M&P 9mm Pro/L Factory Barrels

[mcracco]

SSS has them in stock. Funny that they are confirming they are new production but not confirming they are faster twist. Regardless, I took a chance and snagged one.

[dnuke146]

Me too, thanks for the heads up.[emoji106]

[ryan45kim]

so what twist do they have

[compshootfl]

Sold out.....bummer.

[mcracco]

so what twist do they have

I'll let you know next week.

[Nemo]

How do you know or measure the rifling twist rate?

[mcracco]

For M&P old vs. new barrels it's pretty obvious; look down the bore and the original rifling (1:18.75") has a gentle spiral and the new version (1:9") looks like a fine pitch screw.

Which is what makes me suspicious of SSS not coming out and saying what the twist is.

[Bluemooncricket]

For M&P old vs. new barrels it's pretty obvious; look down the bore and the original rifling (1:18.75") has a gentle spiral and the new version (1:9") looks like a fine pitch screw.

Which is what makes me suspicious of SSS not coming out and saying what the twist is.

I agree, the difference isn't difficult to see.

Edited May 3, 2014 by Bluemooncricket

[Nemo]

SSS gets a bag of barrels from S&W (usually 5 at a time), puts them on the website and deals with the frenzy. No time to look down the bore. No conspiracy; no need to be suspicious.

Edited to add: S&W does not I.D. the barrels by twist, same SKU for old and new.

Edited May 3, 2014 by Nemo

[ryan45kim]

Here are pics I got from another post on Enos. It is very easy to see the difference in rifling. Also new barrels have 1 or 2 dots on them to indicate which machine they were made on. No dots = old style barrel.

New barrel

Old barrel

[Nemo]

That you, Ryan! This info will make it a lot easier. The rifling difference is noticeable, but not having one of each at hand to compare side by side makes it tough. The dots, however, make looking down the barrel unnecessary.

All 5 barrel SSS received last Thursday sold by close of business Friday and already shipped. We'll be able to answer the age old question of rifling next time.

[ryan45kim]

glad I could help

[98sr20ve]

For M&P old vs. new barrels it's pretty obvious; look down the bore and the original rifling (1:18.75") has a gentle spiral and the new version (1:9") looks like a fine pitch screw.

Which is what makes me suspicious of SSS not coming out and saying what the twist is.

Well, if it's one twist in 18.75 inch's then the old one would not finish a complete twist in the barrel. It would do about a 1/4 twist in a pistol barrel. But the 1/9 would have completed about 3/4 of a twist in a pistol barrel. If that helps anyone who is trying to tell what they got.

[dnuke146]

Now we just need to do a comparison on the 1 dot bbl vs. the 2 dot bbl and see which machine makes a better bbl. [emoji12] I'm kidding! Thanks for the info Ryan. I'll post what they are when I get mine, it's already shipped should be here tue or wed.

Doug

[mcracco]

Suspicions confirmed; received my barrel and it is the old style, slow twist. I suppose I don't min having a spare barrel but thumbs down on SSS for not disclosing what I'm sure they knew.

[Nick S]

I find it a little odd they say no refunds on barrels but then say these are newest production.

That said Ive always had excellent customer service from SSS and will continue to do business with them.

I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. They should refund it if they refund other items.

Nick

[SonOfSpartans]

This is interesting. I was reading another thread about barrel twist. (It may have been a magazine article) It was talking about twist rate and performance. The general thrust of the article was that pistol barrels had been mostly the slower twist rate for accuracy. Then some studies showed that ballistic performance of ANY defensive round was better with a higher twist rate. (Think FBI type criteria here)

So reading that I am wondering about this question on the M&P barrels. I wonder if there is something else going on besides twist rate in the accuracy performance of these barrels. I would love to see a test of the old slow twist vs the new slow twist to see if there is a difference. Just saying.

A buddy of mine had a 9L that he was not happy with the performance of. He sent it in and they put a new barrel in it. I will have to get a look down it to compare to mine and another I know of. Need to see if I need a new barrel.

[dnuke146]

Yep just got mine, old pre dot:(

[Nemo]

Once again, much thanks to Ryan45kim for the info and photos of the old vs new barrels.

Before this last batch of barrels we at SSS received one other, also of 5 barrels, and just like this last one they sold in less than a day. One customer returned one and it was gone again as soon as put back in stock. We've never had one of each to compare side-by-side and didn't know the difference but had heard the internet banter about the old vs. new barrel rifling issue. We place an order with S&W and receive whatever amount of brand new parts they deliver. We have no way of knowing if those parts were sitting on a shelf for one week or 3 years.

There is no conspiracy here. We go out of our way to provide the best customer service possible but we can't please all the people all the time.

[bthoefer]

For the record , I have 2 m&p pro 9mm's. One has the newest barrel with the faster twist , the other has the old slower twist.

The slower twist barrel shoots great with anything including 147 grain bullets, with the best performance from 124 grain bullets.

The faster twist barrel shoots great with 115 or 124 grain bullets. 147 grain rounds are abysmal. Groups with 147 grain are around 12 inches at 25 yards.

124 grain rounds shoot 2 inch or better (when I do my part) out of both barrels.

Edited May 10, 2014 by bthoefer

[mjohn]

Thanks for the observations