Accurizing a GLOCK

I've never shot with one, but I hear that lone wolf barrels have tighter tolerances than the glock barrel. I'm not sure if it increases accuracy though. I can't do it very often, but I have shot 3 shot groups at 10-15 yards where all three holes were touching each other. So I think that my glock is already more accurate than I am.

What accuracy are you capable of producing with the stock barrel and with the Lon Wolf barrel? What is your goal?

By accurizing, do you mean improving mechanical accuracy (mostly a barrel-to-slide fit question) or total accuracy? Trigger system modifications may help you do a better job of trigger control -- different sights may help you produce a better, more consistent sight picture.

There are lots of improvement parts for Glocks. Don't know of anyone doing bulls-eye tuning for 50 yard competitive accuracy, but I also don't routinely hear of them being inherently in need of accuracy improvement, either.

To answer your question, anything can be made better than originally manufactured.

If I wanted better accuracy than what a standard Glock has to offer I would change the type of gun. I have a Glock (yes just one, I know hard to believe Glock fans) and it's accuracy is good for it's intended use - close range self defense CCW (Glock 27 in 40 cal). Up to about 15 yards with its 3" barrel.

I have 5" SA and Dan Wesson 1911's that I shoot much better with at longer distances. I shoot them at more like 25 + yards.

This in only my rationale and I see no reason for you to not customize your Glock if that is want you want to do. The above is just an alternative view.

Well, I think it would be more correct to say they weren't designed to be a bullseye gun. The average Glock seems to be as accurate as the average 1911. ('Course, the 1911 wasn't designed for accuracy either, by that standard.)

If you're seeing a large amount of play between the slide and barrel at the lockup point, I'd have Glock take a look at it and see if something is wrong.

Bar-Sto claims that you can get 1.25" groups @ 25 yards from one of their match-fit Glock barrels. That's pretty sporty accuracy, and probably better than most stock pistols are capable of.

Based on my experience, factory Glock 17/22 will produce inherent combat accuracy of about 4.5" average shot groups at 25 yards and Glock 21/30 about 3.0".

joed said:

Can it be made accurate like a 1911?

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No. Many match grade 1911s will have factory accuracy of 1.5" average shot groups at 25 yards, some even smaller.

Can a GLOCK be accurized?

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Yes and no. Trigger polish jobs/parts replacement will improve the repeatability of the pistol but will not increase the inherent mechanical accuracy from the factory. Not sure if you are wanting to improve accuracy for match shooting, but Glock's popularity in USPSA/IDPA matches is primarily due to their ability to produce more consistent double taps while maintaining acceptable level of accuracy at 7-20 yards where most targets are placed. You will not find Glocks dominating 25-50 yard slow fire bullseye matches.

Actually the wolf barrel is what I'm wondering about.

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My experience with Lone Wolf barrels (both factory replacement and 40-9 conversion barrels) is that they provide comparable level of accuracy with jacketed/plated bullets.

But different for lead bullets. Factory Glock barrels have very smooth rounded (hill/valley) rifling with longer leade (space between the chamber and the start of rifling) that allows more high pressure gas to leak around the bullet before the bearing surface of the bullet engages the rifling and build chamber pressure. Lone Wolf barrels have traditional square cut land/groove rifling with shorter leade that leaks less high pressure gas and allows faster chamber pressure build up. More consistent chamber pressures translate to increased accuracy in terms of average shot group sizes. So for lead bullets, Lone Wolf barrels produce greater accuracy over factory Glock barrels.

I have done comparison range tests with Lone Wolf barrels in Glocks and produced 1.0"-1.5" shot groups at 15 yards off hand depending on bullet type/powder/charge - http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?p=7266869#post7266869

Glocks are what they are service grade semiautomatic pistols with acceptable accuracy. There is the “Cottage Industry” that cranks out an assortment of performance enhancement parts according to the various providers of those parts. My preference is to leave the pistol stock except for sights and barrels.

I’m not an advocate of lead bullets with the OEM barrel others are. That said I’m not an advocate either of Lone-Wolf after market barrels.

I use and like Bar-Sto and KKM. In my experience Bar-Sto is not a true drop in barrel and requires minor fitting. Based on my personal usage KKM is exceptionally good and I recommend their products.

I reckon you could 'accurize' one but it would require a fair amount of work on the internals. The question is why would you want to work against the stated design? Glocks are designed as rugged, simple, reliable field pistols - not super accurate target pistols. By the time you got done with a full on effort it would barely be a Glock imo.

Curious as to what level of accuracy you're looking for? I'm able to obtain 2.5"-3.0" 5 rnd groups at 25 yards on a good day on a G19, G17. I know Todd Green at pistol-training.com was able to produce sub 2" groups on a Gen4 G17.

I find myself as being the limitation on accuracy on a Glock.

If you push down on the part of the barrel by the ejector port you can see the slop, that barrel will move. None of my accurized 1911's have this slop.

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Do you see that the barrel moves back up when you let go of it?
The Glock barrel is spring loaded into position, unlike your accurized 1911s which are mechanically propped up by the slide stop shaft.

Lone Wolf has hit or miss quality control.

Other than a true match grade barrel like KKM or Bar Sto, there's not much you can do to mechanically acurize a Glock's. You can make the trigger lighter, but that's about it. The rest is snake oil.

Mastering the crappy trigger is the only way.

Don't bother trying to turn it into a 1911.

I have tried all kinds of aftermarket parts on my Glock 30 out of curiosity. The Wolff non-captive recoil springs and guide rod caused binding and failure to return to battery. The Wolff firing pin spring was a little too soft and caused occasional light primer strikes with no bang. The Wolff mag springs folded up inside the mag well after a few thousand rounds and twisted out of shape. The titanium safety plunger button made no difference at all, neither did an aftermarket barrel.

The only thing that made a positive difference was the Trijicon HD night sights and the Peirce mag extensions. The sights are a great improvement and the grip extentions solved my pinky pinch problem and improved my grip. Other than that, I've had to replace everything else with factory Glock parts again to get it back to 100% reliable.

Clean and polish the parts if you like, but leave them all stock Glock factory parts.

There is the Glock 34 I have which is quite accurate, as good as I can shoot it, never put it in a ransom rest though. Then there is the 35 in 40S&W these pistols have long slides, light triggers and target sights.

Master Blaster said:

There is the Glock 34 I have which is quite accurate, as good as I can shoot it, never put it in a ransom rest though. Then there is the 35 in 40S&W these pistols have long slides, light triggers and target sights.

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What is considered a light trigger in the G35? Mine states that it is 5.5 and that is the same as my G23

Apparently glock disagrees with you as the 23 shows a 5.5 lb trigger pull and the 34/35 shows a 4.5 lb, so its a whole pound lighter. I have a G26 and the G34 and the 34 feels much lighter with a shorter reset. I think of it as a two stage pistol trigger when I shoot the 34 so it feels quite different to me.

http://www.glock.com/english/index_pistols.htm


GLOCK CONNECTOR
Get your desired Trigger Pull by using an optional GLOCK connector without detrimentally changing the „Safe Action“ trigger characteristic..



~ 2.0 kg / 4.5 lb. The 2,0 kg / 4.5 lb. connector marked with a small (-) has a softer Trigger Pull compared with the standard options and is particularly popular among sport shooters. Standard with GLOCK 34 and 35.
~ 2.5 kg / 5.5 lb. Most GLOCK pistols are fitted at the factory with 2,5 kg / 5.5 lb Trigger Pull. In this way the trigger characteristics are optimally matched to the needs of most users with a defined point of depression.
~ 3.5 kg / 8.0 lb. The 3,5 kg / 8.0 lb connector is marked with a (+). This is the spring for users appreciating hard "dry" trigger action. It is also characterized by a clearly sensible point of depression.

Best thing for you to improve the accuracy of your Glock is for you to shoot a case of ammo through it.

Glock doesn't use a barrel-binding design(barrel is slightly thicker at the muzzle) as it exists in Sig P22X, S&W M&P and Taurus autos so the mechanical accuracy is limited by how sloppy the fit is between the barrel hood and the slide.

You can send the slide to Barsto who can custom fit the barrel to slide or you can do it on your if you have the patience.

KKM or Bar Sto, dry firing extensively, range time. Skip LWD products unless they come with the purchase, then sell em off. The 7" KKM I have for my 24C is incredible.

Can a GLOCK be accurized? I've noticed the barrel on the GLOCK is somewhat sloppy. Can it be made accurate like a 1911 or is that a waste of time?

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Actually if the barrel fit to slide is sloppy and wiggles around when the gun is in battery, meaning the slide is closed, you need to contact glock and send it to them for repair as it has either been damaged or is defective. On both my glocks the barrel has no play at all between the barrel and slide at the muzzle or breach when in battery.

I put a Storm Lake barrel on my G17 mostly to use lead reloads. The benched accuracy puts it right around 2"-3" groups at 25 yards using Missouri Bullet Company's 147 grain flat point lead bullets and WSF powder. Perfect for what I was hoping it would do. I never tested the stock barrel for accuracy but the SL barrel certainly was a little tighter in the slide.

There is a man that goes by the name T. R. Graham on GlockTalk. He is the proprietor of a part called the Match Grade Slide Lock. The MGSL is a replacement slide lock made of machine-cut steel, as opposed to the OEM polymer or plastic part. The given space where the bottom of an OEM GLOCK barrel locks up with the slide lock is a bit thinner, therefore securing barrel lock-up a bit tighter than it would normally with a stock slide lock. That being said, I've also personally tested this part myself and my groups have tightened up considerably (To throw a number out there, I'd say about 25% tighter!).

Here is the link if anyone is interested. I highly recommend this part for any GLOCK owner, I have one in all of mine.

http://www.glocktalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=851754

The match grade slide lock is just a thicker piece of steel than the stock part. Yes it works.

The Glock barrel is supposed to drop down when you push on it. It isn't locked in as tightly as a 1911. It souldn't have side play though.

A Glockworx comp spring kit, Lone Wolf 3.5 connector, Glockworx Fulcrum Trigger, Ti FP safety, and stock striker spring are a good combo. Sometimes I'll run a softer striker spring though.