Lone wolf 40SW barrel problem

[Lead Express]

Hey folks,

I wanted to pique some feedback on what my issue might be for a diagnostic.

I have a Lone Wolf barrel in 40SW that I am planning on using for my cast bullets, using mold 401-175 TC. My OAL is 1.130, using 6.0 gn of Power Pistol. I loaded a batch for the first outing with the new barrel, and did the plunk test to ensure that all rounds would chamber freely.

Well, about one quarter did. Of that one quarter, some rounds would sit just above the breach but I could nudge them the rest of the way in. For the other three quarters, the rounds go in and leave about 1mm of exposed brass before the rim. When cycling them through a magazine, the slide would not close all of the way. What a pain to eject as well.

My problem is that I am full length resizing my brass with a Lee case bulge eliminator. All rounds drop right in my stock Glock barrel, obviously because the chamber is wider in diameter.

Any suggestions on how to resolve this? Buy new brass and only use that brass with the Lone Wolf?

[Brian Pfleuger]

My guess is that you're either not removing the flare sufficiently (not crimping enough) or over-crimping and distorting the case.

[Lead Express]

I'll have to post some pictures later today. Crimp is fine, and not over done. The walls look to be straight on the case mouth.

I'm relatively new to reloading, but I've loaded about 3k rounds with plated bullets for 40sw, and about 1k for 38 and 357 cast lead.

[Brian Pfleuger]

Bullets contacting the rifling/transition? Try slightly shorter and see if the problem goes away.

[Lead Express]

I was a little worried about a pressure spike, but I'll give it a whirl on a dummy round. Thank you for the initial feedback.

[farmerboy]

my son just got a lone wolf barrel as well and they are very tight tolerances. ammo would fit in glock barrel but slide would barely stay open on LoneWolf. Using a RCBS sizing die we had to run die down like always and turn alittle more until handle had alittle cam action to tighten up on our sizing and everything will go bang. I like a glock barrel because their tolerances aint as tight but son has a 23 and got a conversion kit that shoots a 357 sig and it now works 100%.

[Brian Pfleuger]

You're well below starting loads for 180gr bullets so pressure won't be an issue. Try to shorten one of the rounds that won't chamber, that's the only way to know.

Otherwise, try sizing with a regular sizing die, see if that helps.

[DogoDon]

My Lone Wolf barrel for my Glock 23 acts similarly. I asked LW about this, and here is the reply I got:

All Lone Wolf barrels are match graded; so they are tighter than the factory OEM barrels. Our barrels will fit ammunition within factory spec. If you are shooting reloads and need the chamber opened up you are welcome to send your barrel with 3-4 dummy rounds and our armory department will resize the chamber to fit your ammo for a $30 fee (includes return shipping). Address to send to is:

Lone Wolf Distributors
Attn: Armory Dept.
57 Shepard Road
Oldtown, ID 83822

Please include a printout of this email, your contact information, and please track the package to ensure it reaches us. Please allow up to 2-4 weeks for processing of all returned items to Lone Wolf Distributors.


Thank you,
Anna, Customer Service
Lone Wolf Distributors

DogoDon

[RNG]

I had the same problem a number of years ago with my Lone Wolf barrel. Back then LW would "attempt" to open up the chamber sufficiently but failed due to not having the proper tools nor experience. (This was according to LW)

I reluctantly accepted the fact that I would have to live with these problems if I wanted to use the LW barrel with my lead reloads. Long story short, I stuck the LW in a drawer and have been using my Glock barrel to shoot my lead reloads without issue. BTW, I have a Storm Lake and a KKM for my G21 and they all have the same problem. Like my G23, I just use the stock barrels now and my frustration level shooting lead reloads has dropped to zero.

Regards and happy shooting.
Richard

[serf 'rett]

I'll go with the bullet contacting the rifling theory. Certain bullet shapes require shorten COAL to keep the bullet away from the lands.

When I get a new bullet, I try to check the "maximum" COAL; i.e., the COAL at which the bullet comes in contact with the lands/rifling. That measurement is then reduced by the amount of "set back" I want off the lands/rifling, and then I check to see if the cartridge will still fit in the magazine and feed properly.

While my 165 and 180 grain 40S&W cartridges are all loaded at about 1.120 inches, my 9mm rounds vary from 1.070 inches to 1.150 inches according to the particular bullet profile.

[farmerboy]

I'd agree to check first that the bullet is not too long. But me and son checked same thing first and it ended up that the tolerances were so tight that we had to size alittle tighter. With the LW barrel being so tight it is extremely accurate but very finicky as well.

[Lead Express]

The bullets are actually shorter than my plated 180gn bullets, but the plated bullets also have their ogive start much sooner. I think the problem is with the straight profile of the bullet, and I might have them seated too long. I'll check it out. I was half thinking about shooting lead out of my OEM barrel, as I've read that you can get away with it. We will have to see. I have a Lewis Lead Remover that will help me determine this in the field.

Thank you!

[David Bachelder]

Your reloads are fine. The LW Barrel is the culprit. Forget the crimp and everything else. Have the barrel opened up a bit by Lone Wolf or do as I did.

Using a 3/8" dowel rod wrapped with fine grain emory paper you can easly sand out a thousandth or so with a little elbow grease.

I used P220 for the bulk of the work then followed by 1200. I found the emery paper at an automotive supply store. I chucked the rod into my cordless drill and sanded away. Be sure to sand only to the stop inside the barrel. Look down the barrel from the breech end and you will easily see what I'm talking about. Its a shoulder about an 1 1/8" deep. This is where the round headspaces. I regulated the depth by cutting the paper to the right width. Do not sand this shoulder or anything past it. It didn't take long and I had a barrel that passed the "plunk" test with flying colors. Be sure to sand then check ... sand, check .... sand, check. You get the idea. If I can do it, anybody can do it.

or send it off to Lone Wolf.

[plateshooter]

I have a G20 and a LW conversion barrel to 40 S&W. I am using the same bullet as you. I had the same issue as you although not all the time. I found that I needed to tighten up my crimp on the bullets a bit, as apparently I wasn't removing all of the case mouth bell on some types of brass. That is where my hang up was. I adjusted the crimp a bit tighter and have never had the problem since.

I also crimp with a Lee factory crimp die on all of my autoloader rounds. Some people don't like them, but my guns are very dependable using them.

Just my personal experience, yours may vary.

[Lead Express]

I've done a bit of personal gunsmithing, and it seems that opening up the chamber will do the trick. I'll of course try to run the LW as-is for the moment.
I should have a range report on Monday.

Thank you all for the feedback.

[BDS-THR]

Lead Express, you won't need to enlarge the chamber much, around .001"-.002". I enlarged my Lone Wolf 40S&W chamber using automotive wet-dry sand paper using this method - http://www.thehighroad.org/showthrea...83#post8093783

Now the Lone Wolf barrel reliably feed/chambers even larger diameter (.401") lead loads.

[dunerjeff]

They don't leave a lot of extra room for a lead bullet that is .001 to.002 oversize plus the variance in wall thickness of the brass. Then add in the every round reloaded usually isn't exactly,perfectly straight and parrallel. It is the same issue I have with a Kart match barrel in my 1911. I have to use brass that is .010 wall thickness(no more),plus I load all those round on my single stage(when seating the bullet I rotate it once or twice to help concentric seating). I seldom get all rounds done on my progressive to be PERFECT(I do mean perfect) so they will chamber. I do intend to take the barrel on the lathe and turn .001 or .002" out,just haven't yet.That tightness makes it shoot very,very good.

[Lead Express]

Well, I went to the range and discovered a few things here.

I first shot 3 rounds of my lead through the G23 stock barrel. Visible but slight leading already, so I swapped to the Lone Wolf. I shot my first round before the slide failed to come into full battery with the second round from the magazine. My slide was stuck, and I had to use a Flathead screw driver to pry the slide back open. As the case became free and the slide moved rearward, powder spilled out! The bullet was seated too high, and stuck into the start of the grooves. So there I have it. I swapped back to stock and began training with plated bullets, and ran the lead rounds out of a Sig2340.

Although not evident while at the bench, it is very apparent what the main culprit is. I'll have to bring my single stage to the range next time after I run a few more though and get this resolved.

All in all, it was an excellent training day with a few people and a shot timer.

[farmerboy]

Hope you get this resolved, keep us posted. I still think on a single stage tighten up on your sizer die like me a d my son did and everything will be fine.

[Lead Express]

I hope so too. I have always run all of my fired brass up and through the top of the sizing die via single stage using the bulge kit. We live and learn! I have another training day with the fiancee's dad in two weeks, and I'll have more time to experiment. Pictures to follow, technology permitting.

[carlspeed]

I just got a conversion to .40 barrel for my Glock 20SF. I'm having the same problems and I'm furious. The crimp is fine and shoots in 5 other guns I have that are chambered in .40, even cheap ones. The entire reason I bought this thing was so that I could shoot cheap reloaded .40 ammo out of the Glock 20 instead of taking multiple guns camping and hunting. It's not acceptable to me that they want me to pay them $30 to re tool a barrel to do what it was supposed to do when I bought it. Who really buys a barrel for a Glock and doesn't shoot lead through it? I'm really upset with their customer service on this, and at this time, I will avoid any other LW purchases like the Plague. I bought a KKM barrel for my competition gun and it has fed and shot 100%. If I have to pay another $30 for this one to be almost as good as the KKM, I'd just as soon sell the stupid thing and buy a better quality barrel.

I'm still mad. I just got off the phone with them, and their best option was to send the barrel in and PAY THEM to fix some thing that the barrel is supposed to do. What an absolute crock.

[dunerjeff]

They make their barrel within speck so technically it isn't their fault(hence the charge),but they really should go up, even .001'' ,and end this. They do it for the "accuracy", but I don't think another thou would be noticable. They also don't probably intend on the end user to shoot lead, but why wouldn't they?

[Sevens]

It's my humble opinion that this is a service that Lone Wolf should provide, free of charge, or perhaps only a shipping charge. Sure, it's labor, but for a company in the business of making the barrels, I should think we'd be talking about a 5-10 minute operation.

Furthermore, were I running that company, it would absolutely be my wish that my crew altered my product to meet the demand of the buying public, so I could have my control over the performance of my product as it displays itself in full action to the shooting public. Ya know?! If the customer bought it with the intention of shooting cast lead through it, I would want my barrel performing at it's absolute peak in reliability and accuracy so that my customers can help me sell them as others shooters will be interested.

Of course, I also wouldn't etch a cartoon tweaker coyote on the hood either, but that's just personal preference. And while that might be a little tongue in cheek, I'll just also say more seriously that I wouldn't ding a customer twenty MORE dollars to get a barrel without the aforementioned tweaker coyote on it.

I wanted to shoot .40 S&W from my Glock 29 so I bought a KKM precision barrel. I just got it, I've got only 220 rounds through it thus far, and it's been terrific. Of course, I have not yet tried cast lead in it, I've been running a 180gr plated Berry's slug pushed by Power Pistol. I do intend to try lead in it eventually, but I'm happy to break it in with a lot of plated first.

I plan to report back with my findings.

[BDS-THR]

Originally Posted by carlspeed

I bought a KKM barrel for my competition gun and it has fed and shot 100%.

I have several 40S&W replacement and 40-9 conversion Lone Wolf barrels for G22/G23/G27 and recently got a KKM 40-9 conversion barrel.

The KKM chamber is looser than Lone Wolf chambers although Lone Wolf 9mm chambers will feed and fully chamber .356" sized lead loads taper crimped to .377" without any issues. Of course, they work well in KKM chamber also. Both LW and KKM 40-9 barrels have comparable case base support as factory Glock 9mm barrels.

It is the 40S&W Lone Wolf chambers that fully supports the case base that have tighter chambers. If you contact Lone Wolf, they'll verify that their barrels are cut for "jacketed" diameter loads and to use for larger diameter lead bullets, the chamber needs to be opened up (you can request this at the time of ordering). For me, this is a plus as I do not experience any case bulge down to the case base and resizing the spent cases is effortless. I will admit that when using .401" sized lead bullets, the chambers are tight and I did have to polish one up a bit (~ .001") and now it reliably feeds and fully chambers .422" taper crimps lead loads.

[lee n. field]

I have a Lone Wolf barrel in 40SW that I am planning on using for my cast bullets, using mold 401-175 TC. My OAL is 1.130, using 6.0 gn of Power Pistol. I loaded a batch for the first outing with the new barrel, and did the plunk test to ensure that all rounds would chamber freely.

Well, about one quarter did.


Any suggestions on how to resolve this?

I had basically this happening with my Lone Wolf 9mm barrel. A Lee Factory Crimp Die resolved the problem.

It's either that, or send the barrel, a few of your handloads and some money to Lone Wolf, for them to open up your chamber a bit.