Has anyone tried an aftermarket barrel on their M&P pistol?
I am looking at the KKM and Storm Lake barrels. I am building a target gun out of my M&P Pro 9 5". I plan on installing a Trijicon RMR red dot sight as well. If I like how the RMR works I might put one on my carry gun.

I bought a used Storm Lake bbl to convert my 40FS to 9mm. Works great,
and it hits where you and several other shoots aim it. As far as one with a scope/dot I don't know.

I also have a Storm Lake 9mm conversion, but in my 40c. It works flawlessly and is very, VERY accurate! I may get a 357 barrel from them as well. The only thing I don't like is the recoil spring rest. On the factory barrels it is a rounded cup, where the SL barrel is a flat ledge. Sometimes the spring can wander just slightly and make it difficult to strip. It doesn't affect the function at all.

Does yours do the same, 8th SPS USAF?

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Fast is fine;accurate is final

BR,
Not that I remember. I will check it out and get back.

From what I've seen, a little fitting and crown work help if you're having accuracy problems with the stock barrel.
A "drop in" aftermarket gives little, if any advantage over the stock barrel.

A "fitted target" barrel is an improvement in accuracy over stock. However, one fellow I know bought the "fitted target" 9 Pro barrel for IDPA and found reliability problems because of the tight chamber. So he had the chamber reamed for reliable feeding---and wound up with essentially a stock barrel again.

Whether an aftermarket barrel helps or hurts depends on your intended "target" use for the gun, and putting a red dot on an M&P 9 Pro gives me no clue what type of "target" shooting or competition you have in mind. It throws you into Open in USPSA, is illegal in IDPA, could be used in Bullseye I suppose. pins perhaps, but there are better calibers and guns for those.

I can't imagine putting a reflex dot sight on my personal carry gun.

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Science plus Art

Thanks for the input.
Believe it or not red dot sights on carry guns are getting popular with the cutting edge point shooting crowd. Warriortalk has some details on it. I just took a Suarez International point shooting class. Those guys are hard core and their gun fighting classes are based on the real thing not just the square range. Real gun fights are so fast and close that most of the old standard techniques don't work. The police in my area have about a 15% hit ratio. I just learned the tip of the iceberg and I am no expert by any means.

As far as the gun I am building it is just a fun range gun for me. No competition. If the Trijicon RMR feels right I may more it to my carry or HD gun.

I've used Storm Lake barrels with mixed results, but no problems in the accuracy dept. But if you're looking only to improve accuracy, I doubt you'll get much out of a drop-in barrel, the S&W's are good, and there's just too much of accuracy depending on lockup & fitment to allow a drop-in barrel to have much impact on an already good gun.

If I wanted to squeeze the last drop out of it, I'd give Bowie Tactical or Burwell Gunsmithing a call, FWIW.

Sounds like you're mostly out for fun, so I don't reckon you can go wrong!

Believe it or not, I use and teach point shooting, with the gun well below line of sight, reflex draw, and held just below line of sight with eyes focused on the target.
The last part of teaching point shooting is how to transition to using sights when time and distance allow/require. The instructors I know and I do not call it point shooting when using the sights, whether iron sights or optical.
Having used optical sights, I don't encourage their use for routine defense carry because of the steep learning curve to acquire optical sights quickly from a draw, and the battery/switch issues.
For military or police swat use, the optical sights are valuable, and they put in the training needed to use them effectively. If you are going to use them on a carry gun, be prepared for lots of frustration and practice getting to the skill that the optical sight is second nature to you and you can rely on them in a mind-numbing emergency.
In a true emergency, we do not rise to the level of our expectations, but fall to the level of our training and practice.

I'm glad you took a point shooting class; everyone who carries should take one. However, don't confuse what the instructor could do with what you can do after one class.
Wish you all the best.

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Science plus Art

I in no way think I can do what my instructor can do even if I took three more $300 classes. My teacher has spent a lifetime studying and practicing force on force and point shooting. I am just building a gun for fun at the range and will use my standard full size M&P for practice and classes.

I bought a NEW Storm Lake conversion bbl to convert my 40FS to 9mm. I haven't shot it yet because every time I try, it fails to feed. The copper end of the FMJ bullet sticks to the feed ramp every time. Upon close inspection, I see that the feed ramp is very rough, with many small ridges you can see and feel side to side across the ramp. My other pistol bbls have mirror-smooth feed ramps and have never failed to feed. I plan to sand and polish it smooth whenever I figure out how.

I am running both a 9mm conversion barrel from Storm Lake and their 357sig barrel in my new M&P 40 Pro Series, both are 5" barrels that duplicate the OEM length. Both have been 100% perfect for me. The 9mm barrel hasn't had a single ftf from the first shot on. I couldn't ask for any more out of these barrels. My neighbor owns a M&P 9L (5" barrel) My 5" 9mm conversion barrel is at least as accurate as his OEM barrel in his 9mm M&P. We have shot both at the range at bulls eye targets. There isn't much difference in the results. My conversion seems to have slightly tighter groups. We expected his dedicated 9mm gun to out perform my conversion, but it didn't.

I ended up ordering a Storm-Lake barrel for my M&P Pro 5" 9mm and got it ported. I have a stock full size Pro 9mm I use for carry and classes. I am just having fun with the 5". I may shoot IDPA some day and will have to change it back to stock. I really don't shoot the 5" much better than the full size. I am very accurate with my Sig Sauer but I have 8000 rounds through it. I am trying to switch to M&Ps because I like the trigger system better than DA/SA

I bought a SL 9mm conversion barrel for my M&P 40c this last spring, but could not pull the slide all the way back or chamber a round. Sent it back to SL twice before it was made right, but both times SL paid postage, all in all taking a total of about 6 weeks before I got a usable barrel. I've only put about 100 rounds through it so far and with no fails. Were I to do it again, I would buy the 9mm barrel from S&W although SL did make good on their product. The comment on the final mailing said it was milled to the outer limits of specs.

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Recovering Pacifist

I dont think the drop-in aftermarket barrels are that much better than stock. I have a Storm Lake in my 9L because S&W would not sell me a 9L barrel. The gun groups about 14" rested at 50 yards with WWB ammo, and about 1/2 that with Federal 147 gr JHP. I heard that Randy Lee is working with BARSTO on a fitted barrel for the M&P, and I bet that one will improve the accuracy over the stock and drop-in aftermarket ones. My first Stormlake barrel had a chamber that was very tight and caused feed and extraction issues. It also had some other dimensional issues. I sent it back, and the replacement has run flawlessly.

What is turn around time with Storm Lake? Have a .40 replacement barrel for my M&P and slide won't lock back and the slide won't lock to the lower similar to Knocken's problem posted above. Have call in to Storm Lake (the technical number rang for 15 minutes before I hung up) then called customer service and still waiting for a call back from them.
thanks

I just received a storm lake conversion barrel to make my fs 40 into a 9mm. I installed it with out any problems,cycles fine. Paid $122. to my door (Cheaper than dirt). Just need to take it to the range and shoot it.

Please keep us posted on how it works. I've seen mixed reports on reliability.

Well I finally got to the range the other day and shot my 9mm conversion barrel. the lock up is allot tighter than the stock .40 and the gun fired all rounds with no problems. The accuracy is a whole lot better also. At 10 yds. I put most of the 20 rounds in the 2" bulls eye. Shooting standing!!

I put a Storm Lake in my M&P 9 Compact and the 25 yard group sizes stayed the same. I sent the barrel back for credit.

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NRA R.S.O. & Life Member

I put a SL conversion barrel on my M&P Pro Series and it is a lot more accurate than the OEM barrel, or at least for mine it is. The only problem I was having is that the chamber was so tight that some casing would have to be beat out of the chamber with a dowel. I was shooting Tula Brass cased ammo so not the best. Called SL and advised them of it and they said to send it back and they would fix it or replace it. I want a tight chamber but not that tight. I told them I wanted to hold off and break it in a little bit more. They said to let them know if it does not get better. The last 50 rounds I have had no problems so I think it is smoothing out now. I do not like a 40 caliber but the shop only had this used Pro in 40 but I knew I was going to switch it to 9mm. I like it