Thoughts on a Glock 20c

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crracer_712

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I've been eye balling a Glock 20c recently, as usual, I try to research a gun first just to have an idea of what there might be to possibly look for in a particular gun. I'm not getting much info on this one.

Anyone here have any thoughts on the 20c, and experience with it? Yep, I'm talking about the 10mm compensator model.

What little I did find, didn't really seem that positive in favor of the 'c'. I've seen it mentioned that the compensator kinda detracts from the high energy of the round and/or there is a lot of flash in the line of sight in low lit situations. A few claimed it's very dirty.

Do they still make this gun, or am I looking at an old stock?
 
The compensator will not make a measurable difference in velocity. In theory, maybe a little, in practice I wouldn't worry about it. I wouldn't want one on one of my guns. If you are shooting in competition they reduce muzzle flip and help get back on target quicker. I don't want to deal with the distraction from added noise and gasses in my line of sight.
 
Are they quite a bit louder?

Does the compensation make a lot of difference on target aquisition on follow up shots?

I was mostly interested in it because it was sort of unique, no real purpose for it other than to plink around with. I have no experience with the 10mm pistols.
 
I have never owned a 10mm pistol. I did however own a Gen 2 23c in .40s&w for several years until I foolishly sold it for a Kahr P9. ( the Kahr was way more expensive and was about 1% as reliable). I really liked the 23c. I didn't find it dirty at all. My pistol had the tritium sights and there was never any powder buildup on the sights because the ports angle away in a V. It takes about 5 extra seconds to clean the ports on the slide when you clean it After I bought the pistol, I read on the Internet about how if you shoot the pistol once at night you trash your night vision. I conducted my own test. On a pitch black night I went outside and let my eyes adjust. I shot it first with gold dots, and could see virtually NO flash from the muzzle or ports. I then shot it with Winchester white box FMJ. There Was a visible V shaped flash coming about a foot out of the ports. I am sure my night vision probably suffered, but it sure was cool. I determined that the internet rumor about the flash has more to do with the ammo, and less about the pistol itself. Dont believe everything you read on the internet. The compensated models ane not common, so people may give you their uninformed opinion. If you are going to use it for protection, use good quality ammo that uses low flash powder. How hard is that? Compared to my current Gen 3 23, the C model had a better( lighter) trigger and less muzzle flip allowing for faster follow up shots.
In my opinion, if you like the pistol, buy it, and you will not be disappointed.
 
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I was just looking at the 23c last night, also the 32c. I think I will get a compensated model, I'm just going to have to figure out which caliber I realy want it in.
 
I currently own three 10mm: Smith 1006, G20 and a recently acquired G20C. All are accurate and powerful; a hand loader's dream. Much of the factory ammunition is not much more than slightly souped-up 40 cal stuff. There are exceptions: Buffalo Bore, original Double Tap and a few other brands. If you plan on shooting much of the true full power stuff, you need to either roll your own or get prepared to up your ammunition costs.

All three of my 10mm guns are superbly accurate and recoil is a non problem. But for the '70s, '80s and a good part of the '90s most of my shooting was .44 Magnum/454 Casull stuff. If you think the 40 cals are "snappy", the 10mm will surpass that in most loadings. Fortunately, the gun's mass being greater than the 40 cals in most cases helps abate recoil.

If you have no aversion to flash and debris being thrown right up in front of your face, a compensated gun will not bother you. They seldom bother me but I know people who simply can't tolerate it. If you plan on using the gun in low light situations, i.e. dimly lit home at night, be prepared to be dazzled. All my 10mm guns are essentially woods guns. Accuracy is awesome, but in those situations minute of bear is all that's required.

I really enjoy my three, but the compensated one is not long for my collection. It's headed for my son just as soon as he comes up with the rest of the cash. Or appeals to papa in the right way which is the more likely situation.

The pic is not a model 20C, but it illustrates what happens upon firing.
 
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The owners of my local gun shop all swear by their 10mms, and the G20 is by far the favored model. If you want a 10mm, the G20 is probably your best bet.
 
I'd definately be reloading for it, just something I like to do.

That brings me to another question about the G20. I noticed a thread on glocktalk and some people seemed adamant about the glock barrel being un spupported and cases fired through it were trashed and not reload worhty. Same said, and a few others said, they'd get a supported barrel, it's the only way to safely shoot the 10mm at it's true intended powerful loads.

This seems a bit extreme to me. I'm not in the habbit of buying a gun and buying a barrel to shoot it just so I can reload. I'd assume that all of that isn't really the case.

Do any of you reloading your own for your glock 20 simply use the factory barrel and have no issue with reloading brass from it?
 
crracer_712 said:
I'd definately be reloading for it, just something I like to do.

That brings me to another question about the G20. I noticed a thread on glocktalk and some people seemed adamant about the glock barrel being un spupported and cases fired through it were trashed and not reload worhty. Same said, and a few others said, they'd get a supported barrel, it's the only way to safely shoot the 10mm at it's true intended powerful loads.

This seems a bit extreme to me. I'm not in the habbit of buying a gun and buying a barrel to shoot it just so I can reload. I'd assume that all of that isn't really the case.

Do any of you reloading your own for your glock 20 simply use the factory barrel and have no issue with reloading brass from it?
Click to expand...

The Older Glock G20's had a rather poorly supported chamber. The newer ones are better.
This is what mine looks like: (Lone Wolf on the left, Stock 2011 vintage Glock G20SF on the right). The Lone wolf is definitely tighter, but the chamber support is about the same at the feed ramp. A KKM barrel might be better but I couldn't say for certain. Comparing my Stock Glock barrel to an older G20 barrel from the '90s showed that the chamber support has increased.
DSC02123.jpg

I reload with My G20. If I plan on making up hot loads, I use New brass only. I buy Nickel plated brass for hot loads and regular brass for plinking loads. I figure a 180gr bullet @ 1150ft/s or less is a plinking load and loads that run a 180gr @1200ft/s or more qualify as full strength.

I use the different colored brass as an easy color code.
Nickel plated = hot load...inspect carefully and use no more than 5 times.
Plain Brass = Plinking load...inspect at random, use up to ten times.

YMMV.

Use common sense and you will be fine. If you have an older G20 and you find the chamber support to be inadequate, spend the money and get a KKM, or Lone Wolf, or Storm Lake replacement barrel.
 
OK, sounds good. I'd be buying new and I guess just go by the test fired date to determine how new it actually was.

I like the idea of the two kinds of brass.

That stock barrel does look pretty good.
 
sargents1 said:
The Older Glock G20's had a rather poorly supported chamber. The newer ones are better.
Click to expand...
I have an older G20 ... bought it in 1991 and its barrel definitely has a larger "unsupported" area. I have fired 180 grain Buffalo Bore stuff through the stock barrel with no bulges; accuracy was very good. I talked to the BB people beforehand and their advice was not to worry about it since they used Starline brass. I haven't bought any though in about five years so things may have changed.

Being naturally conservative, about five years ago I also bought a stock length G20 Lone Wolf barrel. It too works perfectly and I do use it for max loads. After market barrels are cheap "insurance". I've toyed with the idea of buying a current production Glock 20 barrel, but why? I've got the situation covered.
 
Per Glock, the G20 and G21 barrels are not directly interchangeable. The basic problem is the case heads for 10mm and 45 ACP are a different diameter. You will need a full Glock 21 slide and magazines for the conversion of the G20 to shoot 45 ACP. The same limitations apply to shooting 10mm in G21.
 
ku4hx said:
Per Glock, the G20 and G21 barrels are not directly interchangeable. The basic problem is the case heads for 10mm and 45 ACP are a different diameter. You will need a full Glock 21 slide and magazines for the conversion of the G20 to shoot 45 ACP. The same limitations apply to shooting 10mm in G21.
Click to expand...

I have heard this before. I have also heard that the extractor and breech face have all the same part numbers for both the G20 and G21. Others have said that the G20 extractor is slightly smaller (because a 10mm rim is smaller than a .45acp rim) but will still work 'most' of the time.

I am confused about this too, and I wish someone would chime in with an authoritative opinion backed up by pictures and measurements.

For the time being...I have the G20 and if I want another caliber I am going with .40s&w. Its cheaper than .45 anyway...
 
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