Glock Gen 5 Slide machining in West Georgia

[Double R]

The thing about slide machining for a Red Dot is that just about any half-assed machinist with a manual milling machine COULD do it. It'd be a couple of lateral cuts, then drill-and-tap the screw holes. Simple, but not optimal.

But, to do it right, one would really prefer to have radiused cuts that precisely follow the curves of the RDS itself. I'd also want these to be tight. Very little slop in these cuts significantly reduce the amount of stress loads on the screws themselves.

And, in a perfect world, I'd want those bosses (the little "studs" that come up out of the slide and engage in those holes in most RDS'es) integrated in the cut itself.

Most half-assed machinists CAN'T do those things, which is why good places to have this kind of work done aren't on every street corner. It practically requires a CNC machine.

You are right that a CNC is much better and looks a lot cleaner, but it can be done with a manual mill with a DRO. I had to lengthen a slot for a customer a few months ago. Not as nice as a CNC, but it did work. Hope you can tell from pictures where I made cuts. I had already blued the cut areas when I took the picture. As long as you have specs on the optic you can plot the arc.