Heavy cast bullets in a Glock 20

[Fivesense]

For woods defense, how necessary is it to change out the barrel of a Glock 20 to something like a KKM Precision to shoot heavy cast hand loads?

For standard hot loads I believe the Glock 20 stock barrel to be more than adequate. But if I choose to carry the G20 for lower 48 woods protection and want to shoot heavy lead, is the alternate barrel a must, or simply a good idea?

Caveat- I will not be hunting with the G20, and ideally will never draw down on a bear, cougar, or nefarious hairy two-legged.

Additionally, is the KKM barrel (or equivalent) simply a good idea regardless, as it is purported to improve accuracy?

Thank you and Happy New Year!

[lee n. field]

Hickock45 has a YouTube video on exactly this.

Poor accuracy with hardcast in the stock barrel.

[Fivesense]

Hickock45 has a YouTube video on exactly this.

The Hickok45 vid is exactly why I'm posting. He said he wasn't completely certain if his G20 was unique in suffering poor accuracy with the OEM barrel. I assume it's "G20-wide" which makes me wonder about using the KKM barrel for all shooting out of the G20. Hickok45 shot the heavy lead more accurately out of the (Lone Wolf?) but I don't think he said whether or not he also shot more accurately in general with factory 10mm.

[chris in va]

There's also he issue of firing a high pressure/velocity lead bullet in Glock rifling. It wasn't a problem in my 45 barrel but it's slow and low pressure.

[KW Gary M]

Glocks are notorious for not liking Cast bullets. Something with their barrel reacting with the bare lead. The barrel gets fowled. I read it a long time ago but didn't pay much attention because I'm not a Glock person.

[g.willikers]

While not exactly on topic, for the 9mm version I once had hard cast bullets at full power (and then some at times) worked just fine with the stock barrel.
Had to knock down those full sized poppers without wobble and hesitation, ya' know.
But they had to be slightly oversized for good accuracy and the heavier and longer the better.
And the barrel had to be cleaned after every couple of uses.
Not a problem for most of us.
How this would apply to 10mm for your particular gun - ??
Might be worth a try before investing in a new barrel, though.
Glad I did.
Fitting new barrels isn't always as straight forward as advertised.

Fowl is for birds - foul is for nasty stuff.
Unless ya' got a nasty bird.
Then it's a foul fowl. :p
Sorry, couldn't resist.
Carry on, please.

[jmr40]

I don't shoot a lot of them, but carry DoubleTap 200 gr hardcast loads in my G20 and G29 when in bear country. I've never had a problem, although with admittedly limited use. Softer lead or heavier use might show problems, but they work for my needs. This load was developed with Glocks in mind.

These are expensive loads at about $1/round, not plinking ammo. I've run about 50 rounds through my guns to confirm they function and POI. I get plenty of accuracy for close range large predator defense.

[Walt Sherrill]

Glocks are notorious for not liking Cast bullets. Something with their barrel reacting with the bare lead. The barrel gets fowled. I read it a long time ago but didn't pay much attention because I'm not a Glock person.

I have owned and enjoy Glocks -- have only one at the moment. I don't reload.

One professional shooter I know has put tens (by now, maybe hundreds) of thousands of cast rounds through Glocks over the years and says the secret is to work with lead hardness, lubes, sizing diameter and different powders to get a combination that did not lead the barrel. He also said you have to also keep your gun clean -- that "clean your gun every decade whether it needs it or not" stuff isn't appropriate. Most pro shooters reload to keep costs down -- unless the pro is on a team sponsored by an ammo maker -- and many shoot lead thru polygonal barrels.

Buffalo Bore, an ammo manufacturer has this to say at the following link: https://www.buffalobore.com/index.php?l=product_list&c=59 Seems as though they have a LOT to lose if they haven't done their testing, research, and can back up their claims.

HARD CAST BULLETS IN POLYGONAL BARRELS

True hard cast bullets (as opposed to lead swaged bullets) that are properly lubed will not lead foul polygonal barrels any more than any other type of rifled barrel. Ever since Glock Corporation warned to not use lead bullets in their pistols with polygonal barrels, a myth that hard cast bullets will lead foul polygonal barrels has become wide spread in some parts of the firearms world. However, the myth is untrue. Hard cast bullets are not "lead" bullets. (See my article on "Dangerous Pure Lead Cowboy Bullets")

Pure lead or nearly pure lead bullets have a tendency to foul any barrel, not just polygonal barrels. Years ago, when several Glock pistols experienced cracked barrels because of fouling build up from shooting pure lead bullets, Glock issued a warning not to shoot lead bullets in their polygonal barrels. From that warning, the myth that you should not shoot hard cast bullets in polygonal barrels was born.

Provided you use real hard cast bullets with good lube, you can shoot them all you like in polygonal barrels without causing lead fouling deposits at the front of your chamber or anywhere else in the barrel. If you are concerned about lead fouling from hard cast bullets, all you have to do is to clean your barrel after firing hard cast bullets and before firing any jacketed bullets. However, in my experience, quality hard cast bullets won't foul a Glock polygonal barrel or any other type of barrel but lead bullets normally will.

If you reload and feel you must shoot lead, but remain wary of using lead in a Glock barrel, aftermarket barrels with lands and grooves are available and most of the prices are low enough ($125-$175 +/-) that you''d save enough pretty quickly shooting lead to offset the purchase price.

If you're concerned, don't want to buy an aftermarket barrel, just don't do it.

Do a Google search on "USING LEAD IN POLYGONAL BARRELS" and see what you find -- and note that most of the folks warning against using lead aren't talking from personal experience, while many who do tell you how it can be done safely are speaking from -- in some cases -- years of experience.

.

[David Ozlo]

Underwood ammo has heavy TMJ rounds built just for woods defense.
That will eliminate any possible issues, and they are affordable.

[Bongo Boy]

I have not fired any cast bullets heavier than 185gr in my G29 and G20, but have used both stock Glock and aftermarket (Lone Wolf) barrels in both and have never found any significant difference in leading or accuracy with any of the barrels, and have never found leading to be a problem, either. If anything, though, I'd expect a heavier (slower) bullet to be even less a concern than lighter (faster) ones.

While I haven't done any careful side-by-side experiments with propellants as far as leading goes, my worst experience (in almost every way) has been with 800X and lead bullets.