Anyone have experience with the lone wolf conversion barrels? I was given a couple Glocks in 40 cal, but i long ago standardized on 9mm. Anyone try these out? Pros? Cons?
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Sidearms & Scatterguns Lone Wolf Conversion Barrels for 40 cal Glocks
- Thread starter Happiness Is A Warm Gun
- Start date
I got one around 4 years ago in a trade..just played around with it in a glock 31 slide..never took it out! never had any issues using glock 17 mags.
changed the ejector and something else that I can't recall..keep it as a throwdown in the truck.
but i do know guys who have had zero success with it.
changed the ejector and something else that I can't recall..keep it as a throwdown in the truck.
but i do know guys who have had zero success with it.
Thanks. The searching I have done on other sites seems to be very hit or miss. Either it works great or it totally sucks.
I have a couple of glocks I've converted from 40 to 9 with convertion barrels - just a new barrel and new magazines (didn't bother with ejector) and they shoot great - I actually really prefer them, the extra barrel weight seems to help shooting them.
Yep, got quite a few. I use their Alpha Wolf series threaded barrels. I have one in my Shield 45, my G31C (converted to 9mm, basically converted it into a G17), and a couple more in custom G17 builds. They’re good to go.
I had a 40sw to 9mm Alphawolf barrel in a Glock 35 for several years. I did change the extractor and ejector as well. The gun / barrel shot well. Would do it again.
40 to 9 conversion in Glocks is fine, and can be 100% reliable when done well.
But LoneWolf in particular is meh at best, and generally lower end stuff that I don't recommend to anyone I like. A lot of people don't realize it but your factory Glock barrels are MUCH higher quality than LoneWolf or a lot of other aftermarket options; they're finished better inside and out, and have much more consistent bore dimensions.
Something Lone Wolf does as general practice in their barrels that I don't like is a fairly loose lockup (similar to OEM Glock or worse) but with a very tight chamber. Since they've supposedly used a "match grade" chamber in their barrels, they call the barrels "match grade" even though they don't lock up as tight or as consistently as a real match grade barrel. The result is usually pretty mediocre accuracy - and I say that having a drawer full of 20+ aftermarket Glock barrels, a number of them being Lone Wolf.
I don't recall who else makes 40 to 9 conversion barrels, but if I'm in the market for a good Glock barrel, the brands I look to first are KKM and Zev/Surefire. Both have consistently given me top notch results, and without the tight chamber issues of Lone Wolf and others. Some others, like Silencerco for example, have been hit or miss for me, with some shooting very poorly and some pretty decent even in the same pistol. YMMV of course.
But LoneWolf in particular is meh at best, and generally lower end stuff that I don't recommend to anyone I like. A lot of people don't realize it but your factory Glock barrels are MUCH higher quality than LoneWolf or a lot of other aftermarket options; they're finished better inside and out, and have much more consistent bore dimensions.
Something Lone Wolf does as general practice in their barrels that I don't like is a fairly loose lockup (similar to OEM Glock or worse) but with a very tight chamber. Since they've supposedly used a "match grade" chamber in their barrels, they call the barrels "match grade" even though they don't lock up as tight or as consistently as a real match grade barrel. The result is usually pretty mediocre accuracy - and I say that having a drawer full of 20+ aftermarket Glock barrels, a number of them being Lone Wolf.
I don't recall who else makes 40 to 9 conversion barrels, but if I'm in the market for a good Glock barrel, the brands I look to first are KKM and Zev/Surefire. Both have consistently given me top notch results, and without the tight chamber issues of Lone Wolf and others. Some others, like Silencerco for example, have been hit or miss for me, with some shooting very poorly and some pretty decent even in the same pistol. YMMV of course.
Sample of one, I purchased one of these as a Christmas present for a friend...
https://www.brownells.com/gun-parts/handgun-parts/handgun-barrels-parts/match-grade-conversion-barrels-for-glock~-22/
He did the barrel swap and nothing else. Gun has been 100% and while he is far from an expert shooter, he says this particular G22 conversion shoots better than his two other G17s. YMMV.
-Rainman
https://www.brownells.com/gun-parts/handgun-parts/handgun-barrels-parts/match-grade-conversion-barrels-for-glock~-22/
He did the barrel swap and nothing else. Gun has been 100% and while he is far from an expert shooter, he says this particular G22 conversion shoots better than his two other G17s. YMMV.
-Rainman
Well, normally I would agree, but factory Glock 17 barrels are skinnier than G22 & G31 barrels in O.D. So, to avoid having your barrels rattling around in your slide and being extremely inaccurate and inconsistent, the only option to convert the 22/31 to a 9mm is with a proper conversion barrel. And about the only people left that do that (readily available, not custom) is alone Wolf. I used to love Storm Lake barrels, got one in my G21SF. They were really high quality units, but they’re not in business anymore.
Also, my G31/17 conversion barrel locks up super-tight in my G31C slide. Zero slop. It’s damn-accurate, too.
If the OP is going from G22 to G17 with his conversion, he’ll also need G17 magazines. The Magpul ones work great. I have a bunch of them.
Well, normally I would agree, but factory Glock 17 barrels are skinnier than G22 & G31 barrels in O.D. So, to avoid having your barrels rattling around in your slide and being extremely inaccurate and inconsistent, the only option to convert the 22/31 to a 9mm is with a proper conversion barrel. And about the only people left that do that (readily available, not custom) is alone Wolf. I used to love Storm Lake barrels, got one in my G21SF. They were really high quality units, but they’re not in business anymore.
Also, my G31/17 conversion barrel locks up super-tight in my G31C slide. Zero slop. It’s damn-accurate, too.
If the OP is going from G22 to G17 with his conversion, he’ll also need G17 magazines. The Magpul ones work great. I have a bunch of them.
There are still options other than Lone Wolf. Not many are worse, it'd be easy to do better. Chances are high that one linked above from Brownells is likely way ahead of anything Lone Wolf makes. NOBODY here, me included, said to use standard 9mm barrels. That would be dumb; they don't fit right obviously.
Or you could get something actually known to be good quality, and go with KKM as I mentioned earlier: https://www.glockstore.com/KKM-Precision-9mm-Conversion-Barrels
Friends don't let friends cheap out with Lone Wolf barrels.
In addition to the barrel and magazine, I would replace the recoil spring to the standard 9mm one. 40 is higher pressure and has a heavier spring. If you shoot frangible ammo or your grip is lacking, you may get malfunctions.
I have several. I use them all of the time. I have never had an issue with them.
After all that, you still spent 80% of the cost of a KKM barrel on piece of crap Lone Wolf? LOL. You can lead a horse to water, I guess.
Over the years I've had a lot of aftermarket barrels. I think my first Lonewolf barrel was a G22 9mm conversion barrel in 2007 or 2008. I still have it, and it shoots fine, although it has a very tight chamber I reamed somewhere along the way. I've never had an issue with Lonewolf although I know people that have. I think they struggled with quality somewhere in the early to mid twenty teens. My most recent barrel from Lonewolf was bought two years ago and I believe they started using a different vendor (US vs Korean?), no issues to speak of but I don't have tons of rounds through it. Anyway, I'd buy another Lonewolf without reservation, despite having KKM Glock barrels as well as other higher priced/quality equivalents.
