Storm Lake or Lone Wolf for Glock 26?

What bullet weights were you wanting to use?
Lead reloads or factory Ball?
Which type of Ball?

I put a SS Olympic arms 5" in my G-19. I also had one of the ported barrels from Fed Ord in my G 26, and another SS Oly barrel in my G-17. All shot lead reloads much better than the stock Glock barrels, which was the main point of changing over from the Glock factory crazy non-riflng.

The Lone Wolf barrel that came with my G 19 was quite accurate with 148 Gr Jacketed bullets, but the OLYMPIC was very accurate with the lighter/faster NATO spec 9 MM Ball [ which I just happened to have a bunch of ]. So I swapped in the OLY and sold the Lone Wolf.

You pretty well have to try a bunch of different factory loads to determine which one your personal pistol will like best. Or work up some reloads.
as usual, YPMMV
LAZ 1
[;{)
 
The Lone Wolff barrels I've seen in the Glock 19 and 26's are sh*t. Nothing but problems. Myself and a couple buddies all got our 26's with Storm Lake barrels and have never had an issue. Other than the extra length sticking out ;)

TDC
 
I can't imagine why the Lone Wolf barrels would be s***t, but I guess I will find out soon as I am getting two of them this week. The only thing I disliked about them (without owning one) was the Wolf logo on the hood, but, I think they wisely stopped doing that; apparently a lot of other people disliked that as well.

Lone Wolf carries a few barrels from different makes so they have to be competitive and push a decent product if they want to compete. I hope I am correct in my assumptions.

I've owned Storm Lake and Barsto... the quality on the Storm Lake in terms of finish was better than Barsto (more uniform machining marks on the Storm Lake wheras the Barsto looked more "Hand finished" which might not be a bad thing depending on where you stand) - both shot the same.

I really liked both and would get Storm Lake again for sure. However, both companies were unable to accurately repoduce the semi-circle-cut for the recoil rod located on the front of the lug on the bottom of the Glock barrel. *If the Lone Wolf can do this, then Lone Wolf will be the winner in this little barrel war* (but since neither Storm Lake or Barsto could I am not holding my breath).

For me the deciding fator is "how factory" does it look. I'll go with whichever barrel looks the most like a factory Glock barrel (except for the tighter chamber which most aftermarket barrels have).

:)
 
richardoldfield said:
TDC, does this mean you have hands on experience with Lone Wolf barrels? If so, please give specifics as mine has been flawless. Regards, Richard:)
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The number of rounds I fired through a Lone Wolff barrel are limited. During my experience(about 150 rounds) the pistol failed several times to extract or eject. The barrel itself was quite rough as far as finish goes. During the Tactical Response fighting pistol course Kyle, one of our instructors had several serious failures to extract resulting in some heavy bashing to cycle the slide. He also had a few failures to go into battery. In my opinion that isn't acceptable.

TDC
 
G37 said:
I can't imagine why the Lone Wolf barrels would be s***t, but I guess I will find out soon as I am getting two of them this week. The only thing I disliked about them (without owning one) was the Wolf logo on the hood, but, I think they wisely stopped doing that; apparently a lot of other people disliked that as well.

Lone Wolf carries a few barrels from different makes so they have to be competitive and push a decent product if they want to compete. I hope I am correct in my assumptions.

I've owned Storm Lake and Barsto... the quality on the Storm Lake in terms of finish was better than Barsto (more uniform machining marks on the Storm Lake wheras the Barsto looked more "Hand finished" which might not be a bad thing depending on where you stand) - both shot the same.

I really liked both and would get Storm Lake again for sure. However, both companies were unable to accurately repoduce the semi-circle-cut for the recoil rod located on the front of the lug on the bottom of the Glock barrel. *If the Lone Wolf can do this, then Lone Wolf will be the winner in this little barrel war* (but since neither Storm Lake or Barsto could I am not holding my breath).

For me the deciding fator is "how factory" does it look. I'll go with whichever barrel looks the most like a factory Glock barrel (except for the tighter chamber which most aftermarket barrels have).

:)
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You see 1 or 2 guns... we see literally hundreds... so here's some info that you may not be aware of... and some that you may not have stopped to think about.

All of the barrel guys have a few issues they have to deal with and make decisions on... Glock doesn't care about any of the "issues" and in fact create some of the issues directly and indirectly.

  • Aftermarket barrel is expected to work in a variety of models and drop-in
  • The easier it is to "drop-in" (like a factory barrel) the poorer the accuracy
  • Tighter fit means better accuracy but less likely to drop-in
  • Same is true for chamber dimensions... Glock barrel are great for feeding almost any ammo... but to get this they give up accuracy as they tend to be loose and sloppy (in the slide and in the chamber)
  • Glock keeps changing their guide rod and the dimension on the guide rod head so the spot where it fits the barrel keeps changing.
  • There are now a number of different factory guide rod configuartions out there... Glock only cares what is at the factory on day of construction... aftermarket barrel makers have to somehow deal with all the ones that are already out there and what may be coming next... it's impossible really
  • Glock using two difference guide rods on their compact and sub-compacts... the cut on the bottom of the barrel is therefore different on a Glock 19/23 and Glock 26/27.
  • This is fine for a factory barrel (each barrel is different)... but a Canadian length 106mm custom barrel is the same whether it's for a G19 or G26... except you now have the bottom cut being different... so the aftermarket guys need to find a way to make one barrel fit both models... otherwise you drive up costs making two separate barrels for no other reason.

Just a few points to think about... may make it easier to understand what's going on with the barrel makers. I think overall they all do a good job given what they have to work with and are expected to deliver.

With respect to the issues mentioned by TDC it would be very interesting to find out more about this. It is NOT typical of our experience with Lone Wolf barrels or of anything we've heard from other sources. It sounds more like an issue of either barrel fit, ammunition or possibly the barrel was damaged or flawed. There's no product out there that can't fail or be flawed... so it's possible that was the case... but Lone Wolf barrels typically perform as well as all of the others in our experience.

Keep in mind that all of these barrels (doesn't matter who's) will only perform if they are properly installed (that doesn't always mean Drop-In and no fitting) and if the proper ammo is used. Almost all of the major aftermarket barrels use tight chambers (to spec) whereas Glock's factory barrels ARE NOT!

It is not unusual for aftermarket barrels to reject reloaded ammo, etc. as the cases are not within SAMMI specs usually. Feed them quality factory ammo and you'll get quality results 99.9% of the time.

Mark
 
Questar said:
You see 1 or 2 guns... we see literally hundreds... so here's some info that you may not be aware of... and some that you may not have stopped to think about.

All of the barrel guys have a few issues they have to deal with and make decisions on... Glock doesn't care about any of the "issues" and in fact create some of the issues directly and indirectly.

  • Aftermarket barrel is expected to work in a variety of models and drop-in
  • The easier it is to "drop-in" (like a factory barrel) the poorer the accuracy
  • Tighter fit means better accuracy but less likely to drop-in
  • Same is true for chamber dimensions... Glock barrel are great for feeding almost any ammo... but to get this they give up accuracy as they tend to be loose and sloppy (in the slide and in the chamber)
  • Glock keeps changing their guide rod and the dimension on the guide rod head so the spot where it fits the barrel keeps changing.
  • There are now a number of different factory guide rod configuartions out there... Glock only cares what is at the factory on day of construction... aftermarket barrel makers have to somehow deal with all the ones that are already out there and what may be coming next... it's impossible really
  • Glock using two difference guide rods on their compact and sub-compacts... the cut on the bottom of the barrel is therefore different on a Glock 19/23 and Glock 26/27.
  • This is fine for a factory barrel (each barrel is different)... but a Canadian length 106mm custom barrel is the same whether it's for a G19 or G26... except you now have the bottom cut being different... so the aftermarket guys need to find a way to make one barrel fit both models... otherwise you drive up costs making two separate barrels for no other reason.

Just a few points to think about... may make it easier to understand what's going on with the barrel makers. I think overall they all do a good job given what they have to work with and are expected to deliver.

With respect to the issues mentioned by TDC it would be very interesting to find out more about this. It is NOT typical of our experience with Lone Wolf barrels or of anything we've heard from other sources. It sounds more like an issue of either barrel fit, ammunition or possibly the barrel was damaged or flawed. There's no product out there that can't fail or be flawed... so it's possible that was the case... but Lone Wolf barrels typically perform as well as all of the others in our experience.

Keep in mind that all of these barrels (doesn't matter who's) will only perform if they are properly installed (that doesn't always mean Drop-In and no fitting) and if the proper ammo is used. Almost all of the major aftermarket barrels use tight chambers (to spec) whereas Glock's factory barrels ARE NOT!

It is not unusual for aftermarket barrels to reject reloaded ammo, etc. as the cases are not within SAMMI specs usually. Feed them quality factory ammo and you'll get quality results 99.9% of the time.

Mark
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Hi Mark,
I asked the original question after looking at your site and considering the idea of getting a Glock 26 sub-compact with 106mm barrel. I saw you had a choice of either Lone Wolf and Storm Lake barrels. I had a 34 for a while but I don't know much about Glocks. I would only ever use jacketed factory ball ammo in a 26 and only use the pistol occasionally. What would you recommend?
 
BC Mike said:
Hi Mark,
I asked the original question after looking at your site and considering the idea of getting a Glock 26 sub-compact with 106mm barrel. I saw you had a choice of either Lone Wolf and Storm Lake barrels. I had a 34 for a while but I don't know much about Glocks. I would only ever use jacketed factory ball ammo in a 26 and only use the pistol occasionally. What would you recommend?
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Personal preferrence really. They're both good barrels but my leaning would be to say the Storm Lake might be a little better... pretty close to call.

If you like the "Black" look then go Lone Wolf... personally I'd go Stainless as the black finish does wear over time and the stainless looks good practically forever.

The one suggestion I might give is, especially on the Glock 26 and Glock 27 models is the ported barrels. The standard look a bit weird because of the extra length that our Canadian laws require... if you go with the ported barrel then it looks quite good on the small guns and looks like it's there for a reason. They also shoot quite nice.

All of the aftermarket barrels will handle lead quite well (if you want to use it)... you don't have to go jacketed... plated also work if that's your preference.

Mark
 
Mark,

With all due respect. The point you posted regarding drop in barrels that drop in more readily(much like factory) being "less accurate" is BS. If a factory barrel is capable of X size groups, why would an aftermarket barrel of similar fit not perform the same? My G26 shoots no differently than my G17.

The issue with Lone Wolff barrels may not be with all of them. My limited exposure and experience with LW barrels was poor on all models. The suggestion that different brands, weights, styles of ammunition could be to blame is a distinct possibility. However, such issues are not acceptable. A finicky drama queen for a firearm is a waste of time. Again, if the aftermarket barrels are to replicate factory ones with regards to fit, there shouldn't be any issues with any brand, weight, or style of ammunition. My Storm Lake barrel eats everything, just like a factory Glock barrel.

TDC
 
"The number of rounds I fired through a Lone Wolff barrel are limited. During my experience(about 150 rounds) the pistol failed several times to extract or eject. The barrel itself was quite rough as far as finish goes. During the Tactical Response fighting pistol course Kyle, one of our instructors had several serious failures to extract resulting in some heavy bashing to cycle the slide. He also had a few failures to go into battery. In my opinion that isn't acceptable.

TDC"

"...the pistol failed several times to extract or eject." I am thinking rounds not of the correct dimensions for the chamber of the barrel. It just sounds to me like something other than the barrel causing the problems. I have not noticed a rough finish with my Lone Wolf barrel and I repeat it functions well. Regards, Richard:)
 
TDC said:
Mark,

With all due respect. The point you posted regarding drop in barrels that drop in more readily(much like factory) being "less accurate" is BS. If a factory barrel is capable of X size groups, why would an aftermarket barrel of similar fit not perform the same? My G26 shoots no differently than my G17.

The issue with Lone Wolff barrels may not be with all of them. My limited exposure and experience with LW barrels was poor on all models. The suggestion that different brands, weights, styles of ammunition could be to blame is a distinct possibility. However, such issues are not acceptable. A finicky drama queen for a firearm is a waste of time. Again, if the aftermarket barrels are to replicate factory ones with regards to fit, there shouldn't be any issues with any brand, weight, or style of ammunition. My Storm Lake barrel eats everything, just like a factory Glock barrel.

TDC
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Interesting how people see what they want to see. What I said or meant to say if it didn't come across clearly, was that improvement in accuracy (on barrels) comes primarily through tighter fit and better adherance to tolerance specifications. The tighter the fit and narrow the tolerance allowances the better the accuracy.

If I take 10 Factory Glocks and run them using the same ammo I'll usually get 10 very different levels of accuracy. That's because the tolerances on the slides are quite large and vary quite dramatically from one to the other. The same is true for the factory barrels. Move the barrels from gun to gun and you will get changes in the guns accuracy results.

Factory barrels are usually made intentionally sloppy (not just Glock but other too). This helps the gun feed out of spec ammo, reloads, work when it dirty, etc.. It also make assembly of wide tolerance components easier (slides, etc.). I've seen some factory guns that will shoot with very good accuracy, while others in the same shipment won't group worth #### in m opinion. That's factory standard.

Most people who buy an aftermarket barrel do so to improve the factory accuracy. To do that you trade off reliability since the tighter the gun the more accurate the gun... but it also becomes less reliable as dirt and fit become much more critical. Race guns are never intended to be carry guns... the better you are at one end the worse you are at the other.

The best barrels are oversize barrels... intentionally made NOT to drop-in but to be hand fit by a gunsmith... these give great results... they are very expensive and they shoot great... but they are finicky and essentially it's a handbuilt gun... each is unique and barrels don't swap from one frame to another.

Lone Wolf, Storm Lake, etc. try to find a happy medium with their "drop-in" barrels. BarSto in fact calls their barrels "semi-drop-in" because they very rarely will drop in with out fitting being required.

None of these companies are trying to duplicate the factory barrel... why would they... customers who buy the aftermarket barrel usually do so to improve what they have not replace it with the same thing.

Your suggestion that "your Glock 17 shoots as well as your Glock 26" is interesting. How do you know it shoots as well? Have you actually tested them side by side... truly tested them? Not the BS off-hand shoot a few rounds from each and then make your pronouncement. That's crap.

Have you put the two guns into a proper Ransom Rest type fixture... locked them down and using identical samplings of ammunition... test fired a set series (6 to 10 shots) at a fixed distance of 25 yards on an indoor range eliminating wind, etc. as outside influences. Then after several such series of firings by both guns compared the results to see if in fact they both demonstrate the same accuracy and consistency?" Then repeated the process with several different types of ammunition and recomparing to see if ammunition improved or decreased the accuracy on either barrel?

I would suggest to you that there is a difference in the barrels and the guns... you've just never properly tested to see.

I can tell you that I've done extensive testing with BarSto barrels, Storm Lake and others... when properly done this testing can be a real eye opener. Granted, most shooters don't need and aren't expecting the type of accuracy I'm talking about... and that fine... but I can tell you that I've only once ever seen (and once more heard about) a factory Glock barrel that would shoot the kinds of targets that match grade aftermarket barrels can produce... and in both instances those guns didn't come from Glock that way... they were created by sampling many guns to find the perfect fit between factory slide and factory barrel... it also took a lot of luck to even find that perfect fit.

I test fire Lone Wolf and Storm Lake barrels all of the time for customer guns... they work very well and in 99.9% of cases fire any factory ammo without issue. Both have tight chambers and won't fire even factory reloads (at least not for me) but what can I say... that's just me.

The point I tried to make for you initiatlly is that lots of things can cause a barrel not to work properly in a gun... including improper installation... or flaws. It's just interesting that you seem to be one of a small number of users who experienced an issue so I was suggesting it might have been caused by something other than the barrel itself.

If you think my comments are BS then that's your right... everyone is entitled to their opinion.

Mark
 
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I like the look of the black oxide barrels as they blend into the gun (like the factory barrels) rather then stand out. The longer barrel does change the look of the gun in my opinion. Mark you are correct in that they do tend to wear their finish. Still looks great though. Thanks for the barrel enlightenment info! Here's a pic of my G19.
IMG_4538Medium.jpg
 
I have the barsto barrel for my 229 in 9mm, the chamber is tighter than my stock 226, same cast bullet will slip into the 226, but not the 229. I certainly hope to Ransom rest both the barsto and the Fire dragon barrel in my 229 to see how good are they. (All bought at Questar, shameless plug here :) )
 
Mark,

I hope you did not get the feeling that I was attacking you as I was not. Your points above are valid. The fit of the barrel can and will make a difference. However, installing a match grade barrel in any firearm used for action shooting is a fruitless effort. Even more so for those who do not compete at all. The potential of match grade barrels is a waste of effort when you're shooting at IPSC targets for score, not for groupings. The increased performance of a match grade/aftermarket barrel is lost on those who haven't grasped the fundamentals of handgun marksmanship. From what I've seen at the range and at local matches, that would include 90% of those who own and shoot their handguns.

Match grade barrels/aftermarket barrels scream of "instant fix" for operator induced errors. The more aftermarket sh*t I see on a firearm, the less skill the owner/operator appears to demonstrate. Its easy to replace parts in hopes of improving the performace. For many, they don't even know what it is they're doing wrong. If they knew, they would fix it. Instead, many look to the system and are convinced that aftermarket or "match" parts will solve the issue.

As far as my Glocks go, I have shot them side by side. A ransom rest would be nice(its on my wish list) but offhand in my opinion is a far better filter for such testing. If offhand you can shoot two different pistols with similar results, then I guess the difference in inherent accuracy due to parts is a non issue. I haven't measured any groups, but I'm satisfied with shooting spent shotgun shells at 25 yards with regularity. With either Glock 17 or 26. On a side note, I shoot whatever is available for sale. Sometimes I run a few rounds of reloads a buddy presses out. The odd thing is, I mix my ammo in an ammo can and I can't tell what ammo I've been shooting from one shot to the next. The bullets go where I want them to. I guess my pistols are satisfied with all loads and brands. Maybe its called skill.

In the near future I'll have some videos up disproving(or attempting to disprove) a few common myths about handguns.

TDC
 
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richardoldfield said:
"...the pistol failed several times to extract or eject." I am thinking rounds not of the correct dimensions for the chamber of the barrel. It just sounds to me like something other than the barrel causing the problems. I have not noticed a rough finish with my Lone Wolf barrel and I repeat it functions well. Regards, Richard:)
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Richard,

With the exception of a few handloads from a buddy, I only shoot factory ammo. The failures observed at the TR course were all with factory ammo. Perhaps the ammo was out of spec, I tend to think those in the business of manufacturing ammo are pretty good at what they do. In the 21-22 thousand rounds through my 17(including those handloads) I've never had a round not chamber that wasn't damaged. Maybe I'm spoiled, if it won't eat common FMJ factory ammo, the piece of equipment is crap.

TDC
 
TDC, if you still have access to the barrel take it out of the gun and see how new factory rounds go in and if they come out easily. If they do not, there is an easy fix; run the rounds through a "Lee Factory Crimp Die". Regards, Richard:)
 
My Storm Lake barrel is excellent, never a problem. I don't own any Wolff barrels. I also don't reload. I shoot factory ammo only, with the exception of a few of my buddies reloads. If I experience a failure with the reloads I would presume the ammo is the culprit. Regardless of how much care is taken in producing reloads I still don't trust them 100%.

TDC
 
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