Tight chambered Lone Wolf G27 barrel

I recently bought a used Lone Wolf G27 barrel and was surprised at the low price and the like new condition. It didn't take long for me to find out why the seller wanted to part with the barrel. It was just so slightly tight enough for my lead reloads to chamber fully (last 1/8th of an inch).

I rechecked my brass, resizing die and the taper crimp die and they all checked out. Empty resized cases dropped in freely. So I test loaded some FMJ and plated bullets. FMJ and plated rounds did chamber with a slight push, but it was snug. Mind you, I do like the tightness of Lone Wolf chambers, but even for me, this was too tight. I called Lone Wolf. I guess their policy changed as now they wanted $30 to loosen up the chamber.

Hmmmmmm ...

After doing some checking in the garage, I found a small dry-erase pen that was just the right size/shape for the chamber (it fit snug). Using a cut square of 3M P220 grit wet/dry sand paper wrapped around the pen, I sanded the inside of the chamber using a continuous twisting motion, not back-and-forth. When I got a rough test fit, I finished with P400 and P800 grit sand paper pieces. I did not touch the ramp.

Now the lead reloads drop into the chamber freely with a "clink" and fed/chambered without issues from the magazine.

Time to go to the range and do some test shooting.

OK, back from the range. This was a quick function test of the LW barrel after I sanded the chamber.

First I fired 155 gr Montana Gold jacketed and 180 gr Berry's plated bullets. No FTF/FTE.

Next was 180 gr TCFP Missouri Bullets that I initially had chambering problem with. These were loaded to 1.125" OAL with 4.3 gr of W231/HP38. No FTF/FTE. I tried several different magazines and did not experience any feeding problems.

billybob, the Lone Wolf barrels come with fairly smooth land/groove rifling and don't need to be burnished. I am sure it can't hurt though.

The only reason why I shot the jacketed and plated bullets first is because I test loaded them to verify the chambering issue.

BTW, the barrel accuracy was very good for all three types of bullets. Off hand, 7 yard shot groups easily held 1" and 2" at 10 yards.

ljnowell and to others, my apologies.

I have 4 other LW barrels for my G22/G27 and all of my reloads chamber freely with a "clink" for jacketed, plated, and lead bullets.

This used LW barrel was purchased for a friend who has a G27 and he wanted to shoot lead reloads primarily. Since it was used, I do not know how old the barrel is other than it was in like new condition. This was the first LW barrel my reloads did not fall into the chamber freely with a "clink". I initially had planned to send the barrel back to Lone Wolf, but when they said it would cost $30+shipping to them to loosen up the chamber, I asked the friend if that's what he wanted to do. After some discussion, we decided to loosen up the chamber ourselves.

I am posting my experience on THR so others can read what my experience was with this particular barrel.
(Note: Any alteration of your LW barrel will void the warranty).


Here are the details:

Winchester factory rounds measured 0.421" at the case neck and my jacketed and plated reloads were taper crimped to 0.422" and although the factory rounds fell in freely, the jacketed and plated reloads needed to be pushed in. This is too tight even for me.

Since my friend wanted to shoot lead reloads primarily, I wanted to make sure the lead reloads out of his dies chambered freely (Lee carbide pistol dies). His lead reloads' taper crimp measured 0.423"-0.424".

Keep in mind that this was a very "slight" loosening of the chamber and I don't think we even saw any metal shavings/powder come out, just what was on the wet/dry sand paper. I used lead reloads to check the chamber fit and stopped when they fell in freely with a "clink" - compared to factory barrel (M&P), this is very snug. The lead reloads rattled loose even in my Gen3 Glock 27 barrel.

Even with the snug chamber and excellent case base support, lead reloads fed and chambered without issues.

It kind of bothers me though, because I have seen other Lone Wolf barrels that were not like that. It seems to me that thier machine work isnt quite as precise as it maybe should be.

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I have been quite happy with the 4 barrels I have used but this tight LW barrel got me thinking the same as well.

When I talked to LW last week, the guy I talked to said the chambers are machined to be snug with factory rounds and my problem was because I used reloads.

What?

The whole reason why many reloaders like me use Lone Wolf barrels is so that I can shoot reloads with barrel that have better case base support and tighter chamber!

Sapper, I ran a painted round into the chamber and it was definitely hanging on the case neck rim, not the body or the base of the case.

I agree with the "glocked" bulged cases. And that's the whole reason why I shoot reloads in Lone Wolf barrels ... to not have bulged cases to resize. Added plus is spent cases from tight chambered LW barrels are so much easier to resize.

What brand of taper crimp die is being used?

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Lee carbide dies. "Since my friend wanted to shoot lead reloads primarily, I wanted to make sure the lead reloads out of his dies chambered freely (Lee carbide pistol dies)."

Maximum case mouth diameter of a loaded round is listed as .423"

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With jacketed and plated reloads, it only required a slight push to chamber them fully. If actually fired, the force of recoiling slide would have hammer chambered these fully. Still, I think .422" reloaded cases should have dropped in freely.

Since the intended purpose of the LW barrel was for lead reloads, I wanted the .423"-.424" reloaded cases to drop in freely (I believe the .423"-.424" variations may have come from different thickness of case wall from different head stamps - I thought about using same head stamp cases to verify but the friend uses mixed range brass so I decided to go looser, not tighter for more reliable operation).

I first adjusted the taper crimp so it was about .423", but found that we were cutting into the side of the bullet. I then checked the bullets for consistent sizing. These were Missouri Bullets 18 BHN 180 gr TCFP. I measured them several times during the process and they were all consistent at .401". The maximum "flat" taper crimp I could apply without cutting into the bullet came out between .423"-.424" so we left it there. I think what was happening was due to the variations in the case wall thickness. With jacketed and plated bullets, I think the softer bullet cores were being pressed to consistent .422" while the hard cast lead bullet was being cut into when a thicker walled brass was being taper crimped.

Anyways, I told the friend if you reload mixed range brass, you need to take some component variations into consideration. I took several of the larger (.424") lead reloads and used them as guide as I sanded the chamber. With P220 grit sand paper, I focused my sanding on the forward to middle of the chamber as the opening of the chamber was not hanging any part of the reloaded round. When I was able to push in the lead reloads fully, I changed to P400/P800 grit sand paper to finish until the reloaded rounds dropped in freely with a "clink".