Apex Grade Barrel For The S&W M&P9: A Quick Look
Apex Grade Gunsmith Fit Barrel - 4.25”
I purchased my Apex Grade Gunsmith Fit Barrel (4.25”) directly from Apex Tactical Specialties. I shipped my Smith & Wesson M&P9 CORE directly to them for the fitting/installation of the barrel.
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The next pics give you a close look at the different geometry that Apex Tactical Specialties developed for their barrel.
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I paid the additional fee for Apex Tactical Specialties to test-fire my M&P9 CORE after their fitted barrel was installed. The test-target that was included with my returned pistol is pictured below. Aside from some brief demographics written on the test-target, the only technical information that was written on the test-target was a note stating:
10 @ 10
I can only assume that meant that the test-target was of a 10-shot group fired at a distance of 10 yards. The group has an extreme spread of 2.226”. An extreme spread of 2.226” at 10 yards would sub-tend to an extreme spread of 5.565” at 25 yards. My M&P9 CORE grouped better than that with the original factory barrel.
The Apex Tactical Specialties test-target . . .
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To date, I’ve fired 150 rounds of quality factory loaded ammunition through the Apex Grade Gunsmith Fit Barrel during function testing and barrel break-in. I like to have fired at least 200 rounds through a pistol barrel before conducting an accuracy evaluation of it.
There have been no malfunctions with the Apex barrel in my M&P9 CORE while firing an assortment of:
Federal 9BP 115 grain JHP
Speer 124 grain Gold Dot
Federal 9MS 147 grain JHP
Federal 147 grain HST
Speer 147 grain Gold Dot G2.
Since the Apex Tactical Specialties test-target was fired at a distance of only 10 yards, I did fire a few 10-shot groups from a distance of 10 yards (from the bench) for comparison. The group pictured below was fired using factory loaded Federal 147 grain HST ammunition. The group has an extreme spread of 0.633”.
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03/06/16
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03/08/16
The 10-shot group pictured below was fired at a distance of 15 yards using factory loaded 124 grain Gold Dot ammunition. The group has an extreme spread of 0.912".
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03/12/16
At this point, I have a total of 300 rounds of factory-loaded ammunition fired from the Apex Grade Gunsmith Fit Barrel and have not had any malfunctions. The 10-shot group pictured below was fired from the bench at a distance of 25 yards using factory-loaded Federal 124 grain HST ammunition. The group has an extreme spread of 1.38"
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The recessed crown . . .
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4-17-2016
Strictly for kicks and giggles, here's a pic of a statistically insignificant 5-shot group fired from the bench at a distance of 25 yards. The group has an extreme spread of 0.75".
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05/07/16
Here's a pic of another 10-shot group fired off the the bench at a distance of 25 yards. This group was fired using one of my standard hand-loads (not tuned for any particular barrel) that is seated with the Federal 124 grain HST bullet. The group has an extreme spread of 1.08".
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05/08/16
To date, I’ve fired 850 rounds from the Apex barrel. There have been no malfunctions to report.
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As before, the statistically insignificant 5-shot groups pictured below are strictly for kicks and giggles. These groups were fired off the bench at a distance of 50 yards.
This group was fired using Federal factory loaded 147 grain HST ammunition. The group has an extreme spread of 1.88”
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This next group was fired using one of my standard hand-loads (not tuned for any particular barrel) that is seated with the Speer 124 Gold Dot bullet. The group has an extreme spread of 1.49”
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Continuing with one of my standard hand-loads topped with the Hornady 90 grain XTP bullet, the Apex barrel turned in this 5-shot group with an extreme spread of 1.38”.
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Lastly, my particular barrel has shown a preference for the 124 grain HST projectile. This 5-shot group was fired using my standard hand-load for that bullet. The group has an extreme spread of 0.93”.
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06/10/16
To date, I have a total of 1105 rounds fired through the Apex barrel; no malfunctions to report.
Velocity Comparison
I compared the velocities of three different bullet weights fired from the Apex Grade barrel fired back-to-back with the factory original barrel. The strings of fired consisted of 10-shots over an Oehler 35-P chronograph. All velocities listed in the table below are muzzle velocities, as calculated from the instrumental velocities using Oehler's Ballistic Explorer software.
Atmospheric conditions
Temperature: 78 degrees F
Humidity: 42%
Barometric pressure: 30.03 inches of Hg
Elevation: 950 feet above sea level
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