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Curious question I'm sure this has been debate here. Does the match grade barrel have a significant effect on accuracy and why. Would it be a wise investment to put a match grade barrel in a EDC which it would be in my case. With all of this being said I'm sure accuracy comes with trigger time regardless of barrel. Thank you in advance.
 
No.

It will though make your swagger slower, you will grow a beard faster and be able to reproduce with ladies by looking st them only.

Take a match grade barrel on a rifle. 99.999% of shooters will still blame the rifle for accuracy problems. Same with a pistol, the .01% in accuracy gains will never be seen by the average shooter.
 
What gives accuracy in a pistol is consistent lock up of the barrel at two points...the lower lug and at the muzzle where it contacts the slide.

Although the term "Match Grade" is over used, same as "Mil-Spec", a true Match Grade barrel will be a bit oversized at the two points above, thus require some fitting.

If the barrel is a drop-in style, it still might be better as long as the tolerances at the two points are better fit...meaning tighter fit, less slop = consistent lock up = consistent accuracy.

The other side of it...for an EDC, which are meant for close encounters, how much more accuracy do you need? The small EDC pistols aren't meant for bullseye accuracy at long distances.

But I find more often, the gun will out shoot the shooter. We tend to focus on equipment and blame the tool, when we don't spend enough time working with the tool enough to become proficient with it.
 
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My .02, worth what you paid for it. In Glocks I have seen a marked improvement in accuracy when switching to a Lone Wolfe Barrel. This was in a 17, 21 and 40MOS. I attribute this to the standard cut rifling in the Lone Wolfe barrels vs. the hexagonal in the Glocks. The only M&P I've had was the 40 Shield and as it was a CC firearm with a crappy trigger. I didn't try to to tune it into a match gun. I figured a 4" group at 10 paces was plenty of "minute of bad guy". In a self defense situation I'm probably not going to be using the sights anyway. One last note, on the Springfield line the standard XD's have hexagonal rifling and the XD(m)'s have cut rifling so they must think the cut rifling is more accurate as well. I can say this, for me anyway, XD(m)s shoot way better out of the box than any Glock. So if it was me, I'd get the match barrel just to see what's what and if I didn't like it, use it as trading stock for the next thing. My guess is you'll like it and keep it. Of course a match barrel might be the first step down the rabbit hole of "what can I do next".....
 
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I would normally agree with those that say its not a big deal, but you ARE talking about an M&P. The original M&P I was issued was not a very accurate weapon. It became very evident beyond 15 yards. Kept thinking it was me until I shot the same course of fire completely clean with three different guns.

We received several guns that had no rifling in the barrels. If yours is that way, by all means, get a new barrel.

The new ones shoot great. My IDPA gun is a 2.0 long slide and its great with the factory barrel.
 
What gives accuracy in a pistol is consistent lock up of the barrel at two points...the lower lug and at the muzzle where it contacts the slide.

Although the term "Match Grade" is over used, same as "Mil-Spec", a true Match Grade barrel will be a bit oversized at the two points above, thus require some fitting.

If the barrel is a drop-in style, it still might be better as long as the tolerances at the two points are better fit...meaning tighter fit, less slop = consistent lock up = consistent accuracy.

The other side of it...for an EDC, which are meant for close encounters, how much more accuracy do you need? The small EDC pistols aren't meant for bullseye accuracy at long distances.

But I find more often, the gun will out shoot the shooter. We tend to focus on equipment and blame the tool, when we don't spend enough time working with the tool enough to become proficient with it.

Just like golf.
 
My .02, worth what you paid for it. In Glocks I have seen a marked improvement in accuracy when switching to a Lone Wolfe Barrel. This was in a 17, 21 and 40MOS. I attribute this to the standard cut rifling in the Lone Wolfe barrels vs. the hexagonal in the Glocks. The only M&P I've had was the 40 Shield and as it was a CC firearm with a crappy trigger. I didn't try to to tune it into a match gun. I figured a 4" group at 10 paces was plenty of "minute of bad guy". In a self defense situation I'm probably not going to be using the sights anyway. One last note, on the Springfield line the standard XD's have hexagonal rifling and the XD(m)'s have cut rifling so they must think the cut rifling is more accurate as well. I can say this, for me anyway, XD(m)s shoot way better out of the box than any Glock. So if it was me, I'd try get the match barrel just to see what's what and if I didn't like it, use it as trading stock for the next thing. My guess is you'll like it and keep it. Of course a match barrel might be the first step down the rabbit hole of "what can I do next".....

I'm in agreement with you because I've seen the same exact thing. My S3F Tactical Solutions barrel is far more accurate in my Glock 35 than the standard glock barrel, buy a long shot. The next thing I have to compare are 2 different Springfield armory pistols. One a regular XD and the other an XDM. The XDM was the better shooter. I didn't know about the different rifling, just that it was far more accurate than the XD my buddy had. I guess there are guys that don't shoot well enough to warrant the "extra" expense, but some of us do and then its warranted. To me that sounds like hogwash and an insult to some shooters. Why would a person not opt for a more accurate weapon, when one can be had? Not directing that question at you, just to some of the others that say nay on the better performing, more accurate weapon.. I tend to like and appreciate all the accuracy I can get... I'd pay the extra few dollars and buy the one with the matchgrade barrel and reap all the benefits I can out of it. Just how I roll though..
 
I guess there are guys that don't shoot well enough to warrant the "extra" expense, but some of us do and then its warranted. To me that sounds like hogwash and an insult to some shooters. Why would a person not opt for a more accurate weapon, when one can be had? Not directing that question at you, just to some of the others that say nay on the better performing, more accurate weapon.. I tend to like and appreciate all the accuracy I can get... I'd pay the extra few dollars and buy the one with the matchgrade barrel and reap all the benefits I can out of it. Just how I roll though..

Seems like if a guy wasn't the best shot, but was trying to get better, removing the variable of a less than stellar gun/barrel would make it easier to see improvement.
 
Seems like if a guy wasn't the best shot, but was trying to get better, removing the variable of a less than stellar gun/barrel would make it easier to see improvement.

I agree. Then when you miss, you know it's all on you (the shooter). Not the barrel. Having the ability to choose the more accurate barrel is a "no brainer" for me. I guess I may be in the minority though??? I often wonder how some of these guys that say it doesn't matter, would fare in a simple game we have at our club called bowling pins? Oh wait, I've seen it before. Nevermind :D
 
I would normally agree with those that say its not a big deal, but you ARE talking about an M&P. The original M&P I was issued was not a very accurate weapon. It became very evident beyond 15 yards. Kept thinking it was me until I shot the same course of fire completely clean with three different guns.

We received several guns that had no rifling in the barrels. If yours is that way, by all means, get a new barrel.

The new ones shoot great. My IDPA gun is a 2.0 long slide and its great with the factory barrel.

This is my understanding as well. The EARLY M&P's had some lockup issues which impacted accuracy. Later models were better and the 2.0's should be just fine.

I've got two later model 1.0's...a 9mm 4.25" CORE and a 4" 45. Aside from the factory trigger in the 45 being absolutely horrendous, both guns are accurate enough.

A match grade barrel, however, will probably tighten your groups up a little. How much probably depends on whether you've got one of the early model M&P's or one of the later ones.

If it were me...and assuming you don't have one of the problematic early models...I would probably spend my money in the following order:
  1. Apex flat faced trigger w/forward set sear
  2. A nice set of fiber optic sights...but I'm partial to FO
  3. Match barrel
But that's me. YMMV. :)
 
Ironic. My first M&P40c and it's big brother, the M&P40, were bought in 2007 and very accurate.

I sold the compact a couple of years ago, and then replaced it a few months ago with a brand new one off CDNN for $350.

It's not nearly as accurate as the old one. Bought another OEM barrel from Midway to see if that helped. It didn't.

Most folks won't be able to see the difference in accuracy between an OEM barrel and an aftermarket barrel.

I shoot ALOT at 25yds with a rest to develop the most accurate loads for my GSSF Glocks.

This is a stock G19 Gen 5...

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This is my understanding as well. The EARLY M&P's had some lockup issues which impacted accuracy. Later models were better and the 2.0's should be just fine.

I've got two later model 1.0's...a 9mm 4.25" CORE and a 4" 45. Aside from the factory trigger in the 45 being absolutely horrendous, both guns are accurate enough.

A match grade barrel, however, will probably tighten your groups up a little. How much probably depends on whether you've got one of the early model M&P's or one of the later ones.

If it were me...and assuming you don't have one of the problematic early models...I would probably spend my money in the following order:
  1. Apex flat faced trigger w/forward set sear
  2. A nice set of fiber optic sights...but I'm partial to FO
  3. Match barrel
But that's me. YMMV. :)
Mine is a 1.0 4.25 9MM
 
I agree, get a better trigger first...like a full Apex kit.

Next...Better sights, not night sights. Once you turn on a good lumen light, the night sights wash out, and you have normal sights.
With a fiber optic front sight, you'll have a sight that works with ambient light, and even better when used with a good hand held light.

Last, go with a barrel...unless as stated above, you have one of the early miserable models.
 
Ironic. My first M&P40c and it's big brother, the M&P40, were bought in 2007 and very accurate.

My theory on this, as most people agree the .40 cal versions didn't suffer the accuracy issues like the 9mm versions, was the M&P was designed from the ground-up to be a .40 and was adapted to be a 9mm, unlike many guns that are 9mms that are adapted to be .40s.
 

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