Blacklist Match Barrel, Test and review

[Pilot172P]

I recently tested a Blacklist match grade barrel side by side with the stock OEM barrel in my Glock 19. They also make them for the M&P 9, 9C, and Shield. The Blacklist barrel hands down was more accurate than the stock barrel from a bench rest. All groups were tighter and some were amazing. I shot mostly 147gr JHP at 880 fps and 1 group of 124gr FP at 1040 fps. The Blacklist did well with both.

Here is the data. I shot 6 groups with each barrel, 5 shots each.

Stock Barrel, 15 Yards, 147gr JHP (Best 3 / All 5): 0.88” / 2.08”
Blacklist Barrel, 15 Yards, 147gr JHP (Best 3 / All 5): 0.35” / 1.62”

Stock Barrel, 25 Yards, 147gr JHP (Best 3 / All 5): 1.87” / 4.10”
Blacklist Barrel, 25 Yards, 147gr JHP (Best 3 / All 5): 1.23” / 2.73”

Blacklist Barrel, 15 Yards, 124gr FP (1 group only): 0.40” / 1.7”

The Blacklist was noticeably better in every group shot. At 15 yards, the best 3 holes were touching most every time. It also met the match barrel claim of under 2” groups at 25 yards. It actually averaged 1.23” at 25 yards which is great! That being said, the stock barrel held its own with respectable groupings and also did under 2” at 25 yards, but the 5 shot average was much larger. The stock barrel definitely seemed to “wander” more, as seen by the 5 shot groups. The hits were spread out more. The Blacklist always had tighter and more consistent groups with the best 3 always very close.

The Titanium Nitride (TiN) gold barrel looks great with the black slide. Previously, I wasn’t crazy about the gold color, but then it grew on me after looking at some pictures, so I decided to get that color. TiN usually costs about $50 more, but Blacklist does not charge extra. One negative about the TiN barrel is it gets dirty fast. The good thing is you can see the spots you missed when cleaning it.

The Blacklist barrel has a fast 1:10 twist which is pretty much required to stabilize the heavy 147gr bullets. It also did well with 124gr plated bullets. I actually called KKM Precision first and asked for a 1:10 twist barrel. They said they only go down to 1:16, and that’s custom. Stock is 1:20. They did confirm for a 147gr bullet, that the best twist is a 1:10 twist, the 1:16 would be marginal, and the 1:20 would not work at all. I don’t understand why they don’t make a 1:10 twist as the 147gr is probably the most popular weight in competition.

The Blacklist barrel has 8 flutes on it, which looks nice but also reduces some wanted weight. The stock barrel weighs 3.6oz and the Blacklist is 3.4oz.

Reliability. The barrel ran 150 rounds without an issue. Time will tell if it’s 100% or not.

I am very happy with the Blacklist barrel. Will it make me a better shooter in competition? By law of averages it should. By how much, I don’t know. Of course your skill level has to be up there to take advantage of the additional accuracy. I feel the stock barrel did quite well and is more than good enough for competition. However the Blacklist match barrel was definitely tighter in all groupings, enough so that I’m very glad to have bought one.

5 stars for the Blacklist barrel. It has everything going for it. It proved to be noticeably more accurate, is reliable (so far) and also looks great. If you are looking to get that last little bit of accuracy, this barrel can do it.

[Pilot172P]

4 available colors

[Shield9mm]

Great review, thanks


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[kmanick]

hmm.... $209 for a shield barrel? 1/10 twist, anyone know the twist on the stock shield barrel.
I shoot 124 grain 90% of the time I shoot. Would a match grade barre that short even make that much of a difference?

[True_Precision_Inc]

Originally Posted by kmanick

hmm.... $209 for a shield barrel? 1/10 twist, anyone know the twist on the stock shield barrel.
I shoot 124 grain 90% of the time I shoot. Would a match grade barre that short even make that much of a difference?

I can't speak for Blacklists Shield barrel accuracy. Blacklist used KKM barrels in the past. The Blacklist marked KKM barrels are great shooting barrels, no doubt and you can't go wrong with them. We have thrown our True Precision 1/16 Shield barrels in a Ransom Rest and seen a bit better accuracy from them than the factory barrel and will be rolling out a true 40-9 conversion barrel in the next 30 or so days. Our 9 barrels are in production and should be ready to ship on the 15th. We use our own designs and engineers here in Ga.

[Pilot172P]

Originally Posted by kmanick

hmm.... $209 for a shield barrel? 1/10 twist, anyone know the twist on the stock shield barrel.
I shoot 124 grain 90% of the time I shoot. Would a match grade barre that short even make that much of a difference?

Not sure if it would make much of a difference in the Shield. I bought the Blacklist for competition use in a Glock 19 and will be getting another for my 5.3" Glock 34.

[CB3]

Originally Posted by True_Precision_Inc

True Precision 1/16 Shield barrels

What influenced your choice of 1/16 for the Shield vs. a faster twist?

[Pilot172P]

Originally Posted by True_Precision_Inc

I can't speak for Blacklists Shield barrel accuracy. Blacklist used KKM barrels in the past. The Blacklist marked KKM barrels are great shooting barrels, no doubt and you can't go wrong with them. We have thrown our True Precision 1/16 Shield barrels in a Ransom Rest and seen a bit better accuracy from them than the factory barrel and will be rolling out a true 40-9 conversion barrel in the next 30 or so days. Our 9 barrels are in production and should be ready to ship on the 15th. We use our own designs and engineers here in Ga.

Yes Blacklist were made by KKM in the past. About 2 years ago they stopped using KKM. Great to hear about the 40-9 conversion for the Shield 40. I have a Shield 40. Send me one if you want me to test it out and do a review Now what I'd love to see is a 40-357sig conversion!

[True_Precision_Inc]

Originally Posted by CB3

What influenced your choice of 1/16 for the Shield vs. a faster twist?

1/18 is the standard Smith 9mm twist in most of their firearms. we feel we get a good compromise for most bullet weights at 1/16....although with the Shields shorter barrel the difference in accuracy is honestly negligible for what the pistol is designed for. We did see an obvious improvement using our Ransom rest with the 1/16 over the 1/18 factory with the commonly used 115 and 124gr ammo. We feel like we can fine tune the rest and get things even tighter. We also wanted to do an in depth look at a few brands of 147gr and see how they compare. We believe they will show improvement over the factory barrel as well.

[Hfrog355]

It's kind of annoying that they make a match grade barrel and don't offer it in the 5" length for the Pro series.

[Racer X]

Originally Posted by Hfrog355

It's kind of annoying that they make a match grade barrel and don't offer it in the 5" length for the Pro series.

That is exactly what I want, a Pro 40, and a 9mm conversion barrel to go with it.

[stavey]

Ah, ransom rest I have binders literally full of load info group size velocity etc. All of my m&p9's currently have apex fitted barrels and in the ransom with my pet load 124 jhp or 147 tcfp (precision delta bullets) will do 10 rounds into .600-.800 at 25 yards. I see no need to go elsewhere apex has figured it out. Word of advice all my pet loads in 45acp as well as 9mm now all use accurate 2 powder. The ransom doesn't lie .