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Any feedback on Lone Wolf slides?


badchad

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Since blowing up my Glock 35 a lot of people are telling me I should get a barrel with a fully supported chamber, usually recommending a KKM, but from this board I hear the Lone Wolf barrels are just as good and $100 cheaper. I hate to pay to have Glock replace my stock barrel if I need an aftermarket one anyway.

Also I was thinking about getting a Lone Wolf slide as refinishing my new Glock slide to match my old NP3 (bought it used but now I’m used to it) won’t be cheap either.

So I’m thinking about telling Glock just to fix/replace my frame and parts and go with a complete Lone Wolf upper, hoping this will be a sweet looking, and safer setup. However, I’m concerned that it might not be as reliable as my OEM stuff. Anyone have experience with this yet, or suggestions for a better setup?

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I can't comment on LWD slides because the one I want (G17) has been on back order for a while now.

I can comment on LWD barrels. I have 3 barrels total. 2 are for G35's and are chambered in .40 S&W and the other is for a G17 which I am using for 9mm major. The .40 barrels have about 4-5000 rounds through them and the 9mm has about 150 rounds through it (9mm barrel was throated by LWD to allow long reloads). So far I have no complaints and the fired brass looks great.

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+1 on extremely tight. Much tighter than my Dillon case gage.

I have one in my G35 for limited. I was having problems with jams and contacted LWD. Great customer service. I loaded some dummy ammo and sent them the barrel. They smoothed out the crest at the top of the feedramp a little. It was on the sharp side. I have yet to have the chance to test it, but they were good to deal with.

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I haven't compared support between Lone Wolf and a stock barrel, but I can tell you the chambers on Lone Wolf barrels tend to run extremely tight.

So if reports turn out that the slides are reliable and equal to OEM maybe a better setup would be a LWD slide and a KKM barrel. I want a fully supported chamber, but I don’t want to be fiddlefarting around with shorter cartridge OAL and making them fit the chamber. I load to a length of 1.135-40 right now.

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I haven't compared support between Lone Wolf and a stock barrel, but I can tell you the chambers on Lone Wolf barrels tend to run extremely tight.

So if reports turn out that the slides are reliable and equal to OEM maybe a better setup would be a LWD slide and a KKM barrel. I want a fully supported chamber, but I don’t want to be fiddlefarting around with shorter cartridge OAL and making them fit the chamber. I load to a length of 1.135-40 right now.

You can load some dummy rounds up and send them to LWD. Have them test the rounds in the barrel to make sure they fit, if not, they can throat the barrel for you. LWD is cool like that. Dan from LWD recommended that I do this for my 9mm major project. I told Dan how long I wanted to load my reloads (based on Coltgov's info) and it turns out he found some dummy loads in the shop that a previous customer sent him that was close to the bullet profile/ OAL I wanted to use. He tried the ammo in the barrel and ended up throating it a little then shipped it out. Had it in less than a week. So far everything is working fine. If I order another barrel 9mm barrel to use for major, I will make up some of my own dummy rounds and send them to LWD.

As far as my OAL using the LWD .40 barrels, I had to shorting it a little. I use Bear Creek truncated cone moly bullets and they seem to sticking at 1.135. I shortened them to 1.120 and re-chrono'ed. All is good.

+3 on having a tight chamber. I use one of the .40 barrels as a case guage.

I met the guys/gals of LWD at the SHOT show. They are a great bunch of people to work with. I even got the chance to thank Dan in person.

Coltgov, my clone of your open Glock is complete. Zeroing the Jpoint this weekend and first match will be on the following weekend. Thanks again for all of your help. I appreciate it.

Edited by PLINK
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Since blowing up my Glock 35 a lot of people are telling me I should get a barrel with a fully supported chamber, usually recommending a KKM, but from this board I hear the Lone Wolf barrels are just as good and $100 cheaper. I hate to pay to have Glock replace my stock barrel if I need an aftermarket one anyway.

Chad, I have a storm lake bbl. in my 35 and it will fire anything I load in it. + it's stainless, so it will look really nice with that stainless slide!

;)

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+1 for Storm Lake, I have one in black in my Glock 35, and absolutely love it! I couldn't be happier, and I got mine new on auction for less that Lone Wolf wants for theirs!

My next barrel will be a Lone Wolf though, as I am working on a conversion down to 9mm for my sons to plink around with!

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I talked to a pretty well known Glock smith about the LWD slides. He said that they are dimensionally the same as the Glock OEM slides. They should drop on with no problems and on a limited gun should be just fine. He said that since they aren't made oversize for gunsmith fit a gun with a frame mounted optic would not be as accurate. He said the material that the slide is made out of is difficult to peen to get a tighter slide frame fit without cracking the rails. Impression that I got was they would be fine for most applications (and one of the best slides out there for this) but for an open gun not the best.

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Not to discount your Gunsmith buddy, and maybe I am over analyzing this, but Glock slides can be tightened, it's just that most users don't get much benefit from it. Few Gunsmiths probably want to do it. Usually it is done by smacking the slide where the frame rails are located, when the slide is in the forward position. Dale Rhea does this on some of his pistols, if you over do it, you have ruined a slide, and possibly a frame!

Having a bit of slop in the slide should be fine IMHO, as long as the optics are not mounted to the slide. Frame mounted optics should not suffer anymore or any less based on a Lone Wolf Slide. Your mileage may vary, and I have not tried this mod yet, but I do hope to try one of these slides in the future!

There are several Glocksmiths that post here from time to time, hopefully one of them will chime in!

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The difference is in the steel that the slide is manufactured from. The Stainless that Lone Wolf uses is more brittle than the steel in Glock OEM slides. Not a problem for any kind of regular use but if you're going to try and whack on it to tighten it up, it's an issue. As far as optics, I think you are a little confused. A slide mounted optic would not benefit from slide to frame fit as much as a frame mounted optic.

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Aftermarket slide, f/o front sight and a stippled grip...with the Glock Adj. rear sight? Please tell me you're just waiting on the real rear sight to come in. :D

I noticed that also...

Actually, Im waiting for someone to buy my G35 so I can swap the sights and put the warrens on this one. I have a barsto for it I need to fit, too. :cheers:

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The lone wolf slides are indeed very nice but I dont see the point of buying one as it wouldnt give you a better fit like the caspian will....Am I wrong?

The reason I bought one was so I don't have to own two guns. I have a G34 that I shoot in production and with this slide I am just swapping out the upper (and ejector = $5) and I have a limited gun. I already own the magazines. This is alot cheaper than the $650 bucks a new G35 is going for here locally in the shops.

I tend to shoot one division during any given year and change divisions from year to year. (last year was Limited, two years ago was L-10, this year is production)

Regarding the fit, heck its a Glock, if I wanted precision fit, I would buy a something else. Besides, I am not that accurate of a shooter, (nor do I know any) that requires more accuracy than a stock glock can provide.

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