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KKM barrel quality over stock


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25 minutes ago, Silverscooby27 said:

They are more accurate.

I appreciate it. I started shooting USPSA about 9 months ago shooting limited minor with what I had. I am a high C class 58% trying to get to B. I know I will stick with it so I am wanting my Glock 35 set up right from the get go. I don't plan on being a national champion because with my job that would never happen. I work offshore for months at a time and cannot do any training during that time. I am in it for the fun and learning, but I still want my equipment to be able to perform as best as possible.

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I've tried several aftermarket, drop in barrels over the years. I've tried them in multiple Glocks. I've never had any success in finding one more accurate than OEM. Everytime, the OEM was more accurate. 

 

The problem with asking this question here is, you're going to get different answers and you're not gonna know why.  Some random person saying something on a gun forum isn't really gonna be the best info. Everyone is gonna have an opinion and they're not all gonna be all that solid.  

 

I'd recommend (random guy on the gun forum) stick with factory and just practice. I can tell you from experience the glock, with factory barrel, will not hold you back from reaching GM level!

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2 hours ago, B_RAD said:

I've tried several aftermarket, drop in barrels over the years. I've tried them in multiple Glocks. I've never had any success in finding one more accurate than OEM. Everytime, the OEM was more accurate. 

 

The problem with asking this question here is, you're going to get different answers and you're not gonna know why.  Some random person saying something on a gun forum isn't really gonna be the best info. Everyone is gonna have an opinion and they're not all gonna be all that solid.  

 

I'd recommend (random guy on the gun forum) stick with factory and just practice. I can tell you from experience the glock, with factory barrel, will not hold you back from reaching GM level!

Thanks!

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3 minutes ago, sam_b said:

Just get a 9mm conversion mags and practice for cheaper, you will get more benefit from practice than a marginally more accurate barrel.

I already have a KKM 9mm conversion. I got it with the gun when I bought it, just havent used it yet. I was mostly just wondering how the OEM compares to the KKM in the same caliber and if it is worth going for.

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If it's purely better accuracy you're looking for, I'd spend the money on finding ammo (or a handload) that the gun shoots best, rather than a new barrel. KKM makes great stuff for sure, but most Glock barrels are pretty good too in the hands of a good shooter. It's possible to get a bad barrel of course, but you didn't indicate that to be the case and it's rare. 

 

The only reason I buy aftermarket barrels for any of my Glocks is to get a threaded barrel or change calibers. Otherwise the stock barrels in most of mine work great, with one exception - a gen4 G34 that didn't shoot very well. I dropped in a spare G34 Glock barrel and it now shoots like it should. 

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On 9/1/2019 at 10:10 AM, B_RAD said:

I've tried several aftermarket, drop in barrels over the years. I've tried them in multiple Glocks. I've never had any success in finding one more accurate than OEM. Everytime, the OEM was more accurate. 

 

The problem with asking this question here is, you're going to get different answers and you're not gonna know why.  Some random person saying something on a gun forum isn't really gonna be the best info. Everyone is gonna have an opinion and they're not all gonna be all that solid.  

 

I'd recommend (random guy on the gun forum) stick with factory and just practice. I can tell you from experience the glock, with factory barrel, will not hold you back from reaching GM level!

 

I agree with B-Rad  What I do is when you get your gun dialed in, bench rest it and off hand and see how the stock one is, if it's not grouping good then get a KKM.

Dont just get a KKM and think they are more accurate. I think maybe with 115gr @ 50 yards the KKM is probably better. I ended up just using Stock.

Bob Vogel who is the  best glock shooter on the planet uses stock barrel. Same with Sevigny when he shot glocks, he used stock barrels.

The only time I saw the pro's using KKM was at the Bianchi Cup where they have 50 yard targets.. 

Edited by bigtimelarry
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I've had mixed results over eight Glocks.

 

Bar-Sto in a G35 made a huge difference. 

 

Storm Lake in a G34 made a big difference.

 

Storm Lake in a G21 made no perceptible difference but allowed me to shoot lead.

 

My oldest Glock, a 2007 G17 is the most accurate Gglock I have. A KKM barrel was not as accurate as the stock barrel. 

 

I got to the point where I would only replace barrels if the gun seemed to have accuracy issues.Glock barrels are usually pretty accurate, my G34 being the exception. The G35 I changed to shoot lead, the accuracy increase was a bonus. 

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Guys, you do not have to use an aftermarket Glock barrel to shoot lead, that is just an old internet and gun shop myth that refuses to die. Glock barrels generally shoot lead very well if you follow the basic rules for lead bullets. In my experience (which includes hundreds of pounds of lead through Glock barrels) most of the time Glock barrels do better with lead than a lot of aftermarket barrels, especially Lone Wolf and Storm Lake. 

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1 minute ago, Yondering said:

Guys, you do not have to use an aftermarket Glock barrel to shoot lead, that is just an old internet and gun shop myth that refuses to die. Glock barrels generally shoot lead very well if you follow the basic rules for lead bullets. In my experience (which includes hundreds of pounds of lead through Glock barrels) most of the time Glock barrels do better with lead than a lot of aftermarket barrels, especially Lone Wolf and Storm Lake

I did not know that. What are the rules? 

How about plated bullets, specifically Xtremes?

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1 hour ago, cheby said:

I did not know that. What are the rules? 

How about plated bullets, specifically Xtremes?

 

The main thing is bullet diameter - making sure it's large enough to seal the bore. Too many commercial vendors sell cast bullets that are bore size or even less, depending on the barrel. That causes problems with any barrel, not just Glock. We want at least .001" larger than the maximum bore dimensions, and a little larger than that is often better. For example you see a lot of lead 9mm bullets sold as .355 or .356" diameter, but a lot of 9mm bores are .356" or even .357" diameter (including some factory Glock barrels), so we can expect to see leading with those when they are too small, regardless who made the barrel. 

 

The other big one is alloy hardness - too soft is bad in any barrel. Swaged lead bullets used to be pretty common (for example Hornady and Speer both sold those wax lubed bullets with cross hatching in the driving band area) and those were nearly pure lead and too soft for a lot of pistol loads; those would lead a lot of barrels but also were prone to skidding in the Glock polygonal rifling. 

 

Plated bullets are generally soft swaged lead with a thin copper jacket, and you don't usually get much choice in the size so they are often a bit small IMO. Keeping pressure of your loads within reasonable limits for those seems to be the key. Personally I've had just as much bad luck with them in conventional rifling as I have in Glock barrels; they can work well in either one but can also work poorly in both. 

 

In my opinion, most of the time when someone has better results with lead after switching to an aftermarket Glock barrel, it was because of a bullet size problem rather than a rifling type problem. The internal finish on Glock barrels is generally really good, and that works well with lead bullets as long as they are big enough and not pushed too hard for the alloy hardness.

Edited by Yondering
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On 9/6/2019 at 7:02 PM, Yondering said:

 

The main thing is bullet diameter - making sure it's large enough to seal the bore. Too many commercial vendors sell cast bullets that are bore size or even less, depending on the barrel. That causes problems with any barrel, not just Glock. We want at least .001" larger than the maximum bore dimensions, and a little larger than that is often better. For example you see a lot of lead 9mm bullets sold as .355 or .356" diameter, but a lot of 9mm bores are .356" or even .357" diameter (including some factory Glock barrels), so we can expect to see leading with those when they are too small, regardless who made the barrel. 

 

The other big one is alloy hardness - too soft is bad in any barrel. Swaged lead bullets used to be pretty common (for example Hornady and Speer both sold those wax lubed bullets with cross hatching in the driving band area) and those were nearly pure lead and too soft for a lot of pistol loads; those would lead a lot of barrels but also were prone to skidding in the Glock polygonal rifling. 

 

Plated bullets are generally soft swaged lead with a thin copper jacket, and you don't usually get much choice in the size so they are often a bit small IMO. Keeping pressure of your loads within reasonable limits for those seems to be the key. Personally I've had just as much bad luck with them in conventional rifling as I have in Glock barrels; they can work well in either one but can also work poorly in both. 

 

In my opinion, most of the time when someone has better results with lead after switching to an aftermarket Glock barrel, it was because of a bullet size problem rather than a rifling type problem. The internal finish on Glock barrels is generally really good, and that works well with lead bullets as long as they are big enough and not pushed too hard for the alloy hardness.

 

Excellent post. I cast all of my bullets and have put many thousands of them through Glocks. Not an issue at all. 

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On 9/3/2019 at 10:35 PM, bigtimelarry said:

 

I agree with B-Rad  What I do is when you get your gun dialed in, bench rest it and off hand and see how the stock one is, if it's not grouping good then get a KKM.

Dont just get a KKM and think they are more accurate. I think maybe with 115gr @ 50 yards the KKM is probably better. I ended up just using Stock.

Bob Vogel who is the  best glock shooter on the planet uses stock barrel. Same with Sevigny when he shot glocks, he used stock barrels.

The only time I saw the pro's using KKM was at the Bianchi Cup where they have 50 yard targets.. 

 

 

"The only time I saw the pro's using KKM was at the Bianchi Cup where they have 50 yard targets.. " and those were most likely not "drop in" but fitted.

 

I have a drop in KKM for my 34 and the only time I can see any difference is braced off bags at 25 yards, otherwise match fees and ammo are more productive.

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