Zev Technologies (Glockworx) Glock .22 Conversion (Part 1)

3-Gun competitor and Noveske Shooting Team member James Casanova is to blame for my recent affinity for Zev Technologies. If you haven’t heard of Zev, perhaps you have heard of their sister company Glockworx. If you haven’t heard of Glockworx, then you probably don’t own a Glock and should just move on to the next article or website. However if you plan to own a Glock someday or better yet already do, then you will want to read this.

I bought my first Glock, a G19 Gen 2 in 1994 and quickly fell in love with how simple the platform is. Needless to say, nearly 20 years of owning Glocks and I have always kept them pretty much stock with exception of the occasional 3.5lb trigger bar or night sights.

After shooting James’ Zev modified Glock 34 at the range, I was shocked at how well it tracked, mitigated recoil (and the trigger felt oh so amazing). I wanted his gun and told him he could not have it back.

“Send your Glock to Zev, you won’t regret it,” Casanova said. I had a bone stock G17 Gen 3 sitting in the safe that I thought would be a great candidate for a project gun and James’ was kind enough to put me in touch with the folks at Zev.

On my way down to Southern California from Seattle for a business trip, I thought it would be engaging to stop in to see Zev’s little shop and pick up some parts for my project gun. Upon my arrival I thought the large warehouse-type building looked inconspicuous; there was just one tiny little sign up in the corner that just said Zev. As I would soon find out, however, the little stops there; there is nothing little about Zev’s operation.

As I walked into the building, I was quickly taken back by the sheer size of their operation. Guys were running around everywhere and the sound of CNC machines executing code was music to my ears. There was more to the Zev story and I was on a mission to learn it.

While on a tour of the factory and as I was snapping photos, I took note of one guy who seemed to be everywhere. At every turn he was in the mix, like he was on a mission, carrying around an M&P slide in his hand (more on that later). At the end of the tour, my tour guide (the director of sales and marketing) took me to the last room of the day and said, “Alec will be with you in a moment.”

The room looked like a bachelor pad, with RockStar Energy neon signs on the wall and a neon fridge full of the drink. There was a couch and command center that rivals “mission control”. This was the coolest room I had ever seen! Enter the mastermind behind it all, the creator, lead designer and innovator Alec. Alec doesn’t look the part of your typical corporate president, but don’t let that fool you. This guy knows. his. shit.

“Dude, sorry for the delay,” he said. “I'm working on a custom M&P slide and we are under the gun to get it done for a meeting tomorrow with a PD.” As he continued to work on the M&P (the same one he'd been working with each time I'd seen him earlier), he directed me to check out one of the many one-off custom Glock slides lying around. One could not help but notice all the Team Glock signed shooting jerseys ,and everywhere I turned I could see “custom this” and “prototype that”.

After letting me drool for a while, Alec said, “See that bookcase over there? Check out the stash.”

After my initial blank stare wore off, I entered the next room – you know, the one covered with wall-to-wall sexy one-of-a-kind guns. There were shelves filled with suppressors and toys galore. Before too long he let me go hands-on with his soon-to-be-released Glock .22 upper conversion kit, a truly innovative piece of hardware. We soon had it over in the “shoot room” and shot it suppressed, – what a joy! The .22 upper functioned flawlessly on the Glock frame and what blew my mind was that is still retained that Glock look. Being able to hit the range with my G17 and having the capability of throwing a .22 upper on it is very appealing. Note -Alec is just finishing up the proprietary magazines, which as you can imagine requires a lot design and engineering.

All in all, I left Zev with some new impressions but most importantly an understanding that these guys don’t just create what looks cool, they innovate highly functional, intricately designed, made in the USA parts that truly change the way your Glock will function. Incidentally, while I was there, I picked up one of Zev’s Fulrum Ultimate Trigger kits. This kit includes the trigger, adjustable trigger bar, ejector housing, V4 race connector, stainless firing pin safety, all springs and skeletonized firing pin. The trigger kit would not be complete without adding a few more drop parts such as springs, sights, extended releases and such. Very nice indeed – worth the time to learn more.

If you’re so inclined, check out www.glockworx.com for more info on Zev’s .22 pistol offerings and stay tuned for my review on the install photos. See more images over on the RECOILweb Facebook page.

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