I have an IWI Masada.
I recently found that iwi sells threaded barrels for the pistol.
It’s NOT an aftermarket barrel, i.e., a third party maker. Iwi makes them.
My Masada did not come with a threaded barrel and I’ve been considering switching over.
Having cleaned the gun after shooting, it seems quite easy to remove and then reinsert the barrel. I’ve neither observed, nor experienced any difficulties with the removal and reinsertion. And shooting afterwards hasn’t resulted in any problems.
Of course, as would all gun makers, they “strongly recommend” that the switch should be done by a certified gunsmith.
As the barrel is designed explicitly for the pistol, I’m finding myself wondering if inserting the new barrel would be any different from inserting my existing barrel.
I spoke with a local gunsmith and he said they’re mostly concerned about dimensional variances which would cause the chamber end to not seat properly, thus the gunsmith would be able to make the necessary on-site adjustments.
If i were doing it, I’d go to the range and see how a round fits in the chamber. If it fits, it ships. In my experience, most striker guns have loose enough tolerances to not worry about fitting. 1911’s and similar firearms are a little different.
If you want a threaded barrel for suppressor purposes, you’ll have to spend several hundred dollars for the suppressor, the tax stamp, background check, and perhaps spring replacement/adjustments to ensure functionality. Throwing in a check/fitting of the replacement barrel by a gunsmith seems like a de minimus part of the total package.
I can’t speak to the Masada but I know lots of people drop in new barrels on Glocks and other similar pistols.
With a threaded barrel you usually have to take off the thread protecting cap to get the barrel to fit through the slide. It is possible for the cap to work loose while firing if you’re not careful which could be a bad thing if it gets too loose. Some people use a heat resistant O ring to prevent the cap from twisting off easily.
The one potential advantage to a threaded barrel even if you don’t intend to add a suppressor is you get a little more length which might generate a little more velocity which might help some bullets reach their optimal performance velocity if they were not doing so with the shorter barrel. But if and how much the velocity is increased would depend as much on the designs of the original vs the threaded barrel as it does on the little bit of extra added length.
@SteveBMe If you seriously want to switch to a threaded barrel, get with the gunsmith for your safety, and go for it, and if everything goes well, order your suppressor.
If the barrel is made by manufacturer, it should be marked as “drop-in” or “gunsmith fit”.
“Drop-in” barrel should work without any issues, however I personally do not trust it. Better fit, better performance and less stress that gasses and residues will fly all over the gun.
“Gunsmith fit” barrel is always oversized and requires work on it to perfectly fit to the firearm.
In both cases chamber and inside will be the same. Fitting is done on outside only, for good lock up and no extra space in breech face.
That is correct. But only outside dimensions must be adjusted.
Any good gunsmith will do this.
Drop-in should be good for most of Glock-ish handguns. There is no fit at all so that is the reason all aftermarket parts work without any additions work.
But … if if we care about accuracy and reliability… good and tight fit is a must.
Oftentimes loose fit is an advantage for reliability. My understanding is that one of the reasons that AK 47 work so well when unmaintained, or even dropped in the mud and stomped on, is because they are built with very loose tolerances. But accuracy certainly suffers.
I think for most self defense situations Glocks have a good balance between tight enough to make accurate enough shots and loose enough to be reliable when dirty.
Someday I’ll have to get my hands on a nice precision built handgun. But at least for now I can blame all my misses on my stock Glock even though it is probably more accurate than I am:)
Yeah, you may be right. I actually gave up on polymer handguns and that’s why loose fit is not an advantage anymore.
For self defense balance can be omitted… you can shoot the tool that is reliable, accuracy doesn’t matter. You can shoot blind folded up to 5 yards.
That’s why Glocks work great in that field.
I live and work in very open country where the threats can sometimes be pretty far away so I do like having some accuracy to go with the reliability. With my Glock 19 I can usually hit my 12” x 18” torso shaped steel target pretty reliably at 50 yards and I feel that is reasonable accuracy.
Though my goal this summer is to be able to get reliable hits with it at 100 yards. I received some interesting hints on how to do that but I need someone looking through my spotting scope when I’m shooting to help dial me in.
When I started shooting 1911 pistols my accuracy over 20 yards went up. After few months a became obsessed with shooting torso size at 100 yards. That was my goal and I wanted to prove myself what I can or cannot do.
Shooting 2011 with red dot at 100 yards is really easy.
I cannot do this with polymer handgun…
The only barrel I have replaced was my Glock26. I’ve hadvit for over 10 years & have put thoudands of rounds through it. It looks ok to the naked eye but the outside was pretty rough. I bought one from Glock, dropped it in & put 50 or so rounds through it. No sweat
