Yes, it was a true drop-in part. I did nothing but put some frog lube on the barrel just prior to shooting it.

I too wanted the Bar-sto/Apex barrel along with the locking block, however I grew tired of waiting. I was so pissed about the accuracy I simply put it in the safe and didnt shoot it anymore. I read Hiltons review and looked at my barrel, which profiled like the "new" production ones that S&W was claiming to make. My FS 9 (4.25 inch barrel-Pro Series) was bought new in July 2011. Since then, they reportedly changed the twist rate...that was also mentioned in Hiltons article.

As far as being cheaper...nothing from Bar-Sto is cheap. Even the storm lake barrels are priced about the same as KKM.

Apex was making the barrels for Bar-Sto. I've seen nothing (other than a blog post) on the Bar-Sto or Apex web pages that indicates when the barrels will be ready for sale and nothing about the locking block.