above.
The AIM barrels have SAMMI spec chambers and are no gunsmithing, drop-in fit. They’ll work with Gen 1 through 5 Glocks, although Aim notes that they will not be flush with the slide on a Gen 5 model.
Like their slides, these barrels are US made for Aim. If you thought the slides were inexpensive, hold on for the barrel prices. They only list at $44.95 normally and currently they’re on sale $29.95. That’s beer and pizza money.
My barrel came with an Aim Glock 19 guide rod and recoil spring assembly. The rod is stainless steel and these are once again US made. Price on these is only $9.95.
AimSurplus Glock 19 Ported barrel Specs
- Platform: GLOCK 19
- Manufacturer: AimSurplus
- Finish: DLC
- Caliber: 9mm
- Type: Ported
- Material: 416R Stainless Steel
- Price: $44.95, Sale Price: $29.95
SCT19 Frame
So I had a slide, barrel, and guide rod. I just needed a frame to put it on. It just so happens that I had an SCT19 frame available, which I also bought from Aim a year or so back. If you aren’t familiar with the SCT frames here’s a quick rundown.
SCT stands for St. Croix Tactical, and they’re a US manufacturer out of Hudson, Wisconsin. They’ve been making OEM parts for the firearms industry since 2013. They started offering GLOCK 19 and 17-sized frames a few years ago.
Their frames are fully compatible with Gen3 Glock parts, but they have a unique appearance compared to a factory frame. These are fully serialized and require an FFL transfer when you purchase them.
The frames are made from a proprietary polymer, but they feel pretty similar to a factory GLOCK frame. They have overmolded stainless steel rails, an electroless nickel locking block, and are compatible with Gen1 through Gen3 parts. Frames are available either stripped or fully assembled.
I bought a fully assembled one. It comes with a polished trigger assembly with an electroless nickel trigger bar, and a polymer trigger with a 5.5-pound electroless nickel connector. It uses steel trigger and locking block pins, a steel slide release, and a polymer trigger housing pin. The mag release button is polymer. The ejector is a Gen 4 ejector, a common modification on Gen 3 builds.
Complete SCT19 frames at AIM run right around $89.99, and I’ve seen them on sale for even less. Stripped frames are only $54.99. That’s a killer deal for a complete Glock-compatible frame.
Range Time
With my parts in hand, I installed the barrel and slide on the SCT frame. I’ve used that frame with a few different slides, both Glock OEM and aftermarket, with good success, so it was no surprise that the Aim slide slid right on and locked in place. The function check showed that everything was good to go.
I gathered a mix of OEM, Magpul, and AC-Unity Glock 19 magazines. I also had a pair of the new Xtech Tactical Glock 17 magazines, along with their 17-to-19 mm mag sleeve adapter. On my first trip to the range, I just did some casual shooting using Igman 124gr FMJ. Function was 100% and I was very pleased with the handling of the SCT/Aim package.
I already knew the SCT frames were comfortable for me. They have great texture and contours, and tend to point a bit better than a factory Glock frame for me. With the Aim ported slide added, controlability increased another notch. The Glock 19-sized gun had virtually no muzzle climb with the ported barrel. The gun shot smoothly and stayed level throughout my courses of fire. It was impressive, especially considering the modest cost of the Aim parts.
I was just shooting at iced tea jugs on my first range trip, but I was still impressed. At 25 yards, I was rolling the jugs around steadily, with iron sights. I can usually menace the jugs at that distance, getting hits here and there, but with the Aim setup, I was drilling them constantly. I know a lot of you guys probably shoot better than me, but I called that a win.
Accuracy Testing
Next trip out I shot for groups and ran things through my Garmin C1 pro chronograph. I used a mix of 9mm bullet weights and profiles from several companies. The mix consisted of Remington UMC 115gr FMJ, Freedom 124gr FMJ, Federal 124gr Syntech Training Match Jacketed Flat Nose, Federal Critical Duty 135gr JHP, Wilson 147gr JRN, Speer Gold Dot 147gr JHP, and some old Winchester Train & Defend 147gr JHP.
I did all of my shooting standing, offhand at 15 yards. My groups averaged around 1 inch with most ammo. The Federal Critical Duty 135-grain load gave my best groups at 5/8 inch. The Federal 124gr Syntech and Remington UMC 115gr gave 3/4″ groups. The Freedom Arms 124gr offered my “worst” groups at 2 inches. Everything else is grouped around the 1-inch range.
Velocities out of the 4-inch G19 barrel ranged from 849fps for the Wilson 147-gr load up to 1079 fps for both the Remington UMC 115-gr and Federal Syntech 124-gr loads. These were pretty much in line with a nonported 3.5-inch barrel 9mm I was testing the same day. I was wondering how much velocity loss I might get from a ported barrel, but the answer seems to be not much.
Value for Your Dollar
I asked earlier what kind of performance you can get from a $150 slide. It turns out quite a lot. I obtained the slide and barrel from AIM for T&E and hadn’t checked the prices until I sat down to write this. I was guessing more like $250 for the slide and $80 or better for the barrel.
Even at that price I was impressed with both the handling and accuracy of the AIM Glock parts. When I saw the actual prices I was surprised. I honestly shot the SCT/Aim combo better than I do my factory Glocks. Some of that is probably due to the grip shape on the SCT frame, but the ported barrel also plays a significant role. The gun is just easy to shoot. It’s recoil is soft and muzzle climb nearly nonexistent. It’s easy to stay on target and make, clean repeatable shots.
My next step will be to try out an optic that takes advantage of the RMR cut. Well, actually my next step will be to pay Aim for the slide and barrel, because they aren’t getting these T&E parts back. The build cost for the Aim Surplus windowed RMR cut slide, ported barrel, recoil assembly, along with an SCT19 frame comes in under $300, and the combo shoots better than guns I own that cost twice as much.
I expect expensive guns to work, so I’m not excited when they do. But when an affordable package like this, the Aim slide and barrel, does, especially with an affordable frame like the SCT, I find that pretty exciting.
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