The Barrel Report:

[Barth]

I got my Storm Lake 5.10" ported barrel back from the Storm Lake mother-ship today.
They reworked the feed ramp and chamber to match my 4.4" OEM Sig Sauer barrel.
Ran boxes of Federal HST and Winchester Ranger T-Series LE HPs through the gun flawlessly at lunch.

Woo Hoo!!!

There's almost no muzzle rise with the ports.
But the lightweight, old school, P220 till boots for a full size auto.
I think the slow moving heavy mass 230 gr 45 doesn't give the felt recoil reduction I get in 357 Sig.
Sadly my Glock G27-357 continues to be the most fun to shoot auto.

On the revolver front;
The 3" heavy barrel K-Frame M65 produced surprisingly deadly
and accurate magnum DA rapid fire at close range.
I now get why they are called by some Combat Magnums.

Spoiler Alert for future Barrel Report;
My triple ported 357 Bar Sto for the P239 is scheduled to ship late this month!!!

P220 sporting her new and stylish Black Isonite Storm Lake barrel

[TucsonMTB]

Sadly my Glock G27-357 continues to be the most fun to shoot auto.

Help me understand why that is "sad", please.

Oh, and does that mean a Glock 33 should be fun? Hey, I might win a lottery . . . yeah, sure, kid.

[Barth]

Help me understand why that is "sad", please.

Oh, and does that mean a Glock 33 should be fun? Hey, I might win a lottery . . . yeah, sure, kid.

LOL
Just seems like having a high end gun like a HK, Sig Sauer or 1911
is more impressive to brag about than a Glock.
Glocks are sort of the Hondas of the gun world.
In stock form my Glock is much like a Honda.
Very reliable, does everything well, but in an unspectacular fashion.
After spending as much money on after market and OEM parts as the original gun,
the final configuration performs in a “sum greater than the parts” mode.
Easily holding its own, or even out performing, my high end guns.
It’s alive, and the experiment has been much more successful than I imagined.

Now I’m struggling to upgrade my two Sig Sauer guns to compete with it.
The P220 has accepted her upgrades well and performance is improved.
But she still falls short….
Now my P239/357 remains and is a real contender.
Like the P220, she has accepted her upgrades well.
Even better that the P220 actually.
So the deciding factor will be the reliability and performance
of her Bar Sto triple ported match barrel.

If the 357 Bar Sto can be as reliable, and the porting work as effectively,
as the Storm Lake 357 in the Glock???

This is going to be a close one.

[Barth]

Barrel Update:

The reworked Storm Lake P220/45 barrel has clearly had the ramp and chamber opened matching my 4.4" OEM Sig Sauer barrel.

Now I'm closely inspecting the feed ramps and chamber openings of all my barrels.

Observations:
1) It's clear why my Glock G33 OEM 357 barrel will not feed GDHPs.
2) The reworked and opened P220/45 Storm Lake is going to be more reliable
than ALL my other Storm Lake barrels in any caliber.
As well as the Bar-Sto P220/45 barrel.
3) The feed ramp and chamber opening on my OEM Sig 5.47" P220/45 Sport Barrel
is cavernous compared to ALL my other barrels.
And would likely feed small soup cans.

I'm anxious to see what the Bar-Sto Sig 239/357 barrel looks like.
As I've requested the chamber be opened for hollow points.
And I'm willing to sacrifice accuracy for SD reliability.

Also, my MK40 Elite feed ramp and chamber look polished and opened from the
factory.

[OldLincoln]

Okay, when do we start seeing .44mag barrels?

[Tinman507]

Everytime I see a post on Barth's barrels I expect to hear Ted Koppel doing a nightline intro

[MW surveyor]

And he still doesn't have his new truck!

[Barth]

Okay, when do we start seeing .44mag barrels?

LOL!
I did briefly consider a 3" bull barrel for the Mountain Gun.
Possibly MagNaPorted.
But it has a glass bead blasted stain finish.
And is sort of a non catalog Classic.
So it will remain pristine with its 4" tapered 44 special barrel.

And no I still don't have my new truck. Ugggggg

[Barth]

Checking the feed ramp and chamber openings on all my barrels
has been an eye opening experience.
Emailed Bar-Sto to verify the ported P239/357 feed ramp and chamber have been opened for hollow points.

All my Sig Sauer barrels are sweet, with the 5.47" P220/45 Sport barrel being spectacular.
The reworked Storm Lake G27-357, opened to Sig Sauer specs, is nice too.
Looking at my other OEM and Storm Lake barrels for the Glock G27.
As fate would have it.
The OEM G27 40, with Fail Zero self lubricating Nickel Boron finish,
has the widest ramp and opened chamber!!!
Wouldn't you know it - LOL!

Back to the range at lunch with the G27 using;
Glock OEM G27 3.46" 40
Storm Lake G23 4.02" 40
Storm Lake G23 4.02" 40-9mm conversion

[MW surveyor]

Tried to go the range yesterday but would have had to have scuba gear! Been raining here almost everyday.

Good luck at the range Barth.

[jocko]

no rain here where I live now for over 45 days. not a drop, nadda. corn looks like sh!t. no crops gonna happen in this area for sure. wost year I can ever remember, course I cxkan't actualy remember what i did yesterday, so go figure. Just sayin

[Planedude]

Tried to go the range yesterday but would have had to have scuba gear! Been raining here almost everyday.

Good luck at the range Barth.

Just in time for the Battleship Texas to go leaking like crazy...

Hows the Ark comming Surveyor?

[Charlie]

To mee they all look like Kahr wannabees.

[HDoc]

LOL
Just seems like having a high end gun like a HK, Sig Sauer or 1911
is more impressive to brag about than a Glock.
Glocks are sort of the Hondas of the gun world.
In stock form my Glock is much like a Honda.
Very reliable, does everything well, but in an unspectacular fashion.
After spending as much money on after market and OEM parts as the original gun,
the final configuration performs in a “sum greater than the parts” mode.
Easily holding its own, or even out performing, my high end guns.
It’s alive, and the experiment has been much more successful than I imagined.

Now I’m struggling to upgrade my two Sig Sauer guns to compete with it.
The P220 has accepted her upgrades well and performance is improved.
But she still falls short….
Now my P239/357 remains and is a real contender.
Like the P220, she has accepted her upgrades well.
Even better that the P220 actually.
So the deciding factor will be the reliability and performance
of her Bar Sto triple ported match barrel.

If the 357 Bar Sto can be as reliable, and the porting work as effectively,
as the Storm Lake 357 in the Glock???

The G33 has me intrigued. I can pick up a new G33 "C" model ( which I didn't know existed at the LEO/MIL price of just over $420. or a plain G33
for $398. What's your opinion, factory moded or custom shop? Other than my S&W 19 I have no other .357's. Pardon my ignorance, but I'm assuming they shoot the same ammo? The K frame still has quite the recoil, you seem to be saying that the semi-auto has less... Am I right?

New note: G33 has no C model....darn

[Barth]

The G33 has me intrigued. I can pick up a new G33 "C" model ( which I didn't know existed at the LEO/MIL price of just over $420. or a plain G33
for $398. What's your opinion, factory moded or custom shop? Other than my S&W 19 I have no other .357's. Pardon my ignorance, but I'm assuming they shoot the same ammo? The K frame still has quite the recoil, you seem to be saying that the semi-auto has less... Am I right?

New note: G33 has no C model....darn

You're kidding right?

Guess I'll play.
When most talk about a 357 auto they are talking about 357 Sig.
It's a .40 necked down to .355.
And loaded to push a 125 gr bullet ~1,350 fps from a 4" barrel.
A partnership development between Federal ammo and Sig Sauer
to approximate 357 magnum performance from a 40 cal sized auto.
Some guns can swap barrels and mags between 40 and 357 Sig.
Like a Glock G27/G33 and Sig P239.

I actually have barrels and mags to run 9mm, 357 Sig and 40 S&W
from my G27. Just swap in and out barrels and mags.

There are a few auto loaders that do actually shoot revolver 357 magnum
rounds, Desert Eagle and Coonan, but that's unusual.

As for recoil, lots of energy is bled off to drive the slide on a semi auto.
With handguns of like weight and caliber the auto will always have less felt recoil IMHO.

So yes my G27 and P239 kick less than my S&W 640-1 or S&W 65-3.
I actually prefer to shoot medium power 357 Golden Sabers
from my 357 revolvers.

The deal with short barreled 357 magnum revolvers is this.
A full house 357 magnum 125 gr will run ~1450 fps from a 4" barrel.
But only ~1200 from a 2" (-250 fps)

The Golden Sabers are ~1220 from a 4".
But still run ~1100 from a 2" (-120 fps) S&W 640-1.
And ~1190 from a 3" (-30) S&W 65-3.
With a lot less recoil.