[BLUElixir]

Hey guys. I thought some of you might be interested in this. I love the ported XD but the ports could be detrimental in a defensive situation. So I decided to buy a EFK .40 conversion barrel. At the same time I didn't want to chance any recoil spring problems so I bought a Don's Guide Rod and a couple of springs. The gun really looks mean now! I also picked up a Streamlight M6.

Thanks to Scott from pistol-gear.com for EXCELLENT service and advice and to Don for a cool guide rod!

Some picts.....

The EFK barrel... A nice piece!

They say that some fitting might be required and they were right. It took me about an hour of very slow and careful grinding with a Dremel to get it to fit. It wasn't too hard. The arrows in this picture show where I had to grind.

 

[UP ST NY TRANSPLANT]

Con Grats

Looks mean, I like It

Have you had a chance to shoot it yet.
If you have, have you noticed any difference in recoil with out the ports.

 

[willbond]

How did you know where to dremel the barrel to make it fit? I've always wondered.......

 

[BLUElixir]

No I haven't had a chance to shoot it yet but I am anxious to! I also bought a stock weight spring and one that should lessen the recoil even more. I am interested what that will do with the ported barrel.

Fitting the barrel was a new experience for me. I was a little disappointed when it didn't just slide in but it wasn't that bad. It took me so long because I was being careful that I didn't' remove too much material. I put the barrel in as far as it would go and then after alot of studying and contemplating, I started slowly grinding on certain spots. I put the barrel in and held it up to the light to see where light was showing and the spots that were metal to metal. I also looked for spots in the slide that showed new rubbing marks or spots on the barrel that showed rubbing marks. The place that I didn't realize needed grinding was the spot with the arrow that is the farthest forward on barrel in the picture. I found it by comparing the new and old barrels.

 

[Old School]

I love the look of a solid barrel in a ported slide. It looks mean! Nice job!!

 

[BLUElixir]

Yeah thanks to you! I appriciate your great service Scott.

 

[mr0w1]

Very nice job there. I'm not a stainless fan, but when applied with a light, precise touch, it looks fantastic.

And you've got more nerve than I do, grinding and all. I'm doing good to work a belt sander and a 2x4 :roll:

 

[Old School]

Yeah thanks to you! I appriciate your great service Scott.

My pleasure. Was the document we included with the barrel helpful? It is a brief guide on where to polish if the barrel is tight 80% of the time, it is the "teeth" on the top that are a bit long.

Going slow is the only way to go. You want the barrel to be tight. Over time, it will works its way in to be that much better. Let us know how it shoots.

Scott

 

[DNM]

I'll be right back...

Looks wicked awesome. 8)

 

[BLUElixir]

Thanks again guys for the compliments.

Scott, I've got to be completely honest with you here..... I didn't find the fitting instructions until just now..... Sorry about that. I thought it was just an order invoice. I took a quick inventory in my head to make sure that everything that I ordered was there and never even saw the fitting instructions. Since I still haven't fired it, I may have to do a little more fitting. We'll see... Thanks for the heads up on that though!

 

[kraigster414]

I ordered an EFK standard semi-drop in barrel for my Glock 36. It required extensive fitting by my gunsmith and ended up costing me $80 for the work. You may want to check out Jarvis barrels as they are "no fitting required" and have an excellent reputuation. Jarvis barrels are are also not as shiny. I have one on order and will let folks know how it does.

 

[Old School]

I ordered an EFK standard semi-drop in barrel for my Glock 36. It required extensive fitting by my gunsmith and ended up costing me $80 for the work. You may want to check out Jarvis barrels as they are "no fitting required" and have an excellent reputuation. Jarvis barrels are are also not as shiny. I have one on order and will let folks know how it does.

Has Jarvis recently released a barrel for the XD? As of a month or so ago, they did not have one.

As for fitting, when a barrel is National Match, it is very tight in order to get the required accuracy. If a barrel drops in too easily, it means there is slop. That has been my experience and understaning based on discussion with different manufacturers.

Old School

 

[kraigster414]

I ordered an EFK standard semi-drop in barrel for my Glock 36. It required extensive fitting by my gunsmith and ended up costing me $80 for the work. You may want to check out Jarvis barrels as they are "no fitting required" and have an excellent reputuation. Jarvis barrels are are also not as shiny. I have one on order and will let folks know how it does.

Has Jarvis recently released a barrel for the XD? As of a month or so ago, they did not have one.

As for fitting, when a barrel is National Match, it is very tight in order to get the required accuracy. If a barrel drops in too easily, it means there is slop. That has been my experience and understaning based on discussion with different manufacturers.


All depends on what your objective is. I bought the EFK barrel for my G36 principally so I could shoot my cast reloads. Whether it was the quick cycling of the short G36, the design of the feed ramp (which I polished) or the tight tolerances of the EFK, I don't know but I had nothing but problems. And I tried a variety of bullet shapes and sizes from SWC to RN, 200 grain to 230 grain.

But you are correct, tight tolerances contribute to tighter accuracy. In my case, it was not a requirement. I am hoping the Jarvis will do the trick in my G36 - it should arrive this week. As far as Jarvis barrels for SA, don't know. Suggest you give 'em a call. Nice people.

Old School

 

[kraigster414]

I ordered an EFK standard semi-drop in barrel for my Glock 36. It required extensive fitting by my gunsmith and ended up costing me $80 for the work. You may want to check out Jarvis barrels as they are "no fitting required" and have an excellent reputuation. Jarvis barrels are are also not as shiny. I have one on order and will let folks know how it does.

Has Jarvis recently released a barrel for the XD? As of a month or so ago, they did not have one.

As for fitting, when a barrel is National Match, it is very tight in order to get the required accuracy. If a barrel drops in too easily, it means there is slop. That has been my experience and understaning based on discussion with different manufacturers.


(From Kraigster414) All depends on what your objective is. I bought the EFK barrel for my G36 principally so I could shoot my cast reloads. Whether it was the quick cycling of the short G36, the design of the feed ramp (which I polished) or the tight tolerances of the EFK, I don't know but I had nothing but problems. And I tried a variety of bullet shapes and sizes from SWC to RN, 200 grain to 230 grain.

But you are correct, tight tolerances contribute to tighter accuracy. In my case, it was not a requirement. I am hoping the Jarvis will do the trick in my G36 - it should arrive this week. As far as Jarvis barrels for SA, don't know. Suggest you give 'em a call. Nice people.

 

[BLUElixir]

I shot a little yesterday so I thought I would give a little feedback on the new barrel and Dons guide rod/springs.

This "range session" was really just to blow off some steam with some friends. I didn't do any accuracy tests mostly because it was pretty cold and windy. The new barrel works excellent although I only fed it around 50-70 rounds. It is noticeably quieter than the stock ported barrel. There is also noticeably more recoil/muzzle flip than the ported barrel. I can't see any strange wear marks on the barrel or the slide so I guess the fitting worked ok.

The Don's guide rod worked excellent also. I tried it and a 18 pound spring with the stock ported barrel and it felt just the same as it did with the stock recoil spring. Then I switched to a 20lb spring and boy is that fun! The combo of the 20lb spring and the porting makes for hardly any muzzle flip! Its really great. I only shot 50-70 round with each of these combinations but everything worked flawlessly. I'm happy!