5906TSW Replacement Barrel or 4006tsw conversion?

DMcBB · Sep 13, 2019

Hey Team 3rd Gen,
I recently got an alert that Midway received a few replacement 5906TSW barrels. I picked one up just in case and thought I’d share, since they don’t come up too often.

That said, I also have a question for the experts. The bottom of my old barrel, on the sides near the feed ramp, has a weird peening to it, presumably from moving when the pistol fires. I bought the gun as a police trade in, and while it seemed to be in good shape with nice rifling, there’s no way to know how many rounds have been through it. Is that normal on this gun?

DMcBB · Sep 20, 2019

I bought the replacement barrel and I was surprised at how different it was than the barrel that came in my 5906tsw. My pistol’s serial number starts with VJC and was made in 2001. The barrel has grooves along the sides of the feed ramp, and the cut to accept the guide rod is very shallow.

In contrast, the new production barrel doesn’t have the grooves on the side, and the cut to accept the guide rod is much deeper. Idk if this is a tolerance issue or an intentional engineering choice, but when the newer barrel is in the slide, it’s much easier to reassemble the pistol, and less downward pressure is required on the firing pin safety lever and sear release lever to pass the slide over them.

There are other smaller differences too, like 9mm vs 9mm Parabellum, and what may be a different finish (or it may just be the result of 18 years of wear).

I’ll be sure to post pictures later.

DMcBB · Sep 20, 2019

Just another point I wanted to discuss that I didn’t really think needed it’s own thread. I have both a 5906tsw and a CHP 4006tsw. I like the integral rail on the 4006, but I prefer the lower recoil and cost per round of 9mm. I remember reading that the 5906tsw is really more of a 4006 modified to 9mm than a true 5906, and now I have a spare 5906tsw 9mm barrel, so I had to Frankenstein a 9mm CHP 4006tsw together!

I was pleasantly surprised that the 9mm barrel fit into the .40 slide perfectly, with no discernible play. Certainly no more play than my 5906tsw has with its original barrel. I reassembled the 4006tsw with the 5906tsw barrel and it seemed ok. I loaded it with a 5906 magazine full of 115 grain 9mm and hand cycled them and they all cycled fine, although every other one either went flying out very far or just popped out a little bit. I haven’t had a chance to play with it beyond one 10 round magazine. Idk if the weird pattern was due to the .40 extractor or if I was inconsistent in my slide racking, or something else, but I thought it was worth discussing.

I’ve always wanted an integral rail 9mm 3rd gen, and I’m curious if I just stumbled upon a way to make a reliable one, or if the differences in extractors (or some other factor) could trip me up.

Again, I’ll try and get some pics up tonight after work.

DMcBB · Sep 20, 2019

As promised, here are pics comparing the old and new 5906tsw barrels. Some of the differences are obviously due to wear (like the peening on the sides and bottom of the feed ramp), but some differences are either tolerance or intentional design changes (like the size of the cutout to receive the guide rod).

DMcBB · Sep 20, 2019

This angle shows the cutout better and also compares the 5906tsw barrels to a CHP 4006tsw barrel. Note that outside circumference of the barrels is about the same, and the cutout on the 4006tsw seems to be about the same size as the new 5906tsw.

DMcBB · Sep 20, 2019

This picture shows that the 5906tsw barrel fits very well in the CHP 4006tsw. I found it interesting that the space in the slide for the barrels seems to be the same size, even though the 4006 seems to have a taller slide.

guzzitaco · Sep 21, 2019

slide swap?

Does the 5906 TSW slide fit the 4006 TSW frame?

DMcBB · Sep 21, 2019

guzzitaco said:
Does the 5906 TSW slide fit the 4006 TSW frame?

The first few times I tried, I could get the 5906tsw slide onto the 4006tsw frame, but it was very tight and would lock up. I tried it again today and it went on ok and moved freely. Maybe it wasn’t lubed enough before? Idk. At any rate, yes I can interchange slides now, which is cool. Putting the 5906tsw slide on the 4006tsw frame gets me the 9mm with integrated rail, which is awesome.

I need to get the 4006tsw with the 5906tsw barrel to the range to see if it extracts ok. I did some more hand cycling and it was perfect.

brucev · Sep 21, 2019

Great thread. Would never have thought it possible to do such a swapping of parts to essentially go multi-caliber. Sincerely. bruce.

guzzitaco · Sep 21, 2019

extractor change?

DMcBB said:
The first few times I tried, I could get the 5906tsw slide onto the 4006tsw frame, but it was very tight and would lock up. I tried it again today and it went on ok and moved freely. Maybe it wasn’t lubed enough before? Idk. At any rate, yes I can interchange slides now, which is cool. Putting the 5906tsw slide on the 4006tsw frame gets me the 9mm with integrated rail, which is awesome.

I need to get the 4006tsw with the 5906tsw barrel to the range to see if it extracts ok. I did some more hand cycling and it was perfect.

In case there are problems to extract 9mm with the .40 slide...perhaps a possibility is to change the extractor for a 9mm TSW one...if it fits the 4006 slide...

looking fwd to the range report !!!

BOBBY137 · Sep 25, 2019

Up date? And a question, would it be possible to get a 9mm tsw barrel and convert it to .357 sig to fit in the 4006tsw?

JohnHL · Sep 25, 2019

BOBBY137 said:
Up date? And a question, would it be possible to get a 9mm tsw barrel and convert it to .357 sig to fit in the 4006tsw?

Yes.

I've done it.

John

BOBBY137 · Sep 25, 2019

Thank you for the information! Do any springs need to be changed?

JohnHL · Sep 26, 2019

Yes.

22lb. Recoil spring,
22lb. Hammer spring.

John

BOBBY137 · Sep 28, 2019

Any up date on the 9 mm barrel in the 4006tsw? Did it work and how did it shoot?

DMcBB · Sep 28, 2019

I’m hoping to take the 5906tsw, the 4006tsw, and all three barrels to the range next week. It’s been a busy time for me and I haven’t had a chance to do any shooting. I’ll provide an update soon.

BOBBY137 · Oct 4, 2019

Any up dates on 9mm conversion?

DMcBB · Oct 6, 2019

Went to the range today and used my 4006tsw with my new 5606tsw 9mm barrel. The combo ran flawlessly. I put about 100 rounds downrange with no failures of any kind. Feeding and extraction were both perfect using Fiocci 115 gr. fmj. The pistol was really impressive and I shot it better than my 5906tsw or the 4006tsw with the original .40 barrel. I swapped barrels and used the .40 barrel to shoot some Winchester 180 gr. purple brass, and it’s just amazing to me how much less fun it is to shoot .40.

In my exuberance, I neglected to swap uppers between the 5906tsw and 4006tsw, although I see no reason why it wouldn’t have worked.

Attached is my first 10 round group of the range trip at 7 yards with 9mm from the CHP 4006tsw. I’m sure some of you snipers could do better, but for me, this was a good group. I’m happy with the results! (Except maybe for that one flier...)

BOBBY137 · Oct 6, 2019

Thank you for the update, it looks like something I'm going to have to try!

RedCardinal · Oct 20, 2019

Excellent project DMcBB. I am a fan of multiple caliber conversions. Did you use the 5906 recoil spring for the 9MM range test?

5906TSW Replacement Barrel or 4006tsw conversion?

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