Glock 20 modifications for backcountry carry

[Jesse Jaymes]

It's a Magazine.....

 

[2Stamp]

It's a Magazine.....

If you're talking about weight, its definitely less than a full magazine. My surefire x300 weighs less than 4 oz

 

[Jesse Jaymes]

Speaking about the Operator from Michigan who ran half a clip through his Bear Whacker.....complete with laser sight and 40 watt range

 

[Beendare]

Add this to the G20SF database. My G20 functions perfectly essentially stock.

I've spent some time with mine on a couple ranch sessions; Gen 3 G20SF, stock except for a SS guide rod, $.25 trigger job that I do on all of my Glocks, but with this one I took that bump on the side of the trigger bar down 20%, and polished the feed ramp, Extended Slide lock. Barrel and springs stock. Mine still requires pulling the trigger forward when re assembling...I might take a little more off that bump.

I've got 400 rounds of std 10mm FMJ 180 gr through it and 300 rds of Double Tap 200gr hardcast loads [1300 FPS on box] Functions perfect. No sign of over pressure, no bulging cases or flat primers. No malfunctions- zero.

There was some leading on the feed ramp and a little bit in the back 1/2 or so of the barrel after one session of 200 rds of the hardcast......no buildup but some dulling. This cleaned up easy with Hoppes.

All of my shooting has been on my steel plates...so I couldn't tell you if its keyholing...seems pretty accurate so I doubt it.

These are a dream to shoot. I can see where a slightly heavier spring [20#] might help the frame but I'm not messing with this

 

[Pengilly]

View attachment 95219

Don't sweat the style of sights as much as your familiarity with your gun. I killed this bear at about 10 feet with a 10mm. I didn't worry about sight alignment, I just went instinctively.

WOW ! Nice !!

 

[PathFinder]

Add this to the G20SF database. My G20 functions perfectly essentially stock.

I've spent some time with mine on a couple ranch sessions; Gen 3 G20SF, stock except for a SS guide rod, $.25 trigger job that I do on all of my Glocks, but with this one I took that bump on the side of the trigger bar down 20%, and polished the feed ramp, Extended Slide lock. Barrel and springs stock. Mine still requires pulling the trigger forward when re assembling...I might take a little more off that bump.

I've got 400 rounds of std 10mm FMJ 180 gr through it and 300 rds of Double Tap 200gr hardcast loads [1300 FPS on box] Functions perfect. No sign of over pressure, no bulging cases or flat primers. No malfunctions- zero.

There was some leading on the feed ramp and a little bit in the back 1/2 or so of the barrel after one session of 200 rds of the hardcast......no buildup but some dulling. This cleaned up easy with Hoppes.

All of my shooting has been on my steel plates...so I couldn't tell you if its keyholing...seems pretty accurate so I doubt it.

These are a dream to shoot. I can see where a slightly heavier spring [20#] might help the frame but I'm not messing with this

My experience with my G40 has been similar. I shoot the same 200 gr Underwood load. It will cut one ragged hole in 10 shots at 30 yards off a rest. Zero malfunctions, leading seems to be very minimal in 100 or so rounds. The only thing it didn't like were 200 grain hollow points. I think they were quite a bit longer than the hardcasts, and they keyholed. I'm planning on trying an aftermarket barrel to shoot the heavy hollow points. Do you have instructions for your trigger job? I can't decide if I want to do a DIY job or just buy a drop in kit.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

 

[BigSky]

Can't beat a 1911 for accurate shooting......but packing a cocked and locked pistol on a hunt is a bad idea, IMO.

maybe because I'm an old hog hunter....pawing through brush chasing dogs.....I've seen problems with that cocked and locked doing that. A guy really needs a full flap holster to keep the junk out with a weapon like that.

In fact, I quit guiding for hogs due to a client that just HAD TO CARRY his grand daddies cocked and locked Colt .45 on a hog hunt- too dangerous. This particular guy was a douche bag. We told him NOT to unholster until we gave him the go ahead. ...we didn't want a dog shot.

When we finally dragging his azz to the hog fighting our dogs in a creek bottom his eyes were as big as saucers. He was literally a deer in the headlights. He pulls his gun while still staggering up to the dogs/hog.....swaying while pointing the Colt all over. My buddy yells don't shoot....and this guy in a daze turns and points the gun right at my partners head next to him. My partner dodges and grabs the gun with his finger between the hammer and the frame....and just plops down right there white as a ghost in the middle of things.

The hammer had snapped down with his finger preventing it from firing. Yep, my last day guiding for hogs that was [I still help guide for elk/deer] ....you can't pick your clients!

With striker fire...you don't have to worry about the exposed hammer

Well, it sounds to me like your buddy was very, very lucky, at least in this case, that the client was carrying a cocked and locked 1911. Had he been carrying striker fired pistol, your buddy's finger would not have been able to stop the striker and he would longer be with us/you.

 

[Idaboy]

View attachment 95219

Don't sweat the style of sights as much as your familiarity with your gun. I killed this bear at about 10 feet with a 10mm. I didn't worry about sight alignment, I just went instinctively.

PLEASE tell us the story!

 

[Beendare]

Now that I'm down the road a bit more with this G20, its starting to become one of my favorites...[ hard to unseat the G17 as my favorite] Still Zero malfunctions with mine. I mostly shoot FMJ 180gr now. I love this gun. About the only thing I wish as a lefty, is for is a gen 5 version with the Lefty controls..

....... I'm planning on trying an aftermarket barrel to shoot the heavy hollow points. Do you have instructions for your trigger job? I can't decide if I want to do a DIY job or just buy a drop in kit.

I've seen a few of these aftermarket barrels on the G20's...and have a conversion barrel [.40cal to 9mm] on my G23. In those relatively few examples; I don't think its worth swapping barrels. Typically the chambers are tighter- at least they are in the KKM and LW- which should equate to better accuracy. I haven't seen the better accuracy part...but I have heard these guys get a couple FTF's with hard cast. Not worth it IMO.

My G23 went from 100% reliable to having periodic hiccups with the conversion barrel- about 1-200 for me. Those hiccups are guaranteed when my daughter, one of her friends or one of my nieces shoots it- more like 1 in a couple mags. . Its real susceptible to problems with a weak grip. It works as my malfunction drill pistol for them- Grin.

$.25 trigger job
These Glocks are real easy to work on- dig in!
Lots of vids on Youtube going through the twenty five cent trigger job. I use a small cotton wheel on my Dremmel with Flitz or Yellowstone polishing compound. It doesn't take much as you don't want to take metal off....just tool marks and rough edges as these are stamped parts. One other key thing; polish your feed ramp. I think many FTF problems can be narrowed down to the feed ramp and magazines.

The other excellent vid is the Johnny Glock vids. Anyone that has a Glock should watch these....you will become much more comfortable with your pistol. This one where he discusses grit and friction is very good.

Aftermarket Triggers;
I have an Apex kit in my Shield- its nice.
I can tell you these are all different configuration. You might end up with a good target trigger but too touchy for the woods. Some give you less take-up [which I don't want on a defensive pistol], some a faster reset, some a very light 2# trigger- again which I don't want.

I would watch the youtube vids on comparison between the different models as they do a good job describing the differences; Apex vs Overwatch, etc. before you decide. That NPT coating on some [essentially teflon] is going to help smooth everything out....but no better than polishing.

The aftermkt trigger bar is only part of the equation in smoothing these. Safety plunger, and the whole firing pin assembly is a factor- though less important on the trigger feel.

Bottom line; I like the polishing for a defensive pistol like the G20...and really don't notice the difference between say the Apex and $.25 when doing fast fire on steel plates. I do notice the better Apex trigger on slow fire....primarily due to the better trigger shoe.

...hope that helps.

....

 

[Beendare]

BTW, McSeal...you started a very honest thread....where did you end up?

I see where you were playing with other options....

..

 

[Idaboy]

My gunsmith is bringing my G20 back this weekend and says he has it fixed. He shot the ammo I sent with it without an issue but didn't ever find more hardcast to put through it locally. I will shoot it once I get it back and see how it does. I have a 20rd box of Double Tap 230gr and a 50rd box of Double Tap 200gr, plus 20 rounds of Underwood 200gr. If it feeds all that without an issue I will start to trust it again.

He said he polished the feed ramp and still had issues. After that didn't work he polished all the internals, especially the trigger connecting rod. After that it fed fine for him. No changing of any trigger parts from stock, just polishing the stock stuff. It dropped the trigger pull from 8.5lbs to 5.5lbs also he said. He installed the tritium sights after he got it working too.

I will get it shot as soon as I can. My gunsmith moved to Texas this year so I only get stuff dropped off and brought back when he is visiting his family around here. Hopefully I can find some evenings next week to get the gun tested for accuracy and reliability with the cast ammo.

Thanks for everyone who contributed on here, and I will post again after I get the 90 rounds of hardcast I have on hand shot up.

Could you summarize your final specs?

 

[mcseal2]

My Glock is still running fine since getting it back. It feeds whatever i feed it now. I also have a Sig Tacops 1911 now also. I like shooting the Sig the best due to the trigger, but the Glock shoots good too. As of now I’d take the Glock if I was headed to bear country. It is lighter and I have a better holster for it at this point.

 

[Beendare]

Well, it sounds to me like your buddy was very, very lucky, at least in this case, that the client was carrying a cocked and locked 1911. Had he been carrying striker fired pistol, your buddy's finger would not have been able to stop the striker and he would longer be with us/you.

True.

Think about how stupid it is chasing hog dogs through manzanita brush and such with a cocked and liked pistol on your hip? Heck, I had shirts that were ripped to shreds .....that brush is grabbing for the hammer on that 1911 at every turn. Bad Idea, IMO for anyone to be packing a 1911 as a weapon in the woods.

...

 

[Formidilosus]

True.

Think about how stupid it is chasing hog dogs through manzanita brush and such with a cocked and liked pistol on your hip? Heck, I had shirts that were ripped to shreds .....that brush is grabbing for the hammer on that 1911 at every turn. Bad Idea, IMO for anyone to be packing a 1911 as a weapon in the woods.
...

What exactly is it about an exposed hammer on a properly functioning 1911 that scares?

 

[hflier]

Huh, a properly holstered 1911 isn’t dangerous no matter what your in. A crappy cheap holster yes. Exposed hammer means nothing.

 

[Beendare]

I get it...proper holster and in most conditions its fine. [pardon the highjack but its probably worthy of discussion since there is a BIG difference between range use weapons and actual in the woods hunting conditions]

I shortened the story. I think if you guys could see the guy...and the conditions....you would agree.

We started carrying our revolvers in a full flap holster...after having it snatched out of wet leather holsters multiple times. My one buddy a seasoned hunter lost his .357 Security Six on one of these hog chases.

Then add that this guy was a total Douche Bag....we could see by the way he handled that pistol he was dangerous.....and yeah, he had a mismatched holster. ...no Kydex back then 30+ yrs ago. Maybe there was but it was rare.

After all that....you are right...my buddy was lucky it wasn't a striker fire- grin. This was , "His Granddaddy's pistol from the Great War [WWII]"....lucky for us there were no striker fire pistols back then.

...

 

[Coopsdaddy]

Just got a new 20sf,all this im reading has me a little concerned as my gen 3 19 and 43x run fabulous.i just want a dependable gun for woods protection while hiking,hunting and fishing and hunting deer etc.I dont plan to run over 200g.
Any must do upgrades or mods ?
I plan to change sights,i have amerglo bolds on my 43x and they are awesome.
Do you think running a rmr or a streamlight tlr8 would be a advantage for my use or just go with new sights for simplicity.I ask because i have never had either one.

 

[Neumie]

Read through this entire thread. Thanks all for the info. I picked up a G20 gen4 this summer for bear defense; only shot a mag or 2 through it with FMJ and a handful of BBore HC for comparison/confirmation.
I plan to spend a lot more time working on technique as I’m a novice really and hopefully any hiccups are revealed.
I really like the Quick Lock chest holster. Used it hiking and mountain biking with no issues other than it wanted to move around a little if not very snug. Was thinking some type of grippy substance like plastidip could be applied on inside of holster straps. Any thoughts on that?
Regards

 

[mcseal2]

I really don’t know on that. I’ve run Razco holsters and been really happy with them.

 

[Centralcoastca]

I swapped out the barrel with a lone wolf and 22lb recoil spring stainless rod and left everything else alone. IMO I don’t that messing with the trigger is worth potential reliability issues. For a target gun yes, but for something to carry while hunting no. I actually don’t even think changing out the sights is worth the money for a Glock used for that purpose. Real world use would likely be instinct shooting at say a bear charging, better sights would probably not be a real factor. I have considered swapping them out for target shooting because they are not great for that, but then I end up just buying more ammo instead. I have been packing Lehigh defenses 190 solid copper bullet in front of longshot and have been very impressed with it. Buffalo bore sells a factory load with this bullet for dangerous game if you don’t reload. I use a Blackhawk serpa paddle holster mostly. It’s pretty cheap, secure, weatherproof and very comfortable. It is also very easy to convert it to cross draw if I’m carrying a rifle in a sling so they’re not beating on each other.