Dragging this thread up from the depths, to contribute the following two tests by Fire-4-effect and covered by Recoil -
http://www.recoilweb.com/aftermarket...ng-127282.html
http://www.recoilweb.com/fire-4-effe...ts-127423.html
My take away here is that ammunition choice makes a big difference with Glock aftermarket barrels, more so than might be expected compared to other platforms (e.g., 1911).
I'm curious to see additional testing of the Glock GEN5/M "Marksman" barrels, but with sub-2" groups with Speer G2, I'm very impressed with the accuracy from an OEM barrel.
"When the phone rang, Parker was in the garage, killing a man."
Me too!Originally Posted by JSGlock34
I'm excited by the prospect that the factory Gen 5 barrels are more capable than previous generations. I'm also really quite impressed with the SilencerCo threaded barrel tests (in the article I linked), which produced a 0.68" group in fixed testing and then again when shooting 147-grain bullets (which you'd think, since SilencerCo is building barrels for suppression, that 147s would be optimized for it).
Interesting tests, however, I'm a little skeptical on the 147gr tests out of the ransom rest that showed some ransom rest groups were smaller than the fixed barrel tests. I don't see how that is physically possible.
Ammunition makes a huge difference in any barrel/gun testing. I've experienced 2" groups vs 5" groups with the same brass, bullets, primers, and powder charge, but a +/- .02" difference in oal. I've seen the same kind of variation in accuracy by using different powders to make the exact same velocity/powerfactor with the same projectile.
Last edited by Gio; 10-10-2017 at 05:11 PM.
Actually, I can see how this occurred. If you check their fixed barrel tests, they provide a "variability" metric. I'm not entirely sure how it was calculated (since I can't download the White Paper), but my guess is this is a ranged variability metric from the average (e.g., standard variance from the mean of a standard distribution). In all cases, there is a considerable amount of variability (ideally this value should be 0). This suggests that though they got average group sizes that are small, the range of variance between those groupings could be quite large (e.g., the 3rd shot of a grouping could consistently be farther away than the 2nd or 4th). Again, I'm spitballing, because the White Paper from these tests isn't available (which by the by, makes Fire-4-Effects science invalid, in this scientist's opinion. If I can't see and investigate your results, they don't exist...).
In addition to that if you investigate the extreme spread metrics provided, you'll see that in the case of the Federal ammo vs. everything else - extreme spread is generally lower than all other ammo types (there are 4 instances where it is not out of a total of 14 tests). This tells me a couple of things 1) Federal ammo is more consistent than the Atlanta Arms and UMC ammunition types, and two that there may be something inherent in 147-grain ammunition that reduces extreme spread.
Given high variance and more consistent ammunition, it doesn't surprise me if ransom rests produce more accurate groups. Even the industry engineers Recoil interviewed for this piece, suggested as much. That this isolates away external geometry and gives a since of "intrinsic" accuracy, but isn't how they would test accuracy of a given handgun barrel.
If you repeat ANY of these tests (same gun, barrel, ammo, fixture, etc.) the results most probably will be different, and in some cases with a significant variation...
Two questions I have after reading this:
Realizing that I am NOT a great shooter, heck I may not even say I'm an average shooter, but, I work tirelessly on grip and trigger control for accuracy. I have had a aftermarket barrel in my "cart" to purchase more times than I can remember only to never be able to hit the order button because I don't know if it would truly help me or it would be money better spent on ammunition. I have waffled on this for years now. After reading this entire thread I still don't have a clear answer. This may be the question we are all asking ourselves........ Is it worth it?
Side question:
In this thread their was mention of shooting "better" ammunition for accuracy. Short of self defense ammo is there a high quality practice/target ammo out there?
David
Last edited by SC_Dave; 10-11-2017 at 07:03 AM.
Matching your ammunition to your barrel is crucial for improving mechanical accuracy. Going to an aftermarket barrel won't automatically improve your pistol's mechanical accuracy, and may even make it worse if the load you were shooting was well matched to your factory barrel. That said, I have seen better average groups out of a KKM barrel than out of a stock Glock barrel, but getting to those better groups involved playing around with the specs of my ammo and doing a lot of ransom rest testing to get it dialed in. Even after all that, my competition load shoots about 1.8-2.0" out of my stock G34 barrel.
@SC_Dave,
To answer your second question, I think practice ammo comes down to how it interacts with your gun/barrel. I want something that is accurate, cheap, and soft shooting. For factory ammo, in my experience you can rarely get all three. Atlanta Arms makes ammo that is generally accurate and soft shooting, but not too cheap. Speer Lawman 115gr FMJ is also accurate and cheap, but not soft shooting. Winchester White box is cheap and soft shooting, but not very accurate in my experience. I'm sure you get the point.
If you reload though, you can get all three, but it may take you some time and several range trips to dial in your load to your gun.
From the Gen 5 thread (figured I'd ask here too).
Had a weird question. I have a RTF2 Vickers G19, and have considered adding an aftermarket barrel to it. Instead though, based on what I've read regarding the new Gen 5 barrels, they can achieve 1.5" at 25 yards with solid ammo. Does anyone know if I'd get the same type of accuracy benefits with a Gen 5 barrel in my RTF2? Wasn't sure if the barrel was improved due to specific fitting on the Gen 5, or if it is simply a better barrel. The Zev barrel I have on another G19 with RMR is a tack driver at 25 yards with 124gr, but would love to test out a Gen 5 barrel as well.
Reply With Quote