Aftermarket Glock Barrels (G17)

[Sapper771]

I am looking for some input on aftermarket Glock barrels. I have been using a Lone Wolf barrel for my G17 for the last year. The chamber on this barrel is incredibly tight and it gets annoying. The LW barrel has also caused a slight decrease in reliability.


I would like to have a barrel that is a little more forgiving in the chamber, or maybe similar to the Glock factory chamber. Not really concerned with match accuracy, just want to shoot lead bullets accurately enough for IDPA style shooting. Would also prefer it to be a drop in barrel.

The other option is having LW open up the chamber on the barrel I have. Not sure how much that will cost, how long it will take, or if it will be effective.


I was looking at Storm Lake. Cant seem to find anything mentioning their chamber tolerances though. Anyone have any experience with Storm Lake, Jarvis, KKM, or Barsto?

Thanks!

 

[ku4hx]

LW will rework your throat and chamber at no charge to you. I've got five LW barrels and had FTF problems with two. Sending them the barrels and dummy rounds solved my problems completely. Dan (armorer) was who I worked with.

 

[Sapper771]

Last time I spoke with LW, they told me that they started charging a fee for that service. Its been about 8 months since I spoke with them though.

 

[451 Detonics]

My Lone Wolf barrel works great even with the reloads I use. My reloads use the same bullet I use for 38 Special so yes, they are .357 in diameter. I use the same bullet for 38 Super as well...



I know several guys using the KKM barrels and they seem happy as well.

 

[w1mnk]

Check EFKFiredragon as well. I have 5 of there barrels, and the performance and quality is excellent.

 

[Ken Rainey]

Well, if Lone Wolf won't do it for free or at least for a reasonable fee, then take some 1500 grit wet or dry sand paper and wrap it around a suitable sized dowel rod that will chuck in a drill and LIGHTLY polish the chamber...

I had to do this on a couple of 9mm Kahr pistols and on a Kimber 9mm 1911 ... worked like a charm...

But, if you're not comfortable doing this yourself, send it to Lone Wolf.

Not to start anything, but you can shoot lead bullets in a stock Glock barrel if they are hard enough and you clean it as you should...just say'n ...

 

[highlander 5]

I've had several Barsto barrels for my pistols among them a Glock 17,BHP and my current Baretta 92 and have had no problems with fit or function. chambers are match grade the 9mm barrels are held to .3555 diameter. They are pricey but worth the money.

 

[Hangingrock]

I was not satisfied with my one and only Lone Wolf barrel. That said other people are. I have KKM barrels in a G17 & G19. I’ve experienced no problems with factory or reloaded ammunition. I’m a satisfied customer.

 

[NG VI]

Lone Wolf will do it for free and when I had mine modified, I shipped it on a Monday afternoon from Maine and had it back in my hands on time for the weekend. Friday afternoon to be specific.

I paid to ship it to them, was cheap, and they paid to ship it back and didn't charge me a dime for it. I sent them a couple of the rounds that were causing the problems (Fiocchi Extrema loaded with the 115 XTPs) so they could see exactly what I needed.

 

[PO2Hammer]

I would call LW and give them a shot at it, even if it cost $25, it would still be a lot cheaper than buying another.

If you do buy something else, I've been very happy with KKM, high quality barrels. Barsto is another good one.

 

[Strykervet]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't the LW barrels made in Korea?

I've had problems with LW, after a long time of no complaints, and this last year they just totally dropped the ball. After giving them chance after chance, they kept sending me the wrong part, not what I ordered, forgetting to send stuff back, etc. I finally gave up on them. I only deal with Glockmeister now for parts. For barrels though, Barsto is expensive, but hard to beat. Real hard to beat. EFK is also a GREAT place to deal with. They will do whatever you want, their warantee is bar-none, and the barrels are nice too (they are the only ones I know of that chemically machine the rifling --the bore ends up looking like a mirror!). There are some other small shops, like Satern for rifles (hands down the best there is!) but I can't recall them off hand.

The problem with modifying Glocks is that once you do, you essentially end up spending enough to purchase a new or different firearm. To get that reliability back, the barrel usually has to be fitted to some degree, and it will never be as reliable as it was stock. Or as accurate, at least from my experience, unless a quality fitted barrel like a Barsto is used.

I learned this the hard way trying to make a 10mm longslide. I finally gave up, passed on the parts to others to try, and went with a stock G20. I couldn't be happier.

The stock barrel has a lot going for it, and only one thing against. The rifling isn't that great for lead. But it does increase velocity, and it is quite accurate. Not to mention that it seldom, if ever, causes problems with feeding. They will digest everything. The unsupported area only becomes a problem with hot loads and toasty reloads. For target loads, I haven't had a problem one (and this unsupported issue is really only an issue in the wide, high pressure rounds --in particular the .40 and 10mm, but to some degree with the .357 Sig). I load real 10mm loads in once fired brass and it comes out with no bulges using a stock barrel.

Honestly, you will be much better off leaving the Glock alone, and just getting a used Springfield XD --basically a Glock clone with traditional rifling in the barrel. It will cost you more up front, but by the time you get that converted Glock the way you want it, you may have spent that much.

As far as reaming the chamber, any gunsmith worth his salt should be able to ream that 9mm chamber on the spot for next to nothing. Might get it done free at a gunshow. But part of what causes the reduction in reliability is that LW designed the barrel to not only have a tight chamber, they took out the feed ramp, or "unsupported area" of the barrel.

 

[Hunt480]

Well, if Lone Wolf won't do it for free or at least for a reasonable fee, then take some 1500 grit wet or dry sand paper and wrap it around a suitable sized dowel rod that will chuck in a drill and LIGHTLY polish the chamber...

I also did this to a LW barrel it will solve your problem. After sanding I used a Dremel tool with the Dremel polish to polish the chamber. This was a 10mm barrel for the Glock 20. The gun functions great now with no hiccups whatsoever. I see alot of post from people that have had no issues at all with LW but my barrel was absolutely useless until I sanded and polished the chamber(just a little bit). Apparently its according to who's working the QC department at times. They are advertised as drop in barrels but LW 's reqiure a little work sometimes. Lone Wolf offered to fix mine at no charge but I did it myself, it is a simple fix at least it was for me anyway.

 

[Hangingrock]

The problem with modifying Glocks is that once you do, you essentially end up spending enough to purchase a new or different firearm. To get that reliability back, the barrel usually has to be fitted to some degree, and it will never be as reliable as it was stock. Or as accurate, at least from my experience, unless a quality fitted barrel like a Barsto is used

Under let us agree to disagree in my G17 & G19 no fitting was required for the KKM barrels. Between the two pistols I’ve fired approximately 2500 rounds of various factory and reloads with zero issues. As for Bar-Sto they have a semi drop in which requires minor fitting. Installing the Bar-Sto in a G21 it’s been trouble free since instillation seven years ago.

 

[gofastman]

Last time I spoke with LW, they told me that they started charging a fee for that service. Its been about 8 months since I spoke with them though.

They did it for free on my two barrels.

If I were in your shoes and they sent me a faulty product, I would expect and demand that they make it right, which they did in my case with no hassle

 

[Sapper771]

The LW barrel I have functions decently well, but the chamber dimensions restrict me from using "glocked" brass. Most of the brass I have is "Glocked". Most of the brass that I buy has been "Glocked" (once fired range brass). I had to purchase 700 pieces of new brass just so I could use my LW barrel.
Now I have to keep my LW barrel brass and my "Glocked" brass separated throughout the entire course of tumbling, loading, and shooting. The only thing that helps me is that I managed to buy starline brass for my LW barrel, so the headstamp is different from the other brass I have.

I guess I am looking for a better replacement so I wont have to bother with the brass separation and such. It would be nice if I could just load whatever brass I have. I dont mind sending the barrel back to LW to be opened up. I would feel better about sending them one of my Glock factory barrels (gen3) so they could match the LW barrel's chamber to the Glock chamber.

The LW barrel I have is no more accurate than the Glock factory barrel. Ever since I have started using this LW barrel, reliability has gone down a little. I am seeing more FTF and stovepipes (about 1-2 per 300 rounds).

I was just looking for info on other barrels as well. I had heard that the Storm Lake chambers were not as tight as Lone Wolf's. Storm Lake is with in my price range, but so is EFK and KKM.

Thank You for all the replies.

 

[Harley Quinn]

Sapper771,
Seems to me a cheap way to go is send the barrel to LW, brass from glocked, and unglocked...
Ask a few questions, get the imput from them and last but not least...Sizing/resizing, comes to mind

Best of luck to you

 

[Sapper771]

Mr.Quinn,

Sizing is part of the problem. Instead of me trying to explain it, I will just post what I got from Mr.Shepard of LWD. This email was dated october of 2010.

I suspect you have a reloading problem. This is easy to verify. Remove the barrel from the slide. Drop a factory round into the chamber. If the factory round fits slightly lower than the top of the barrel hood you are looking good to go. If the factory round does not sit slightly below the top of the barrel hood you will need to return the barrel to LWD and we will fix it right away.

The problem is most likely caused by an expanded or swelled case head that has not been fully resized. Ammunition that is fired from an original Glock factory barrel produces (very) expanded case heads. This expansion occurs because of the large chamber used in Glock factory barrels. Many reloaders think they are full length resizing their brass but this simply is not true. The sizer die has a beveled area located at the entrance of the die mouth. This beveled area helps guide the straight walled cartridge into the die. The case rim is held with a shell holder. The area of the cartridge that is between this beveled area and the shell holder never gets resized completely.

If you drop your reload into a LWD barrel and the case head (rim) sits above the barrel hood this is a good indication your brass is bulged and not resized correctly. Here is 2 ways to fix this problem:

1 Run your loads through a case gauge before shooting. Many reloaders currently use Dillon or Midway stainless case gauges however these manufactures are known to have liberal tolerances. If your Dillon or Midway case gauge works with the LWD chamber you are good to go. If not, we recommend you use the EGW case gauge. The EGW is known to run tighter tolerances. Once the reload is fired from the LWD barrel you should not have a feed problem again.

2 You can return your barrel to Lone Wolf and include 4 or 5 dummy rounds of your reloads (no powder or primer) and we will open up the chamber to accommodate your loaded round.

*If you are reloading 40 S&W or 10mm we recommend you use the Redding GRX push through die to remove 100% of the case budge.

JR

He explained it a whole lot better than I could. Thanks again Mr.Shepard.



I may have to contact LW again to see if they could match the glock chamber. Sending them a few LW brass and a few Glocked brass would also work.

There is one other problem that I failed to mention. Using the LW barrel , While I am shooting my cast bullets that are tumble lubed, the tumble lube residue gets inside the chamber. If the build up get bad enough, it will tie the gun up. This has happened twice so far. It is generally a quick fix with some solvent and a chamber brush, but not a good thing if I am competing.

 

[LiveLife]

The chamber on this barrel is incredibly tight and it gets annoying. The LW barrel has also caused a slight decrease in reliability.

I would like to have a barrel that is a little more forgiving in the chamber, or maybe similar to the Glock factory chamber. Not really concerned with match accuracy, just want to shoot lead bullets accurately enough for IDPA style shooting.

The tight chamber that fully supports the case base is a very good thing. The tight chamber also minimize case bulge for easier resizing. Test drop a resized case (just the case without bullet) into the LW chamber - if it drops in freely, the tightness maybe coming from not enough taper crimp. For .355" diameter jacketed/plated bullets, your taper crimp should be .375" (.020" more than the diameter of the bullet) and for .356" diameter plated/lead bullets, your taper crimp should be .376". I load .356" lead Missouri Bullets to .376" taper crimp at 1.120" OAL and it feeds/chambers reliably.

I have Lone Wolf barrel for every Glock I own (two for .40 caliber G22/G27 to include 40-9 conversion barrels) whether I shoot jacketed/plated or lead reloads. For me, accuracy is almost comparable to factory Glock barrel for jacketed/plated bullets and for lead bullets, Lone Wolf is hands down better.

I gently opened up the chamber of a friend's G27 who wanted to shoot lead reloads detailed in this thread - http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=561116

 

[ku4hx]

Sent my last barrel to them about three months ago. No charge then, but things do change and with the economy the way it is a fee would not be unexpected.

 

[Harley Quinn]

Mr.Quinn,

Sizing is part of the problem. Instead of me trying to explain it, I will just post what I got from Mr.Shepard of LWD. This email was dated october of 2010.

Thanks, read it, makes sense to me Follow his directions IMHO...

Regards

 

[louis29]

Try a lee resizing die they will resize completely. And get the carbide crimp die it resizes the whole loaded round it takes out lumps and bumps and any other bulges. I went threw all the problems before with LW and other barrels 9 MM, 40 SW,, 45 ACP, That cured all the problems you will not regret it.Ive Been loading 40 years hope this helps.

 

[glockky]

I have had no trouble out of my lone wolf barrel for my glock 21 as long as i run my reloads through a factory crimp die.