OK, I have been reading posts about wanting to get a 9mm barrel for a Shield 40. Why?

Cheaper practice ammo. So your able to practice and train a lot more. That's what I would think.

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Dennis in Idaho

Here on the Oregon Coast I can buy 150 rounds of 9mm for the same price as 100 rounds of .40 cal. Allows me to shoot a lot more for the same price.

ccpacker:

Go with the "Storm Lake" barrel if you decide to take the jump. The "Factory" 9mm barrel doesn't quite fit the .40 breech face. AFAIK, it'll work, but just not as well....

And, as to "why?", 9mm practice loads are cheaper, without changing much of anything else.

(You'll still need magazines, too, of course.)

Regards,

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Stu.

One of the selling points for AR rifles is the ability to quickly change uppers and turn your M4gery into a varmint rifle. In reality, most of us just end up buying another rifle. I suspect the majority of handgun owners probably eventually do the same thing.

Any excuse to buy a new gun.

...or accessory so that one has 'the complete set'.

Someone that practices a lot with their 9mm barrel will probably shoot 9mm pretty well out of their 40, but maybe not as well the other way around. But if you only have one gun (or just a very few) a barrel swap does have advantages

Let's see, $180 + shipping and at least 2 mags @ about $40 each. That is getting close to $275 -300. Why not spend $100 more and and have one of each? No switchy-changy, no confusion, no forgetting how you are rigged.

I have two Bersa Thunders, a .22 and a .380. They look alike, feel alike, and are almost the same weight, both accurate. I practice with the .22 and carry the .380 with minimum practice. The .22 paid for itself in short order on cost of ammo. There is a lot of carry over from the .22 to the .380. Reason says the same would be true for the "twin" shields. It would take a little longer for the 9mm to pay for itself in reduced ammo cost.

I think ccpacker makes a lot of sense with regard to the Shield. I have a couple SIGs that have the factory .40 and .357 barrels plus aftermarket 9mm barrel. With the high initial cost of the SIGs plus the option to have three barrels for one gun, the multiple barrels for the SIGs was a cost-effective way to go. However, with the lower initial cost of the Shields plus the fact that we're only talking about two barrels instead of three, buying the two separate guns really seems like the smart way to go.

I didn't realize that parts were so expensive for the shield. For my full size .40 It was $65 for a factory barrel and $44 for 2 magazines. So far I have put over 1000 rounds of 9mm through it and from a sitting position I can pretty easily produce full mag groups that are one ragged hole at 15 yards(with an occasional flyer). Not sure how the Storm Lake barrel can do more than that.