Accuracy is here: Fitting the Apex barrel myself.

Got my Apex 5" gunsmith fit barrel late this afternoon. Spent an hour, fitting the barrel to the slide. Didn't need to take anything off the front of the barrel, to fit it in the slide. Took about a half thousandth off each side of the hood for that part of the fit. Fitting the chamber/hood, into the slide was done very slowly. I found that dry erase marker worked better for me, than Dyekem, as it doesn't dry in place and shows a mark better.

After dinner, I worked on fitting the barrel lug to the frame. Being the gunsmith version, there was a lot of metal to remove. The fitting lug required me to disassemble and reassemble the gun literally a hundred times to mark and file the lug squarely. Fitting it took 2.5 hours alone, plus the hour for fitting it to the slide, I have 3.5 hours total into it.

I would not recommend everyone getting the gunsmith fit version. It is a lot of work to hand fit it and if you are not adept at it or impatient, it might not end well. Most people would find it a lot easier to install the semi-drop-in version.

It now locks up just like Randy said it would, in the video and there is no doubt it will shoot very tight groups. I would recommend keeping a light gun grease on the rails and barrel lug, as the lockup puts extra stress on those parts.
I'll be out at the range this coming Sunday, December 13, to benchrest it with several types and weights of ammunition. Results to follow.

I would have to say that Randy and the guys at Apex hit another home run with this product.

I see, so you chose to order the gunsmith version and then do it yourself? Rather than the semi-dropin because there is more room for error?

F4injected said:

I see, so you chose to order the gunsmith version and then do it yourself? Rather than the semi-dropin because there is more room for error?

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Because mine has so much play in it, I wanted to make sure that it fit tight.

I look forward to a range report. I really hope this is the accuracy improvement you're looking for.

Rastoff said:

I look forward to a range report. I really hope this is the accuracy improvement you're looking for.

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I hope it is the improvement I'm looking for.

Slipped up to the club this morning and bench rested some shots at 25 yards. Wanted to make sure the POA/POI didn't change and it didn't for the American Eagle 147 grain FMJ. I had my best groups with this ammo, but I was only up there for about 20 minutes (had to go to a Christmas party). I had lousy groups with Fiocchi FMJ. Tomorrow, testing will be more intensive and will tell me what ammo to stock up on. The weather was very foggy and I was shooting under an overhang with not much light. Coupled with 70-year-old eyes, I had problems seeing the sights, but was able to group the AE 147 into less than 2.5 inches. It was remarkable, as this was the first time with no off the paper flyers, like I usually get.

Went back to the club today, Sunday, 12/13/2015 and did an extensive test with the ammo I had, which consisted of American Eagle 147 grain FMJ flat point, Prvi Partizan 115 grain FMJ and Fiocchi 115 grain FMJ.

After running 50 rounds random through the gun to "season" the barrel, I cleaned it and tested five groups of five rounds each with each of the three brands listed above. This was done at 25 yards, off of a pistol rest.

I had a friend with me who is also a fairly good shot and he came up with the same results I did.
He'll be ordering a barrel shortly.

I have fiber optic front and rear sights on this gun, as I can't see them well without them. They are large and I'm sure the groups would be smaller if I had target type sights on it and someone with good eyes and was a little better shot, did the shooting.

The Fiocchi 115 FMJ averaged the largest groups, around 5 inches.

The Prvi Partizan 115 FMJ averaged less than 2 inches, but shot low.

The American Eagle 147 FMJ averaged less than 2 inches, with three touching and the fourth within an inch. The fifth shot was probably me and it shot almost to point of aim.
Several of the groups with this ammo sent most of the shots into an inch or just over and the photo is representative of them.
I was aiming for the middle of the target.

We tried a few commercial reloads in it, but we had to tap the slide to chamber the rounds, so I didn't feel comfortable shooting them and just ejected them unfired. Must be a match chamber or the reloads are slightly oversized.

This barrel is everything Randy and Apex promised it would be and more. It turned my 5 inch Pro into a gun to almost compete with the 45 auto match pistols and this was using range ammo.

Thanks for the report. I'm sure you did a proper job of fitting the barrel. It would be nice if you could keep us updated on your results after a few more range trips.

Thanks for the report -- I'm looking forward to seeing more results from other users. I shot my new M&P this past weekend, resting elbows on a padded table, and was not impressed with the box stock accuracy. I have high hopes for the Apex barrels and want to hear more!

FredBart said:

Thanks for the report. I'm sure you did a proper job of fitting the barrel. It would be nice if you could keep us updated on your results after a few more range trips.

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I live in Michigan and it's finally turning cold. If we don't get another warm spell, it'll be March, before I do any more shooting.

I can tell you, if you do a proper installation (watch the video a lot), you will eliminate the gun as the source of flyers. Then, it's up to the shooter.

One other note: The barrel lug fit will be exerting more pressure on the slide, than it did with the factory barrel. Use a good gun grease on the slide rails and the lug.

I received my semi drop-in 5" barrel this evening. Took about an hour (I'm slow) to fit it. Spent most of that time checking the fit before filing it. I only had to remove a little off the barrel hood extension points to fit it. Definitely fits much tighter. I didn't have to touch the lug so it was very easy. It will be this weekend before I can shoot it though.

agksimon said:

Got my Apex 5" gunsmith fit barrel late this afternoon. Spent an hour fitting the barrel to the slide. Didn't need to take anything off the front of the barrel to fit it in the slide. Took about a half thousandth off each side of the hood for that part of the fit. Fitting the chamber/hood into the slide was done very slowly. I found that dry erase marker worked better for me, than Dyekem, as it doesn't dry in place and shows a mark better.

After dinner, I worked on fitting the barrel lug to the frame. Being the gunsmith version, there was a lot of metal to remove. The fitting lug required me to disassemble and reassemble the gun literally a hundred times to mark and file the lug squarely. Fitting it took 2.5 hours alone, plus the hour for fitting it to the slide, I have 3.5 hours total into it.

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is there a video specific to the Gunsmith version, rather than the Semi-Drop-In offering?

did you use an end mill to remove the metal from the barrel, which is how I believe Apex recommends fitting their Gunsmith barrel?
or did you simply follow the Semi-Drop-In video for the Gunsmith version of the barrel?

is the Gunsmith version essentially the same as the Semi-Drop-In barrel with just more metal to be removed from each area (front of barrel, sides and rear of hood, frame fitting pad)?
or does the Gunsmith barrel have additional areas from which to remove metal for an even better/tighter/more consistent fit?

hrt4me said:

is there a video specific to the Gunsmith version, rather than the Semi-Drop-In offering?

did you use an end mill to remove the metal from the barrel, which is how I believe Apex recommends fitting their Gunsmith barrel?
or did you simply follow the Semi-Drop-In video for the Gunsmith version of the barrel?

is the Gunsmith version essentially the same as the Semi-Drop-In barrel with just more metal to be removed from each area (front of barrel, sides and rear of hood, frame fitting pad)?
or does the Gunsmith barrel have additional areas from which to remove metal for an even better/tighter/more consistent fit?

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The gunsmith version has more metal to be removed, than the SDI version, mostly on the barrel lug. I didn't have access to a mill, so I did it with a file, marking and filing as I went. It took 2.5 hours and I had to disassemble and reassemble the gun close to a hundred times. Very tedious and not for the impatient.

Compared to the stock barrel.....

Is the apex barrel much tighter in the slide now compared to the stock one?

Is this where the accuracy comes into play or is the rifling/lands/grooves too?

Eddie 500 said:

Is the apex barrel much tighter in the slide now compared to the stock one?

Is this where the accuracy comes into play or is the rifling/lands/grooves too?

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My factory barrel had .007 front to back movement, .006 side to side movement and several thousandths vertical movement.
The Apex barrel has no front to back, less then .002 side to side and no vertical movement. That says a lot right there. BTW: I like the crown of the barrel, it's very unusual and a good idea. The grooves look deeper than the factory barrel, but I could be wrong on that one.

agksimon said:

My factory barrel had .007" front-to-back movement, .006" side-to-side movement and several thousandths vertical movement.
The Apex barrel has no front-to-back, less than .002" side-to-side and no vertical movement.

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how exactly are you taking those measurements?

hrt4me said:

how exactly are you taking those measurements?

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With calipers and a feeler gauge.

just curious, the only difference in the SDI barrel to the Gunsmith barrel is fitting the barrel lug?

nickacf7 said:

just curious, the only difference in the SDI barrel to the Gunsmith barrel is fitting the barrel lug?

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This is what Randy at Apex told me. The SDI has a lot less to remove than the gunsmith fit barrel.

Got it thanks agksimon, I think I going to go head and order the Gunsmith.
Now that its been 6 months with your Apex barrel, you still enjoying it, any issues with it?