Which .40 Browning HP Drop-In Barrel?

M

Mark Ritchie

New member
Greetings, all. I am considering obtaining an aftermarket barrel for my .40 Mark III. The slide and frame look great (CNC-carved, I believe)but the barrel looks like it was made by a drunk chimp with a Dremel. Lots of gouges, off-center milling, and "oops"-type grindings. For goodness' sake, we own wartime-production guns that don't look this sloppy.

Nonetheless, the barrel has a good fit to both frame and slide, and the pistol operates reliably & accurately. However, I still want another barrel, because a) I'm anal about such things, especially when it comes to my guns, and b) having a spare seems to be a good idea in these days of ballistic fingerprinting & such.

Those of you with a Browning .40 who have purchased another barrel, what did you settle on? Particularly, what brand has the closest "drop-in" fit, without going over (that is, without requiring final fitting)? I'm not after match accuracy, just a fit close to or equal to the factory barrel.

I appreciate your replies.
 
Don't know which one drops in, but make sure it does not have a hood. Some aftermarket barrels have the barrel hood on the .40 and that will not drop in.
 
Jeff,

at the risk of betraying my ignorance, what is the difference betwen a hooded barrel and a regular (i.e., factory spec) barrel?
 
Mark, all barrels have hoods. I think he means the extension that is found on the 9mm Hi-Power barrel but not on the .40 barrel. Not to worry; no one is going to make a .40 barrel with the extension tha is only found on 9mm barrels. :)

As to brand, I would strongly suggest Bar-Sto, and if you are going to pay the money for a new barrel, have it fitted. A drop-in barrel is a compromise, and you sound like the kind of guy who prefers to do it right. Bar-Sto can be found at:
http://www.shooternet.com/barsto/

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Mark
 
The BarSto barrel for the .40 is hooded. At least the one that I am getting is and it requires fitting, though I would imagine that Irv will make it either way if you ask. It requires machining the breech face to accept the hood. I do not know if the 9mm version still uses a hooded barrel or not, I have 4 in 9mm and all have hoods, but all were made before 1996 so things might have changed since then. On the other hand I have not seen any new 9mm BHP's for sale in about 6 months either. The barrel hood on a BHP is similar to the hood on the back of a 1911 barrel only smaller. On the .40 it is to keep the rounds from stovepiping was they come out of the magazine. The tip hits on the hood and helps guide the cartridge into the chamber if the pistol is not feeding correctly. It was left out to simplify the manufacturing process as the misfeed problem is not common, but some guns with some mags do have the problem. Browning and Saive (sp?) designed it with a hood and Bill Laughridge says it helps, so I would like to have one.
 
Um, actually, I was hoping for suggestions besides BarSto. I actually ordered a barrel from them for this gun, and I was underwhelmed with what they sent me, and the responses I received, so I returned it.

Mark, I appreciate the complement - I do like things done right - so I'll explain myself further. The reason I am after a drop-in barrel is because this is not an area(Fort Lauderdale)which is teeming with gunsmiths I'd trust to fit a barrel to my only CCW-worthy piece. I could send it to an out-of-area gunsmith, I suppose, but that would have to wait until I obtain a backup. And when I've steeled myself for the attendant and potential hassles of my gun or portions thereof getting shipped back and forth across the country. And only upon strong recommendations for the 'smith from others on TFL, as I've grown leery of transactions involving more than $100 of my money without an up-front inspection of the goods or services offered.

Oh, to heck with it. I'll just deal with the barrel I have. At least the gun feeds reliably, which is an improvement over certain others I've owned.

Gentlemen, thank you for your replies.
 
Accurate Plating and Weaponry is in Florida. Coogan runs the shop. I don't remember exactly where it is and you do have a long state, but if you do a search you can find them. They do good work.
 
Mark, FWIW I second the recomendation for Accurate Plating & Weaponry.

You are nervous about having to send your pistol to a gunsmith for work, but are willing to trust a *drop-in* barrel in your carry piece? Misplaced trust, IMHO. :) You ship it to a quality 'smith, via FedEx or UPS, insured, and track its progress on the Internet. There are just not that many first class pistolsmiths in the country that we can all have them in our backyard. You are, however, lucky to have Accurate P & W the next block over :)
http://www.apwcogan.com/

That said, I'd not hesitate to send my Hi-Power to Cylinder & Slide or Wickmann Gun Works (former Hi-Power man for Wayne Novak), either...
http://www.cylinder-slide.com/ http://www.kwgw.com/index.html



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Mark
 
FWIW, I recently put a 'drop-in' Olympic Arms stainless barrel in an Inglis 9mm BHP. I was also a little concerned about fit (particularly since prewar guns' cam slot is a slightly different measurement) but the fit was excellent. The initial fit was about as close as my SIG 220, which is as close as you would ever want. It functioned and fed perfectly from the first shot, and with about 50 rounds 'break-in' it is only slightly less tight. Accuracy is excellent. The bore is not a smooth as I would like but for the price it was a great deal. Unfortunately Brownell's does not list this barrel in .40 cal., but I would assume that a Bar-Sto would behave about the same way if not better. I would also trust some of the better BHP smiths to do the job correctly. I was quoted $250 for this job by one of those smiths but decided to try this approach first. Saved myself about $185 and am perfectly satisfied...

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