Lone Wolf Barrel- 10mm (sit down to read)

Status
Not open for further replies.
Palladan44

Palladan44

Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2020
Messages
1,904
Got me an Alpha wolf (apologies ill be calling it Lone wolf out of old habit) barrel for my Glock 40 MOS 10mm. I guess the more "fully supported" chamber appealed to me. As experienced handgun reloaders can recognize the bulged brass, or "Glock smile" that occurs when using medium heavy, and especially upper end loads in their 40 s&ws and 10mms and probably other calibers as well.
16077415992548279219613938444875.jpg
Glock factory barrel on the left, and lone wolf barrel on the right. As you can see, there is a noticable difference in the amount of case exposed to "open air". The story with this is with a more fully supported chamber, the brass will not bulge out into the open space like that of the Glock factory barrel. This helps save the brass from bulging out to the point of not being able to be resized on a standard die. I also believe your brass might live a little bit longer, being able to be reloaded more times, however I have not made it that far yet to experience that myself.

Also, in theory, you will have more uniform chamber pressures from the better supported chamber because the brass isnt getting fire formed to any degree, or nearly as much of a degree.

Lastly, the Lone wolf has standard land and groove rifling (vs the factory Glock polygonal) which we all know can take any lead or hardcast bullets you want to throw at it. TO me, that is the biggest selling point of this 99$ barrel.

The trade off, and there ALWAYS is a trade of with everything too good to be true...in this case is reliability. (Please be aware ive only fired this lone wolf about 200 rds so far) Theres a possibility it could break in and get better, but ive had more than a few failures to go to full battery with this Lone Wolf barrel. That extra space in the Glock barrel will literally let any ammo cycle through it, with glass smoothness. That is no doubt due to the generous champfering leading up to the chamber. I LOVE Glock barrels with respect to their reliability.

With the lone wolf, Im finding even firmly taper crimped (to .4195 for you nerds) rounds can hang up on the inner lip of the chamber. (If you see in the image, the walls are very crisp, and square) The first step i took, was i took a batch of handloads that were the biggest trouble makers (Underwood headstamps, seems like thicker than normal 10mm brass) and crimped a few of them slightly more (more than i really think should be necessary for a straight walled autoloading Pistol cartridge) it worked, but im still not really a fan of it. Ive measured factory crimps, and im within the standard range and feel i shouldnt have to go more.

Heres the last part of this, and here comes my question. I have about 800 rounds loaded up (medium heavy power, and shoots stupidly well from both barrels, except for the hang ups on lone wolf) Do I go through 800 rounds and re crimp to the tighter, and more reliable spec? Or, do i (ever so slightly) soften the inner edges of the breech and polish the lone wolf, and see what that does?? (Some factory ammo has FTC ON Lone Wolf as well, so really has me questioning the barrel and not my handloads) What do you think?
 
Last edited:
I had a similar problem with my Kimber's stock barrel (45acp) feeding some of my reloads as well as some factory ammo. Very sharp edges as you described, with a fully supported and very tight chamber.

I very gently polished the edges to the chamber, and that helped. But what really made a difference for me was finding the best COL. My gun now feeds everything from FMJ to SWC, factory or my reloads.

Those edges look sharp on that Wolf barrel. I would polish/dress them gently, then test a few rounds. If not 100%, I would look at adjusting my overall cartridge length, and shorten or lengthen as needed. Keep in mind that going shorter on your COL will increase pressure, and you may need to lower your powder charge, or simply work back up for the new length.

chris
 
Increasing the crimp on the round is not helping as much as it's probably adding to your issue. The heavier the crimp, the more bulge you'll get below the crimp. Mark one of your problem rounds around the case with a sharpie, then push it firmly into the chamber a few times to see where it's tight. Are you loading a .401" bullet? If so, a .400" would help more than a heavy crimp. Also, the thinnest 10mm brass I've loaded is S&B, then CBC(Magtech), and most others being slightly thicker, with Sig being the thickest.
 
i run an alpha wolf barrel in my glock 30 so i can shoot 45 super loads. my barrel had, not only sharp edges everywhere, but had a really rough chamber that gave me chambering problems like you are having. i spent half a day stoning the top of the chamber with a round stone (brownells trigger stone set). that fixed the problem.

i found the problem by sharpie coloring the bullet and feeding it into the chamber. the top of the bullet is where the sharpie rubbed off. i kept stoning till the sharpie didn't rub off and my ammo fed correctly.

i also went to town on all the sharp edges with the other stones in the brownells set (they are quite handy on all rough surfaces, just be careful and don't go too far). that barrel needs tending to and works like a charm when smoothed out.

luck,

murf
 
Short answer is I soften the edges but I'd start with a Dremel and some mother mag wheel polish before trying something more aggressive.

I've never had a new Glock shoot well till I've run 500 rounds through it. About two years ago I got a new Glock 20 and LW barrel to shoot cast. Those LW barrels are tight. I able to run .40 S&W through the factory barrel without issue but the LW can't run a full mag without hanging up.
 
BC17A said:
Increasing the crimp on the round is not helping as much as it's probably adding to your issue. The heavier the crimp, the more bulge you'll get below the crimp. Mark one of your problem rounds around the case with a sharpie, then push it firmly into the chamber a few times to see where it's tight. Are you loading a .401" bullet? If so, a .400" would help more than a heavy crimp. Also, the thinnest 10mm brass I've loaded is S&B, then CBC(Magtech), and most others being slightly thicker, with Sig being the thickest.
Click to expand...

The feeding issue wasnt coming from further down the case, it was catching right near the mouth. I get what youre saying, but this isnt the particular issue.
 
*O.P. UPDATE*
I believe ballman6711 hit the nail on the head.
COL is the issue, more specifically length of brass.

I chamfered some of the crisp edges of the wolf with a fine dremel bit, taking off about 1/2 of a mm from 3 o clock to 9 o clock. Then polished the whole works to a near mirror finish. Lastly, oiled and cleaned it to ensure no metal debris was left in the barrel. Rounds plunk in the barrel just fine......... one would think this would have solved the issue and greatly improved the problem. DRUMROLL.............THE SOUND OF SYMBOLS CRASHING INTO THE FLOOR........ The problem has been made WORSE folks!

By removing the slightest bit of material from the inner chamber edge and feed ramp area must allow for the rounds to enter at that much more of a sharper upward angle. The brass is hitting the "ceiling" of the chamber, about 1cm into the chamber and coming to a halt. Even using the slide release thumb OR slingshot method the rounds are coming to a halt, worse than ever before. Even factory ammo. This stinks!!!!

Among your standard caliber, browning style delayed blowback semi autos, 10mm has a pretty darn long COL compared to most, making it probably the most sensitive to angle of entry into the chamber. The best way to explain it is, when rounding a corner with a car, its easy to avoid the curb. But turning the corner with a school bus, much more likely to hit the curb.

I can try polishing the chamber ceiling and see what that does, or even the face of the "bolt" on the slide and inner part of extractor. In theory friction here aids in the stoppage. BUT the fact that the factory barrel works flawless, lets me know there are no issues there, so probably wont be doing it.

It looks like brass trimming by .0025 or so would be the key, and keeping COL to around 1.2400 would solve the problem, but im not doing that either. I tend to get rid of "fussy" things. Not sure where im going to go from here, now that ive made the problem worse.
 
murf said:
i spent half a day stoning the top of the chamber with a round stone (brownells trigger stone set). that fixed the problem.
Click to expand...

I spent about the same amount of time on my Kimber (3" 1911 style 45acp) but used a dremel with a felt wheel and some silver polish.

murf said:
i found the problem by sharpie coloring the bullet and feeding it into the chamber. the top of the bullet is where the sharpie rubbed off. i kept stoning till the sharpie didn't rub off and my ammo fed correctly.
Click to expand...

I did this also except I sharpied the brass. I was actually getting two vertical scrapes on my brass when chambering. Softening the edges a tiny bit stopped the scraping.

Palladan44 said:
I chamfered some of the crisp edges of the wolf with a fine dremel bit, taking off about 1/2 of a mm from 3 o clock to 9 o clock.
Click to expand...

1/2 of a mm may be a bit much. I only softened the edges on my chamber opening using the felt bit with silver polish, but did do the entire circumference.

But I think the real key is finding what your gun likes. Feeding issues can be caused by many things, from chamber size or chamber entrance, to spring rates, as well as brass length, bullet profile, COL, etc...

I don't load .40sw or 10mm, so will use 45acp for an example. GI 1911's should feed a 230gr fmj at 1.260" ~ 1.265" with a crimp measured at .471" ~ .473". My 3" barreled Ultra will not reliably feed 230gr fmj using these specs, I have to shorten the COL to 1.250" ~1.255" and crimp to .468" ~.4685". That's what MY barrel requires. Finding what YOUR barrel likes is well worth the effort, and will result in both reliability and accuracy.

chris
 
I think @WrongHanded hit it. I'd very gently break that crisp leading edge into a polished radius, rather than spend the time waiting for Line Wolf.

Focus of the breech face of the barrel instead of into the chamber, make a <0.010" break, and polish lightly. . .

Edit to add: now it sounds like a classic 3-point jam. COAL is the ammo lever for that. . . Magazine lips are the typical first step in the gun.
 
Last edited:
I have Lonewolf 9 inch barrel and a Alpha Wolf Threaded Barrel with Lonewolf Compensator installed for the 40 MOS. Have had Zero Issues with either barrel from the moment I put them in regardless of loads. Titegroup will Not cycle it even at max load and factory Barrel. Instead of agonizing over trying to fix something that might be a factory issue Maybe consider having it replaced. I love my aftermarket Barrels.
 
Fishingted said:
I have Lonewolf 9 inch barrel and a Alpha Wolf Threaded Barrel with Lonewolf Compensator installed for the 40 MOS. Have had Zero Issues with either barrel from the moment I put them in regardless of loads. Titegroup will Not cycle it even at max load and factory Barrel. Instead of agonizing over trying to fix something that might be a factory issue Maybe consider having it replaced. I love my aftermarket Barrels.
Click to expand...
Almost all my 10mm loads are either 1.250- 1.260 COL
 
Palladan44 said:
The feeding issue wasnt coming from further down the case, it was catching right near the mouth. I get what youre saying, but this isnt the particular issue.
Click to expand...
Perhaps Try the Lee Bulge Buster. Just got one myself. Don't Love it but I do Like it and you can run loaded ammo thru it too. Do you have a 10mm bullet gauge that you can check them with. I use Starline Brass. I have 2 Lonewolf barrels and don't have any issues with them. If you are reloading brass that has been fired in a glock barrel then that glock bulge could be your problem. Especially going from that to the tighter chambered LW barrel. Your resizing die does not go deep enough to eliminate that bulge.
 
Last edited:
Johnnyd said:
Short answer is I soften the edges but I'd start with a Dremel and some mother mag wheel polish before trying something more aggressive.

I've never had a new Glock shoot well till I've run 500 rounds through it. About two years ago I got a new Glock 20 and LW barrel to shoot cast. Those LW barrels are tight. I able to run .40 S&W through the factory barrel without issue but the LW can't run a full mag without hanging up.
Click to expand...
I have never had a glock not shoot well and reliably out of the box. Other than trigger break in. That is one reason I like glocks.
 
Had a bit of a reality check just yesterday. Recently Had bought a Lee Bulge Buster for My 10MM and 40S&W brass. Also got a gauge for that same calibers. Mind You 98% of my Brass for the 10mm Glock 40 MOS is all My Own. I started out reloading for that gun with brand new Star Line Brass. I quickly bought several after market barrels for it. A LW 9 inch and a Alpha Wolf Threaded Barrel with a compensator on that Barrel. I had just made up about 500 rounds of 10MM using CFL Powder. I Load on a Dillon 550. This Brass has only had 1 Loading Cycle. I have checked a little over Half of them with the gauge and I am getting about a 10 percent failure rate. Most were able to be fixed by running thru the bulge buster. But even then a few on closer inspection were suspect and I pulled the Bullets and discarded the cases. Conclusion is that when I first Got that gun I had shot some ammo thru it with the Glock stock Barrel. Which is a a Unsupported Chamber. Some of the Finished bullets were Very Hard to even get to go thru the bulge buster Die. And I did manage to Jam one that I had to Beat Out. I hate To think what could have happened Had I not ran them the thru the Gauge. I am now in the process of going thru all my 10mm and 40 S&W ammo. If it doesn't make the gauge it isn't going in the Gun. That simple. Also have Gauge for my 45 ACP. And I am Getting a Gauge for my 9MM also. Also I will Never Shoot any Ammo in a Glock Stock Barrel that I intend to Reload. A little Lengthy But I hope it helps other Re-Loaders to Not make a Posable Catastrophic Mistake. Get A Gauge and Use It.
 
Fishingted said:
Had a bit of a reality check just yesterday. Recently Had bought a Lee Bulge Buster for My 10MM and 40S&W brass. Also got a gauge for that same calibers. Mind You 98% of my Brass for the 10mm Glock 40 MOS is all My Own. I started out reloading for that gun with brand new Star Line Brass. I quickly bought several after market barrels for it. A LW 9 inch and a Alpha Wolf Threaded Barrel with a compensator on that Barrel. I had just made up about 500 rounds of 10MM using CFL Powder. I Load on a Dillon 550. This Brass has only had 1 Loading Cycle. I have checked a little over Half of them with the gauge and I am getting about a 10 percent failure rate. Most were able to be fixed by running thru the bulge buster. But even then a few on closer inspection were suspect and I pulled the Bullets and discarded the cases. Conclusion is that when I first Got that gun I had shot some ammo thru it with the Glock stock Barrel. Which is a a Unsupported Chamber. Some of the Finished bullets were Very Hard to even get to go thru the bulge buster Die. And I did manage to Jam one that I had to Beat Out. I hate To think what could have happened Had I not ran them the thru the Gauge. I am now in the process of going thru all my 10mm and 40 S&W ammo. If it doesn't make the gauge it isn't going in the Gun. That simple. Also have Gauge for my 45 ACP. And I am Getting a Gauge for my 9MM also. Also I will Never Shoot any Ammo in a Glock Stock Barrel that I intend to Reload. A little Lengthy But I hope it helps other Re-Loaders to Not make a Posable Catastrophic Mistake. Get A Gauge and Use It.
Click to expand...

Are we talking rounds getting jammed into the chamber and getting stuck?
 
Palladan44 said:
Are we talking rounds getting jammed into the chamber and getting stuck?
Click to expand...
Possibly But I also culled about 20 that I am going to pull the bullets and discard the cases as I can see a line left or what is called the glock smile after going thru the bulge buster. Just not taking any chances especially with that very strong caliber.
 
What’s the profile of the bullet you are using? If you could try a different profile then that may free up a bit of wiggle room to let the case get into the chamber a bit better and slam home. I had that issue with for first few reloads a few years ago and I had to back off COAL but when I switched to a different bullet I was good.
 
All Bullets That were Culled were do to bulged cases at the base where the Sizer can't reach. They were fired in a 10MM Glock Stock Barrel.
 
WestKentucky said:
What’s the profile of the bullet you are using? If you could try a different profile then that may free up a bit of wiggle room to let the case get into the chamber a bit better and slam home. I had that issue with for first few reloads a few years ago and I had to back off COAL but when I switched to a different bullet I was good.
Click to expand...
All Bullets That were Culled were do to bulged cases at the base where the Sizer can't reach. They were fired in a 10MM Glock Stock Barrel.
 
Fishingted said:
Possibly But I also culled about 20 that I am going to pull the bullets and discard the cases as I can see a line left or what is called the glock smile after going thru the bulge buster. Just not taking any chances especially with that very strong caliber.
Click to expand...
Did not try bullets in barrels. More of a safety Issue.
 
Palladan44 said:
*O.P. UPDATE*
I believe ballman6711 hit the nail on the head.
COL is the issue, more specifically length of brass.

I chamfered some of the crisp edges of the wolf with a fine dremel bit, taking off about 1/2 of a mm from 3 o clock to 9 o clock. Then polished the whole works to a near mirror finish. Lastly, oiled and cleaned it to ensure no metal debris was left in the barrel. Rounds plunk in the barrel just fine......... one would think this would have solved the issue and greatly improved the problem. DRUMROLL.............THE SOUND OF SYMBOLS CRASHING INTO THE FLOOR........ The problem has been made WORSE folks!

By removing the slightest bit of material from the inner chamber edge and feed ramp area must allow for the rounds to enter at that much more of a sharper upward angle. The brass is hitting the "ceiling" of the chamber, about 1cm into the chamber and coming to a halt. Even using the slide release thumb OR slingshot method the rounds are coming to a halt, worse than ever before. Even factory ammo. This stinks!!!!

Among your standard caliber, browning style delayed blowback semi autos, 10mm has a pretty darn long COL compared to most, making it probably the most sensitive to angle of entry into the chamber. The best way to explain it is, when rounding a corner with a car, its easy to avoid the curb. But turning the corner with a school bus, much more likely to hit the curb.

I can try polishing the chamber ceiling and see what that does, or even the face of the "bolt" on the slide and inner part of extractor. In theory friction here aids in the stoppage. BUT the fact that the factory barrel works flawless, lets me know there are no issues there, so probably wont be doing it.

It looks like brass trimming by .0025 or so would be the key, and keeping COL to around 1.2400 would solve the problem, but im not doing that either. I tend to get rid of "fussy" things. Not sure where im going to go from here, now that ive made the problem worse.
Click to expand...
 
I must have got Lucky because Both My Lone wolf Barrels for my 40 MOS work Great. Got the 9 inch and the Threaded AlphWolf with Their compensator. I make All my 10mm to as close to 1.260 as I can get Them.
 
Last G20 I had I put a Storm Lake barrel in. This time around I went with KKM and it’s ran flawlessly as did the previous Storm Lake.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

powwowell
  • Locked
G19/Lone Wolf Barrel Questions?
Replies
2
Views
564
kingmt
K
LiveLife
  • Locked
Tight chambered Lone Wolf G27 barrel
Replies
18
Views
2K
243winxb
243winxb
J
  • Locked
45acp bullet bump
Replies
15
Views
992
johngunguy
J
F
  • Locked
which glock replacement barrel
Replies
10
Views
760
firstg19
F
V
  • Locked
9mm in Glock 17, Titegroup, Lone Wolf Barrel
Replies
10
Views
1K
D. Manley
D
Back
Top