Glock 20 10mm - Compensated vs Non Compensated?

[Chris Miller]

Hi guys,

New member, but hope to get involved quite a bit.

I have a question about the Glock 20 10mm compensated vs non compensated.

Ballistically speaking, am I going to lose anything by having the compensated barrel? I ordered a lasermax laser for it and I found out after the fact that it might not be spot on because of the compensated barrel. Now i am wondering about overall power for hunting and such.

Does anyone know for sure?

If it does change things drastically, I could just order up a regular glock barrel in 10mm, right? I am not concerned with the porting in the slide if it comes down to that.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Nushif]

For hunting? I don't know how much follow up shooting you'd do, to be honest. Never hunted.
But th big "if" about compensators seems to be whether you plan on shooting at night. If you do, they might not be the best policy.

 

[Chris Miller]

Hey Nushif,

Yes - mainly thinking about hunting and personal protection (as a last resort) when in the bush. I've heard some guys mention night use as well, is this mainly because of the blacking out of the front sight? I have a lasermax laser on order for it but just recently found out that they are not guaranteed to be accurate when used with a compensated barrel. That kinda bums me out.

 

[Harley Quinn]

If it is a personal protection piece I would not have it compensated. If you are going to go hunting get an extra barrel that is already compensated and use it...

Normal length is 6 or 6.5" in hunting barrels that are compensated...

http://www.thehighroad.org/archive/index.php/t-323817.html

Read from another discussion about it^^^

Regards

 

[gofastman]

Ballistically speaking, am I going to lose anything by having the compensated barrel?

Yes.
I went back and forth on this too, I got the non compensated model 20SF, very happy I did and I suggest you do the same.

 

[Chris Miller]

@gofastman - would you care to elaborate?

@harley quinn - thanks for the post. My takeaway from the post was to consider lone wolf, but the biggest barrel they have for the glock 20 is 5.47" which is considerably shorter than you recommended. Did I miss something?

I appreciate the replies.

 

[Full Metal Jacket]

you loose velocity form the compensated barrel. you also have massive muzzle flash, and louder noise to deal with.

My takeaway from the post was to consider lone wolf, but the biggest barrel they have for the glock 20 is 5.47" which is considerably shorter than you recommended. Did I miss something?

glock makes a 6inch non-comp barrel for hunting with the G20.

 

[SKILCZ]

The compensator decreases the power by venting gas upward and can temporarily blind you with the vertical flash through the ports, which is what someone was talking about when they mentioned night shooting.

You don't need a compensator for 10 mm, IMO. The 10 mm Glocks shoot just fine (and much more quietly) w/o them.

 

[pvthouse]

I agree with skilcz. Although the power difference is about negligible at best. What it does help with is muzzle flip. Think of it this way, if you are trying to focus on something at night and a camera goes off and flashes you, your eyes must re-adjust befor you can do anything. Same thing happens with a compensated barrel. A lot of the gasses and flame shoot straight up and a laser will not help with this. Any human on the planet would be distracted from trying to find that little red dot at that point. Go with non comp and save yourself the head ache. Plus IMO the part of the slide that's cut out for the porting is an amazing place for debris and foriegn materials to get into.

 

[Chris Miller]

Well the damage is done... it is what it is. So should I buy a new barrel from glock, or look for an aftermarket? Would like something good for hunting....

 

[Harley Quinn]

Chris,
Lone Wolf Barrel might not be the way to go I have several LW's for other shooters... Have you looked around for other barrels??? Is the 5.47 compensated? Quite a few were/are making barrels Been some time since I bought any barrels other than one recently on the used side for a 9mm with lands and groves for my 17 Glock...

In a short barrel (std) if compensated I doubt you will be able to chrono and compare (find lost power) plus if one is compensated at the front sight end of barrel it is even more complicated to say you will lose power...

So how much are you going to lose???

Have to test many barrels, to determine that, easy to say (will lose) hard to prove IMHO...

If you want to call or contact Mag-Na-Port to argue this go for it...I have had them port my DE barrels that are 10" it does help in holding pistol better I have found, am going to send in a 10" 440 Corbon to have done...

Had my 50 AE 10" done and I liked the result...Loud, sure it is a DE LOL

Regards

 

[wow6599]

I can't recommend a LW barrel, at least not for a G20. I have one that I have tried and tried to get running 100%.....it just won't. I have polished the feed ramp to a mirror finish and it still has FTF about 10% of the time.
As always though, YMMV.

 

[gofastman]

I can't recommend a LW barrel, at least not for a G20. I have one that I have tried and tried to get running 100%.....it just won't. I have polished the feed ramp to a mirror finish and it still has FTF about 10% of the time.
As always though, YMMV.

send it back, they stand behind their products and will make it right in short order.

 

[KBintheSLC]

I try to stay away from "C" models like the plague. A guy recently brought a G20C to our plates match, which continued into the night. The muzzle blast created massive flames. I have some video of it... here is a captured still.

Keep in mind that this guy was using mild, handloads with "flash retardant" powder. Nonetheless, the flash was much larger than his entire head. Needless to say, the dude didn't hit a single plate.

I'll stick with my standard G20, which sends the flames forward instead of up.

 

[KBintheSLC]

I can't recommend a LW barrel, at least not for a G20. I have one that I have tried and tried to get running 100%.....it just won't. I have polished the feed ramp to a mirror finish and it still has FTF about 10% of the time.
As always though, YMMV.

I had to add a 22# recoil spring to get my LW 10mm barrel to feed reliably. I believe that the long case combined with the tight, match-grade chamber make the cartridge bind during feeding. The stronger spring eliminated this problem by slamming the slide forward with more authority.

 

[wow6599]

I had to add a 22# recoil spring to get my LW 10mm barrel to feed reliably. I believe that the long case combined with the tight, match-grade chamber make the cartridge bind during feeding. The stronger spring eliminated this problem by slamming the slide forward with more authority

I have always ran with a 20# spring from Wolff......maybe I should get a 22# too.

 

[Full Metal Jacket]

get the glock factory 6 inch G20 barrel, you guys! at least you know it'll work

 

[KBintheSLC]

get the glock factory 6 inch G20 barrel, you guys! at least you know it'll work

Except that it kind'a defeats the point of getting an aftermarket barrel.

 

[Full Metal Jacket]

Except that it kind'a defeats the point of getting an aftermarket barrel.

the OP asked for a hunting barrel, not one to shoot lead or reloads through. in fact, he's made no mention of loading his own at all.

 

[PO2Hammer]

Well the damage is done... it is what it is. So should I buy a new barrel from glock, or look for an aftermarket? Would like something good for hunting...

First just shoot it, you might like it the way it is. Your gun is ported, not compensated, so there may be no problem at all. I know, Glock calls it compensated, but it's really porting.

If you do decide to get an aftermarket barrel, KKM Precision is worth the few extra dollars they cost, regardless of the type of ammo you choose. They make a 6 incher IIRC.

 

[Mephis]

For a glock 20 I really prefer the compensated model.

I have a 20c that's only seen doubletap ammo and it's certainly a big help in keeping the muzzle down. After the trigger job I did, it took some practice to slow down my shots, because the gun was staying down so well.

Ignore the BS about muzzle flash. Most guns have worse muzzle flash without even having a ported barrel. If anything, I'd say it diminishes some of the muzzle flash by giving it 3 holes to escape from instead of 1.


As far as hunting use... Hornady 200gr XTPs loaded to between 1100-1300fps is the way to go, though the factory hornady 200gr loading (1050) is plenty good enough and actually will provide better penetration than the ones loaded to higher velocity.

 

[SharpsDressedMan]

Non, unless you like to light up the sky at night, and a lot more blast than the 10mm has uncompensated. Fast recovery is not worth the price of the other two.

 

[axeman_g]

I have owned a 20C and a 20. I like the 20 non compensated model better. The G20 recoil is more directly towards the hand/arm then up. The frame seems to flex more, absorbing some of the recoil backwards.

To be honest, you dont need a 6" barrel to hunt with. I have shot two hogs with a OEM G20 and buffalo bore ammo.

Just buy ammo and shoot. Repeat. The G20 is the best Glock made and the best 10mm in production today for under $1000.

 

[2WheelsGood]

This is my friend's compensated Glock 20, and as you can tell it is quite a flame thrower (out the top). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwTD5c6wKaA

 

[KBintheSLC]

Ignore the BS about muzzle flash.

Hard to ignore it when it directs a blinding swath of flames straight into your field of view. I have personal experience with both the G20 and G20C, and all I can say is I would avoid the comp version like the plague. IMO of course.