swapping out a 40cal barrel for a 357sig in the M&P

wayupnorth

wayupnorth

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
9   0   0
Location
Northern Alberta
so i have been searching high and low for a S&W M&P 357sig for a couple years now.
finally talked to Smith and Wesson directly and was informed that they have not been for sale for a couple years and will not be again to the civilian market.
so that sucks.
so i decided to skin this cat in another way.
i decided i would pick up a 357 sig barrel and just swap out the barrel when i want to shoot it.

i did some research into it and its said that with the M&P 40cal you can just swap out the barrel and your good to go.
if you went from the 9mm to the 357 youd need to upgrade some parts, but for the 40 to 357 its just the barrel that needs swapping.

so while talking to Smith and Wesson i asked them who their parts dealer was in Canada so i can order a barrel.
i contacted this company and was told that for sure they can get me in the barrel but i would need to send my gun to them to have the barrel fitted.

i was a little surprised by this as in all the talks i had with S&W and all the reading i did online no one said anything about the barrel having to be fitted.
i got the distinct impression that all i needed to do was field strip and swap out the barrel and i would be good to go.

hell, you can order a barrel from Storm Lake and they dont say anything about having to get the barrel fitted.

so my question is this...
has anyone done this?
did you have to get your barrel 'fitted'?
i guess im just feeling that this parts dealer / gun smith may be trying to make a quick buck off me.

now i dont know the fella and im gonna assume he knows what he's talking about and he is truly concerned with my safety.
but.... the cheap Scottish side of me just wants to check and make sure.

here is a quote from our correspondence about the barrel fitting;
It's factory policy. The barrels are not a drop in barrel. They have varying tolerances and you can't have excess headspace. To obtain the correct headspacing, the barrel must be fitted by a trained factory armourer. That's what I have been told and we have to follow the policy being a Warranty Repair Center.
Click to expand...

now that sounds totally good.
but if thats the case then why aren't other aftermarket barrels fitted by gunsmiths?

anyways, if anyone has some knowledge about this they can share that would help me out a lot.
thanks in advance.
 
Logic would say that if SL can make 9mm conversion barrels for the 40 with no fitting required, then going from a standard 40 to a 40 necked down to 357 should be even less of an issue.

I'd ask the smith for just a bit of an explanation of what needs to be done exactly for the conversion to work. Maybe there is something that needs to be fit or adjusted. In which case you need to consider how that might effect the gun overall. Or he's bullshifting you, in which case do you want to do business with this guy in the first place.

I think questar imports from SL. Or any other dealer that does US imports should be able to do it for you without to much mess.
 
I'm thinking that S&W must have recently changed their policy. I was told a similar story about obtaining a barrel for a magnum revolver from the same place (which has a good reputation so I have no reason to doubt 'em.) The factory is probably becoming more and more sensitive to product liability issues, even if it will probably drop right in. In addition to the cost, wait time can be an issue and would probably go aftermarket for that alone, as I've done for 1911's.
R
 
in talking with some co-workers and family we all came back to liability.
since he's a S&W certified dealer there is probably liability if something goes wrong with the barrel if he dosnt insure its a perfect fit.

so ya, for the added cost a Storm Lake may be the way to go.

well then i shouldnt say that....
storm lake barrels plain bones are 160 plus 80 to import plus tax and exchange.
S&W barrels i think run about 80 plus his time to fit and ship.
so it may very well end up the same price either way.
 
I just recently acquired a storm lake barrel in 357 for my m&p40 but haven't had the opportunity to shoot it yet. From first impressions though, the drop in fit is very good.
 
I have the M&P 357Sig and also the .40barrel as well as the .40 to 9mm SL conversion. They all fit right in without any fitting. Fabulous setup being able to fire so many different rounds.
 
You could also backorder one from Brownell's. You would just have to do the paperwork to have it exported/imported.

h ttp://www.brownells.com/handgun-parts/barrel-parts/barrels/s-w-m-p-357-sig-replacement-barrel-4-25--prod24382.aspx
 
Brordo said:
I have the M&P 357Sig and also the .40barrel as well as the .40 to 9mm SL conversion. They all fit right in without any fitting. Fabulous setup being able to fire so many different rounds.
Click to expand...

This is exactly my situation as well. My 40cal SL barrel is a little unreliable firing 165 grain rounds (a bit of chamber polishing helped a lot) but is solid with 180gr. The 9mm conversion barrel works beautifully with the 115gr ammo I've tried, but I haven't used it much yet. I kinda doubt the barrels need to be fit to the slides...my guess is that the service gunsmith is simply covering his butt.
 
There have been accuracy issues with a small run of M&P's that was caused by premature unlocking - Smith took a kicking over this in the US and are probably just trying to make sure no one does a drop in and gets an inaccurate gun, then blames Smith for it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom