Scojen7 Posted November 11, 2014 Share Posted November 11, 2014 Good evening all since this is my first post on this forum I will try to keep this straight forward. Having just bought a XD 40 4.5 which I am quite happy with. I did some research and found that they make conversion barrels for this pistol. Aka 40 to 9mm I find this very interesting from the view point of being able to swap out the 40 for the 9. My interest is in using the 40 setup for carry and the 9mm for IDPA. The barrel swap appears simple enough along with trading out the recoil springs which may not be necessary but I think it is applicable. My real issue is with the mag difference obviously the 40 mag is longer and the I believe the extra play the 9 would have could cause feeding problems. So if anyone has done or is doing this I sure would like to find out how. I used to shoot USPSA here in Florida many, many moons ago with a 1911 38 super single stack. I built this pistol from a busted up Colt could only salvage the slide and internals mated with a Caspian frame, Barsto barrel, trigger, hammer mag well and a few other goodies it still groups well with over 10,000 rounds through it.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JASracer Posted November 11, 2014 Share Posted November 11, 2014 IMO, I do not see the benefit of trying to change the gun from a 40 for carry to a 9 for IDPA. The added cost of a different barrel, more magazines, another spring, etc just is not worth it to me. I shoot IDPA with a .40 XDM. I have not seen any disadvantage to shooting the .40. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scojen7 Posted November 12, 2014 Author Share Posted November 12, 2014 Not looking for opinions, looking for factual information. Reloading 9 mm is cheaper than 40 by a small margin. Recoil is less. But wait, there's more a 9 mm magazine has more capacity. Etcetera, etcetera, and so on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bountyhunter Posted November 12, 2014 Share Posted November 12, 2014 (edited) Not looking for opinions, looking for factual information. Reloading 9 mm is cheaper than 40 by a small margin. Recoil is less. But wait, there's more a 9 mm magazine has more capacity. Etcetera, etcetera, and so on. OK, I have an XD Tactical 5" .40SW which I also shoot with a 9mm conversion barrel. Facts: 1) Yes, 9mm mags hold more rounds especially if you are forced to buy only ten round magazines. The ten round .40 mag holds 14 rounds of 9mm if the feed lips are properly spaced. The mags will work fine when tuned up. 2) The XD basically has a "fixed" position extractor that does not move very far and that is a problem for dual calibers. The .40 extractor will not hold tension very well on the 9mm rim as it pulls out of battery. Had a lot of FTE's in 9mm. I had to buy a second extractor and modify it to get maximum "turn" to get reasonably reliable extraction on 9mm. But, with the extractor moved enough to pull 9mm, the .40 rounds don't feed correctly. So, you need a caliber specific extractor and changing the extractor is annoyingly difficult (IMHO) Edited November 12, 2014 by bountyhunter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scojen7 Posted November 12, 2014 Author Share Posted November 12, 2014 Now that the kind of info I am looking for thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nwhpfan Posted November 14, 2014 Share Posted November 14, 2014 I would consider loading for .40. I'm sure there are some good .40 loads that will work for you. Besides what has been said, some other considerations regarding the price difference between loading 9mm and .40 is the start-up cost of a barrel, magazines, etc. How much would it cost to shoot 9mm from the .40 reliably vs. shooting .40 minor. How many thousands of rounds would it take to break even... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scojen7 Posted November 15, 2014 Author Share Posted November 15, 2014 nwhpfan, OK you backed me into a corner here. I must admit I am a bit of tinkerer when it come to firearms. Checking the load data is in the near future, gotta order the dies and brass etc. to run some test. OTS 40 ammo is expensive. Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bountyhunter Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 9mm ammo is pretty ridiculous as well, at least around here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scojen7 Posted November 18, 2014 Author Share Posted November 18, 2014 (edited) "9mm ammo is pretty ridiculous as well, at least around here." OK, 40 SW bullets 130/1k, brass 120/1000, primers 36/1000, powder 40/1 lb. that's 325 for 1000 so 32 cents a piece as opposed to OTS at at 36/100, 36 cents a piece, but the price comes down after the first run. With the right load, watch the case length the brass should be good for 10 to 15 reloads. Take out the cost of the powder for the next 7 runs Say 900 gr per 1000 rounds a pound is good for 7000 reloads. So 7k reloads would cost about 20 cents apiece by wag factoring the depreciation. Any way I have rambled on way to long, beer thirty anyway. Edited November 18, 2014 by Scojen7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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