Radian Weapons Afterburner / Ramjet - Glock 19 Barrel and Compensator

[tlong17]

I shot my Radian (G5 19 MOS) for the first time today. The pistol wasn't reliable with it, shooting AE 115 ball. That American Eagle load is about 135 PF, so that was a surprise.

The Mayhem runs everything.

If I was smarter, I would have thought to remove the comp with avT15 bit and see if it ran with just the Radian barrel.

About to receive a case of AE 115 as well. We'll see if mine chokes too.

[GJM]

Well that's not exactly a powder puff load but I can't see the logic of using that with this pistol unless you just have no choice to train. I would use something +P or +P+ in this gun to really run the compensator. Perhaps this is why they are selling the guide rod along with it, because they knew some loads would be finicky.

We are in Alaska, and ammo is hard to get. That AE load runs fine in my Mayhem G19 and my 9 major Open gun.

[JCN]

Slightly surprised and disappointed, as Radian has advertised as gtg with 115 ammo.
We supposedly have a sample coming in a few weeks; I'll report back here. We run 124 or 147 usually as practice/training ammo.

I know some people are hesitant to change recoil spring weights, but if you’re changing the slide velocity you kind of have to unless you want to lose margin of reliability.

Tiny comps don’t do as much so they don’t rob as much margin.

If you want a comp that makes the gun feel softer, then you have to make other things softer to match.

It’s like changing to stickier tires on a car, you often have to change to stiffer springs / shocks if you want to maximize performance and stay within the sweet spot of reliability.

In this case with a G19 type, an NDZ guide rod and spring for $30 is the easy button.

13 pound spring will work great for most combinations (nuclear loads you might go 15).

For weaker ammo or lighter, faster ammo you could go down to 11#.

I’d go with no higher than 13# especially with 115AE.

[Duke]

I know some people are hesitant to change recoil spring weights, but if you’re changing the slide velocity you kind of have to unless you want to lose margin of reliability.

Tiny comps don’t do as much so they don’t rob as much margin.

If you want a comp that makes the gun feel softer, then you have to make other things softer to match.

It’s like changing to stickier tires on a car, you often have to change to stiffer springs / shocks if you want to maximize performance and stay within the sweet spot of reliability.

In this case with a G19 type, an NDZ guide rod and spring for $30 is the easy button.

13 pound spring will work great for most combinations (nuclear loads you might go 15).

For weaker ammo or lighter, faster ammo you could go down to 11#.

I’d go with no higher than 13# especially with 115AE.

Great post

As a serial recoil spring changer (and all things must be be comped/ported) I can attest the common “it doesn’t work with a lighter spring” isn’t usually the recoil spring but rather an imbalance of the striker to recoil spring ratio

With a 4lb striker spring you can pretty much use any recoil spring weight that suits you without striker spring drag induced failures to achieve full lock up/chamber new rounds.

If your only ammo is super hard primer stuff this isn’t ideal, but any other even medium range stuff goes bang with no worries.

[GJM]

I am reluctant to change from the factory RSA on polymer defensive pistols. With Glock and M&P pistols, and lighter recoil springs, I have seen reliability issues when your support thumb touches the slide, retarding it, and you end up slightly out of battery.

What I like about the Mayhem Syndicate comp is it runs with the OEM RSA on my Gen 4 and 5 19 pistols.

My Open gun has a 7 pound spring, and my AXG CO gun has a lighter spring, but I come down on the side of reliability under adverse conditions on the Glock, and am more comfortable with the OEM RSA.

[GJM]

Duke, I have seen enough ammo that didn't ignite with sub 5.0 striker springs in Glock pistols, that I don't go lighter in Glock carry pistols. With the great ammo drought of the last few years, we have been shooting stuff we never would have before. As an example, Belom which is good practice ammo, doesn't like lighter striker springs.

[JCN]

I am reluctant to change from the factory RSA on polymer defensive pistols. With Glock and M&P pistols, and lighter recoil springs, I have seen reliability issues when your support thumb touches the slide, retarding it, and you end up slightly out of battery.

What I like about the Mayhem Syndicate comp is it runs with the OEM RSA on my Gen 4 and 5 19 pistols.

My Open gun has a 7 pound spring, and my AXG CO gun has a lighter spring, but I come down on the side of reliability under adverse conditions on the Glock, and am more comfortable with the OEM RSA.

I think that is a very valid reason to have a factory spring.

Having a significant compensator might then require +P ammo to retain that spring and still have enough margin not to have a failure on the other end of the spectrum.

[Thy.Will.Be.Done]

I think that is a very valid reason to have a factory spring.

Having a significant compensator might then require +P ammo to retain that spring and still have enough margin not to have a failure on the other end of the spectrum.

I'd say running 124 Gr Nato stuff might be the ticket if GJM can find it locally. Is there really no +P 9mm in Alaska? Never been there but I sort of doubt that is the case.

While AE is not exactly weak, it's certainly NOT what Glock designs their pistols around. These are Nato spec guns, meaning they are sprung for heavier loads rather than lighter.

[JCN]

I'd say running 124 Gr Nato stuff might be the ticket if GJM can find it locally. Is there really no +P 9mm in Alaska? Never been there but I sort of doubt that is the case.

While AE is not exactly weak, it's certainly NOT what Glock designs their pistols around. These are Nato spec guns, meaning they are sprung for heavier loads rather than lighter.

Absolutely. And then add a compensator that acts as a muzzle brake and that slide just doesn’t have enough margin to open reliably.

It’s valid to not want FTRB failures but FTE isn’t good either IMO.

[1Rangemaster]

I have to have stock springs in dept. guns.-legal issues could arise, as well as functional. That said, still looking forward to at least test firing the Radian.
@GJM : if possible, please fire a few rounds without the comp on barrel. I'm curious if just the barrel will function in the pistol. I have seen aftermarket "target barrels" cause stoppages(too tight?)
At best, we have mixed results at this moment.