G34 Gen 5 "Marksman" barrel

[brother_hesekiel]

Hi Ya'll!
I shoot IDPA SSP with a 3rd gen. G34. I'd love to get my hands on a Gen 5 but even if I found one here in California, it be around $2,000 easily, plus two potentially long road trips to do the transfer paperwork. What intrigues me about the 5th gen. G34 is the "Marksman" barrel it comes stock with. Do you think this barrel alone allows for tighter, more precise groups, and, if so, would purchasing an aftermarket barrel make sense for that same reason?

[dapribek]

I think the stock barrel may be as accurate as you might need. I switched out barrels so I could shoot lead through my Glock. I never found that it was more accurate though. Hope this helps. 
 

PS

   I have no experience with the Marksman Barrel. 

[NWfront]

I believe if I bench rested them that the marksman barrel would hold a slightly tighter group but always found previous gen accuracy to be excellentas well.  Outside of shooting lead,  cosmetics or need for threading I found aftermarket barrels a waist of money but thats just me.

[Aircooled6racer]

Hello: I have shot both the Gen3(which I own) and also the Gen 4(sold that) and have shot a couple of gen 5 34's. The Gen 5 is not more accurate off hand than the Gen 3 using the same loads in both. They do shoot a little different but by changing recoil springs and guide rods they can be made very close to each other. Tune your gen 3 and be happy with what you have. Thanks, Eric

[floater]

What Eric said. Gen 5 feels a touch different in recoil over ther gen 3 to me, but don't see much difference in groups. I do like the grip feel of the gen 3 over any other gens. FYI I have a gen3 34, gen4 34, gen5 17 and 34, and in the gen 5s I like the 17 over the 34. 

[deerslayer]

I doubt a gen 5 is any more accurate than a gen 3.  From my limited experience with a gen 5, you can expect a possibly ammo-finicky gun due to a shorter chamber and slightly lower velocity due to the non-poly rifling.  

[Intheshaw1]

I have a gen 4 and a gen 5 17 as well as a gen 5 34 and see no real difference in accuracy. I have an aftermarket threaded barrel for my gen 4 and didn't notice any difference with that either. 

 

I think your gen 3 will be fine for what you're trying to do.

[tdp88]

It's highly unlikely that you would see any difference in the accuracy of a Gen 5 vs your Gen 3.

[rowdyb]

A KKM barrel for a G34 is like $170 bucks. If you want one, get one. It definitely won't be any worse and you might just be mentally happier at a minimum.

[TheChewycookie]

I don't see a noticeable difference in accuracy of OEM barrels between my gen 3 g19, gen 4 g34, and gen 5 g17. I'd only switch my gen 3 and 4 barrels out if all I could shoot were uncoated lead bullets.

[brother_hesekiel]

Thanks you, gentlemen, that was very helpful indeed!