Greetings,

Since this thread involves something I designed, I thought it wise to dispel some myth, conjecture and speculation. Rather than have forum members try to sift through a loooong thread on another forum, I thought I could post some relevant data here.

The interweb is chocked full of complaints about the M&P 9 accuracy (or lack thereof). Some reports I found to be valid while others were shooter induced errors. In my case, my personal M&P 5" would shoot about a 24" group at 50 yards off sandbags. To me, that is unacceptable. Period. So I spent the past few years trying to understand why some M&Ps shot acceptably well while others were beyond dismal.

Someone in an earlier thread stated that the M&P is a duty gun and not a target gun. My question is: Why can't they be one in the same? I believe it is a perpetual misconception that the polymer framed striker fired pistol cannot go toe to toe with some of the best custom pistols like Les Baers, Browns, Wilsons and the like. I have the test targets from 25 and 50 yards to prove it. I have several targets from different guns that measure sub half inch at 25. The best one measures .313" center to center for 5 shots, and it is a police officer's duty gun. That is what a gunsmith fit barrel will do. If engineered correctly and properly fitted there should be no compromise to functional reliability.

Our Semi Drop-In should not be interpreted to be in the same class as a drop-in barrel made by other manufacturers. My testing of aftermarket drop-in barrels mirrors what others have found- little to no reduction in group size.

The hood length of our barrel is left about .002" longer than nominal slide dimensions, and the bottom lug has a fitting pad that may require fitting depending on your individual gun's vertical slide to frame tolerance. Worst case scenario is that it will take about 15 minutes with a sharp pillar file to fit hood length and bottom lug to your gun. In my testing the SDI barrels shot under 1.5" at 25 yards with all the ammo we tested. The best groups so far have been with Fiocchi 115 gr jhp, Magtech Guardian Gold 124 gr jhp and PRVI 147 gr jhp - data shows that our barrel will shoot the spectrum of bullet weights well provided that the projectile is of quality manufacture.

I do not believe everyone needs our barrel. Like all aftermarket parts it is personal choice.