VIDEO SHIELD 40 WITH 9MM BARREL AT THE RANGE

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robkarrob

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Got my 9mm barrel yesterday and spent a short time at the range today testing it out, in my Shield 40. As several others have posted, the gun performed perfect with the 9mm barrel in the 40 slide. I also purchased a 9mm magazine, which I used for the test. I also tried using my 40 magazine to see if it would also feed the 9mm cartridges. It also worked perfectly. I fired 20 to 25 rounds using the 40 mag, with not a problem.

The strange thing was POI between the two barrels. The 40 hit 3 inches high and 3 inches left. The 9mm was perfect for elevation, but was 2 to 3 inches right. This was taking my time firing, using the stock open sights at a 15 yard target. Both groupings were consistent and within a 3 inch circle.

I would think once the word spreads, S&W will be selling a lot more Shield 40's, with the option to convert them to 9mm, with a simple barrel swap.

I also believe that someone will be trying to convert the Shield 9mm into a 40. This should be easy, with a 40 barrel. All they would have to do would be to grind off .010 inch from each side of the tang/tab, on the barrel, at the sight hole. This is a very small amount of material to remove. I point out this tang/tab in the video. Then all they would need is the 40 mags and they should be good to go. Sorry but the 40 cartridge does not fit into the 9mm mags.



The following video shows the shooting results.

Bob


Shield 40 With 9MM Barrel At The Range - YouTube



Shield 40 With 9MM Barrel At The Range - YouTube
 
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Thanks Bob for putting the video together. Very informative... and should put the 9-into-40 discussion out of the theoretical category and into the world of fact... you think?
 
I called Chris, at Guns and Gear Outlet, and he told me they are getting the 9mm Shield barrels directly from Smith & Wesson. So anyone questioning the quality, they are factory barrels.

Bob
 
Sorry I do not know. A phone call to Guns and Gear should give you an answer. 413 786-0100

Bob
 
Called Chris at G&G and he said they do not stock the Shield 40 barrels. I asked if they could be ordered? He said he he did not know if he could get them, but he would check with S&W to see if they are available to him. He should have the answer on Friday 12/21. I will advise what I find out.
 
If you are planning on doing the 40 barrel in the 9mm slide, I would first take .010 off each side of the tang/tab on the 40 barrel, shown in the photo. It should fit, but might be a little tight. There should be a small amount of side to side play. Test the side to side play with the stock 9mm barrel in the 9mm slide and make the 40 barrel have similar play.

Once you get that right the only thing left is the 40 mags. Take it to the range and have at it.


Bob


BarrelsArrowsbest_zps14213167.jpg


40Slidedimensions_zpsccec8c3e.jpg
 
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Some other measurement I made. The width of the opening my 40 slide is .433. Therefore the side to side play with the stock 40 barrel tang/tab is .008. The play with the 9mm barrel should be .034, but in fact it is .025. The 9mm tang/tab stops the side movement one way, but the barrel is stopped by moving fully to the opposite side when the side of the barrel stop at the inside slide. Remember the barrels are exactly the same, except for the bore and width of the tang/tab.

Per my video and shooting results, the extra .017 (1/64 inch) side to side movement of the 9mm barrel, has no affect of the shooting groups. My 40 groups and 9mm groups were both within 3 inches at 15 yards.

Bob
 
Received my 9mm barrel today for a along with a 9mm mag. Can't wait to shoot it. If this works out, I will drop the idea of getting a 9mm Shield and be happy with my conversion. I have a feeling the 40 barrel will sit in the safe unused for many years :)
 
Thank you, Judith Szczygiel! You are my new hero! (Er . . . heroine?)
Anyway, she and Guns and Gear, LLC are aces in my book! After emailing and leaving phone messages for about a week, she sent me an email with the gun store version of "You want fries with that?" -- "Do you want a mag with that 9mm barrel?" I sent an email back and followed it with a phone call, "Yes!" After making sure we were both talking about the extended 9mm mag, she hollered to someone (it sounded like it was as crazy as the LGS where I had the transfer done for the Shield) asking whether they had one more barrel and an extended mag, they had just one barrel left, and Judith said she was meaning to get back to me sooner, but it has been crazy all week, and would it be OK if they shipped it out first thing Monday. "I'm sending you my very last 9mm Shield barrel", she said. I thanked her profusely.

Actually, the barrel and mag will likely get here before the Shield's paperwork comes back from the Md. State Police, they're backed up just like everyone else with the number of gun sales.
 
Good to hear that bobneider. You will absolutely enjoy the heck out of the 9mm barrel with the .40 slide. It works just like it would if it were actual 9mm Shield. I have been testing mine for a few months (before we could even buy the barrels). I never had a problem with my originals, and now i havent had any problem with the barrel and mag ordered from Chris.......I'm glad to see they are still getting the barrels and mags out to everyone. My hats off to them for giving their customers what they ask for.
 
I purchased a 4.25" 9mm barrel from Midway in September and have over 600 trouble free and accurate rounds of 9mm ammo through my FS .40 using the 9mm barrel and mags. So I am not a stranger to the conversion. Thank you for your encouragement. Even thoough it happened a whiile ago, I'm still a little reluctant to talk too much about it since, on a different forum, I got toasted (as in flamed) for advocating such a dangerous procedure. Claiming incidences of catastrophic failure and user injury (but no facts to back it up), they condemned me for suggesting that it was OK to use a factory, non conversion barrel. I have searched for catastrophic failures in M&P's and found only one which stemmed from an over-zealous application of a dremel tool, but no barrel induced failures (9mm in a .40 slide).
 
If you have a point of impact problem, you might try selecting different types of ammo from different manufacturers. In the good old days of fixed sight model 10s this was common practice. The old Colt three-five-seven, a fixed sight low finish version of the Python was notorious for preferring one brand and bullet weight over another.
Geoff
Who is not that accurate to begin with.
 
I phoned Chris, at Guns and Gear, and asked about Shield 40 barrels. He said they did not stock them, but did not see any reason he could not order them in. He said he would check with S&W. I read that S&W closes for the holidays, so I will not get an answer until after Jan 2 or later.
 
Cost of 9MM barrel for Shield 40

Was wondering what the cost is of the 9MM barrel for the Shield 40?
 
wilkoi said:
Was wondering what the cost is of the 9MM barrel for the Shield 40?
Click to expand...

$70-75ish if my memory serves me correct. And thats if they havent changed the prices slightly due to everyone wanting one. And honestly I couldnt blame them for doing so, even if they did. Those 9mm barrels are a hot item right now.

But do the math.......For under $100 extra, u can have both the .40 and 9mm in the same gun. Beats owning just a 9mm, IMO.
 
You know, Judith gave me the price of the magazine, but in the excitement of the phone call and getting confirmation on the barrel, we didn't talk about the price. I can post when I get the invoice. But my impression was around $70, maybe a few bucks more.
 
bobnieder said:
You know, Judith gave me the price of the magazine, but in the excitement of the phone call and getting confirmation on the barrel, we didn't talk about the price. I can post when I get the invoice. But my impression was around $70, maybe a few bucks more.
Click to expand...

It is $75 plus shipping.
 
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