Accuracy questions

[rljensen]

OK, I'm a noob. Be nice! I've read just about all the posts and have a couple of questions on pistol accuracy. Not shooter accuracy.
1) I see posts for drop in (same caliber) barrels. How accurate are the stock barrrels? I have a 9mm 5" barrel. If I were to clamp that and use WWB ammo, what kind of group could I expect?
2) how much better would it be with replacement 9mm Barrel?
3) is the accuracy more dependant on the fit of the barrel or the manufacturing tolerance?
4) if fit is the (or one of the) keys, could you build the body up with something like fibreglass to improve the support/fit of the stock barrel?
Thanks for any help,
Rich

I've been able to keep 48 out of 50 rnds in the 10 ring from 21ft with a 45xd 4inch straight out of the box using win Ammo.

[Bob Hostetter]

Since the XD is a production pistol, and is primarially a service pistol as well, it is designed with generous clearance's. As with any pistol of this type accuracy can range from pretty good to very bad. Having said that, most XD's shoot fairly accurately.

An aftermarket barrel, a 'quality' aftermarket barrel, bring's a couple of different things to the table. The quality of the barrel should be much higher then the stock barrel and it should be made to fit the frame and slide with much tighter clearance's. Both of these things will improve the machnical accuracy potential. A match fit barrel, not a drop in style, should be made oversize so that it will not fit the pistol. This allows the gunsmith to precision fit the barrel to the frame and slide giving you the best possible fit which again provides for even more potential accuracy. Because most aftermarket barrels are of decent quality the most important factor becomes the fit, not the barrel.

How much improvement over stock you can expect is a function of a couple of different things as well. The XD's I build using quality aftermarket barrels are normally capable of shooting somewhere around 1.5" groups at 25 yards. You are pretty much looking at one hole for 10 rounds. How much improvement over stock this will represent depends on what your XD has capable of doing stock (and they are all different).

No you can't use fiberglass or whatever to fit the barrels tighter, it is not strong enough. You need to start with an oversized barrel or weld up your stock barrel (or weld up the locking block and/or slide). Also keep in mind that the quality of your ammo has a lot to do with your pistols ability to make use of it's accuracy potential and so do you. If you aren't capable of shooting 1.5" groups then nothing you do to your pistol is going to change that. You can also do modifications that make it easier to shoot the gun more accurately such as better sights and trigger's. These don't make the gun more accurate but they make the gun easier to shoot more accurately.

While different people will tell you different things about spending money on making your pistol more accurate, I will share with you my thoughts. I want my pistols to be as mechincally accurate as possible because if the bullet doesn't go exactly where I want it to go, I want to know that it was my fault and not the gun's. That way I know where to look to improve our combined performance. You need to determine what level of accuracy is enough for you, and then do whatever is necessary to get your pistol to that level, THEN get yourself to that level.......

[KnightHawk]

Few of us shoot well enough to approach our pistol's level of accuracy. I normally recommend tuning up the shooter until the pistol's limits are reached.

I have lost count of how many shooters have asked about replacement barrels to improve accuracy as their gun was spraying all over a B27 target at 7 yards or less and the most common complaint is needing sights adjusted because the gun is shooting drastically low and left at minimum range.

We should work on our skills until we can actually use a more accurate pistol.

[Ken B]

and actually posted this for sale, but then took it out again....Xd9 service, all factory, unknown number of rounds (now I have 200 rounds through it of mixed WWB weights)

the first one is two handed, off hand at 20 yards, with a mix (5 rounds 115 wwb, 124 gr WWB, and 147 gr WWB HP loaded in no certain order through the mag). top 12 o'clock was my flyer chasing the sights..

so i took 10 rounds 115 gr WWB and sat down at the bench, 20 yrds, two handed hold over my shooting bag 'rest'

shot better than my 2nd Gen Glock 17 with the same 'test' when I first got it

think I'll sell the 5906!!!

this is just my mileage from my pistol, and may not represent what another pistol may do, but I think the factory barrel is fine with my skills...so I guess TGO has NADA to fear!

[rljensen]

OK. Thanks for the replies. I'm going to try and bench rest mine and see what it will do that way. I'm not in any hurry to make a bunch of mechanical changes until I start to feel like I'm shooting as well as the gun will do. That's probably a long way off. I think I will try and reproduce the 25yd tests that Bob talked about. That's farther than I usually shoot, (home defense is the objective), but it gives me an idea of what a good match barrel is capable of.
Bob: are you talking about bench rest, or some sort of clamping to make sure it's lined up exactly the same each shot.
Rich

[Bob Hostetter]

No that's two handed firing from the standing position. Plastic framed guns don't like ransom rest's................

[rljensen]

Bob;
Last questions for a while. If there is some good online reference for this stuff, please point me at it.
Is the plastic (resin?) body stronger than fiberglass would be?
From some posts I've seen it looks like the custom barrels are just oversize at the back of the barrel. Is that true and is it the only place that needs work?

Thanks for all the info,
Rich

[Bob Hostetter]

There are four basic places you need to fit an oversized barrel. The first would be the hood extension, the second would be the overall length of the hood, the third would be the diameter of the barrel at the muzzle where it contact's the slide, and the fourth would be the height of the lower lug. The barrels I use are oversized in all of these area's but most aftermarket barrels aren't.

The polymer is softer then fiberglass and has more flexibility. Neither has enough wear resistance or surface hardness to use to build up a barrel for fitting.

Not sure about online references for barrel fitting. I am not aware of any but that doesn't mean there isn't any out there.

[nsnate02]

PistolGear.com sells an aftermarket precision barrel that requires fitting. It is probably the most cost effective way of doing this project. Otherwise you will pay $200+ for a barrel and then pay a gunsmith to fit it.