Re-barreling a Generation 3 Glock 23

[LockedBreech]

Okay, first, let's get your instant reply out of the way. "Throw it away." Hahaha funny funny funny.

I like my ugly duckling Glock 23. So I'm keeping it. Even if my Glock 19 always wins the carry contest.

SO. When I got this gun it was a ~10 year old police gun. I replaced the locking block, all internal springs, all magazines, and the dead night sights with a fresh pair of Trijicon B&Ts. Internally it is pretty much new. It has run 100% for the 300-400 rounds I've shot so far. I don't like it as much as a Gen 4 but for the $300 I paid it's fine.

One part I did not replace was the barrel. Looking at it yesterday during cleaning, it's pretty worn. Rifling is strong and clear and unpitted but it's clearly a well-shot barrel. Accuracy at the range is perfectly acceptable, on part with my Glock 19.

1.) Is there any reason to ever replace a Glock barrel?
2.) Is there any reason to replace my 10-year-old one?
3.) Should I replace it on principle for a fully supported chamber barrel? Or just a Glock OEM?
4.) If I replace it, who are the best people who make a standard OEM-swap Glock barrel? I don't want threading, porting, or anything fancy, just a 4.02" Glock 23 Gen 3 barrel.
5.) I am not willing to sacrifice any reliability. The gun runs as-is. I'm just trying to do preventative maintenance. So do the aftermarket barrels gum any of that up?

Thanks!

[Kyle Reese]

If you're not seeing a degradation in accuracy, keep the barrel, IMO.


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[MSparks909]

If you're shooting stout .40 S&W loads then replacing it with a fully supported barrel wouldn't be a bad idea. Same if you're reloading and want to shoot jacketed ammo. Fully supported barrels are also easier on the brass if you're reloading.

If you're shooting factory ammo and that's all you plan to shoot I wouldn't replace it. Defoor just replaced the barrel on his main 19 with a KKM because groups were starting to open up. He said it has an estimated 80K through it.

[psalms144.1]

If the accuracy and reliability are there, why would you change? In all my years shooting Glocks and being around heavy-use Glocks, I've seen exactly one barrel that truly NEEDED to be replaced because of wear. I'd save the money and buy ammunition before it's all gone.

[psalms144.1]

Forgot to add - get rid of that thing before it Kabooms and wipes out the entire grid square you're standing in!

[HCM]

Keep the Glock barrel to shoot .40 during the next panic.

Buy a 40 to 9mm conversion barrel. Both Chuck Haggard and myself have had great results with Lone Wolf 40-9 barrels in Glock 23's. The price was right but KKM and storm lake make them as well.

All you need is the barrel and 9mm magazines, though some people like to swap the .40 extractor for a 9mm I haven't found it necessary.

I would order some extra RSA assemblies and ensure you are swapping them out every 3k rounds if you shoot it as a .40. (RSA in the Gen 2/3 guns is the same)

[farscott]

I may be strange, but I have four barrels for my G23. They are the factory .40 and three KKM (.40, .40-9x19, and .357 SIG). That one gun can shoot 9x19 as well as two rounds that were still on the shelves during the "dark days" after Sandy Hook. I can also shoot lead without fear of Ka!Boom.

I am not sure of the current status of KKM's products, but my three barrels have been outstanding.

[Tabasco]

Forgot to add - get rid of that thing before it Kabooms and wipes out the entire grid square you're standing in!

You're kidding, right?

[psalms144.1]

You're kidding, right?I guess I should have added an emoji? Yes, I was kidding. The Kaboom rarely kills beyond the range of a standard fragmentation grenade :p

[Tabasco]

I guess I should have added an emoji? Yes, I was kidding. The Kaboom rarely kills beyond the range of a standard fragmentation grenade :p

Nice.

[Leroy]

I replaced a 9 mm Glock barrel that had 40,000 thousand rounds on it. I chronoed both new and old barrels with the same load and the velocity was exactly the same, I mean exactly. Usually if a barrel is going to shit you get some velocity loss, I think the Glock barrels go a long way, if it is not accurate it was most likely not accurate when new. I would suspect you would need to get well North of 50,000 before that barrel starts to go and there are probably very few barrels out there with that many rounds on them.

[Sero Sed Serio]

I put a KKM drop-in barrel in one of my Gen. 4 G19s, but I did it to see if it made ejection more consistent (it did) as opposed to any concerns about accuracy. I wouldn't replace the factory barrel until you have reason to believe it's shot out, but if and when the time comes I've been happy with the KKM. Of course the factory barrels work fine as well, but I believe the KKM is similar in cost, and having a different serial number on my barrel would probably rile up my OCD...

[Kyle Reese]

I replaced a 9 mm Glock barrel that had 40,000 thousand rounds on it. I chronoed both new and old barrels with the same load and the velocity was exactly the same, I mean exactly. Usually if a barrel is going to shit you get some velocity loss, I think the Glock barrels go a long way, if it is not accurate it was most likely not accurate when new. I would suspect you would need to get well North of 50,000 before that barrel starts to go and there are probably very few barrels out there with that many rounds on them.

I'm close to 60,000 rounds on a Gen 4 Glock 17 barrel. Guess I should bench that sucker and compare groups to my carry gun, with about 3,000 rounds down the pipe.

[LtDave]

I've installed a couple of drop-in Wilson Combat 9mm barrels in a Gen3 G17 and a Gen3 G34. Noticable improvement in accuracy with both, along with 100% reliability. AFAIK, WC doesn't make a .49/9mm conversion barrel. I've got a KKM .40 for a G33 and it works fine.

[PensFan]

I've seen G17's with well over 100K shoot quarter size groups at 15yds off hand.