Converted my Shield .40 to 9mm

[Stimpy]

Sadly, I've had my 9mm barrel on backorder since 2/7 and still waiting.

 

[Dikinalaska]

I'd be fine with a backorder, I can't even do that. Oh well, more money for ammo. Or whatever else comes along lol. Now that I know I won't be getting another barrel for a while, I'm second guessing grinding the tangs on the .40... Mostly I would still do it just to help the community and show it works, but that's already done now. What do you guys think? Would you still like someone else to do it?

 

[Dikinalaska]

I finally received the .40cal barrel and magazine from S&W today. Here is a pic comparing the 9mm and .40cal side by side and back to back so you can see how much the tangs differ in size.

So as it was mentioned in previous posts, you have to remove about .010 of an inch from each side of the tangs in order to make the .40cal barrel fit into the 9mm slide. I initially thought using a small hand file would work but when I tried it with mine, I found that I wasn't removing enough material to expose the bare mental even after filing for a few minutes straight. Maybe my files were just ****, who knows.

So then I took out the handy dandy Dremel and found these two grinding wheels that I would use. I don't know the actual names or textures but the red one was used to grind down most of the material and the gray one was used to clean up the grinds and smooth/polish the material.

So what I ended up doing was laying the Dremel down on the table, holding it with one hand then gently rubbing the barrel onto the wheel little by little. I started off grinding off enough to expose the bare metal on both sides, then measuring with my caliper tool, then grinding some more until I was close then finished it off with the gray grinding wheel to smooth out the grind.

At the end, this is what I ended up with:

I finished it off with some Birchwood Casey flat black marker and you can barely tell anything was done to it.

Here is a pick of the .40cal and 9mm barrels side by side after the .40cal was trimmed.

Here is a pic of the 9mm barrel on the slide before I put it back together.

Here is a pic of the .40cal barrel on the 9mm slide.

Side to side movement is exactly the same as the 9mm barrel; almost non-existent. The slide racking back and forth feels the same way as it does with the 9mm barrel and I cant feel or see any rubbing from the tangs on the slide. Measurements with the caliper are the same.

My next concern was with how the round seated on the slide once a round was chambered. I was curious as to how the bigger .40cal round would seat against the firing pin being that the diameter is a little larger then the 9mm round. So, using snap caps, I placed the rounds up against the slide under the extractor to see how they would fit.

9mm

.40cal

I reassembled the gun with both barrels with corresponding snap caps and pulled the trigger to see where the firing pin would strike. Both looked like it struck pretty much right in the center so I don't think that would be a problem at all.

Last thing to do is to bring it out to the range tomorrow and see how it performs. I'll post my results of the range trip after I get home.

Here is a video of me racking the slide using some snap caps to show how the slide was working. Overall the process was fairly simple to do and didn't take more than 15 minutes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkoe_QqvogY

Hey Lalo, could you please do me a favor and get a picture of the ground-down .40 barrel back in the .40 slide? I'd just like to see the gap after it's done. If the gap isn't too noticeable I'll probably still do it.

 

[XxLaloCuraxX]

Hey Lalo, could you please do me a favor and get a picture of the ground-down .40 barrel back in the .40 slide? I'd just like to see the gap after it's done. If the gap isn't too noticeable I'll probably still do it.

I don't have a .40 slide. My shield is a 9mm and I modified the .40 barrel to fit the 9mm slide.

 

[XxLaloCuraxX]

Someone posted this question on the video I posted and I though it was relevant for everyone to see:

"What if the spring from the 9mm is of lighter tension? that's going to cause issues later if all that extra push from the 40 goes into the slide bashing against the frame/blocks."

And my response:
"The recoil spring (as well as almost every part of the Shield) is the same on both the 9mm and the .40cal. The part number for the recoil spring for both the 9mm and .40cal is 422650000 (confirmed by Smith & Wesson).

 

[Dikinalaska]

I don't have a .40 slide. My shield is a 9mm and I modified the .40 barrel to fit the 9mm slide.

Oh gotcha. I looked over that fact. Great job anyway. Glad someone else is willing to do this. You sure beat me to the punch though lol. Another week and I'll be home. Really thinking about doing it still. I'd just like a close-up of the gap with the 9 or ground down 40 in the 40 slide. Smitty or Robkarob maybe??

 

[robkarrob]

I doubt a photo will do anyone any good. Grinding .010 off each side of the tang really won't show in a photo. What is important is to keep a very minimal radius on the corner between the tang and the rear of the barrel breech. Also keeping the tang sides square and parrallel. As I suggested using the sde of a bench grinder wheel would work fine.

XXLaloCuraxX did it using the side of a small grinding wheel. Even using such a small wheel, he was able to grind the tangs to fit.

Bob

 

[Dikinalaska]

Ya I'll be using the same wheel actually. The reassurance of there not being a noticeable gap is what I needed. I guess I'll be doing it. Give me a justified reason to polish the whole thing anyway

 

[Night_hawk]

Well ****. Talked to S&W and the gentleman said barrels won't be available until probably next fall. He said they're using everything produced for warranty work or production. Not lookin good to find a barrel. Even Guns & Gear said they don't even expect any anytime soon. He actually chuckled when I asked and said "sorry bud, but good luck. You'd be better off buying another Shield." Anyone know of somewhere else to look?

Hello, just FYI, I was able to order a 9mm barrel (for my .40 cal Shield) from Smith & Wesson over the telephone on 3/15/13. They said it was temporarily out of stock but would be shipped to me in approx. 10 business days. It was around $65.

 

[Stimpy]

I've had one on back order since 2/7 with them, so please let me know if you do get yours, as I'll have to give them another status call. So far, they have not given me a date....

 

[jetman1115]

Is it easier to find a .40 cal barrel?

I've got a 9mm Shield. Would it be easier to find a 40 cal barrel? Any suggestions on where to find one?

 

[hunt4antlers]

I own the 40 Shield and purchased a 9MM barrel for it three weeks ago. I took it to the range and it fired 50 times. Not 50 continuous shots as it FTE'd a total of 8 times causing me to drop the mag and clear the jam. I am very glad that it is working for so many others but I don't have a clue if trying another barrel will work or if it is related to my specific slide or ejector. Has anyone else experienced this situation?

 

[Dikinalaska]

I own the 40 Shield and purchased a 9MM barrel for it three weeks ago. I took it to the range and it fired 50 times. Not 50 continuous shots as it FTE'd a total of 8 times causing me to drop the mag and clear the jam. I am very glad that it is working for so many others but I don't have a clue if trying another barrel will work or if it is related to my specific slide or ejector. Has anyone else experienced this situation?

Where did you get the 9 barrel and how long did it take you to get it?

 

[Pistolpete2]

I have a shield 9mm barrel with 9mm mags in my 40 shield and have shot 400rd has been flawless in both calibers

 

[Enzo]

To each his own but the shield isn't a range gun but a sd gun and I wouldn't trust any of these conversions for the sd role.

 

[SmurfHunter]

To each his own but the shield isn't a range gun but a sd gun and I wouldn't trust any of these conversions for the sd role.

Most are using it plinking. Not SD with the 9mm barrel in. 9mm is cheaper to shoot on a general basis compard to the 40

 

[Smitty357]

One weapon that shoots 2 different calibers. It's hard to go wrong with that at all.

Both of my converted .40's are still shooting 9mm for backyard plinking. Still shooting like they were from day 1.

 

[seattle911]

I own the 40 Shield and purchased a 9MM barrel for it three weeks ago. I took it to the range and it fired 50 times. Not 50 continuous shots as it FTE'd a total of 8 times causing me to drop the mag and clear the jam. I am very glad that it is working for so many others but I don't have a clue if trying another barrel will work or if it is related to my specific slide or ejector. Has anyone else experienced this situation?

Yes I have.

 

[2tango2]

No issues here shooting 9 out of my 40. In fact I was more accurate with the 40/9 barrel than with regular 9 Shield lol

 

[Smitty357]

No issues here shooting 9 out of my 40. In fact I was more accurate with the 40/9 barrel than with regular 9 Shield lol

Its funny u mention this. The whole time i did the testing, i also noticed I was better with the converted 9mm compared to my 9mm Shield. In my case, the barrel was the exact same barrel in both guns too, lol.

But i suspect that the trigger pull between the 2 are a bit different. Of course all Shield have the same trigger, but some are a little better than others. It just depends on the pistol u get. And maybe my .40 has a little better trigger compared to what my 9mm had.

So i sold the original 9mm Shield awhile back. Bought the ole lady a Shield .40 and showed her how to convert it with the extra 9mm barrel i had sitting the safe just for her. Now she's a happy camper and she is also a better shooter with her new .40 than she was with the old .9mm..Weird i tell ya