Gear Review: Lone Wolf Alpha Wolf Threaded Barrel for GLOCK 20 (10mm)

With big game hunting season in full swing, I’ve spent a good amount of time with the GLOCK 20C I’m accustomed to carrying when recreating outdoors. This pistol has sustained its fair share of modifications, yet every time I’d carry it my thoughts would drift to a quiet place. I had an itch to push 10mm through a tube.

So as soon as the government granted me permission to access a Dead Air Ghost 45M silencer I began looking for a threaded option to replace the GLOCK’s factory 4.5-inch ported barrel.

Based on price, recommendations, and availability I quickly decided to give Lone Wolf Distributors’ Alpha Wolf fluted barrel for M/20 (10mm) a try. And I’m glad I did.

To begin with, I’m in the camp that believes the 10mm cartridge is great not only for defensive purposes, but also for hunting and plinking. The ability to do these activities quietly can be a big plus.

And the fact that the Alpha Wolf barrel is prominently rated for jacketed ammunition as well as cast lead and plated ammunition helps alleviate any worries when shooting typical sporting and target cartridges.  It also works with absolute accuracy and combat reliability with self-defense loads too.  In short, it’s designed to perform well with a multitude of ammunition types and brands.  Not only that, but it’s made in the USA.

Out of the box, the 10mm barrel looks and feels great. It is cleanly and crisply machined and evenly finished.

The Alpha Wolf M/20 barrel is compatible with all generations of GLOCK 20.

Just forward of the chamber, however, the barrel begins to make its departures from the factory look with eight cuts of fluting running the majority of the length of the bore.

This fluting helps slightly reduce the barrel’s weight and provides more surface area for heat dispersion. And, of course, it looks cool.

An unintended — but welcome — consequence of dropping the Alpha Wolf barrel into a “C” model G20 is that the fluting matches up surprisingly well with the cuts in the slide, creating a neat aesthetic.

Lone Wolf’s 9/16×24 threading at the muzzle is also very clean and crisp. Furthermore, the barrel’s finish thinly coats the threads without harboring any residual material in its crevices.

The included thread protector is a great match for the barrel and snugs onto the threads without any sloppiness. Its knurled surface isn’t sharp, but does provide more than enough texture for easy removal.

Alpha Wolf barrels are heat treated to the RC 40-42 standard before being coated in a premium Salt Bath Nitride (SBN). The result is a thin matte black finish that is consistent across the barrel and carries a surface hardness rating of RC 60.

However, after just two installations, a few soft manipulations of the slide, and removal/installation of the thread protector the SBN finish began to chip off in several areas (above), which was slightly disappointing.

The above image also provides a good view of the barrel’s button rifling at the muzzle.

Lone Wolf didn’t stamp or engrave their logo all over the barrel hood, turning it into an advertisement like some companies do. Instead, they simply and plainly laser engraved the name, number, and caliber.

With the Lone Wolf logo and information on the left side of the barrel hood it becomes hidden once installed. This leaves you with a nice, clean look that falls in line with the contours of a factory barrel.

After coating, the Alpha Wolf’s feed ramps are well-polished and quite slick. A three-stage honed bore follows the polished feed ramp.

At the range, mags were loaded with a variety of 10mm Auto ammunition, including:

• Freedom Munitions 180-grain Round Nose Flat Point (Copper Plated, New)

• Sellier & Bellot 180-grain FMJ

• Underwood Ammo 220-grain Hard Cast Flat Nose

Throughout the course of testing, both the Freedom Munitions and Seller & Bellot cartridges ran flawlessly when paired with the appropriate recoil spring assembly; mostly a Lone Wolf 20-pound assembly.

Unfortunately, the Underwood Ammo 220-grain HCFN had regular failures to feed in the Alpha Wolf barrel, as is also fairly common with GLOCK’s factory barrels. Stepping-down to the 20-pound spring from the 22-pound spring seemed to help slightly, but still not enough to consider it a reliable combination. The particular Underwood loads used in testing were uncoated; Underwood now makes a version with Hi-Tek coated HCFN 21 BHN bullets, which may help.

At 25-yards with FM and S&B 180-grain rounds my five-round groupings weren’t exactly noteworthy and the Alpha Wolf barrel showed only a negligible increase in performance over the factory compensated GLOCK barrel.

Across an average of five, five-round groups per type of ammunition, the Lone Wolf Alpha Wolf barrel delivered 2.5-inch groups while the GLOCK factory ported barrel registered 2.6-inch groups (best groups shown above).

Somewhat surprisingly, Underwood’s HCFN consistently provided sub-2-inch groupings at 25 yards out of the Alpha Wolf. If this ammo fed reliably I’d be inclined to leave the threaded barrel in permanently and carry a silencer with me when I’m in the woods.

Regardless of ammunition selection the Alpha Wolf 10mm barrel performed slightly better than factory GLOCK barrel. And considering the Alpha Wolf’s primary purpose is to support the use of a silencer, any increase in accuracy is a plus.

After printing groupings it was finally time to run the barrel the way it was designed; suppressed. Dead Air’s Ghost 45M silencer threaded onto the Alpha Wolf precisely and snugged tight to the barrel; a fantastic match was made.

And it ran as sweet as can be — pleasantly perforating targets downrange to a soundtrack of bouncing brass.

Over the course of several hundred rounds of 180-grain target ammunition Lone Wolf’s M/20 Alpha Wolf barrel spit lead flawlessly. The Ghost 45M stayed snug and when the ammunition was gone the warm silencer came off the barrel’s threads without undue effort from a gloved hand.

And no matter the configuration of the can – short or long – shooting the GLOCK 20 suppressed proved reliable and even more fun than I’d hoped.

The Alpha Wolf M/20 barrel is an accurate, fluted barrel that looks great and sports an excellent 9/16×24 threaded muzzle. My biggest disappointment with the M/20 barrel is the way the SBN coating chips off and how quickly it wears with use. And I was also hoping to find better reliability with 220-grain HCFN loads, but this wasn’t the case with the Alpha Wolf.

However, it’s funny how once you’ve got a silencer on the end of a G20 and 180-grain FMJ is sailing down range, these concerns are diminished. Overall, I found Lone Wolf’s Alpha Wolf M/20 (10mm) threaded barrel to be an excellent true drop-in option for those looking to tame their 10mm GLOCK 20.

Specifications: Lone Wolf Alpha Wolf G20 Threaded Barrel (10mm)

Material: Certified, stress relieved 416 stainless steel
Finish: Salt Bath Nitride (SBN)
Length: 5.2″
Thread Pitch: 9/16 x 24
Twist Rate: 1:16
Extras: Fluting
Compatibility: GLOCK 20, All GLOCK generations
Country of Origin: U.S.A.
Price as reviewed: $159.95 MSRP

Ratings (out of five stars):

Design: * * * *
The Alpha Wolf M/20 threaded barrel’s blocky hood is right in-line with GLOCK’s design, yet the eight cuts of fluting that encompass the barrel and the crisp, clean threading at the muzzle are an excellent departure from the factory look. Lone Wolf also takes the humble road, hiding their logo and the model number on the left side of the barrel hood, allowing for a very clean look.

Durability: * * * 
The M/20 can certainly handle the pounding of magazine after magazine of 10mm Auto and its clean threads accept and hold a silencer as good as any other. When not in use, the threads are easily covered with the provided thread protector. However, its Salt Bath Nitride finish is thin and looks great out-of-the-box, but it is also prone to chipping and wears quickly.

Functionality: * * * *
Without a doubt, the Alpha Wolf barrel is as accurate, or more accurate, than a factory GLOCK 20 barrel and it performs equally well suppressed and un-suppressed. Both 180-grain and 220-grain loads ran, but cartridges with Hard Cast Flat Nose projectiles proved unreliable.

Overall: * * * *
A true drop-in threaded barrel for the GLOCK 20, the fluting on Lone Wolf’s Alpha Wolf M/20 barrel will catch your eye and its accuracy and precise threading will keep you squeezing the trigger until you are out of ammunition or your silencer is red-hot.