Aro-Tek started out making landing gear for light aircraft, but now the company is taking off in the handgun business with its unique custom Glock accessories.

Located in Washington state, Aro-Tek has been a manufacturer of landing gear for light aircraft for over a decade. In 1992 the company started making custom parts and custom modifications for the Glock family of centerfire semiautos. Aro-Tek offers its complete modification package for all Glocks. You can have your gun modified, or the company will furnish a complete package-including a new Glock. Some parts are available for home installation, others are designed to be installed only at the factory.

Included in the standard Ultimate Combat package are the LAW 2000 MKII laser sight, Aro-Port compensator, extended slide release, extended magazine release, titanium guide rod, and tritium night sights. Other options include an "On/Off" switch for the laser and a hard chrome finish applied to the slide. Aro-Tek also offers a barrel/compensator kit designed for those who choose a Glock for Unlimited class USPSA/IPSC competition. Designed by Australian gunsmith Herbert Seidler, the kit includes a match-grade barrel with six-port muzzle-attached compensator and a full-length steel recoil spring guide.

I recently worked with a Glock 19 that had undergone the Ultimate Combat conversion and was impressed with its functioning, quality of workmanship, and over-all appearance. The standard Aro-Port compensator, a modified version of the Schuemann-designed Hybrid compensator, is unlike the original design, which requires the machining of a clearance slot completely through the top of the slide for passage of the barrel-mounted nozzle plate. The Aro-Tek version has a much thinner plate that requires only a shallow clearance notch on the inside of the slide roof. The new design also allows the front sight to stay on the slide; it also makes a switch-barrel Glock quite feasible.

The Glock's titanium recoil spring guide rod is captive style, and the sights have tritium inserts. If, unlike me, you don't believe open sights that glow in the dark are one of the all-time best things to ever happen to defense guns, other options include the standard triple-white-dot combination as well as sights without colored inserts. I really like the smooth, snagless shape of the Aro-Tek rear sight, not to mention that its twin locking screws allow the sight to be adjusted for windage without a sight-pushing tool. The sight is not adjustable for elevation, but Aro-Tek has that base covered by offering it in six different heights that should cover point of impacts of most commonly available ammunition.

If your shooting hand ranges from small to medium in size, you may go for Aro-Tek's extended slide release. It extends back towards the shooter farther than the stock release and also has a shallow tab for better purchase by the thumb. I definitely like this particular modification, and after becoming accustomed to shooting a Glock with it I'll have a tough time shooting a Glock without it.

The grooved tab on the Aro-Tek steel magazine release has about twice as much surface area as the factory version. If I were to start shooting a Glock in Limited class USPSA competition, that item along with steel magazines from Ram-Line would be on my must-have list. As defense guns go, the extended magazine release is a good idea for those with small hands, but the spring in the one on the gun I shot was much too light for that application. I shot the gun with the two-hand hold and never accidentally released the magazine, but I believe it could happen with the light spring. If I were ordering an Ultimate Combat package from Aro-Tek, I would specify a heavier spring.

Layne Likes This Laser

I have never been a great fan of laser sights on handguns because those I've examined are too bulky, their wiring is exposed on the gun, and their external-mounted pressure switch makes the grip uncomfortable to hold. On top of that, the method of attachment to the gun used by some lasermakers appeared weak and left much to be desired. None of that holds true for Aro-Tek's LAW 2000 MKII sight: It measures a tiny .49 inch long, .40 inch wide, and .40 inch high-the module is so small you have to look hard to be aware of its presence.

Its design is ingenious to say the least. The laser module plugs into a socket or receptacle imbedded into the front of the trigger guard and is held in place by four mounting screws that also serve as zero-adjustment screws. Should the module become damaged replacing it with a backup unit involves nothing more complex than removing and replacing the four screws and zeroing the replacement unit. Electrical contacts are gold plated for corrosion resistance and maximum current conductivity. A silicone sealant between the module and socket pre-vents entry of dust or moisture.

The activating mechanism consists of an internal switch with a .300-inch-diameter activator button protruding through the rear wall of the grip frame. The small button leaves the feel of the grip unchanged and works 100 percent of the time-gripping the gun naturally turns on the laser. A lightweight synthetic compartment installed in the open cavity of the Glock's grip behind its magazine well houses replaceable button-style batteries that are commonly available at most camera supply shops and Radio Shack stores. In standard-size Glocks the system uses four batteries and one less in the Glock 19 and 23 compacts.

The laser can be deactivated by removing the batteries or by switching off an optional master switch located on the battery compartment cap.

Now for the really good news: All wiring between the laser-module sock-et, activator switch, and battery pack is completely hidden from view inside the gun. As laser sights for handguns go, I haven't seen anything that comes close to Aro-Tek's system.

Ultimate Combat Produces Excellent Performance

I tried six factory loads with bullets of different weights and styles in the 9mm-caliber Ultimate Combat, and it sailed through the exercise without a single bobble or malfunction. Overall accuracy for 30 five-shot groups at 20 yards averaged just over four inches. The best accuracy was with Winchester 115-grain Silvertip, Remington 147-grain Golden Saber, and PMC 124-grain Starfire with respective averages of 2.6, 2.8, and 3.2 inches.

I was curious about how the Aro-Tek-modified Glock would compare to a factory-original gun, so I shot it alongside a stock Glock 19. Accuracy and recoil of the two were about the same, but muzzle rise was considerably less with the Aro-Tek gun. The Aro-Tek weighs three ounces more, but most of its muzzle jump dampening is due to the efficiency of the Aro-Port compensator.

The Aro-Tek compensator does reduce muzzle jump considerably, but since I was shooting quite late in the afternoon on a cloudy day, "nozzleflash" definitely got my attention with some loads. The compensator also seemed to direct more muzzle blast in my direction and reduced velocity. Various factory load muzzle speeds averaged from 46 to 74 fps higher in an unaltered Parts and labor only Glock 19 than in the Aro-Tek-compensated gun. Propellant gas exiting from the front exhaust port also quickly deposited a coat of fouling on the front sight. At first it appeared that the tritium insert in the sight blade had disappeared, but a good cleaning revealed it was still there. Aro-Tek recommends Hoppes No. 9 bore solvent for that job. Sometime back I wrote that I couldn't imagine a better handgun designed for defensive use than a Glock 22 or 23 in .40 S&W caliber. They are affordable, accurate, powerful, rugged, and like other models and calibers of Glocks may be the most reliable out-of-box centerfire semiautos eer designed. Except for the compensator, which is fine for competition but something I'd just as soon not have on a defense gun, a Glock 22 or 23 outfitted by Aro-Tek with tritium sights, extended slide and magazine releases, and its fantastic laser sighting system has to represent the ultimate defense gun.

The Glock is a fantastic defense handgun fresh from its factory with no custom modifications. A trip to Aro-Tek makes the Glock even better.

Hand Gunning, January/February 1995