Last year, I upgraded my “Mock 19” with a stainless threaded G19 barrel from Bear Creek Arsenal. I had done this with plans of testing a 9mm suppressor, but that test never happened. Yet I am happy to report that the barrel certainly didn’t let me down. If you’re building a clone, or upgrading a factory G17, 19, 22, 23, or 26, these barrels are worthy of your consideration. They’re available in different finishes, with or without threads, and priced competitively.
The Bear Creek Arsenal Stainless Threaded G19 Barrel
With ten different options for the G19 alone, I felt spoiled for choices. When all was said and done, I settled on the $72.99 416R stainless steel barrel, threaded 1/2 x 28. It’s for 9mm, of course, and has a 1:16 twist. This drop-in barrel is a direct replacement for the factory barrel, or the finishing touch for your next custom build. No gunsmithing is required, and they are made by BCA in Sanford, NC. Bear Creek Arsenal backs its barrels with a limited lifetime warranty as well.
Fit and finish is excellent, with no noticeable tooling marks. If the stainless finish isn’t your thing, Bear Creek Arsenal has plenty of other options. Choose from a black nitride finish, either threaded or unthreaded, for that classic look. If you want something a little more flashy, they’ve got you covered. There are black/stainless fluted options with either straight flutes (Wolf) or sort of spiral flutes (Bear claw). If gold or copper appeal to you, they also offer titanium nitride (TiN) finishes in both colors, with a threaded option for the copper finish. You can find all the Bear Creek Arsenal Glock barrel options here.
Installation
Swapping barrels in a Glock or Glock-pattern pistol is super simple, and this was no exception. Drop the magazine, and verify that the chamber is empty. Pull the trigger, then pull the slide lock down while pulling the slide back a fraction of an inch. It should then easily slide forward and off. From there, remove the recoil rod, and then the barrel. Simply place the new barrel in the slide, correctly orient the guide rod, and replace it as well. Then install the slide back on the grip frame. It’s pretty cliché at this point, but the swap probably takes less time to do than it took me to type this.
The point at which things (not related to the barrel) went south quickly
With my newly installed barrel, I was quite excited to go shoot some suppressed 9mm. But my neighbor with the suppressor suffered an injury that kept him from working or playing. And “borrowing” a suppressor is obviously frowned upon. So I took my pistol, bare threads and all (sad day) to our favorite shooting spot on public land. After setting up some steel targets, I ran a few magazines through my pistol before the trigger stopped resetting.
I’m not going to name the company that made it, but this grip frame (or lower, you can call it whatever you want) had several issues. At this point, I gave up and went looking for a different aftermarket grip frame. Because I have good friends, I got hooked up with one that actually works, and goes bang every time. It even cost less than the one it replaced. The red magwell may look out of place, but the price was right, and I got to finish my review.
Range day, part two
Now that I had a functioning, reliable pistol, it was time to head to the range again. Our steel spinner targets have a 2″ and 4″ gong. We set one up at 7 yards, the other around 20. If I can ring the 2″ up close, and the 4″ at a little more distance consistently, I’m happy. And the stainless threaded G19 Barrel From Bear Creek Arsenal did not let me down. We used a mix of 115 and 127 grain ammo, mostly Magtech, S&B, and some Fiocchi. In other words, cheap range ammo. Setting my pride aside, I’ll admit that some of my friends had a few less misses than me. Perhaps I’m not the best shot with this pistol. Or we’re demonstrating that this barrel is more than adequate for a shooter of average to above-average skill.
A carefully deliberated conclusion
As much as I wanted to throw a suppressor on this barrel and shoot some 147 grain ammo through it, that didn’t happen. I’ve been holding out hope that we’d have another chance to shoot suppressed, but snow and my friend’s shoulder injury have prevented that. But it did cycle all the ammo we tried, and it was plenty accurate for friendly competition or a defensive situation. I wasn’t expecting a “match quality” barrel for $72.99, but it’s certainly not going to be holding most shooters back in the accuracy department. And that’s really what matters. This is a well-made, durable and accurate barrel that’s also very affordable. If you’re building a clone, or want to upgrade an existing pistol, check them out at BearCreekArsenal.com.
As always, I’d like to thank Bear Creek Arsenal for providing their barrel for my testing and evaluation. Although it didn’t go quite as planned, I’m still impressed by the quality, given the very fair price.
Have any of our readers used one of these barrels? Share your thoughts below.