Happy Friday my fellow M&P friends! So I've done my due diligence in searching the net and reading about what one needs to do in order to make this happen, but I just wanted to make a quick post here to confirm so that nothing gets done incorrectly. And since a lot of what I read was from forum threads posted a while back, I wanted to make sure that nothing has really changed and I'm still current. Because you know, times change, and the answer given in one thread may no longer be the "right" answer. Technology, market forces, the regulatory environment, manufacturing, culture, etc. can all cause changes, either for better or worse. You get what I'm sayin'.
Many people like to convert a M&P40 to 9mm so that they have 2 guns in one. From what I've gathered, you basically only need to do 2 things:
1. Drop in a 9mm conversion barrel
2. Use 9mm magazines (40 mags will work just fine for the most part but some people say that 9mm mags tend to work more consistently).
However, when it comes to the barrel, from what I've gathered, there are "regular" 9mm barrels, and then there are "conversion" 9mm barrels. The regular barrels are for 9mm guns/slides, and are more or less just replacement barrels for an existing 9mm handgun. Whereas the conversion barrels are made specifically for someone trying to convert from a larger caliber (40S&W or .357Sig) down to a smaller caliber (e.g. 9mm). And correct me if I'm wrong, but this is because the M&P9 and M&P40 have different internal measurements and tolerances and thus the M&P40 slide probably shouldn't use a 9mm barrel that is made for a 9mm slide (although some people do it anyway). Therefore there are aftermarket 9mm conversion barrels made specifically to be dropped into a 40S&W slide, and these conversion barrels are an exact (sort of) fit, whereas the regular 9mm barrels are not. This is because in the M&P40 the ejector, extractor, breach face, and barrel crown, etc. are all different than the M&P9, and the conversion barrels take these differences into account. Yes/no/sort of???
Also on the 9mm conversion barrels, you have the choice between a pre-fit drop in barrel, or a barrel that will need to be fit by a gunsmith. And from what I've read even further, there's probably no need to get it fit by a gunsmith unless I am a tournament shooter and want 2" groups at 25 yards. Which I'm not, and realize that is unrealistic for me and a pre-fit drop in barrel will probably be more accurate than I am.
So that's what I've read and assume to be correct. Please correct me if I'm wrong on any of this or if I am missing something important. And if you have anything of value to add that I did not mention, please do tell!
Many people like to convert a M&P40 to 9mm so that they have 2 guns in one. From what I've gathered, you basically only need to do 2 things:
1. Drop in a 9mm conversion barrel
2. Use 9mm magazines (40 mags will work just fine for the most part but some people say that 9mm mags tend to work more consistently).
However, when it comes to the barrel, from what I've gathered, there are "regular" 9mm barrels, and then there are "conversion" 9mm barrels. The regular barrels are for 9mm guns/slides, and are more or less just replacement barrels for an existing 9mm handgun. Whereas the conversion barrels are made specifically for someone trying to convert from a larger caliber (40S&W or .357Sig) down to a smaller caliber (e.g. 9mm). And correct me if I'm wrong, but this is because the M&P9 and M&P40 have different internal measurements and tolerances and thus the M&P40 slide probably shouldn't use a 9mm barrel that is made for a 9mm slide (although some people do it anyway). Therefore there are aftermarket 9mm conversion barrels made specifically to be dropped into a 40S&W slide, and these conversion barrels are an exact (sort of) fit, whereas the regular 9mm barrels are not. This is because in the M&P40 the ejector, extractor, breach face, and barrel crown, etc. are all different than the M&P9, and the conversion barrels take these differences into account. Yes/no/sort of???
Also on the 9mm conversion barrels, you have the choice between a pre-fit drop in barrel, or a barrel that will need to be fit by a gunsmith. And from what I've read even further, there's probably no need to get it fit by a gunsmith unless I am a tournament shooter and want 2" groups at 25 yards. Which I'm not, and realize that is unrealistic for me and a pre-fit drop in barrel will probably be more accurate than I am.
So that's what I've read and assume to be correct. Please correct me if I'm wrong on any of this or if I am missing something important. And if you have anything of value to add that I did not mention, please do tell!