Back in May 2012, when the 40 Shields were first sold, the 9mm Shield sales started about a month earlier, S&W did not restrict the 9mm barrel sales. However demand was so high for all Shields that S&W only had enough barrels to meet their assembly demands, so there were no outside sales of the 9mm barrels.
Around October 2012 Forum member "Smitty357" started a thread that showed dropping the 9mm barrel into the 40 Shield worked perfectly. He owned both a 9mm and a 40 Shield. Since I had a Shield 40, I searched for the 9mm barrels and was able to buy one from a small supplier in late November 2012. I posted the following video showing my Shield using both barrels and the results showing the 9mm barrel swap into the 40 Shield worked perfectly.
There were reports of several members actually calling S&W and getting the barrels directly from the S&W store. Then around early 2013 S&W cut off sales of all Shield barrels. It is thought that the reason was because too many people were phoning S&W and asking for the "conversion" 9mm barrel for the Shield 40. S&W has never stated, acknowledged, or advised that the 40 to 9mm barrel swap would work, or was safe. They would actually advise that there was no 9mm "conversion" barrel swap and that such a swap could be dangerous. They were getting so many requests for the 9mm "conversion" barrels that it is thought management decided to cut off all sales of the Shield barrels. Why sell a $70 dollar barrel when you can sell a $450 gun? Which sale would result in higher profit? Note that there is one small variation between the 9mm and 40 barrels, but nothing close enough to cause a problem or anything near making the swap dangerous.
I will not go into details but there were a lot Shield 40 owners that were able to get a Shield 9mm barrel and have used the swap with no issues. Had there been an issue you can bet it would have immediately been posted on this Forum, and there were none. My Shield 40 mags feed the 9mm cartridges perfectly, which I found out after buying some 9mm mags. I carry as a 40 but I do a lot of practice shooting using the 9mm barrel.
Many of the after market barrel manufacturers, like Storm Lake, KKM, and others, had stated if there was enough demand, they would make the 9mm conversion barrels for the Shield. But it appears no aftermarket barrel manufacturer is presently making the 9mm barrels for the Shield. And no you can't use the compact or full size M&P barrels, as they are designed differently in the stopping block and drop down/lock up area and will not work. They will not allow proper slide operation or lock up.
So unless S&W reverses their position on selling the barrels, or an aftermarket barrel maker starts manufacturing the barrels, the Shield 40 barrel swap to 9mm will not available.
Bob
Shield 9mm barrel impossible to find anywhere!
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