S&W stormlake

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Hello, Looking to purchase a s&w 40c for my ccw and the intentions of purchasing a 9mm stormlake barrel to help keep range costs down. Im also understand that I will be able to use the .40 magazines or will I have to buy 9mm mags? Has any done this or know of any pros or cons of doing so? Thanks
 
Just buy the 9mm. The money you save on the barrel and extra mags will buy more ammo to practice with.

Easy captain buzz kill,


My advice Eric is buy and shoot it, how much ammo can you really BUY for the price of the barrel and some mags? The answer not that much, the amount is actually than less taking a class. but seriously two things

1. Get training
2. Celebrate Diversity
 
Buy the 9mm. There is 9mm ammo available which is just as effective as the .40 and, as you mentioned there is also 9mm ammo which is cheaper for practice.
 
Easy captain buzz kill,


My advice Eric is buy and shoot it, how much ammo can you really BUY for the price of the barrel and some mags? The answer not that much, the amount is actually than less taking a class. but seriously two things

1. Get training
2. Celebrate Diversity

We're just trying to save him some money. Not just now but maybe in 5 years from
now when it dawns on him that he probably should have just bought the 9 to begin
with.

I wish someone had scorned me the same way when I went to go buy my first .40. I still would have bought one anyways, but my chain of thought would have started about it a long time ago, and I probably could have saved a lot of money in the long run. [laugh]

I just think that using 9mm conversion barrels is a fools errand. If you want a 9mm, then buy a 9mm. There are a lot of people who want the gun shop commando street cred of saying "they bought a forty" and it continually evades me.

Posted by: "a guy who owned 6 different .40 S+W handguns at once and now owns none of them"

-Mike
 
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I have the 40c with the 9mm conversion barrel. If you buy the conversion, you'll need 9mm mags to go with it. Unless you love the 40, I would follow everyone else's advice and just buy the 9c. Over time I have lost the love for the 40 and have sold off every 40 gun I had. I have a lot of work into my frame so the conversion made more sense than buying a new gun. My 40 barrel and mags just sit in a box. BTW, I've never had any issue with the conversion barrel. It runs 100%.
 
I debated this 9mm conversion as the. 40 is nice but it doesn't wow me... now I'm thinking about. 357 sig same mags just a different bbl....

sent from my truck while driving down 95 in the high speed lane doing 55
 
.357 SIG? Huge flinch-inducing report. Huge fireball. Large price per round. I don't see the point. .40 was bad enough but .357 is worse.

I'm also one of those who is whittling down my .40s. I've sold two and have two more to dump. If I'd bought 9mm in the first place, I'd have wasted a lot less money.

The difference in effectiveness between .40 (or .357 SIG) and 9mm is a lot less than the difference in effectiveness between my hitting the target and not. IMNSHO, the money is better spent on 9mm ammo and practice, rather than looking for a silver bullet.
 
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.357 SIG? Huge flinch-inducing report. Huge fireball. Large price per round. I don't see the point. .40 was bad enough but .357 is worse.

I'm also one of those who is whittling down my .40s. I've sold two and have two more to dump. If I'd bought 9mm in the first place, I'd have wasted a lot less money.

The difference in effectiveness between .40 (or .357 SIG) and 9mm is a lot less than the difference in effectiveness between my hitting the target and not. IMNSHO, the money is better spent on 9mm ammo and practice, rather than looking for a silver bullet.

Agreed on the price per round (.357) I would reload anyway, but I like the ballistics better than 9mm... prolly end up getting both at one point.

sent from my truck while driving down 95 in the high speed lane doing 55
 
Agreed on the price per round (.357) I would reload anyway, but I like the ballistics better than 9mm... prolly end up getting both at one point.
Reloading .357 SIG. Really? Reloading .40 is easy. .357 SIG? Not so much. It is bottle-necked cartridge.
 
Reloading .357 SIG. Really? Reloading .40 is easy. .357 SIG? Not so much. It is bottle-necked cartridge.

Can't argue that, I just wanted a lil bit more bang is all I'm a recoil junkie. But as to the op's question can't you also Pico up the Smith and Wesson 9mm barrel off of brownells for around 80$ or will it not fit. That seems to be a cheaper way to get the 9mm out of the 40 m&p platform.

sent from my truck while driving down 95 in the high speed lane doing 55
 
I think the .40 is the best round in the world, for competitive shooting. It makes IPSC major easily and you can get 20 rounds into a Para limited gun. It is cheaper mthan a .45 to reload (lighter bullets and less powder) but performs pretty much the same as the 45 in a 1911 platform. Brass is free on the ground at your local range. For pins the 45 is the best choice and USPSA Open you need a 9mm or a 38 super; for just about everything else the .40 works great.

After have said call that, I must admit that I carry a 9mm. I really don't see any advantage in the .40 for personal defense. I chrono'd some 147 gr CorBon 9mm ammo out of my 4" barrel S&W 5906. At 1159 fps they are getting close to 357 magnum ballistics.
 
Why all the .40 bashing? Terminal ballistics are unequivocally greater than 9mm, do the research. It comes down to an issue of capacity, and one's ability to shoot quickly and accurately. Oh, and i have the 9mm SL conversion for my .40FS, very sweet indeed. You will need the 9mm mags though
 
Why all the .40 bashing? Terminal ballistics are unequivocally greater than 9mm, do the research.

In terms of wound ballistics, no, not really, unless you believe in the energy dump myth. Most mid-grade semiauto handgun calibers (9, .40, .45) with modern JHP ammunition are all in the same ballpark. Look at FBI testing protocols for example and note how most decent ammo in each caliber performs relatively similar. The reality depends on which church you go to in terms of terminal ballistics with a handgun. Fackler/IWBA vs Marshall and Sanow... and IMHO the latter church is about as credible as Scientology is. [rofl]

The .40 works, IMHO, but it's just so overhyped and ovverated. The only upshot of the caliber is that it works pretty
well in USPSA Limited division due to capacity and reloading logistics (tons of free brass) I'll never own another .40 unless I decided someday to run a gun in that division.

-Mike
 
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Haters gonna hate... but on another note I I will be buying a 9mm barrel and a 357 sig barrel cause I love recoil and I have a ton of. 40 mags which are also. 357 sign mags.... and I live in mass so the capicity gain of a 9mm is lost on me, but quick follow up shots are not... decisions decisions

sent from my truck while driving down 95 in the high speed lane doing 55
 
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