Wilson Combat Match Grade Barrel? Worth the high Price?

[falconman515]

I am upgrading my M&P9 CORE right now (just added APEX flat faced trigger and am gonna order new sights as well) and I keep seeing this Wilson Combat match grade barrel and I was wondering if this is really worth the extra $190

I may start using this for IDPA when I start getting into that but not 100% sure yet ... just now upgrading the M&P CORE and giving it a fair shot at being my primary competition type gun.

Curious what your thoughts are on these barrels and how well they help and if they are worth their price tag in the end?

Thanks so much

 

[agksimon]

As I posted in the "other" group:


The reason I went with the Apex barrel, instead of other brands, for my M&P 5" Pro, is the Apex is the only one with a twist rate of 1 in 10. The others are much slower and may not stabilize heavier bullets. I've had my best luck with 147 grain American Eagle fMJ. My group sizes with the factory barrel were averaging 3.5 to 5" at 25 yards, on a rest. The Apex gunsmith fit barrel reduced those from 1" to less than 2" at 25 yards.
I also use this gun for IDPA and grew tired of being points down, by being just over the line. The tighter groups will eliminate some of that on the longer shots. We do have a fair amount of shots at our club that are 15 yards or farther.
Also, my point of aim stayed the same when I switched barrels, at least with the above ammo.
__________________

 

[falconman515]

As I posted in the "other" group:


The reason I went with the Apex barrel, instead of other brands, for my M&P 5" Pro, is the Apex is the only one with a twist rate of 1 in 10. The others are much slower and may not stabilize heavier bullets. I've had my best luck with 147 grain American Eagle fMJ. My group sizes with the factory barrel were averaging 3.5 to 5" at 25 yards, on a rest. The Apex gunsmith fit barrel reduced those from 1" to less than 2" at 25 yards.
I also use this gun for IDPA and grew tired of being points down, by being just over the line. The tighter groups will eliminated some of that.
Also, my point of aim stayed the same when I switched barrels, at least with the above ammo.
__________________

Is the advantage in the APEX barrel (thanks for making me aware of those, didn't know they made barrels for the M&P) the twist rate being 1/10 for heavier rounds?
I tend to normally only shoot 115 grain 9mm (got a random few boxes of 124).
Moving forward when I reload my own ammo later this year after i got through the couple thousands rounds of stock ammo I have left I can look at reloading larger grain bullets etc. but for now I have basic Blazer Brass 115 for the rest of the year.

Does that barrel still work great and I should see a slight benefit in accuracy from it regardless of twist rate etc.?

Just trying to learn more on this before I make a decision on this sometime this year and after I start getting into IDPA type shooting (I will starting that in the next couple months).

Thanks for the info and help

 

[sschrick]

depends on how competitive you want to be? or how much you want to "trick" out your gun. But I am sure a match grade barrel will improve overall groupings by at least 1". . . maybe more.

 

[Rastoff]

I would venture to say that for IDPA style shooting, an after market barrel won't make much difference. Yes, they will improve groups at longer distances; 25 yards or so. However, in IDPA or USPSA it's not the tiniest group that wins.

 

[Rock LOU]

Wilson Barrel

I have a model 1911 Les Bauer and it has a Wilson Barrel and it shoots very nice. If you are planning on moving into competition then I would advise you that the extra might be worth it.Have you shot the standard barrel to be sure it might be good enough that you might not need the match barrel.

 

[hangnoose]

IT'S MORE THE SHOOTER THAN THE GUN.

I'd try giving IDPA a go first & see how it goes, rather than assume you need it without trying it first. You can always get it later if you feel you need it. Will it offer an improvement in accuracy? Probably, but 190$ worth? That would be up to you.

 

[OKFC05]

IMHO, based on seeing a lot of experimentation in competition, drop-in barrels are a waste of money.
If you get a barrel that requires fitting, and it is properly fitted, then you will get about the best accuracy available from that gun.

However, there is no guarantee that it will be any better than your stock barrel. Some stock barrels fit really well, a few are horrible.

I shoot a stock M&P Pro9 5" in IDPA/SSP, and as I demonstrated last month to one skeptical student, it will easily put all shots into the head of an IDPA target at 15 yards, and hit the "zero down" circle at 35 yds. What more do you need for IDPA?

Another consideration on getting a "match barrel" for IDPA is some match barrels have tight chambers and may not feed your reloads.
One of our shooters found that out the hard way, and had to then pay to have his chamber reamed.

By the way, your trigger change knocked you out of IDPA/SSP, and you will be shooting Enhanced (ESP) against the STIs. Suggest you read the IDPA rules carefully before you accidentally make your gun illegal for IDPA with visible mods.

 

[agksimon]

IMHO, I shoot a stock M&P Pro9 5" in IDPA/SSP, and as I demonstrated last month to one skeptical student, it will easily put all shots into the head of an IDPA target at 15 yards, and hit the "zero down" circle at 35 yds. What more do you need for IDPA?

Another consideration on getting a "match barrel" for IDPA is some match barrels have tight chambers and may not feed your reloads.
One of our shooters found that out the hard way, and had to then pay to have his chamber reamed.

If you can put all your shots into the head of an IDPA target at 35 yards, you got the luck of the draw, with a tighter fitting barrel, when you bought your Pro. Mine wouldn't do it off a bench, the barrel was really sloppy in there. With the new Apex barrel, I can now put all my shots into the head of an IDPA target at 35 yards, slow fire offhand.
I have shot hundreds of rounds of various ammo and weights with it and absolutely zero malfunctions.

 

[agksimon]

Is the advantage in the APEX barrel (thanks for making me aware of those, didn't know they made barrels for the M&P) the twist rate being 1/10 for heavier rounds?
I tend to normally only shoot 115 grain 9mm (got a random few boxes of 124).
Moving forward when I reload my own ammo later this year after i got through the couple thousands rounds of stock ammo I have left I can look at reloading larger grain bullets etc. but for now I have basic Blazer Brass 115 for the rest of the year.

Does that barrel still work great and I should see a slight benefit in accuracy from it regardless of twist rate etc.?

The Apex barrel likes some ammo better than others. Besides the AE 147 grain, it also likes Prvi Partizen 115 grain FMJ. Neither barrel likes Fiocchi 115 grain FMJ.

 

[OKFC05]

If you can put all your shots into the head of an IDPA target at 35 yards, you got the luck of the draw, with a tighter fitting barrel, when you bought your Pro.

Read my post again, I said : Head shots at 15 yds, zero down circle at 35yds.

But yes, even that is good for any service pistol, and I told our local M&P gunsmith guru that I lucked out and got a good M&P Pro.

IMHO the fitted APEX barrel makes a lot of sense if you need a new barrel on an M&P.