Aftermarket Barrells for a Glock?

[RobertNashville]

I was really expecting that this question had been asked before but couldn't find anything; at least not with the words I was searching on.

My everyday carry gun is a G31; I also usually have my G20 or G21 with me as a backup.

I've been thinking about an aftermarket match grade barrel for one or all of these both for whatever improved accuracy it might give me as well as being able to shoot lead rounds. Looking at barrels from Loan Wolf, KKM, Bar Sto and Storm Lake.

I'm wondering if anyone here has any significant experience with any of these brands and if so, what their experience was such as...

1. Was gunsmithing needed (I understand that is almost or always needed with the Bar Sto)?

2. Were you happy with the change/would you do it again or do you think it was a wast of time and money, etc.?

3. What brand would you recommend if you were buying one today and/or are there other brands I should be considering other than the ones I mentioned?

4. I'm wondering about whether making this kind of change on a carry weapon is even something I should consider at all?

I don't want to make my life more complicated and don't want to buy "troubles" so if a match barrel really doesn't make any real difference at the end of the say then I'd just rather not bother.

Anyway...your thoughts and input would be appreciated!

PS: Please excuse the misspelling of 'barrells" in the title!

Edited June 15, 2012 by RobertNashville

[Guest rebeldrummer]

I have used Lone Wolf on both a G23 and a G27 so my answers will be only to that specific set up....

1. Was gunsmithing needed (I understand that is almost or always needed with the Bar Sto)? * No smithy needed....LW drop right in. Add the proper mags and your ready to go.

Some change the recoil springs, but not sure why?

2. Were you happy with the change/would you do it again or do you think it was a wast of time and money, etc.? I loved it. For $100 +/- you get another gun/caliber really!! I did the .40 to 9 conversion. Since the .40 diamerter is so much bigger than the 9mm, the conversion barrel was nice and thick, in essence like a match grade or bull barrel. Made for great accuracy in both cases for me.

3. What brand would you recommend if you were buying one today and/or are there other brands I should be considering other than the ones I mentioned? I really liked Lone Wolf, especilly for the money and the quick turn around. I have never OWNED a Storm Lake but my buddy does and SWEARS by them! I think he has about 6 different set ups....with cans and all. He says they are just a bit higher quaility than LW. They make each one per order so turn around time is slower, and cost is a bit more. But like he says, that translates to quality so its not an issue. Now LW does NOT make barrels for S&W (or not that I am aware) so I will be going with the SL for my S&W

4. I'm wondering about whether making this kind of change on a carry weapon is even something I should consider at all? I can understand the hesitation as that was the 1st question that came to my mind. However, I carried the LW 9mm barrel in my 23 for about 6 months and never had an issue. They stand by their products. As mentioned before, my buddy has 6 or so Storms in his pistols. He DOES NOT carry a factory barrel in any of his Glocks!!! They all get switched out IMMED after purchase! GIve it a try. Since your dealing w/ Glocks the LW will be fine. For the money is it worth it. Worse case you dont like it for some reason and you re-sell it on here!!! We all win.

[frankmako]

i have several kkm barrels in 9mm, 40 s&w, and 45 acp. they are tops, just drop in and go. i have one efk firegragon in 9mm for the glock and several for the 1911 and they are the same as the kkm's. i picked up several lone wolf conservation barrels and they are the same. all are "plug and play". i use to use bar sto barrels in my 1911's and got one for a g17. had to "fit" it to the slide. not hard to do if you have some "gun smithing" in you. "improved accuracy"? i think i got some, but i have never benched the guns to check. i got the aftermarket glock barrel so i could shoot cast lead bullets.

[lowery100]

I too have used the LW 40-9 conversion barrels. They drop right in with no gunsmithing needed. I cast my own 9mm so cheaper practice ammo for my Glock 35 was my main reason for the barrel. Hard to compare accuracy directly when doing a caliber conversion but I have been very happy with the results from the LW. You will find few complaints on the Storm Lake barrels but they are a little higher. I like the LW a. they are less expensive b. Glock is all they do and have good knowledge of the product.

[LI0NSFAN]

Posted Yesterday, 11:00 PM

I was really expecting that this question had been asked before but couldn't find anything; at least not with the words I was searching on.

My everyday carry gun is a G31; I also usually have my G20 or G21 with me as a backup.

1. Was gunsmithing needed (I understand that is almost or always needed with the Bar Sto)? I have a LW and it was just a drop in.

2. Were you happy with the change/would you do it again or do you think it was a wast of time and money, etc.? I will do it to every Glock I get. Makes it able to shoot anything you can get your hands on JIC

3. What brand would you recommend if you were buying one today and/or are there other brands I should be considering other than the ones I mentioned? I like my Lone Wolf

4. I'm wondering about whether making this kind of change on a carry weapon is even something I should consider at all? I did notice it worked a lot beter with a new recoil spring/rod

[RobertNashville]

Thanks for all the reply's...helpful info.

Now sure what brand I will go with but I am now more sure of going in the direction of an aftermarket barrel.

[East_TN_Patriot]

Generally, the advantages to an aftermarket barrel over the factory are that the chamber of the aftermarket barrel is a little tighter and the traditional rifling allows you to shoot lead bullets instead of being stuck with jacketed ammo. The aftermarket barrels are generally suggested for anyone who plans to shoot reloads because the tighter and supported chamber reduces the risk of a case split and you are not limited to the jacketed bullets, thus saving you a little money. I personally own a Lone Wolf barrel and I am happy with it. My Lone Wolf barrel was drop in and the pistol functions just fine with it installed. I did not see an appreciable improvement in accuracy, to say that anyone should absolutely spend the money on an aftermarket barrel. So unless you really plan to do precision shooting and/or shoot reloaded ammo, there really isn't any major benefit to the aftermarket barrel over the stock barrel. I keep the factory barrel in my G22 for the potential of improved feeding due to the slightly looser chamber, and only use my Lone Wolf when shooting reloads on the range.

I read that in the past Lone Wolf had some quality control issues, but my impression is that they were experiencing some growing pains and the issues are largely a thing of the past. I have heard many others rave about the Storm Lake barrels, but for my needs, I just didn't see the point in spending more to get one over the Lone Wolf.

Edited June 15, 2012 by East_TN_Patriot

[camp]

thanks for the info all, i have been wanting to by one but they all seem to be on back order

[Guest SheepDog10]

I have to give a big thumbs-up for KKM. It was a drop-in .40 for my G32. I also have a Jarvis that I had to fit, but another great barrel.

[RobertNashville]

I have to give a big thumbs-up for KKM. It was a drop-in .40 for my G32. I also have a Jarvis that I had to fit, but another great barrel.

I've looked at KKM but it seems to be a LONG wait (as i weeks/months or "I don't know when we'll have them") sort of wait. I guess that's not all that important but I hate to order something when the vendor can't even give me a good estimate!

[RED333]

I have a Lone Wolf in my G22, longer and it is threaded so I can use my brake.

Shoots like a dream, would recomend it highly.

[deerslayer]

I have experience with a Lone Wolf G23 9mm conversion barrel and a KKM G35 barrel.

1. Both were drop-in. I believe KKM also sells a semi-drop-in model that requires minor fitting.

2. I was happy with both. The G23 only ran about 95% of the time, but I didn't bother to change the ejector to a 9mm ejector, so this was no surprise. The KKM chamber was a bit short and I sent it back to them. They lengthened it and now I'm happy with it. I was using a very specific moly-coated lead handload for USPSA competition; factory jacketed rounds chambered reliably. KKM said some lead loads are a bit tight, and they changed the chamber dimensions for free.

3. I would recommend either the Lone Wolf or the KKM. If I got another Lone Wolf, I would get the version that puts the caliber logo on the bottom of the chamber, instead of the goofy wolf logo on top in plain view. I think it's $10 extra to get the no-logo version, but it's worth it to me.

4. As long as you thoroughly test it, I don't see an issue with using one in a carry gun. However, I would not have big expectations about accuracy improvements with an aftermarket drop-in barrel. Also, you may see a moderate gain or loss in velocity. Barrels with conventional rifling often give slower results. However, tighter chambers often give higher velocities. I gained ~40 fps with my G35 KKM barrel, probably because the stock 35 chamber was huge.

Edited July 8, 2012 by deerslayer

[deerslayer]

oops, double post (three year old climbing on me)

Edited July 8, 2012 by deerslayer

[Guest adamparker86]

does anyone know if the six inch barrel by lone wolf fit in my glock 21? someone told me that you had to buy an extended slide for it to,work. can anyone help?

[deerslayer]

http://www.lonewolfdist.com/Detail.aspx?PROD=959&CAT=240

Looks like this 6" barrel will work in your G21. You shouldn't need an extended slide stop for it to work.

[greyofk]

I have changed factory barrel to KKM in my Glock 20.

The factory chamber was bigger and I could not resize the cases

KKM chamber is tight. I can resize and reload

In theory reliability should suffer. However I did not have any FTF yet ( after 600 rounds shot)

I do not carry Glock, because do not feel comfortable without manual safety

[RobertNashville]

Thanks for all the info...haven't made any decisions yet but I appreciate all the feed back!

[Jonnin]

My dad had 4 barrels for his g19 and I forget what all brands.

I have tried all the ones he had. I am a pretty decent pistol marksman, and the key thing I noticed was that the factory barrel is easily as good or better than anything aftermarket that I tried. That is not to say that a high quality barrel cannot beat the factory barrel, it is just saying that the factory barrels in glocks are pretty darn good.

I will follow up with: I have shot hard cast lead in a glock (and a makarov) with zero issues. Soft lead may lead to the infamous kaboom issue if you follow it with copper without a cleaning, but hard lead does not muck up the poly barrel.

So, that leaves me with the thought that unless you want to either shoot soft or unknown quality (self smelted random melting pot stuff) lead bullets OR you have a burning desire to turn your glock into some sort of long range target pistol, I would not fool with it. If you are not shooting out past 30+ yards, that factory barrel will put them all in a pretty tight group, with good handloads.