View Full Version : Wilson Combat Match Grade Barrel, 9mm, Glock 17, 4.49", Stainless
So, I'm looking to get some feedback on the use and installation of this barrel? Accuracy? Installation? did it require any fitting?
Cheers
morbidbattlecry
08-17-13, 22:53
I run one. Didn't require any fitting. I noticed a decent accuracy increase non-match ammo. But not with match(which is generally more accurate anyways) Otherwise i like mine. I would only run factory new ammo out of it though. I've tried some factory reloads and had some issues with extraction because of the tighter chamber.
I've got two of them. One came as part of the TigerSwan G17. The other I fitted myself. Both shoot groups about 1/3 tighter than the OEM barrel. Do a search and you'll find my posts on them.
Okie John
I've seen Kyle Defoor recommend a KKM barrel? just curious how these would stack up against the Wilson Combat barrel.
I've seen Kyle Defoor recommend a KKM barrel? just curious how these would stack up against the Wilson Combat barrel.
I hear good and bad things about both. Whoever fits the barrel to the gun probably matters more than which barrel you use.
I fitted my own and I feel lucky that it shoots as well as it does, but I wonder how well it might shoot if someone who really knows the score had done the work.
Okie John
I've seen Kyle Defoor recommend a KKM barrel? just curious how these would stack up against the Wilson Combat barrel.
Just remembered something: DeFoor shoots a G19 much of the time, and Wilson doesn't make G19 barrels. That might have something to do with it.
Okie John
That used to be the case, but Wilson does now --- http://shopwilsoncombat.com/Match-Grade-Barrel-9mm-Glock-19-402-Stainless/productinfo/647/
No idea on the timing, however. Your point may still be valid.
That used to be the case, but Wilson does now --- http://shopwilsoncombat.com/Match-Grade-Barrel-9mm-Glock-19-402-Stainless/productinfo/647/
No idea on the timing, however. Your point may still be valid.
I stand corrected.
Okie John
Curious, How much filing did you do on your install?
Curious, How much filing did you do on your install?
I'm not quite sure how to quantify it. I had never fitted a barrel before, so I went very slowly. When I got the barrel from Wilson, it wouldn't fit into the slide, so I started by shortening the hood so it would just barely fit. At that point, I knew that I still had to remove a little more material, so I used an Arkansas stone and focused on making the back of the hood square with the breech face. I'd coat the end of the hood with Sharpie ink to see where the high spots were, stone it a little, and repeat. (I think I got it right. When I cleaned the pistol after I finished on the range this morning, I found that the wear marks are even and indicate that the rear of the hood was--and still is--square with the breech face.)
Once the barrel would fit into the slide, I tried to reassemble the pistol, but the barrel kept hanging up on the locking lug and the slide wouldn't seat fully onto the frame. Then I slowly removed material from the bottom of the locking lug until it would fit and would go into battery powered only by the RSA.
Then I took it to the range and shot it. It hung up every few rounds, so I pulled the barrel and removed a little bit more from the bottom of the lug. Then I reassembled it and tried it again. I repeated this until it would fire several magazines without choking. Then I detail stripped it, cleaned it, lubed it, and ran it through the 2,000-Round Challenge. It passed with no problems.
I haven't kept an accurate round count, but I probably have 6-7k rounds through it at this point. Aside from assorted BTF issues, which a 30274 ejector seems to have fixed, I have had one failure to go into battery about two weeks ago, which came from a factory cartridge that was too long to fit into another G17.
Did I answer your question?
Okie John
Here are two typical 50-yard offhand slow-fire groups fired with the Wilson-barreled G17 described above. For reference, both bulls are six inches in diameter.
Fired this one three weeks ago with Federal 115-grain JHP (9BP). Ten shots total, with four touching at six o'clock.
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee68/okie_john/Federal1159BP_zps5ec69221.jpg (http://s235.photobucket.com/user/okie_john/media/Federal1159BP_zps5ec69221.jpg.html)
Fired this one today with Federal 147-grain JHP (9MS). I fired the two on the right, made a a sight change, then fired the other ten. Not counting the first two shots, the Extreme Spread is five inches.
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee68/okie_john/Federal1479MS_zpsed9d571e.jpg (http://s235.photobucket.com/user/okie_john/media/Federal1479MS_zpsed9d571e.jpg.html)
Groups with 115-grain S&B FMJ tend to run 10-15% bigger.
Okie John
G34Shooter
10-14-13, 10:23
Here are two typical 50-yard offhand slow-fire groups fired with the Wilson-barreled G17 described above. For reference, both bulls are six inches in diameter.
Fired this one three weeks ago with Federal 115-grain JHP (9BP). Ten shots total, with four touching at six o'clock.
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee68/okie_john/Federal1159BP_zps5ec69221.jpg (http://s235.photobucket.com/user/okie_john/media/Federal1159BP_zps5ec69221.jpg.html)
Fired this one today with Federal 147-grain JHP (9MS). I fired the two on the right, made a a sight change, then fired the other ten. Not counting the first two shots, the Extreme Spread is five inches.
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee68/okie_john/Federal1479MS_zpsed9d571e.jpg (http://s235.photobucket.com/user/okie_john/media/Federal1479MS_zpsed9d571e.jpg.html)
Groups with 115-grain S&B FMJ tend to run 10-15% bigger.
Okie John
Nice job! I may consider one for my Glocks :cool:
Heavy Metal
10-14-13, 11:34
Put the original barrel back in and shoot comparison groups.
Put the original barrel back in and shoot comparison groups.
See the third pair of targets on Post #13 of this thread: https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=105291&highlight=Wilson
My shooting has improved since then, but the trends are the same.
Okie John
Okie, I see in your post that you are seeing a tend of a 20 shot group at 50 yds of about 8" with the wilson barrel vs 10.5" for the stock one. That is, with the gun benched (I'm not very good off bench either), some human error, and doing some very deliberate shooting...
To each his own, unless I see a much larger difference (in other words: where I see the gun is limiting myself) I would not even think about changing the barrel.
TiroFijo, I think Okie John said his groups were offhand, which means no rest or bench to me.
I recently put a Wilson barrel into a G17. I shoot this gun competitively and it had just over 56k rounds through it (all on the factory barrel and I have owned it since new).
I noticed the groups had been pretty bad over about the last 6 months to year. I was never sure if it was the gun (maybe the barrel, maybe the frame loosened up, maybe one of many other reasons) or me or ammo or something else. But eventually I decided it probably wasn't me. I didn't care enough to scientifically test it. So I just bought a Wilson barrel and was planning to return it if the gun didn't shoot better.
The barrel dropped right in with no fitting. There were a few interesting things I noticed. First, I did all my shooting at 25 yards, and I noticed the zero shifted and the groups got tighter over the first 100-200 rounds or so. That definitely wasn't me. something was changing with the gun/barrel. Also, I noticed the gun was significantly different when dry firing. With the factory Glock barrel, the sights/slide would always move a tiny bit (when you look very closely) because the gun was just loose/old. But with the Wilson barrel, there was essentially no movement.
When I shot it, it shot noticeably better with the Wilson barrel. I only shoot factory ammo and I used at least 3 different common factory rounds when doing my informal testing. I had good results with everything.
Maybe a new factory Glock barrel would have helped, and maybe it would have helped more than the Wilson barrel. I don't know and like I said I didn't care enough to scientifically test it. But there is absolutely no question that my gun shoots significantly better with this barrel.
Edited to add: I've had no extraction, feeding or other problems with the Wilson barrel.
Joe Mamma
TiroFijo, I think Okie John said his groups were offhand, which means no rest or bench to me.
Actually, those were benched groups. My shooting has improved since then.
Okie, I see in your post that you are seeing a tend of a 20 shot group at 50 yds of about 8" with the wilson barrel vs 10.5" for the stock one. That is, with the gun benched (I'm not very good off bench either), some human error, and doing some very deliberate shooting...
To each his own, unless I see a much larger difference (in other words: where I see the gun is limiting myself) I would not even think about changing the barrel.
I understand that it's not the arrow but the Indian. At the same time, the arrows definitely play a role, and if better arrows are available, I see no reason to let them hold the Indian back.
After more than 40 years of shooting and handloading for custom rifles and revolvers (and probably focusing too much on accuracy) I've found that huge increases in accuracy as a result of changing one factor in the equation are uncommon. It's much more common to see it improve in little steps. A 10% jump is worthwhile (if you know for sure what caused it) because it leads the way to the next 10%, which leads to the next 10%, and so on. For me and the Glock, those steps came in the form of shooting about 10k rounds over 18 months and experimenting enough to know that I could benefit from a better trigger (OEM "minus" connector), better ammo, and better sights. At that point, I hit a plateau that I couldn't seem to break, so I tried a TigerSwan G17 and a Wilson barrel in a different G17. That got me to the the targets you're talking about.
About six months later, I trained with Pat McNamara for a weekend. I learned a LOT about how to improve my skill, and I went back to basics on pretty much everything. Accuracy took off again, which led to the 6" 50-yard offhand groups I posted a couple of days ago, and hasn't stopped.
So yeah, a lot of it was me--but I'm not going back to an OEM Gen3 barrel when Wilson barrels give me a proven 10% increase in accuracy.
The next stop is the 100-yard line.
Okie John
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