Glock Slide Wear with Conversion Barrel

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23Glock

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Hey everyone, first-time poster. Thanks for having me.
I would have posted this question over at GlockTalk but it seems King Eric has banned the entire Northeast and won’t return my emails about creating a new account…

Anyway, I have a Glock 23 that I’ve put about 850 rounds of .40S&W through. I recently bought a Lone Wolf 40-9 conversion barrel and have put about 500 rounds of 9mm through it. While cleaning the slide after my last range trip I noticed some odd wear in spots where the barrel will contact during cycling. I’m wondering if this is normal wear for a stock 23, or if this wear is caused by the conversion barrel. When I bought the LWD barrel I noticed it had very sharp, hard edges that have since worn down with use.
I’ve attached some pics. If anyone out there has a G23 that you have NOT used a conversion barrel in, can you tell me if you see similar wear? And if anyone has a LWD 40-9 for their 23, how about you?

The first shot is of the underside of the slide. There are wear marks where I assume the hood of the barrel will contact the slide as it’s returning to battery.
DSC_4428.gif

The second shot shows a very significant gouge just above the extractor. There is less significant wear on the opposite side, but I couldn’t get a good picture of it.
DSC_4435.gif


Any comments are welcome, thanks!
 
I have 3 Storm Lake conversion barrels--on a G35, G22, and G27. I haven't seen anything like this!
 
In Glock Armorer course I took they talked about slide pinging occurring in some model 22, and as displayed in your top pic this was the very thing. According to Glock it was no problem and not to worry. They did not talk about any pinging occurring by the extractor though. From a personal standpoint, you installed an aftermarket barrel and now your experiencing signs of ACCELERATED WEAR, personally I would discontinue use. Is your expensive pistol worth the cost difference of 9mm and .40 ammo? And not to take back what I am saying or argue with my self the location and type of wear probably is not affecting the integrity of the slide, and eventually the barrel could very well shoot it's self in. Although as with everything else in life this is a risk. You might even just call Lone Wolf, although I have been thinking about getting one of these barrels so I am curious about what you find out.
 
The marks on the bottom of your slide are normal.

I recently aquired a new G27 and traded it for a new G23 after discovering I liked a longer sight radius and larger grip.

The following is a letter I sent to glock regarding the same marks on the breech face:
I have been a Glock armorer since 2004 but recently I came across something I've never seen before.

I have a brand new G27 MPR 056

I have fired about 250rds of different brands CCI Blazer/Win Ranger with
varying weights ranging from 180gr to 165gr without a single jam.

I used magazines with #5 and #8 followers so far without any problems.

The gun shoots great 5 shot groups from 25yrd rested 3.25"-4" depending on the ammo (and my ability) straight from the box.

Here is my question: the attached pictures are poor but it appears that the barrel is peening the breech face. Slowly returning the slide to battery you can see the barrel get centered by hitting the breach face then closing. It doesn’t do this all the time there appears to be enough play to only hit one side or the other just part of the time.

A tech from Glock called me back and stated from the pictures it looked as though everything was normal and wasn't an indication of a problem. I told him none of my other glocks have ever left marks like that on the breech. the tech said sometimes the barrels are a bit oversize and sometimes "wear in"...some may leave marks others may not.

My new G23 MSL-*** I worked the slide by hand several hundered times in an attempt to wear in the barrel a bit and the marks are still there but aren't as pronounced as on the G27.

Overall (per advice from the tech) I'm not going to get too concerned as long as the gun functions and shoots well...to date no problems thus far in about 400rds.

The pictures are of the G27 I traded.
*BTW this is with the stock barrel on both guns*
 
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That doesn't look normal. .40 cal or not...

Now, I'm not 100% sure, but that looks like obvious damage. Your first pic with the "wear" by slide stop notch looks pretty bad. I mean the metal is pretty deformed and smushed...

I've read that Glock .40s are more prone to "slide peening" due to the higher pressure and more powerful .40 round when compared to the 9mm. My Glock 19 doesn't have any wear like that, and neither did my Glock 27 before I sold it. I don't think the caliber matters. As long as your recoil spring isn't worn out, you shouldn't be getting "wear" to that extreme.

I'd be a little more concerned if I were you. And I would definitely stop using that aftermarket barrel.

That's exactly why I never had the guts to buy an aftermarket "drop-in" barrel for any of my handguns. If you need a 9mm that bad, buy another gun. Assuming you were going to shoot your .40 often either way, then the cost of a new 9mm gun would be made up in no time from the savings of 9mm ammo vs. .40s&w. Just my 2 cents. Good luck.
 
Wow, thanks for all the great info everyone!
The LWD shoots very accurately and has never once had a malfunction in the 500 rounds of 9mm I've put through it. It functions flawlessly. I've shot it both with the barrel simply dropped in and doing a "full G19 conversion" for about 150 rounds: barrel, trigger mechanism housing and extractor. I was extremely pleased with it until I saw the wear. It's definately NOT worth the cost if it's going to damage my slide, which is why I asked, but it sounds like it might be 'normal'.
I may try to knock down the hard edges of the barrel hood with some 600 grit. When I held up my .40 barrel next to the LWD barrel I noticed all the edges on the oem barrel had a smooth roundover. I may try to modify the LWD barrel in a similar manner. That will probably void my LWD warranty, but...
 
The top picture is normal, but the bottom is not. I checked my G23 and those marks near the extractor is most likely from the 40-9 LWD barrel.

I have a LWD 40-9 for my G35 that has gone through 1000 rounds of 9mm and do not have those same markings.

I'd say stop shooting from the LWD, unless you want to damage the slide.
 
That will probably void my LWD warranty, but...
Click to expand...
Forget about your LWD barrel! I'd be more worried that you will void your Glock warranty by damaging it with the LWD barrel.
 
As mentioned, the wear on the underside of the slide is normal and has nothing to do with your barrel. It is called slide peening.

The wear on your breechface is not normal, it may not cause any problems, but it's definitely out of the ordinary.

When you cycle the gun slowly, can you see what (if anything) contacts the breech in that position? If your barrel is really hitting the slide in that spot something is not right.
 
I sat down yesterday and looked at this much closer. I slowly hand-cycled the action about 30 times with the stock .40 barrel in and the barrel hood never contacted the breech face in the area that is worn. I then put in the LWD conversion barrel and hand cycled it about 30-40 times. About every forth or fifth time the top corner of the barrel hood would contact the breech face in that exact spot, then be pushed "left" as it returned fully back into battery.
So, I know for an absolutely certainty that the wear is caused by the LWD barrel. The question is: Is this wear dangerous? Will this cause any longer term issues?
 
I don't know if it's dangerous, but I think you better stop using that barrel untill you know for sure, as in having a gunsmith look at it. It sounds like the hood is too narrow or cut off center.

I've never seen a gouge like the one on your breechface, the ones on the top pic are normal for big bore Glocks.
 
As was already mentioned, the top pic is quite normal. The bottom pic is nothing to worry about. The damage is already done and it's not likely to get any worse. 5 seconds with a Dremel tool on the bbl hood will eliminate the cause and it will be fine. No reason to stop shooting it. No reason to contact a gunsmith. No reason to worry.
 
It doesn't look dangerous, but it's definitely not normal. I would send the pics to LW and ask them why their barrel is tearing up your slide.

I would be concerned about what else the barrel is wearing/banging on internally if it's that poorly fitted.
 
It doesn't look dangerous, but it's definitely not normal. I would send the pics to LW and ask them why their barrel is tearing up your slide.

I would be concerned about what else the barrel is wearing/banging on internally if it's that poorly fitted.
Click to expand...
Yes, it's normal and it isn't "their" barrel and it's NOT "poorly fitted". It happens regularly but not always. It is not dangerous and will stop at a certain point and will not get any worse.
 
5 seconds with a Dremel tool on the bbl hood will eliminate the cause and it will be fine.
Click to expand...
5 seconds with a Dremel tool may eliminate the peening (by removing the part of the barrel hood that's hitting the slide), but it will not eliminate the cause.

The cause is that for some reason the barrel is misaligned with the slide as the gun goes into battery and therefore barrel hood is peening the slide.

Regardless of how "regularly" this is known to happen, it still shouldn't happen. If the barrel is properly fitted there won't be any misalignment and therefore no peening.

For clarification, this entire post is about the peening of the slide just above the extractor, not about the peening on the underside of the slide.
 
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