Glock 20 -ported or nonported?

[Pablo]

Glock 20 -ported or non-ported barrel?

I've read lots of pluses and minuses of porting. The only real plus for me is less felt recoil.

I need some experienced input.

[Pablo]

I tell you what there is a TON of cheeze whiz on the web about porting, some is just pure junk, both ways.

I'm getting the ported gun. If some how it's a problem, I can get a non-ported Lone Wolf barrel and even shoot lead.

[BarryinIN]

(Sorry- I started this this morning and just finished after returning home. I didn't know you posted a decision and mean to make it sound like I was questioning it. But I'll leave it up because I think the points are still valid anyway.)

It's your gun, but if you're taking votes or something, I'll vote No Ports. I wouldn't get them if it was me.

I don't find they cut recoil, just muzzle rise. That may sound nitpicking saying it that way but it's true. It comes back into the hand about the same. They just don't let the muzzle climb quite as high.

The obvious question is Why is that a bad thing? It's not a bad thing. It just doesn't help as much as you might think, and it has some disadvantages. It won't cut the muzzle flip a lot. Some, but a lot. It won't "shoot flat" as IPSC people say about a good comp. I've heard several say they couldn't tell a difference, but the ones saying that who ive seen shoot- I know they shoot with a real solid Weaver stance and they have excellent recoil control anyway. Bit for the average shooter, they will probably see a difference, but don't expect anything huge.

I thought about getting one when I was accumulating Glocks, but then I had to ask myself: When would porting help? The obvious answer is in a competition where it would cut the split times between shots. Most competitions disallow them completely, or put them in their own division (and then it's no edge at all if everyone has it). I know you might never shoot a match of any kind with a Glock 20 but maybe this will be a consideration: Any time you shoot that gun in an informal "contest" (betcha can't hit that paper over there) the other shooter(s) will point to those ports. You could shoot a gnat off a post a thousand yards off and someone will say it was because the gun was ported.

Other than competition, where it might even be a disadvantage if you can't use it, I'm not sure where they would really help. Will it really matter that your splits between [censored] will be .20 seconds instead of .23 seconds when shooting paper at the range? That's what I asked myself.

FWIW- The guy who sets up at the local gun shop and does repairs and mods had a cracked ported barrel. It had a small crack going away from a port (not toward the other port). Granted he had probably had hundreds or thousands of ported Glock barrels pass through his hands before seeing that, but it did happen once.

I just see little gain in them. To me, it's like making a change to the gun that makes it one decibel quieter. The gun still makes enough noise (recoil) that you still have to deal with it and you've added a change to the gun (however small) that might cause trouble or limit it's use (however little). Small disadvantages but small advantages too.

[Pablo]

Good valuable points. I'm committed now. I'll have exactly one ported gun and let you know how it goes.

[BarryinIN]

And being a Glock, if you want to try a non-ported barrel, it's a few seconds away.

[Pablo]

Got snowed in - want to pick up my pistole.

[Pablo]

We got our power back, rain is washing snow away. Picked up the 20C. Need to pick up my SR1911 (ordered in May!). Need to hit the range!

[BarryinIN]

I didn't remember an SR1911.

Looking forward to bearing about that. My feelings have gone from "Blah, another one" to "Maybe I'll have a look" after hearing how it's mostly without things like firing pin safeties and full length guide rods, and hearing great reports from a couple of instructors who have seen them go through classes.

[Pablo]

I didn't remember an SR1911.

Looking forward to bearing about that. My feelings have gone from "Blah, another one" to "Maybe I'll have a look" after hearing how it's mostly without things like firing pin safeties and full length guide rods, and hearing great reports from a couple of instructors who have seen them go through classes.

Ordered in May 2011, I had kind of given up. They just are NOT making it to WA state at all.

[Pablo]

Man what a SWEET gun. I shot 100 rounds or so with no issues.

[wwillson]

Man what a SWEET gun. I shot 100 rounds or so with no issues.

Do you get any muzzle rise with the porting?

Wayne

[Pablo]

Originally Posted By: Pablo

Man what a SWEET gun. I shot 100 rounds or so with no issues.

Do you get any muzzle rise with the porting?

Wayne

Not that I noticed. A Glock 20 is a decent sized gun and has a heavy slide to begin with. I was shooting some mags FAST, and it was the end of a 5 hour shooting session, but I expected more muzzle flip, twist, recoil, etc - not much at all really. I was using my green laser and it was back on center, really fast. That said I would not like this round in a small package.

[BarryinIN]

That said I would not like this round in a small package.

I liked shooting my Glock 29 better than the 20. The grip fit me better, and that made all the difference.

What ammo did you use? There is a big difference in what's out there. Some of it is pretty much .40 S&W level, but some is...not.

CorBon is pretty stout in all weights. Double Tap and Buffalo is seriously strong stuff, but not exactly on every gun shop shelf.

I like plain old Winchester 175 grain Silvertip as far as something (fairly) readily available and having plenty of thump. It runs around 1170 fps in my Delta, and shoots well too. It shoot really well in the Glocks I had. I'd probably pick it to carry.

Some of the Hornady can make good speeds. I think their 155 was in the high 1200s.

The generic Remington UMC is about the puniest. Federal has some that's not far behind. I doubt either get more that 950 fps or so with a 180.

This is one that's fun to handload. It's almost as much fun seeing how light it can go. I have gone down to 800 fps and the gun still works. I like AA #7, 800X, and SR7625, but Blue Dot and Power Pistol put on a nice fiery booming show if desired.

[Pablo]

The 20 grip is perfect. I HATE small Glocks, they are like trying to hold a fat midget with explosive diarrhea.

I do not have large hands. My right hand just goes around the front finger grooves, the my left just fits in the right side of the grip and around on top perfectly.

I was shooting some medium hot Washougal Cartridge Company 180 gr, 1100fps or so loads.

[wwillson]

I HATE small Glocks, they are like trying to hold a fat midget with explosive diarrhea.

Pablo,

I honestly don't really know what that means, but it's a perfect and memorable way to describe a Glock grip.

LOL,

Wayne

[BarryinIN]

Holding a fat midget with explosive diarrhea.

Wow. I thought the 29 felt like holding a 19/23 only a little wider, but yeah, your way is more memorable.

180 at 1100 isn't too shabby. There is heavier, but there is an awful lot of lighter out there too. Some 10mm detractors think all the range of 10mm strengths is a bad thing, but I see it as variety. The same people say ammo choices are limited, but it looks to me you can find a lot of bullet weights at a variety of velocities. The 135s are usually smoking fast but Federal has (or had) a Personal Defense load that was pretty mild. The other weights run the same way although maybe not with quite the velocity spread. Light and fast, heavy and slow, light and slow, heavy and fast- it's all out there. I dare say there is at least as wide a range of choices in 10mm than .40, .41 Mag, .44 Mag, and .45 ACP. Maybe more. Most of those are either loaded to high pressure or low pressure, but the 10mm usually comes either way in every bullet weight, and the bullet weight range is just as wide.

I think it's a good round, if you can't tell.

[Pablo]

For some reason the Glock stubbies, like the G27 and G29 are just terrible. The short fat grip is just not at all grippable to me. The pistol twists, jumps, arrghhh...I think the third hand gun I shot in my life was a G27. The G20 grip allows me to splay my right hand a bit and get some bite. Then the left hand comes in very naturally and seals the deal with complete deadly stable accuracy.

I did not want anything to do with Glock after that miserable experience with the G27. I calmed down after 10 months and bought a G17L. Nice gun, and that led me to the G20C. Again, nice gun.

EDIT: I LOVE 10MM!!