Glock 23 - After Market Barrel Choices

[SwaneeSR]

i am sure some of you gentlemen have purchased a Lone Wolf or other after market barrel for your Glock.

I reload .40sw, using plated bullets.

What are the benefits of changing from my factory barrel?
Can I install a barrel for a Glock 22?
Is it worthwhile to get a threaded barrel, although I live in the area that Supressors are know as Silencers and only for hit men and old Charles Bronson movies (the mechanic).

Swanee

 

[mgmorden]

Advantages: All the aftermarket barrels have traditional rifling, so you can more easily shoot lead reloads.

SOME of them may be arguably more accurate than the factory barrel, but the likely not the cheaper ones like Lone Wolf (though they're certainly not bad barrels either). Think more KKM and Bar-sto for the accuracy increase.

No, you cannot install a Glock 22 barrel in a Glock 23.

Threaded barrels IMHO look unsightly and the thread protector makes it a little more work to dissemble the gun. If you don't have a use for one I personally wouldn't buy one with threads.

 

[CNobbe]

I never bothered with changing .40 barrels for my Glock 23 but I did have the Lone Wolf 357 Sig and 40-9mm conversion barrels for it. I also had the 40-9mm for my Glock 27 and I do believe the Lone Wolf barrel improved accuracy for me a bit.

 

[1KPerDay]

Storm lake .40 barrel is very accurate and reliable in my G23 FWIW. I mostly shoot lead reloads.

If you shoot plated and don't plan on suppressor, no reason to switch from factory IMO.

 

[Wreck-n-Crew]

Advantages: All the aftermarket barrels have traditional rifling, so you can more easily shoot lead reloads.

SOME of them may be arguably more accurate than the factory barrel, but the likely not the cheaper ones like Lone Wolf (though they're certainly not bad barrels either). Think more KKM and Bar-sto for the accuracy increase.

No, you cannot install a Glock 22 barrel in a Glock 23.

Threaded barrels IMHO look unsightly and the thread protector makes it a little more work to dissemble the gun. If you don't have a use for one I personally wouldn't buy one with threads.

Nailed it.

On the note of a "silencer" : Between tax stamps and wait times, most find it to much of a hassle to spend the money and wait time for approval. To me a person would have to want one bad to jump through the hoops. YMMV

 

[LiveLife]

Can I install a barrel for a Glock 22?

What are the benefits of changing from my factory barrel?

I shoot G22/G23/G27 using KKM/Lone Wolf 40S&W and 40-9 conversion barrels.

G22 barrel won't fit in G23 but G23 barrel will work in G27.

Main benefit is with lubed lead bullets. Aftermarket barrels with conventional square cut land/groove rifling with sharper start of rifling angle allow faster chamber pressure build up for proper bullet base deformation/bump to seal the high pressure gas and reduce gas blow by which will blow liquefied lube off the bullet (which will increase leading). Glock's smooth and rounded hill/valley rifling with very gradual start of rifling will allow the bullet to jump deeper into the rifling before pressure builds and will allow more high pressure gas to leak which will result in more gas cutting and fouling building up in the barrel.

I do shoot lubed lead bullets in Glock barrels but will inspect the barrel around 200-300 rounds and clean as necessary or the crusty fouling deposit along the rifling will start to decrease the accuracy above 200-300+ rounds. I can shoot 500+ rounds in my KKM/Lone Wolf barrels and the barrels will stay clean without leading and accuracy maintained.

Another issue is the barrel twist rate. Most aftermarket barrels will have 1:16 twist rate (1:20 for KKM) compared to Glock's 1:10 (9.84" to be exact) and the slower twist rate is more compatible with lead bullets for them to engage the rifling to rotate. Glock's fast twist rate coupled with smooth rounded rifling will more likely allow the lead bullets (especially if undersized) to skid down the barrel instead of rotating with the rifling (to provide rotational stability in flight for greater accuracy).

As to accuracy, with jacketed/plated bullets, aftermarket barrels have been comparable to factory barrels but with lead bullets, KKM barrel (with the slower 1:20 twist rate) has produced slightly smaller shot groups than Lone Wolf barrels. In this comparison thread, I compared Glock/KKM/Lone Wolf barrels with jacketed/plated/lead bullets - http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=745656

I also shoot coated lead bullets (Hi-Tek/Powder coated) which won't lead the barrel up to around 2700 fps (no worries for pistol velocities but shoot my pistol loads in JR carbine). With coated lead bullets, you can use factory Glock barrels without fouling/leading issues and your accuracy won't deteriorate.

 

[RustyShackelford]

After market Glock barrels.....

I own a Glock 21 gen 04 .45acp LE trade in. I looked into a few after-market brands for .45acp barrels.
Glocks have many brands-styles for the different calibers.
I looked into the EFK Firedragon, KKM, Jarvis, LoneWolf, Bar-Sto(Irv Stone), Storm Lake.
All have great features & + benefits but some get mixed reviews online, .
I don't reload or shoot hand-loads in my guns so lead/designs aren't as critical.

Morgan Boatman, author of Customize Your Glock, offers a lot of insight & suggestions for Glock shooters, after market parts, repairs, etc.

 

[ku4hx]

I've had a Lone Wolf Glock 23 standard length barrel for oh ... five years I guess, maybe longer. It works fine, but so does the OEM barrel.

My 23 was purchased in 1993 and it's chamber has about as generous a throat area as you can get. I've put several thousand rounds down the factory barrel in some combination of jacketed, plated and cast in Lyman's #2 alloy. I seldom load past mid range and problems are essentially non existent so long as the cartridges are sized properly with respect to neck diameter and OAL. I fall into that category of shooters who believe lead alloy bullets cause no harmful effects in Glock barrels. That's my reality; others are welcome to theirs.

I got the LWD barrel for the sole purpose of have a chamber with less of an "unsupported" throat area. And because I'll just wanted the barrel.

Yesterday, we were at out club and shooting a few of our 40 SW guns. I took my 23 and shot mostly cast and a few plated in both the Glock and LWD barrel. Completely unremarkable session: both equally accurate, no malfunctions of any kind and no leading in either barrel.

 

[SwaneeSR]

Thanks for all the input. I guess I will hold off getting another barrel. I think the pistol with the factory barrel is more accurate than the shooter. Me and my youngest son shot pretty well today. I need more practice...

 

[Quentin]

I use a Lone Wolf 40-9mm conversion barrel in my G23 and it works well in my G27 too. As mentioned above, a G23 barrel works in the G27 but not the G22.

 

[frankmako]

i use kkm and efk barrels in my glocks for my reloads. i also have several lw barrels. but the lw barrels do not like my reloads. they like factory ammo, just not my reloads. the lw chamber is tighter. i called lw and they told me that there barrels are not made to shoot reloads. they stated i could send them back to have the barrels chamber open up to shoot reloads for a $35.00 each. my other barrels and glock barrels shoot everything i feed them.

 

[SDGlock23]

If you're shooting plated then might as well stick with the stock barrel. I've bought a number of aftermarket barrels, like KKM the best and they can give a slight increase in accuracy, but most probably won't notice much of a difference as the stock barrel will shoot better than 99.9% of people can. I've shot lead through Glock barrels, 9mm, .40 and .45 with no ill results, just keep an eye out for excessive leading, that's about the only thing. Some lead bullets lead bad and others don't lead at all, it's all about how well (or how poorly) it seals the barrel.

 

[LiveLife]

the lw barrels do not like my reloads. they like factory ammo, just not my reloads. the lw chamber is tighter.

Many claim Lone Wolf chambers are tight for their reloads but factory ammunition works fine. While they are tighter than factory barrels with larger than SAAMI min chambers, they are not tighter than SAAMI dimensions. Sig 1911 chambers are also tighter than most barrels but as long as my reloads' dimensions are within SAAMI spec, even SWC reloads feed and chamber reliably when other 1911s choke.

If fully resized brass will drop freely in the chamber but finished rounds won't, then your reloads' finished dimensions maybe exceeding SAAMI dimensions.

Of course, you can send your reloaded rounds with no powder/primer and ask Lone Wolf to enlarge the barrel to fit your reloads.

 

[LiveLife]

I think the pistol with the factory barrel is more accurate than the shooter.

For me with factory ammo and jacketed/plated/coated reloads, this has been the case.

 

[Hangingrock]

Bar-Sto barrels in my limited experience are not true drop in. Minor fitting is required. The KKM barrels that I have employed are true drop in and have proved to be accurate with cast or jacketed bullets.

As for Lone Wolf I experienced a quality control problem. Other users of their products seem to be satisfied thus I'll leave it at that.

As for shooting cast bullets in Glock OEM barrels I don't but others do and I'll also leave it at that.

 

[0to60]

The OEM chamber definitely lacks some support by the feed ramp, so if you're going to reload your brass over and over (or shoot range brass that you scavenge), its worthwhile to get an aftermarket barrel.

I've had Lone Wolf's and Storm Lake. The Storm Lake had a tight chamber. I had a few reloads that fit in a Lyman case gauge but got hung up in the Storm Lake. I talked to them and they had me send in a few sample rounds and the barrel and they reamed it out at no charge (I had to pay shipping to). I haven't had any problems since.