Drop in barrel, yes or no? 10MM to .40.

How well a drop-in barrel will work depends just as much on how "in spec" the gun is.

I have no idea how closely a Kimber sticks to the blueprints. You should probably order it from Brownells since they are so easy to deal with in regards to returns.

 

Each one is a different beast. Even the same brand can vary quite a bit.

 

You do need to re-spring the gun as well. I think the last one I saw used a 14lb recoil.

 

I once asked the same question about 38 super and 9mm and was told NO and not to try it because it could be bad by a very well respected smith on the forum. I would think the same would apply here.

 

My 2011 has both a 40 and a 10 barrel because the only difference is the length of the case. I use a different (lighter) spring with the 40 barrel, but everything else is the same.

The 38 super and 9mm have different case dimensions other than just the length.

 

I'd be interested in this 'what you read' information.

I bought a bare STI frame and slide (STI sells it as a 40/10mm slide) and fit both barrels to the same frame and slide. Barrels are ramped and gunsmith fit by me.

My pistol is set up with a heavy hammer spring and square bottom FPS so I don't have to use quite as much recoil spring when throwing the 40 barrel in.

 

A 9mm cartridge will not properly register on the breach face of a 40/10mm slide. You might get away with it for a while, but I'd never do it.

 

Back 20+ years ago, Colt sold a 10/40 version of the Combat Elite that came with both barrels.

You can look those up on gunbroker.

 

That's strange, there are untold numbers of 9mm/.38 combos out there, some by prominent gunsmiths and factories. I have read that there are 9mm slides with breech faces too narrow for .38 Super semirim but a lot of places use the same dimension.
Some places use the same for .40, Kimber, maybe. Not that that is a good referral.

As to .40/10mm, 10mm max chamber pressure is 37,500 psi vs 35,000 in .40; a 7% increase.

 

Send it to Kimbers custom shop and have them fit a barrel and supply the spring. Then you will have no worries or issues.

 

My original question was if you could take a 9mm gun and drop in a 38 Super barrel from the same Mfg. There's a difference from between a gunsmith fit barrel and dropping in a barrel blindly. I'm sure a qualified smith could fit both combinations successfully. Drop in maybe / maybe not.

 

Of my two such, only one was a gunsmith project.
The other was a 1950s Colt Super with a 1970s Colt .38 Super barrel and a Springfield 9mm barrel. No "fitting" involved except extractor tension. Not a centerfold model or a bughole shooter, but it did as well as the typical factory gun.