[Yodausa]

I have had my XDM 40 for 2 years now and this old man is very happy with it's performance however getting expensive to shoot as much as the seniors I run with.
So did a little digging and came up with the Storm Lake conversion to 9mm, down here in the rio grande valley the local sporting goods store is selling 9mm for 9.99 per box of 50 verse 16 and 18 dollars for my 40's.

The barrel comes in standard length 4.5 $160 or ported 5.30" two ports $170.00 doing my shopping these prices seemed very fair.

I will let you know the results.

 

[Groo]

I was strongly considering getting a conversion barrel at one time, because of a recent addition, I am considering it again. I'd get the ported barrel, not that I think it would make a ton of difference, but because I would want to quickly be able to differentiate what barrel is in the gun. a threaded barrel would serve the same purpose.

 

[N.E. Tx.XD]

Am in the same boat with ya brotha!!! Am subscribing to this thread!:mrgreen:

 

[jchebert1979]

I recently bought a storm lake conversion barrel for my XDM .40 to a 9mm from ineedmoregear.com. It was $120. I didn't get a ported barrel for the fact that if I have to shoot it in a defense situation say across the drivers seat or passengers seat in a car, I don't want to blow out the passenger or drivers ear drums or have the blast go into their face. Might not make a difference if the ports were vertical as apposed to horizontal but regardless, I didn't feel the ports were necessary.

If you are concerned about differentiation, my stock barrel is black so I bought a silver barrel. I also had to go down to a 16 lb spring and went ahead and got it with another guide rod since together they were only $20. ***NOTE*** DO NOT try and shoot 9mm rounds without changing your spring. I forgot to put the reduced lb spring in and the guide rod slid a little to the right and I spent about three hours trying to get my slide off. I still have no idea how I did without damaging my gun. Not to mention, it couldn't eject the shell so the gun jammed as well.

I am extremely happy with it. It was a lot of fun to go down from a .40 (all I've ever shot) to a 9 and of course the bullets are cheaper. Hope this helps.

 

[germansoldier]

I feel you with the prices, but this is what i do.

40 S&W 180 Grain FMJ BVAC - 500 Rounds, Remanufactured, Bulk - Surplus Ammo

So after its shipped it cost me $136 and some change, witch is not bad ether.
went through about hundred rounds not one problem.

Plus i went with the .40 for a reason! else i would have bought a 9mm, and i was thinking about it. But i like that size gun.

 

[jchebert1979]

Not to point this thread in a different direction but have you ever checked at Wal-Mart? I get the Winchester Target ammo and it comes out to 19 cents a bullet for 9mm and 23 cents a bullet for .40. I have yet to find ammo cheaper anywhere.

Not sure if all Wal-Marts in the country carry handgun ammo, maybe there are different laws in different states.

 

[germansoldier]

Not to point this thread in a different direction but have you ever checked at Wal-Mart? I get the Winchester Target ammo and it comes out to 19 cents a bullet for 9mm and 23 cents a bullet for .40. I have yet to find ammo cheaper anywhere.

Not sure if all Wal-Marts in the country carry handgun ammo, maybe there are different laws in different states.

Here i central Fl at wal mart it cost me like $15 for a box of 50, which comes too somewhere around 30 cent a bullet. Thats why i buy my ammo online from now on, i can get it for 27 cent a bullet (500rounds=$136 after shipping) not a big diff. but it is one.

 

[Kansas Slim]

I've heard great things about Storm Lake. Although I would caution against using a conversion barrel for any self defense purposes. There's a reason they make the gun a certain way for a certain caliber. Any deviation from that can result in a drop in reliability... which is not something I'm willing to live with in a defensive firearm.

 

[john_bud]

If you change from .40 to 9mm with a 160-170 barrel (more with shipping / tax) and buy 2 9mm magazines at $30 each you are getting close to 1/2 the price of a new 9mm gun.

If your gun is modified, it might make sense to convert calibers, but if it is stock it might make more sense to just buy an entire 9mm gun. There is always the possibility of grabbing the wrong magazine and firing 9mm bullets down the .40 pipe or stopping the gun entirely with .40 bullets into a 9mm pipe!

If pure cost savings are desired, the conversion cost redirected to a single station reloading setup would save you more than switching to 9mm.

 

[jchebert1979]

Kansas is correct. While I have fired well over 1500 rounds through my XDM stock .40 barrel without it jamming once, the 9mm conversion barrel has jammed twice after about 600 rounds. Still impressive but like he said, you do not want to take that chance in a self defense situation.

I still would recommend getting the conversion as it is just really fun and less expensive to shoot at the range. While I guess shooting the wrong caliber through the gun is always a possibility, I assume proper safe handling (clearing the chamber before handling, etc) is pretty much ingrained into everyone here so not knowing which barrel is in the gun or which magazine is to be loaded is pretty much nil.

 

[jhawknokc]

I have a guy I work with reload for me. 20 cents a round.