Aftermarket Barrel Quality, or lack thereof...with pics.

[REDLINE]

Redline, is there consumer protection rights that would normally apply here over and above the warrenty period ? I would have thought that a defective (Manufacturing fault) product would be covered under the equiliviant trade practices act and no amount of shooting would make the barrell look like yours.

Anyway good pick up and camera work...I am off to check my barrel...

About consumer protection rights, I don't know.  Not familiar enough with the law in that area.  You very well might have a valid point.  The only thing I'm thinking sometimes gets a bit hairy with stuff like that is that sometimes it costs more to fight for one's rights than the issue is worth in the first place.  Still, I don't know.

You mentioned about checking your barrel.  I just wonder how many people have a defective barrel and don't know it.  I very well wouldn't have ever known if I just didn't happen to give it a close look one day all because of another bringing up an issue with their own barrel right here on this very forum.  Maybe the issues with mine and ii open's are rare.  Maybe they're more common than anyone would guess.  I don't know and probably never will.  I sure do wonder though.

All in all though I'm very happy that Storm Lake is standing behind the lack of quality in the machining of my barrel, at least so far.  I'll let everyone know how they respond back to me after actually inspecting my barrel on their own, which I expect will be next week sometime.

[Bongo Boy]

Nice photos. The Storm Lake barrel is awful, that's for sure. When I bought my first M&P I was used to peering down the bore of my Sig P220 and seeing glass-smooth surfaces--when I first ran a swab through the M&P then looked at it, I was surprised at just what crap it was. Shoots fine, but my goodness--what lack of care and finishing. In the case of your Storm Lake though, I'd think that even if the general machining was garbage, they'd still manage to polish the burrs off and slather some lipstick on that pig.

I have my first aftermarket barrel coming in the mail soon--I'll be sure to attempt some photos, though I doubt seriously I'll be able to get anywhere near as nice an image as you did.

[Bongo Boy]

Well, just to contribute what I can, my barrel just arrived today. Now, I know some folks have had trouble with these, but I'm impressed and that usually takes quite a bit to do. Here we go.



I asked for a little longer barrel for the 29SF but with no ports, and the good folks at LWD accomodated. Exterior machining and finish is excellent, and in fact I'd say exceptional. This is by far the nicest looking barrel I've ever had, even putting the Sig P220 factory barrel to shame. Can't say I'm enthusiastic about the cartoon--but I can live with it.



Now, I've read one person claiming that the chambers have been 'short' on some LW barrels, but I see nothing wrong here. The ramp is polished at least as well as any other stock barrel I've seen, and I can't imagine it would benefit from any further polishing. Support is what I'd expect from any barrel, factory issue or aftermarket. I'm not sure if it's KKM or LW where claims are the chambers are 'tight', but a quick check with a couple different factory rounds indicates to me it's got the wee bit of play you'd expect, as well. Not much, but a few 1000ths.



Now we get down to bidnith. From this view, it looks like we got ourselves a barrel with a fairly long runway, which is nice for those of us who handload and may want to seat just a little long to get that last tenth of a grain in the case. I believe this is the longest leade I've ever seen on an autopistol barrel, I dunno.



That's not the best photos, but a little closer anyway. Here's one that's a bit better I think:



...and then just some general shots for a look at the finish.







...and finally, the business end:



For those like me who've never seen a G29 barrel before, there was surprise at the thickness. This is the heaviest barrel I've seen on an auto pistol, by a wide margin. I'm pleased there's a bit o' heft there--I didn't order a G29 because I wanted a lightweight 10mm.    This can't hurt at all.

Anyway, overall I'm extremely pleased and rather impressed. The proof is in the shooting, of course--but unfortunately that could be weeks. For now, I hope the pics were instructive.

[REDLINE]

Well, just to contribute what I can, my barrel just arrived today.

Thanks for sharing!  Is it just me, or based on the pic I quoted above, is the throat reamed to a slightly larger diameter than the bore after it?  If so, is this common and normal, assuming it's uniform all the way around the circumference?

[Yondering]

Redline, yes it's normal, and desirable, to have a throat that is slightly larger than the bore, and/or tapered a little bit. I like a relatively long tapered throat in my pistols; in 10mm I like to see .402-.403+" right at the end of the chamber, tapering down to .400-.401" within 1/8" or so. Most barrels are made with a straight (non-tapered) throat, in that case for the 10mm I like to see about .4015-.402" in the throat, transitioning to a .400" bore. The picture above is probably a straight throat, but it's pretty hard to tell without actually measuring.

[REDLINE]

Thanks Yondering.

[The_Shadow]

Thanks also to Bongo Boy for sharing the pictures...

[REDLINE]

Well, they did send it today.

The email read;  Please follow the instructions below in order to process your return for problem resolution.

1) Please complete a return form and describe the issue.  Be sure to clearly write your return address, telephone, and email address on the return form.  You can download a pdf return form at www.storm-lake.com/support by selecting the Returns & Exchanges button.
2) Please include a copy of your purchase receipt from an authorized StormLake dealer.
3) Please ensure that the product is properly packaged and insulated to ensure that the product is not damaged in transit.  Improperly packaged products that are damaged in transit are not covered under the product warranty and will be returned to sender.
4) Your return authorization number is XXXX.  Please write this number on the outside of the package.


So I got the barrel and info together, packaged it up and sent it out.  Sounds like they'll receive it Monday 1-28-13.  So far so good.  Luckily I hadn't fired any ammo through the barrel yet, as at that point they consider it a used barrel and would then not take any responsibility for the barrel being defective.  I'm very happy they have chosen leniency with me in respect to me owning the barrel for a time well beyond their stated warranty period.

It's 2-11-13.  I hadn't heard anything from StormLake yet since before sending the barrel off to them, so I sent them an email asking for a general heads up.

They replied;  "Yes we did receive the barrel back. Our service department is a little back logged but it has been scheduled into the que. We are hoping to have this evaluated and completed within 1-2 weeks."

So we'll see where things stand in a couple weeks from now.

[Bongo Boy]

Is it just me, or based on the pic I quoted above, is the throat reamed to a slightly larger diameter than the bore after it?  If so, is this common and normal, assuming it's uniform all the way around the circumference?

I see what you're referring to, but I think that's just a bit of mark left from the tool used to taper the lands. I believe it's too small to be measureable (by me anyway), and too small to be intentional. If you were to grind a tool with a non-cutting shoulder on it to taper the lands, it would ride on the chamber and possibly the bore just a bit as it hit the lands, and I'd expect it would leave a bit of a mark. These photos tend to really amplify things, and I doubt it's anywhere close to even 0.0005" that you're seeing.

It does indicate an opportunity for a fella to go in and polish that taper on each land, though--that would be fun. I think I have just the tool to do that--I'll give it a shot and report back. 

Hopefully, things will go well with Storm Lake for you. Lately things have been nuts, and I've noticed it can be tough to get through by any means to some retailers. I placed an $850 order a few nights back, got a confirmation after submitting the order, and now can't find it at all, and can't get through via phone to even see if the order actually got accepted. Very frustrating--good to see you got a response at least.

[REDLINE]

I get your drift.  I have yet to hear from them regarding what they think, and will or won't do, yet.  It will be interesting find out their thoughts/actions when they get around to it.  I'll be posting whatever comes to pass as I find out more.

[REDLINE]

StormLake Inc. sent me an email this morning saying they shipped a package out to me via USPS Priority Mail and estimates the package to be delivered in 1-3 days.

The interesting part is they did not say how they handled my warranty claim, and did not say what they are sending back to me.  I have no doubt they are sending a barrel back to me, but don't know if it's the one I had or a new one or what.  Anyway, guess I'll know in 1-3 days.

As soon as I have time after getting whatever barrel they're sending me I'll get and post pics to compare to the old pics.  I sure hope it's done right this time.

[Bongo Boy]

That is a bit like my experience with an online retailer and my own private gun club: I make requests via email to both of them and get no response back at all. They both did what I asked, but there's no 'we received your request' or 'it has been handled' acknowledgement of any kind. I guess you were at least told something's in the mail.

[REDLINE]

StormLake is funny that way.  I've noticed in my experience that if you throw a question their way, they generally respond quickly with an answer, though in as few words possible.  But like you (Bongo Boy) said, just like the online retailer and your gun club, if we don't take the first step toward any form of conversation we will not here a single peep.  No question the "job" will get done, we won't be cheated, and at the end of the day they seem to play fair, BUT not one single peep.

You know what's really funny, technically StormLake didn't send me that email.  Stamps.com did.

Now I'm just super anxious to get a look at what should show up at my door in a day or two.  Especially because I was somewhat miffed they sent me what they originally did (the original factory ordered barrel) at all, with the barrel throat looking like it did, at the price they charge, and labeled by them to be match grade.  But hey, they didn't question my sending it back to them and have supposedly sent me out something lacking the same flaw(s), so so far I'm not holding any grudges.  Shortly we'll find out if I'll be throwing kudos their way or not.

[sqlbullet]

Waiting with bated breath.  Hope they do right by you.

[REDLINE]

Finally got the replacement barrel today.  Definitely an improvement.  What do you guys think, either in comparison to the 1st barrel I had, or on its own?

The pics below are generally targeting where the throat meets the lands.  My barrel has 6 lands.  The first pic is of the land that starts just right of the barrel hood, with the continuing pictures showing the lands in order clockwise around the bore for both the original and replacement barrels as listed below;

1st, the pics of the barrel I returned to StormLake:















2nd, the pics of the replacement barrel I recieved from StormLake today (4-12-13):