I confess, I was watching internet videos recently when I saw something that drew my attention. A presenter was apparently somewhat a fan of the Ruger RXM and elected to keep it as a platform on which to attach various handgun optics as he got them for review.

And why not? The Ruger RXM makes optics mounting easy. The problem, as he saw it, was that his sample wasn’t as accurate as he thought it should be. His solution was to replace the barrel.

The replacement barrel from Brownell’s was well secured in shipment. Below, changing barrels at the range is easy on this modern pistol – so comparing the factory barrel to the replacement was easy.

I’m not sure I believe that the barrel is that critical for auto pistol accuracy and I have a little experience in that area. I have Jarvis barrels in 40 S&W and 357 SIG for a GLOCK 20 10mm pistol. They’re quite accurate but how much of that is due to other factors? 

Similarly, the G22 I retired with has a Bar-Sto 9mm barrel fitted to it. With the fitting, it’s as accurate a service size 9mm GLOCK as I have seen – until the Gen5 factory guns were released. 

With the sample RXM here, the accuracy has been okay. The sights, gripping surface and trigger no doubt contributed. My five-shot groups tended in the area of 3-5” with the best three of five going into 2” or so. 

Still, I wondered about that whole “match barrel” thing. I went to Brownell’s – naturally – and found their “Gen 1-5 Fluted Black 9mm Barrel for GLOCK 19” was on sale. 

Fancy that. 

According to the website, the barrel in question is made from hardened 416R stainless and is finished in an “extra-hard Black Nitride.” All I know is that it looks good. The barrel is button-rifled in a 1-10” twist.

The Ransom Multi Cal. Steady Rest is a good fit for a tripod, allowing you to shoot standing up – as one normally does on the range. Below, the rest fits inside a GI ammo can (not supplied) for storage and transport; well thought-out. 

As soon as I could get to the range after it arrived, I sought to check it out. It arrived soon after another interesting device showed up – the Ransom Multi Cal. Steady Rest. This I mounted on an elderly Manfrotto tripod, picked up from an aging commercial photographer who got tired of lugging it around. Its stability comes from enough weight that even a prairie wind won’t move it. 

I attached the Multi-Cal. rest to the quick release plate from the tripod, attached that to the top of the tripod – and I was off to the races.

Transport – and storage – of the Multi-Cal. rest is accomplished by a marvel of ancient technology – the GI ammo can. The Ransom-supplied logo sticker was attached to the top of the ammo can for identification.

It was a flying range trip; I only took two types of ammo as well as a needle oiler of Break-Free. I don’t use after-market barrels without the appropriate amount of oil.

The ammo used was old stock Cor-Bon 115 gr. DPX +P and Hornady Critical Duty 135gr. FTX +P. The first group was fired with the Cor-Bon ammo and stock barrel. My best effort was over five inches, with best three going into 2 ¾”. 

The Multi-Cal. rest won’t solve all shooting problems. You still have to provide a consistent grip. The Brownell’s barrel put every hit low, about five inches below the top of the sights – interesting. The factory ammo hit around the B-8 bullseye.

The Brownell’s group measured 2 ¾”, with the best three going into two inches. 

Interesting consistency. I shot another group holding the front sight high, “shooting out of the notch.” It hit at the top of the bull, still all hits comfortably inside three inches, with the best three hits going into around two-inches.

The Critical Duty load showed an uncharacteristically large group – shooter induced – with the factory barrel. The best effort showed a 2 ¾” group. With the new Brownell’s barrel, all hits were inside 3 ½” with the best three crowding into 1 1/8”.

More testing is planned, along with assessing reliability. 

— Rich Grassi