S3F Solutions decided to include me in their testing and evaluation of their new Glock barrels. After Paul Van Dunk of Pace Performance ran the test barrel for a few weeks, it was sent over to me.  The barrel I received was a stainless steel S3F Glock 17 profile barrel threaded for a suppressor. It came to me uncleaned and I don’t know how many rounds were fired through it before I received it, but I didn’t think that would be much of an issue, and at the end of testing I’m fairly certain it wasn’t.
I am not a pistol marksman expert; I tend to focus more on the practical accuracy than some of the more exacting standards some require of their handguns for benchrest type shooting. I also know that the handgun is capable of a greater degree of accuracy than I may be able to produce when I am in control of it. This isn’t to say that I don’t appreciate barrel features and manufacturing techniques that can produce a more accurate barrel, because I certainly want all those features if I can get them. Before I took it to the range, I checked the S3F website to see what specs they offered on the barrel. 416 Stainless steel, offered threaded or unthreaded (1/2 x 28 threads if you want them) and the rifling is pulled-broached.  The traditional Glock rifling is polygonal, not broached. Polygonal rifling has been around for a few generations now; it’s used in rifles and machine guns alike to produce a more reliable, longer-life barrel and is generally considered more accurate because the polygonal rifling provides more barrel-to-bullet surface contact and the polygonal profile prevents deformation of the bullet sometimes found with traditional rifling.
Read more – All Warrior Network
(featured image courtesy of allwarriornetwork.com)
