Issue with Lonewolf barrel and new lead supplier......

[Guest Mike P]

Ran into an issue with my LW barrel and some lead from a new supplier I decided to check out. I was getting 125gr round nose from MidAtlantic but since he's currently on a 24+ business day lead time I ran across Falcon bullets doing a Google search. They are located in Middle TN and only had a lead time of 3-4 days. I ordered 3k of his 115gr round nose late this past Monday and they were at my door Yesterday{Friday}......not bad at all.

 

I loaded 200 up last night to try out today. I used my normal OAL of 1.125 +/- and powder charge. They were running fine then I went to do a press check and could not get the slide out of battery. I had to drop the mag and apply a ton of pressure to extract the round. Long story short, the shape of Falcon's RN is not tapered like my MidAtlantic's allowing the bullet to make contact with the lands in the tighter Lonewolf barrel. In the stock Glock barrel this does not happen with the Falcons seated at 1.125". I continued to run through the 200 because they worked and cycled fine under fire just no manual manipulation of the slide.

 

When I got home I loaded some dummy rounds to plunk test to see how short I had to go in order for the case to be flush with the barrel hood on the Lonewolf barrel. I had to seat them down to 1.000 to achieve that.....not good. I found a happy median of 1.105-1.108 that would allow me to press check and hand cycle the slide. Even at that length the bullet is still touching the lands but not getting stuck.

 

My question is, should I be concerned with this? Like I said, even though they were touching the lands they ran fine under fire. If I can get through these 3k maybe I'll try Falcons 125gr Conical nose instead of the RN's to see if that helps.

 

Any opinion is greatly appreciated.

 

[Troutburger]

I'm barrel shopping, very curious too.

[Guest Mike P]

I'm barrel shopping, very curious too.

 It's just the combination of the two. I've already shot a few thousand of MidAtlantics lead through the Lonewolf barrel w/o any issue at all. I love the barrel. In the pic you'll see the difference. MidAtlantic 125 on the right, Falcon 115 on the left. Notice the MidAtlantic has that step ledge which ends up at the end of the case, the Falcon doesn't and has a fatter shape.

 

[Troutburger]

I ordered 1000 of the falcons last week.

[RED333]

You will be fine setting them back a bit to allow then to chamber, as long as they cycle.

The Falcon is shorter, no worry about over pressure.

[Guest TN.Frank]

Lone Wolf doesn't put enough free bore into their barrels. I ran into the same problem with a drop in barrel for my Glock G30. I ended up having to polish out and open up the barrel just ahead of the chamber to get my 45acp loads to chamber properly. If they'd not run the rifling all the way back to the chamber and open up the barrel a few thousands just ahead of the chamber then they'd not have an issue with it but they simply won't do the right thing and give the barrel some free bore.
If you have a Dremel and some felt tips you can adjust the depth of the Dremel so it'll just be ahead of the chamber then use some polishing rouge and a proper size felt tip to open up the barrel just ahead of the chamber and you're problem will go away.

[RED333]

Lone Wolf doesn't put enough free bore into their barrels. I ran into the same problem with a drop in barrel for my Glock G30. I ended up having to polish out and open up the barrel just ahead of the chamber to get my 45acp loads to chamber properly. If they'd not run the rifling all the way back to the chamber and open up the barrel a few thousands just ahead of the chamber then they'd not have an issue with it but they simply won't do the right thing and give the barrel some free bore.
If you have a Dremel and some felt tips you can adjust the depth of the Dremel so it'll just be ahead of the chamber then use some polishing rouge and a proper size felt tip to open up the barrel just ahead of the chamber and you're problem will go away.

Good idea, just might have to do this to mine.

[Westwindmike]

It's funny how people gripe about too much freebore on some barrels and not enough on others. I adjust my reloads to fit whatever gun/barrel I'm shooting out of. If it means that I have to run one seating depth in one gun and longer in another, I'm ok with that.

[Guest TN.Frank]

My problem was that the Lone Wolf barrel I had would hang up on factory ammo because of lack of free bore. This would be easy enough for them to fix at the factory if they'd just get a newly designed reamer for their chamber but they'd rather have us "gripe" about it then do something.

[Guest Mike P]

It's funny how people gripe about too much freebore on some barrels and not enough on others. I adjust my reloads to fit whatever gun/barrel I'm shooting out of. If it means that I have to run one seating depth in one gun and longer in another, I'm ok with that.

 

It's not a "gripe", it's a cause for concern and MY safety. Every type of factory bullet I have and the MidAtlantic lead works like it should in the LW barrel. Having to seat the Falcon bullet to almost 1.000" in order for it not to touch the lands at all is not acceptable to me. But since they actually shot fine with the exception of locking the slide up not being able to manually move the slide with the Falcons chambered I guess I will just work my way through this 3k of Falcons then look into either their conical nose or go back to waiting 20+ days(currently) on MidAtlantic. The Falcons also fit well in the stock Glock barrel but my volume of shooting makes me feel uneasy about using them in the stock Glock barrel.

 

For the record I don't blame Falcon at all. Their service is excellent, price is good and their bullets are very nice. They actually look better made over all than my others. I've just hit a combination that isn't working for me like it should.

 

I have roughly 2780 left, I may just end up selling them. :cool:

[Jamie Jackson]

I picked up another Lone Wolf barrel about 2 weeks ago...this one for Glock 19.

LOL, I had a similar situation as well.

 

My 147 gr LFP work great for the LW barrel in my G 17, but proved too long in OAL for the G 19 barrel. (1.130"). Those suckers are tight!

 

I seated a bit deeper, 1.120", and they work like a charm, and no signs of over pressure.

 

I picked up the G 19 LW barrel as it will run in my G 26 as well.

 

I've run about 50 rounds of my preferred carry ammo (Blackhills 124 gr +P) through the G 17 and they fed 100%. I've only run about 15 rounds through the G 19 barrel...so I need to run several more mags before I would consider carrying it with the LW. But it's great to have lead bullet options.

 

 

I wholeheartedly agree that the factory could easily rectify this if they choose to.

[RED333]

It's not a "gripe", it's a cause for concern and MY safety. Every type of factory bullet I have and the MidAtlantic lead works like it should in the LW barrel. Having to seat the Falcon bullet to almost 1.000" in order for it not to touch the lands at all is not acceptable to me. But since they actually shot fine with the exception of locking the slide up not being able to manually move the slide with the Falcons chambered I guess I will just work my way through this 3k of Falcons then look into either their conical nose or go back to waiting 20+ days(currently) on MidAtlantic. The Falcons also fit well in the stock Glock barrel but my volume of shooting makes me feel uneasy about using them in the stock Glock barrel.

 

For the record I don't blame Falcon at all. Their service is excellent, price is good and their bullets are very nice. They actually look better made over all than my others. I've just hit a combination that isn't working for me like it should.

 

I have roughly 2780 left, I may just end up selling them. :cool:

What ya got in mind, send me a PM if you sell.

[Guest TN.Frank]

I too use to "worry" about cast bullets in poly rifled barrels until I read this:
https://www.buffalobore.com/index.php?l=product_list&c=59
It put my mind at ease and I plan on using home cast or factory hard cast in my CZ82 which also has poly rifling.

[jaysouth]

I too use to "worry" about cast bullets in poly rifled barrels until I read this:
https://www.buffalobore.com/index.php?l=product_list&c=59
It put my mind at ease and I plan on using home cast or factory hard cast in my CZ82 which also has poly rifling.

 

The part of this story that worries me is the omission, major glaring omission of bullet size.  If your bullet is too small, it will lead if it's made of linotype( the hardest alloy you are likely to use for bullet casting).  If your bullet is properly sized to the barrel, properly lubed and shot over slower burning powder, it will not lead at normal speeds.

 

If you think of shooting cast bullets, do yourself a favor and slug your barrel.  Groove diameters of 9mm pistols range from .355 to .359.  If you shoot a nominally sized, mass produced lead bullet sized at .356 in a ..358 barrel it will lead. period.

 

Barrel leading with cast bullets is an algorithm that considers alloy content, size, lube, speed (second part of speed is base protection, gas checks)  and burning rate of powder used.  If you get leading, the first step is to look at size. 

Edited April 22, 2013 by jaysouth

[jaysouth]

Lone Wolf is a very customer service oriented company.  I had a conversion barrel that would not chamber my reloads in 9mm.  At the suggestion of the owner, I sent 3 dummy reloads and the barrel back to them.  They reamed the chamber to fit my reloads.  No charge.

 

The first thing I would do is to call LW and discuss the issue.

[Guest TN.Frank]

Lone Wolf is a very customer service oriented company. I had a conversion barrel that would not chamber my reloads in 9mm. At the suggestion of the owner, I sent 3 dummy reloads and the barrel back to them. They reamed the chamber to fit my reloads. No charge.

The first thing I would do is to call LW and discuss the issue.

This normally costs an addition $30 IIRC. For that extra you can just get a Storm Lake barrel and be done with it. They're suppose to have enough free bore to feed any ammo you'd care to shoot.

[LCPfraTN]

 

...Having to seat the Falcon bullet to almost 1.000" in order for it not to touch the lands at all is not acceptable to me... :cool:

 

The difference in the length of the bullets looks to be around .125" or more, so the shorter OAL seating for the Falcon bullets should mean that the internal case volume and pressure should be the same between the two. Unless I'm missing something, I don't know why the OAL for the Falcon bullets should concern you. :shrug:   :stir:

[jaysouth]

This normally costs an addition $30 IIRC. For that extra you can just get a Storm Lake barrel and be done with it. They're suppose to have enough free bore to feed any ammo you'd care to shoot.

 

My issue was chamber diameter not length or throat depth.  They could have told me to go buy a set of better dies because their chamber was SAAMI spec.  They chose to solve my problem in their shop.  It only cost postage to get the barrel back to them.  I now own two of their barrels and will gladly buy another should the need arise.

 

Good folks.

[Guest Mike P]

The difference in the length of the bullets looks to be around .125" or more, so the shorter OAL seating for the Falcon bullets should mean that the internal case volume and pressure should be the same between the two. Unless I'm missing something, I don't know why the OAL for the Falcon bullets should concern you. :shrug:   :stir:

Read some load data in several manuals and figure it out.

 

My problem is solved anyway. I sold them.

[bart305]

What kind of wait times on the Lonewolf? I tried last year through one vendor (that said they were two weeks out) and cancelled the order 2 months later. Since then it has just been nuts.

[Guest Mike P]

What kind of wait times on the Lonewolf? I tried last year through one vendor (that said they were two weeks out) and cancelled the order 2 months later. Since then it has just been nuts.

If you order straight from Lonewolf, they will say on the site if they are in stock or back order but give dates on back orders. If they are in stock with in a couple days to your door. I've used them more times than I can remember. Excellent service.

Edited April 23, 2013 by Mike P

[LCPfraTN]

Don't rely on Lone Wolf's back order dates if you order a barrel from them. I ordered a barrel last year in June that had a back order date of the end of June...well after 4 back order date changes, I finally received my barrel in November. :rant:

[LCPfraTN]

Read some load data in several manuals and figure it out.

 

My problem is solved anyway. I sold them.

Since you have sold them, my point is moot, but the problem with most load data tables in manuals is that different lengths of bullets that are the same weight aren't addressed. Some very knowledgeable reloaders have given me the same advice that I was trying to point out to you when I had a similar situation, but it is clearly your decision whether you want to consider it or not. Good luck with your reloading. 

Edited April 23, 2013 by LCPfraTN

[Guest Mike P]

Don't rely on Lone Wolf's back order dates if you order a barrel from them. I ordered a barrel last year in June that had a back order date of the end of June...well after 4 back order date changes, I finally received my barrel in November. :rant:

 

I don;t order anything except lead bullets{in these post Newtown times :(}  with a back order status. If it's not in stock and ready to ship I go else where. There are plenty of vendors that sell Lonewolf items. One good one I've used several times when LW showed out of stock was an Ebay store called "Glock Polishing". :up:

[bart305]

Thanks