After many years of waiting, the stars aligned and last Saturday I broke down and bought a new Glock 20SF 10mm. I have been a fan of the 10mm since I saw the 1989 Buyers Guide issue of Guns and Ammo when the Colt Delta Elite and the Smith and Wesson 1006 were both brand new. (Disclaimer: I dont really know if it was 1989, but that is close enough for our purposes).
Back then I was not even into my teens but I knew I wanted one. Its taken quite a while but I finally have my 10mm. Part of me still wants a shiny new Delta Elite, but the greater part of me says the Glock is better deal. The greater magazine capacity, and lower sticker price ($579 vs $800+) coupled with accuracy that is on par with the Delta sold me. I considered the Tanfoglio but couldn't find one in southern Maine so I went with the Glock. Good thing too, because when I told my shooting buddy (My cousin Cliff) that I was getting a 10mm he rushed right out to Stone's Gun shop to order one too. Unfortunately for him it seems that I got the last one in the state. Apparently the G20SF is out of stock with the regional distributor or something like that.
So, here it is....
Its square, black and has a purposeful look. Typical Glock. I do like how low it sits in your hand. The Bore axis on this is probably a quarter of an inch lower than on my P85MKII. With the mild loads we were shooting the G20 has significantly LESS recoil and snap to it than Cliff's Smith&Wesson M&P .40. The M&P is slimmer in the grip, and more comfortable too but it slaps you harder than the Glock. I will be curious to see how hot you have to load the Glock to make it buck like the lighter M&P. My old reliable P85 is naturally softer shooting than either of the bigger bore guns.
Once I had the gun I figured that if I was in for a penny I was in for a pound so I ordered dies for my Dillon SDB, 1000ct of starline brass, and an assortment of bullets in weights from 135gr to 180gr, a new Blackhawk Serpa holster, a Lone Wolf barrel, and the Lone Wolf 3.5lb connector.
The connector and reloading supplies havent arrived yet, but I did get a hundred rounds of Federal American Eagle 180gr FMJ ammo to test it out. This ammo is not what you would call full-house 10mm. In fact its not all that hot compared to some of the faster 40S&W loads. But, it was reasonably priced and my credit card was already hot to the touch, so I figured it would have to be enough for a preliminary try-out.
The Lone Wolf Barrel arrived promptly on Thursday. I got the LW barrel because I have heard that the std Glock barrels have insufficient support for the case head and that this can cause KaBooms when using reloads. I had a rather dramatic demonstration of this a few weeks back at the ACF&GA range when one of our members had his Glock .40cal blow its top during the Saturday morning plate shoot.
:shock:
This guy is an experienced handloader too. The moral to this story is watch your powder charges and keep a close eye on your brass...and wear your eye protection :!:
He escaped any serious injury, but it sure got his attention. I saw him last weekend trying out his new CZ (Phantom I think). He was just there to get it 'on paper'. His first shot was high left and he then proceeded to put four or five shots into a group the size of a golf ball (at about 20yds). Seems the internets are right about CZ's being accurate.
Anyway being the prudent fellow I am, I was keen to avoid this same fate (the Kaboom not the CZ) so I ordered the LWD barrel because of the good things I have heard about their chamber support. It also helps that they are reasonably priced at about $110. When I got the LW barrel I immediately put it side by side with my stock Glock barrel and compared the chamber support.
I'll be darned if I can tell the difference in the chamber support just by looking. In fact the stock Glock barrel doesnt look all that bad in the chamber-support department. Cliff says that his calibrated Machinist's eyeball tells him that the LW has about 5 or 6 thousandths more support. I can't tell the difference. This had me a little worried that I might have wasted my 110$ until today when we put the calipers to both barrels and checked to see how tight each was.
this is the original Glock barrel.
And this is the LWD barrel...
As you can see, the chamber on the LW barrel is measurably tighter. This was confirmed by further measurements and inspection of the fired brass. The Glock brass had a visible bulge, not the infamous Glock Smiley Face, but just a slight bulge about two thirds of the way down the case from the mouth. I don't think you can see it in the pictures, and I am not sure that this would be an issue when reloading the brass, but it seems worth noting.
This is the brass from the Glock barrel:
vs the brass fired thru the Lone Wolf barrel.
As I said, I didn't have a lot of ammo on hand so I wasn't really shooting for its-bitsy groups. I did have one five shot group that was about 3in or so, but I didn't take a picture, so you will have to take my word about that. Cliff was able to do a little better after he got a feel for the trigger and was keeping them in about a 2.5in circle.
I had no malfunctions of any kind but Cliff had a few FTF's where the gun didn't go completely into battery. Easily solved by a quick tap on the back of the slide. This may have had something to do with the LW barrel having a tighter chamber, or it might not have. As the saying goes "it's hard telling, not knowing."
Thats about it for now. I will probably get back in a week or two after I have a chance to make up some reloads and get some more trigger time. Until then, here are a few more pictures for your viewing pleasure.
and Cliff's new Zombie gun...This is what he bought when he found out he couldnt get a G20...
Back then I was not even into my teens but I knew I wanted one. Its taken quite a while but I finally have my 10mm. Part of me still wants a shiny new Delta Elite, but the greater part of me says the Glock is better deal. The greater magazine capacity, and lower sticker price ($579 vs $800+) coupled with accuracy that is on par with the Delta sold me. I considered the Tanfoglio but couldn't find one in southern Maine so I went with the Glock. Good thing too, because when I told my shooting buddy (My cousin Cliff) that I was getting a 10mm he rushed right out to Stone's Gun shop to order one too. Unfortunately for him it seems that I got the last one in the state. Apparently the G20SF is out of stock with the regional distributor or something like that.
So, here it is....
Its square, black and has a purposeful look. Typical Glock. I do like how low it sits in your hand. The Bore axis on this is probably a quarter of an inch lower than on my P85MKII. With the mild loads we were shooting the G20 has significantly LESS recoil and snap to it than Cliff's Smith&Wesson M&P .40. The M&P is slimmer in the grip, and more comfortable too but it slaps you harder than the Glock. I will be curious to see how hot you have to load the Glock to make it buck like the lighter M&P. My old reliable P85 is naturally softer shooting than either of the bigger bore guns.
Once I had the gun I figured that if I was in for a penny I was in for a pound so I ordered dies for my Dillon SDB, 1000ct of starline brass, and an assortment of bullets in weights from 135gr to 180gr, a new Blackhawk Serpa holster, a Lone Wolf barrel, and the Lone Wolf 3.5lb connector.
The connector and reloading supplies havent arrived yet, but I did get a hundred rounds of Federal American Eagle 180gr FMJ ammo to test it out. This ammo is not what you would call full-house 10mm. In fact its not all that hot compared to some of the faster 40S&W loads. But, it was reasonably priced and my credit card was already hot to the touch, so I figured it would have to be enough for a preliminary try-out.
The Lone Wolf Barrel arrived promptly on Thursday. I got the LW barrel because I have heard that the std Glock barrels have insufficient support for the case head and that this can cause KaBooms when using reloads. I had a rather dramatic demonstration of this a few weeks back at the ACF&GA range when one of our members had his Glock .40cal blow its top during the Saturday morning plate shoot.
This guy is an experienced handloader too. The moral to this story is watch your powder charges and keep a close eye on your brass...and wear your eye protection :!:
He escaped any serious injury, but it sure got his attention. I saw him last weekend trying out his new CZ (Phantom I think). He was just there to get it 'on paper'. His first shot was high left and he then proceeded to put four or five shots into a group the size of a golf ball (at about 20yds). Seems the internets are right about CZ's being accurate.
Anyway being the prudent fellow I am, I was keen to avoid this same fate (the Kaboom not the CZ) so I ordered the LWD barrel because of the good things I have heard about their chamber support. It also helps that they are reasonably priced at about $110. When I got the LW barrel I immediately put it side by side with my stock Glock barrel and compared the chamber support.
I'll be darned if I can tell the difference in the chamber support just by looking. In fact the stock Glock barrel doesnt look all that bad in the chamber-support department. Cliff says that his calibrated Machinist's eyeball tells him that the LW has about 5 or 6 thousandths more support. I can't tell the difference. This had me a little worried that I might have wasted my 110$ until today when we put the calipers to both barrels and checked to see how tight each was.
this is the original Glock barrel.
And this is the LWD barrel...
As you can see, the chamber on the LW barrel is measurably tighter. This was confirmed by further measurements and inspection of the fired brass. The Glock brass had a visible bulge, not the infamous Glock Smiley Face, but just a slight bulge about two thirds of the way down the case from the mouth. I don't think you can see it in the pictures, and I am not sure that this would be an issue when reloading the brass, but it seems worth noting.
This is the brass from the Glock barrel:
vs the brass fired thru the Lone Wolf barrel.
As I said, I didn't have a lot of ammo on hand so I wasn't really shooting for its-bitsy groups. I did have one five shot group that was about 3in or so, but I didn't take a picture, so you will have to take my word about that. Cliff was able to do a little better after he got a feel for the trigger and was keeping them in about a 2.5in circle.
I had no malfunctions of any kind but Cliff had a few FTF's where the gun didn't go completely into battery. Easily solved by a quick tap on the back of the slide. This may have had something to do with the LW barrel having a tighter chamber, or it might not have. As the saying goes "it's hard telling, not knowing."
Thats about it for now. I will probably get back in a week or two after I have a chance to make up some reloads and get some more trigger time. Until then, here are a few more pictures for your viewing pleasure.
and Cliff's new Zombie gun...This is what he bought when he found out he couldnt get a G20...