S&W 5904 to .40?

[honkeoki]

I have a S&W 5904 with nice tritium sights. I'm wondering if it's possible to swap out barrels to upgrade it to .40 cal?

Will I need just a new barrel, or a whole new slide/barrel set?

I'm asking this question because I've been looking at the EAA Witness pistols, which feature such a variety of different barrels and calibers that it makes my mouth water.

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[GrandmasterB]

A barrel swap likely won't work because the breechface in the slide is sized for the 9mm case and the .40 will be too big. If they made a barrel in .40 action express (which has a rebated case rim the same size as 9mm) then that would work, but I don't think anyone ever made one.

So you are talking about a new slide and barrel at least. I'll let those with more specific knowledge of the S&W autos chime in with further details.

 

[buzz_knox]

It's .41 Action Express, and I don't believe anyone made one for the 5904, at least as a commercially available barrel.

You can always get a 410, which is effectively the same weapon you'd have without the frills, and reasonably priced.

 

[Walt Sherrill]

I think more than the breechface is a problem: the extractor probably wouldn't work with .40 S&W round, and the barrel wouldn't fit the slide -- too big around.

It would probably be cheaper to find a used S&W in .40...