Refitting factory Glock barrels with outstanding results [Archive]

Got UZI

03-11-15, 05:20

Awhile back there was a thread on here discussing the issues with Glock inaccuracy due to poor barrel fit which got me thinking about the old school method used in the 1970's to help with making 1911's more accurate. Basically the issue with Glock is the lock up is loose, to the point its sad. Its almost upsetting that Glock figures 4-5" groups at 25 yards is an acceptable thing. Back to my earlier comment on refitting the barrel to reduce this issue, back in the day it was accustom to lengthen the barrel hood by welding it then refitting it to the slide on 1911's to help with lock up (tho on 1911's there is more to it than just the hood length)

Here are the results of my experiment on my personal Gen4 G19 and a friends Gen3 G26. The results speak for themselves. I did not save my before target from my G19 so I made sure to document the G26 before and after to show the results that I was seeing. On the G19 test target you will note that there are a few stragglers in the 8 ring, this was due to finding the best way to bench the gun as i did not have a good rest at the time (that has since changed) The first time I shot the G19 at 20 yards it was 4" high and 3" right and after the refit there was less than 1" difference between 7 and 20 yards. I have put 1,650 rds through my G19 with no change in the results, including a 250 round abuse run, firing 50 rds as fast as I could drop a mag and load another one. Here are the results of the refits-

Got UZI

03-11-15, 05:23

Here are more pictures of the results. Note the change in the G26-

Voodoo_Man

03-11-15, 06:51

Bench at what distance? 25 yards? What kind of metal did you use?

Just for comparison, this is a target I put up at 25 yards for a 200 drill with my g19, barsto barrel, pmc 115gr, standing freestyle.

http://i.imgur.com/NpbZuju.jpg

controlledpairs2

03-11-15, 06:55

Interesting

Got UZI

03-11-15, 07:13

Bench rest at 20 yards which I stated above. I used a harder stainless rod

CAVDOC

03-11-15, 09:47

Every gun is an individual. My stock except 10-8 sights glock 19 and 26 give me sub three inch groups at 25 yards, so I do not see they would be helped much by such efforts but clearly there are some out there that may.

teutonicpolymer

03-11-15, 12:10

People have done this in the past (for competition guns) but I think it fell out of popularity as aftermarket barrels became available since the Glock rifling isn't optimal for lead bullets

samuse

03-11-15, 13:31

I've never seen a Gen4 19 that locked up anything less than 'tight as a drum'.

I've personally owned three of 'em and have shot many more in the past five years and accuracy was never once an issue. I've taken several back to 100 yards on a 1/3 IDPA steel and had no trouble making hits.

Blue Thunder

03-11-15, 16:38

There is a Gunsmith down in Texas that makes a Slide Lock lever that the locking channel is not as wide as Glocks. I have two of them and they helped my G-35 and G-19 get tighter accuracy as the barrel has less distance in that locking channel to put it back closer to where it was before. As I recall (from 5 years ago) the price was $12-15 each. Don't recall who but google may be your friend.

T2C

03-11-15, 17:12

Blue Thunder

03-11-15, 17:45

samuse

03-11-15, 19:09

His name was T.R. Graham if I remember correctly.

I emailed him a few years ago about a slide lock but never heard back from him.

ETA:

Here he is...

http://theglocksmith.com/

Straight Shooter

03-11-15, 19:20

I used his Match Grade Slide Lock in my G21 for 9 years. After testing it a few times...I found it did tighten groups with no affect on reliability.

Voodoo_Man

03-11-15, 19:22

re-slide lock lever.

A member on here was kind enough to send me a few of them that I have run in my carry gun and a few other guns consistently for thousands of rounds.

I have not seen an actual increase in accuracy solely from that piece alone. I have, however, seen an increase in accuracy after I added a barsto barrel to my g19 which already had the match grade slide lock.

teutonicpolymer

03-11-15, 20:48

Interesting experiment. The Bar-Sto barrel I installed on my Glock 22 required some fitting in the same area. Perhaps that is one reason it improved accuracy.

Do you believe that a tighter fit between the locking block and barrel would produce better accuracy?

It should

Just reiterating, a lot of this stuff has been done to squeeze accuracy out of Glocks, people have messed with frame rails to get a similar effect. I think it was either peening or bending frame rails to get the barrel tighter to the locking block and the older guys on the Brian Enos forum say it worked

I know I keep bringing up the Brian Enos forum but if you are interested in this type of stuff it would be worth checking out

At the end of the day it is still a Glock and I think accuracy is ultimately limited by other factors so I am not sure if it is worth it. If you are that interested in accuracy it may be time to get a revolver or a 1911/2011.

Got UZI

03-12-15, 05:03

Trust me I'm a 1911 man first and foremost and rarely without on of my Wilson Combat's on my side. This was more for fun than anything else. Its the same concept as having a fitted barrel in an M&P. The fit between the barrel hood and slide is partly what slows down the unlock time, so holding the barrel "fixed in position" for a millisecond longer will allow for better accuracy.

From what I have found its not the block in the frame that is the issue but rather the hood length, hence why I tried this. Your right in the end its a just a Glock and people want a $500 mass produced pistol to shoot like a custom built 1911. Factor in that with my own curiosity with the issue of unlock time I figured why not give this a try?

samuse

03-12-15, 09:38

I'd like to see how it holds up long term.

The breech face on a Glock is pretty fragile compared to any other common handgun. I wonder if a tighter hood fit would contribute a crack?

Got UZI

03-12-15, 10:10

mizer67

03-13-15, 13:57

I used his Match Grade Slide Lock in my G21 for 9 years. After testing it a few times...I found it did tighten groups with no affect on reliability.

Be careful with that part. It is not designed for Gen 4 Glocks.

While it will fit, it also chipped the locking lug on my Gen 4 stock 9mm barrel after a few thousand rounds.

Mr blasty

03-13-15, 14:47

samuse-I checked the hardness of the barrel and found a donor material that was within the same Rockwell range, but I too am curious about the longevity of this. I don't think a tighter hood would cause it to crack as I have it to the same specs as what I have fit Storm Lake barrels into Glock's and they have been shot to Hell and back with no issues.

He was talking about the slide itself being fragile.
As to finding an equal filler, the hardness of the starting filler is fairly irrelevant to the finished weld hardness. The entire weld as well as the heat affected zone of the base material will be changed. Depending on conditions of the welding process as well as the materials involved you can get softer, harder, more brittle, less ductile, more susceptible to fractures or peening and a whole host of other property changes. Some changes may be more beneficial and some may be detrimental. Even the simple techniques used to weld it can make a huge difference, especially when welding harder and/or dissimilar metals (a little of both going on here). Any sort of inclusions in the weld or diffused gasses will also change the properties as well as president, post and interpass weld temps and processes.

Sent from my SM-G900T using Xparent BlueTapatalk 2

Mr blasty

03-13-15, 14:49

Also, what filler did you actually use?

Sent from my SM-G900T using Xparent BlueTapatalk 2

Lost River

03-13-15, 22:10

I see no reason why a welded up and recut barrel shouldn't be more accurate. It was standard practice in shooting sports for years, until the games changed, plastic type guns were introduced, and accuracy standards changed with the games (ppc vs ipsc)

I have a fitted Jarvis barrel on a .45 Glock, and its definitely more accurate than the factory barrel, which was actually pretty darn good.

Most folks won't believe it, but a Glock can be a tackdriver if done properly and utilized by a person who can take advantage of the capabilities of the platform.

Got UZI

03-14-15, 14:12

Well Im a machinist for a living and had someone who is a TiG welder for a living weld it, so I' pretty sure it will be fine. I also Rockwell tested it before and after the weld process and its the same so that being said I don't see how the slide will have any issue with possible breaking.

Sorry but I wont tell you what filler rod I used.

TacticalMark

03-14-15, 16:23

Very interesting, Thanks for taking the time to experiment. What was the factory clearance (hood fit) ? What clearance did you re-fit to? Maybe its just the pictures but almost looks mig welded.

Got UZI

03-14-15, 16:26

Mark-the hood fit factory was .005" and I have it now at .001 I had my father use the TiG welder on it.

TacticalMark

03-14-15, 16:35

That is awesome, good work sir. I had one Gen3 G19 that had a pretty bad lock up at .008 That got replaced with a Storm Lake barrel I fit to .002-.0025.

Got UZI

03-14-15, 16:56

Thanks, I do my best. Ive done fitted barrels in other polymer guns using oversized barrels but I figured "what the hell" and wanted to try some old school ideas on this one.

EzGoingKev

07-18-15, 22:57

A couple of questions -

1) Why weld the hood and not the forward portion of the barrel where it hits the front of the slide? From what l have seen that is the part that gets fitted with a custom barrel.

2) Does anyone know what Glock specs the slide to barrel clearance out at?

Rattlehead

07-18-15, 23:01

Yes, there is a lot of slop in that connecting point and the smaller channel helped my G-35. I did not have many fliers after installing it. At 67 I am not as good a shot that I was at 62 but I did notice a difference. I have tried google and have not found the gunsmith that made them yet.

We used to weld up the locking block on the older model Glock's until the later pentagon stamped barrelled models started getting tighter.
It cut group sizes down significantly.

Got UZI

07-20-15, 06:08

Ez-not -sure where your seeing that done at (welding the front of the hood) lets see here....put heat into the area that has all the pressure and where the camber/barrel connect. The only thing I could see in doing that there is the person would not have to worry about possible head space issues but when your talking about .002-.004 your not going to to have any issues with it. All the research and work that I have done over the years on fitting Glock and M&P barrels its always been done off the back of the hood.

Glock specs are all over the place. I've seen Gen4 guns with fits from .002-.007 It depends on the barrel and slide that day and which ones get stamped to mate with the other. When I was talking to a Glock sales rep about the idea he pointed out that they are left a little on the loose side to allow for dirt and such to not affect the operation of the weapon. That being said he also stated that it made sense to him what I did as its old school 1911 work.

EzGoingKev

07-20-15, 06:22

To clarify, I am not seeing anyone welding at the front.

I have been looking at aftermarket barrels and how to fit them. The videos/info I have found say to remove material from the front and not the back.

Got UZI

07-20-15, 06:27

Again this is due to the head space being set from the rear. What manufactures have you looked at? I have not seen anyone say to remove from the front. On Glock and M&P's you have more material to remove from the front AND a longer distance to make sure you keep straight.

Might want to look at how they have been done in the past.

EzGoingKev

07-20-15, 06:33

This video is from Bar Sto -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaYMjwILDGo

Got UZI

07-20-15, 06:48

Yeah you might want to look at other reviews on those. Hood fit is what is the factor in making a striker gun work. 1911's depend on hood, lug, and link fit. Bar-Sto is talking about having your barrel fit tight on the under side of the slide and the hood. Thats a bad combo on a polymer frame pistol. Again I must not be making the point enough-when you remove material from the front of the hood your not affecting the chamber and head space. Most people do not have chamber reamers and head space gauges so they make their barrels so the lowest common denominator moron can fit one without calling up with either light primer strikes or a blown up gun.

Sorry to be rude but you might want to look a little deeper into this subject.

JHC

07-20-15, 08:14

I haven't seen a Gen 3 9mm that couldn't shoot into 3" rested at 25 yds stock. I haven't seen a Gen 4 9mm that couldn't do quite a bit better than that, stock.

But my sample is only about a dozen or 15 guns.

trinydex

07-21-15, 17:44

did this change point of impact at 25 yards?

sometimes stock glocks have a problem where they impact higher at 25, larry vickers attributed this to premature unlocking. if you modify the gun to lock up tighter, it should remedy this problem. was this the case?

Got UZI

07-22-15, 06:26

Yes this does change the issue of impact shift. I noticed a nearly 3" difference in impact shift at 20 yards.

A looser fitting barrel will unlock early causing the barrel to "rise" while the bullet is still in the barrel which is why Glock pistols shoot high. This is also why guns with a decent impact/point of aim at 25 yards will notice that they are shooting higher as the recoil assembly gets old due to the same thing. End of the day a loose barrel fit in a Glock can and will lead to impact shift-shooting high at distance and will lead to groups opening up at distance too due to inconstant lock up.

Think of it this way-if you can press down on the barrel hood with the gun in battery and the barrel moves or drops then this is happening every time you pull the trigger. If the barrel does not move then it is staying tight until the slide is moving backward causing it to unlock. This too is an old 1911 trick to check and see if the barrel lock up is good, tho on 1911's you depend on both the barrel link and the hood fit. With polymer guns you only have the hood fit on most platforms.

I have done this treatment to 4 Glock pistols now (Gen4 G19 Gen3 G23 and 2 Gen3 G26's) and all have the same results from stock barrel to after the work was done. I even did the same thing to another friends M&P9C for the fun of it and guess what.......the same results. It brought the impact shift down and greatly improved the accuracy of the said firearm. Down side of the M&P is that the cute little chamber indicator hole was filled in and is no more.