Six Amplitudes ofGlock Modulation

BBuuiillddiinngg YYoouurr OOwwnn GGlloocckk OOppeenn PPiissttoollBY PATRICK KELLEY, TY-14401

Valued for their reliability, magazine capac-ity and serviceable accuracy, Glock pistolsare the pistol of choice for the majority ofshooters in the Production Division (57%

at the 2007 Nationals), and have an enviable placein the L-10 and Limited Divisions as well. The ques-tion now is can the Glock platform contort to servethe needs of Open Division?

Specialists like SJC are already creating purpose-built guns like the CCF raceframe monster shownin our January issue. One of the hallmarks of theGlock platform is the ability to take the thing apartwith little more than a ballpoint pen, replacing eachmodule with a new and possibly improved part,without the help of a gunsmith. Is this level of mod-ularity possible in Open Division?

Read on and we will explore six financially gradu-ated do-it-yourself approaches to building an OpenDivision Glock on your kitchen table. Three will bechambered in 9x19mm, the remaining three in .40S&W. In each case we’ll use a “base gun” that in-cludes most of the things an Open gun would need.Using that base gun, I will try different compen-

FRONT SIGHT • May/June 200826

It doesn’t get a lot easier than this.Push the shroud/comp into place,replace the trigger pin, go shooting.

sators and porting systems to get anidea how each system would perform.

For simplicity of installation andavailability, JR Shepard at Lone WolfDistributors supplied most of the partsused in the tests, including a Carver“Hunter” model scope mount withWeaver rail. Bobby Carver’s mountsare common in GSSF, and have a rep-utation for quality. This well-craftedunit is assembled and secured with atwo-screw attachment plate at theframe’s light mount rail and a thirdscrew that replaces the trigger pin. Foran optic, I opted for a 4 MOA Tru-Point mini-dot. Together, the fixed costof this sighting assembly was $380.There are other mounts and opticsavailable, but this choice fit into the do-it-yourself theme at a price point thatfairly represented the cost of any viablealternative. It was also one I could bor-row and return. I used this set-up for allthree 9mms and one .40 cal pistol.

On an Open Division project amagwell is a “must have,” so we add$75 for the funnel of your choice (Iopted for the brass magwell soldthrough www.customglock.com).Adding $20 for Eric Wesselman’s Tru-Grip tape raises our total fixed cost to$475.

With the base gun established, theonly variable left is the compensator.

Evaluation PlanAccuracy is an objective and mea-

surable analysis that I am comfortablereporting. “Facts are facts” so to speak.Controllability is a subjective, theoret-ical item that relies on the shooter’sability, experience, and opinion. Inthis area I’ll share my opinion, butthat’s all it is, my opinion. Yours may(and probably will) differ.

Accuracy testing was conducted in-doors at 50 feet (due to winterweather). The photos represent a re-peatable average group among five 5-shot groups fired from sandbags. I donot have an ammunition sponsor, soaluminum-cased CCI Blazer 115-grainFMJ 9mm and 180-grain FMJ .40S&W were used for all tests. The only

reliability problems weretraceable to erratic veloci-ties from a particular lot of.40 S&W. I switched to adifferent lot and the prob-lems vanished.

To get an idea how thecompensation systems per-formed, I fired multiple 5-and 10-shot strings at paperplates at 10 yards, notingthe ease with which I couldkeep the shots on the plateand splits between shots. Again, myskill set and yours may be vastly differ-

ent, so I will not report numerical val-ues, just my observations.

27May/June 2008 • FRONT SIGHT

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Lone Wolf’s two-ported barrel was…under-whelming.

FRONT SIGHT • May/June 200828

Amplitude #1 $575Base Gun (G17) with Lone Wolf Dis-tributing (LWD) G17 Two Port Barrel.$100 + $475 in Fixed Costs

I did not expect much from a couple ofslots cut in the last inch of barrel and Igot everything I expected, and less.This barrel placed 5th in accuracy as itmanaged 2” groups at 50 feet. As far asrecoil or recovery goes, swapping thetwo-port for the stock barrel back andforth I could tell “some” difference butI could not put a finger on “a” differ-ence. Chalk up $100 for some added

noise and bigger groups.

Amplitude #2 $615Base Gun (G35) with .40S&W Lone Wolf Distribut-ing Six Port Barrel. $140 +$475 in Fixed Costs

This barrel configuration at.40 S&W pressures did offeran improvement over thestock barrel in rapid-firestrings, but should not beused with the Carver mountas two of the rear ports ex-

haust gas under the bridge of themount. This barrel ranked last for ac-curacy of the six units by a consider-able margin with an average group of2.75” at a measured 50 feet.

Amplitude #3 $625Base Gun (G17) with the 9mm LWDbarrel and Six-port comp. $150 +$475 in Fixed Costs

This “Buck Rogers” style compen-sator looks like a movie prop, and I ex-pected it to perform like one. Instead

of baffles, it has a big expansion cham-ber that vents gas out through two gillplates (making two slots on each side)and two holes in the top. The addi-tional false gill made me look at thiscomp like a toy. Shockingly, this baffle-less comp works! It gave a noticeableimprovement in my ability to placeholes in targets at speed, making this isa fun gun to shoot fast. This combina-tion worked well, and for little morethan the plain ported number. Accu-racy was excellent at 1.75 inches.

Amplitude #4 $765Base Gun (G17) with 9mm KKM Bar-rel and 3-port comp. $290 + $475 inFixed Costs

Although we’re working with fairlysedate 9mm loads, the muzzle pres-sures that did not seem to offer muchhelp with the simple 2-port barrelworked well against the surface area ofthe 3-port KKM comp’s baffles. I onlyown one G17, so the modularity of theGlock pistol and the precision machin-ing employed by both KKM and LWDallowed me to swap back and forthagain and again. Swap as I did I cannotin good conscience offer you a clearwinner. They both work very well.However the accuracy edge goes to theKKM tube with consistent 1.5-inchgroups collected.

Amplitude #5 $735G35 with SJC Custom Comp/ Mountwith Doctor Dot. $395 + $240 re-spectively + $95 Fixed Costs (Tru-Grip and magwell)

This clever device combines themount and compensator into a singlebolt-on shroud that looks like some-thing you’d see at the Bianchi cup. Thewhole affair is precisely machinedfrom T6061 aluminum and weighs lessthan six ounces. It attaches securelythrough an interference fit betweenpistol’s light rail and two mating railswithin the mount. To keep it frombacking off in recoil, the trigger pin isreplaced with a machine screw that se-cures the shroud. The “comp” half ofthe shroud is a clone of the 5-port com-pensator used on SJC’s state-of-the-art

“Buck Rogers” or no, the Lone Wolf G17 6-port-comp worked surprisingly well. (Lone Wolf tellsus the design drew on artillery compensators.)

Open G17 that when installed just“kisses” the muzzle of the barrel. The“mount” is a small flat section designedto fit a J-Point or Doctor Dot style op-tic, or bolt on a Weaver rail if you like.

Design-wise, this unit is a winner.Shoot Limited in the morning, thenslip this unit on to shoot Open in theafternoon! No change in zero, nochange in reliability, no change in trig-ger, and as accurate as your currentbarrel and load!

Performance-wise, I had little diffi-culty running this unit at speed. Ithought at first that much of this con-

trollability could be attributed toadded weight of the mount.

However, an equal weight benefitwas provided by the Carvermount in Amplitude # 2and it did little there to as-sist me in controlling thegun. This is a neat way tocompete in Open Division!

Using the Docter, the dot sits lowenough that the transition from notchand post to optical sights only took afew minutes. And in those few minutesI was able to cluster a number of 1.25”groups with the CCI Blazer 180’s! TheSJC comp/mount is a brilliant idea andit works. Currently available for theG34/35 and soon to be on the shelf forthe G17 and G20, this offering from

SJC could be a USPSAcontender in a G17prepped to handle 9mmmajor loads. Add someBianchi barricade

29May/June 2008 • FRONT SIGHT

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USPSA/IPSC meets Bianchi Cup. The SJCComp/Mount incorporates the comp intoan external shroud, letting you leave youriron sights in place. It works!

Amplitude 1 Amplitude 3LWD 6-Port 9mm

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wings, your best handloads, and try your hand at NRA ac-tion pistol. Can you say versatile?

Amplitude #6 $765.00G35 with 40 S&W LWD G22 complete Open Divisiontop end. $670.00 + $95 Tru-Grip and magwell

While still a prototype as of my testing, this completepackage consists of a LWD G22 length slide with a Weaverrail machined in lieu of rear sight cuts, an extendedthreaded barrel and matching “Buck Rogers” nine-portcompensator (this .40 comp has three ports on the top andthree working gills on each side), three custom hybrid styleholes in the barrel with matching holes in the slide and aNikko Sterling heads-up optical dot sight made exclu-sively for LWD. Pull off your top end and replace it withthis one…done.

During testing I could not help but put a few “extra”rounds through this variation. Something about this gunkept me coming back to shoot it again and again. Whilethe SJC arrangement felt measured and controlled, the LWDfelt more like a “race gun” — edgy and alive. (As tested, theSJC weighed 38 ounces, the LWD, just 33.) Bear in mind thatI was equally rewarded during speed drills with either unitindicating no real advantage in one over the other. Accuracywas excellent with 1.5” groups again at 50 feet. I was able toenjoy a brief moment of sunshine outdoors with the unit andwas rewarded with some 10-shot groups of just under 2inches off-hand. The .40 S&W assembly should be availableas you read this, and a 9X19 version will be hot on its heels.I think JR will sell a boatload of these.

The assembly of any of these compilations required littlemore than a couple of socket head wrenches, a commonscrewdriver, a drop or three of Locktite™ and a Glock-ap-propriate punch. The rest is up to you. Pick your poison,tweak and tune to your satisfaction and hit the range!

From mild to wild and most everything in between, thishumble Austrian creation is still finding more ways toplay.

FRONT SIGHT • May/June 200830

WOW! Pat Kelley did this photo for artisitic value, butit reveals a lot about how and where the Lone Wolfcomp vents gas. No wonder it fared so well in his tests.

Goin’ MajorATLANTA ARMS NOW HAS“MAJOR 9” AMMO CALLED“.355 SUPER”BY ROBIN TAYLOR, USPSA STAFF

For anyone looking at run-ning an Open 9mm, At-lanta Arms’ recent offeringis great news. Now instead of handloading your

way up close to a maximum load to create reliably major-power-factor 9mm, you can buy the stuff off the shelf fromAtlanta Arms.

On request, Atlanta Arms was kind enough to send us afew boxes of their Major 9 for examination. Headstamped“.355 SUPER” this is not typical 9mm Parabellum ammo.The box is prominently marked with red lettering “Not ForUse In Standard 9mm.”

According to Dann Wisner at AA, the bullet is a 125-grain Zero jacketed hollow point, loaded into a custom-

headstamped Starline case. Primers appear to be Winches-ter.

The ammo is loaded slightly longer than standard, low-ering pressures, and helping to keep it from being loadedinto the magazine of a Browning Hi-Power or other small9mm. A 10-round sample measured a marvelously consis-tent 1.146-7 inches overall as compared to samples of Rem-ington Golden Sabre 124s (at 1.124 to 1.129) and PMC’s124 FMJ (1.124 to 1.134). Three pulled bullets weighed to-gether massed at 375.1 grains, with each bullet weighing125, 125, and 125.1 respectively.

“The development of the 355 Super (9MM Major) wasa joint effort between Atlanta Arms & Ammo and SJC,”says Wisner.

I don’thave access toa pressurebarrel, but ifthese thingsstay close toSAAMI spec,

GOIN’ MAJOR W/.355 SUPER continued on page 70.