Shooting the G36 with Ported Barrel

[colt1903]

Lone Wolf distributors offers a drop-in ported barrel from Federal Arms for the G30/36. The ported barrel extends about one inch beyond the slide which I have found to be a negligible difference when carrying inside the waistband utilizing the Clip Draw device. Although Federal Arms states that their ported barrel is of match quality, I do not find its performance to be quite as good as the factory Glock barrel in terms of accuracy. Additionally I had quite a few failures to feed with the Federal Arms barrel; luckily these seem to have smoothed out now that I have over 200 rounds through it. The real advantage to the Federal Arms ported barrel is in recoil reduction. In shooting the factory stock barrel and the Federal Arms ported barrel side-by-side I would estimate that the Federal Arms barrel reduces felt recoil by about 35%.

Shots fired from the factory Glock barrel (even through the compensated barrel is shown in the picture):
12 rounds of of Remington UMC 230 grain FMJ at 21 feet.


6 rounds of Remington Golden Sabre 230 grain JHP at 21 feet

Shots fired from the Federal Arms Compensated Barrel:
12 rounds of Winchester 230 grain FMJ at 31 feet


12 rounds of Remington Golden Sabre 230 grain JHP at 21 feet.


12 rounds of Fiocchi 230 grain FMJ at 31 feet.

 

[Dot_mdb]

Thanks for an interesting report.

I can't see the need for a compensated barrel in that type of gun. If you ever need the gun to defend yourself it won't make any difference if there is 30% less felt recoil. For practicing with the gun it is best to practice with the barrel you will carry. I would just stick with the standard barrel. I think there is a lot to be said for keeping a gun as close to the original design as possible and practicing with it in that configuration until you have confidence in it.

Bill

 

[colt1903]

Bill,

I don't necessarily disagree. I was trying to wring a little more accuracy out of the pistol as this was not only a compensated barrel but also described by Fed Arms as "Match". Save your money, the standard barrel is fine.

A whole industry has sprung up with enhanced parts for Glocks. If you read my full review at the site listed in my signature as well as a prior review entitled "Rock Your Glock" (posted on April 20th) I have found that most of these enhancement have only provided minor improvement, if any at all. So far the only things I would replace on a stock Glock is to add the extended slide release (which is still pretty small, but easier to find and operate without looking, which you might have to do in an actual shooting situation) and get a quality set of night sights.

I know that a lot of people prefer to change out parts to improve the trigger pull but I am intentionally leaving that alone. First of all the trigger pull, out of the box, is not bad. Secondly an enhanced trigger pull also enhances the position of an over zealous prosecutor or civil liability attorny to use against you. I know these challenges can be met but why bother when the stock Glock is pretty good right out of the box.

 

[jcd15]

I pretty sure at 21 ft I could get
the same results with the stock barrel.I have my glock 36 for conceal carry. Great accuracy for this gun right out of the box.
Might be fun to shoot the different barrels at the range but to carry I
will stick with the stock barrel.

 

[Endyo]

Colt1903,

I saw the extended side release for sale. I thought it would be a practical upgrade, but I wasn't sure if it would end up snagging during a draw? It sounds like it works good for you though.

I was also really curious about the belt clip you have clipped on your Glock. Does that thing actually work? And does it ever scratch up your slide?

I already plan on ordering some night sights for my Glock 19!


Thanks in Advance, your insights have already helped.

The Glock 19 will be my first ccw.

 

[Dan-O]

OMG....a clipdraw? Just kidding. I use a few myself.

 

[Endyo]

I guess I'm going to have to give clipdraws a shot (no pun intended) seeing it as a poor man's option for a broke college student.