1911 or Glock 21 for .460 Rowland conversion?

It's irrelevant what frame the .460 Rowland was designed for. You'll find there's not much "building" involved, if you choose the G21. You'll just need a barrel and stronger recoil spring. I'd also prefer a threaded, compensated barrel.

You'll probably need extra-strength mag springs, as well.

Mine's a 1911 version, and I like it quite a bit. I'm not much of a Glock guy, though. For all I know the Glock version is perfectly capable.

I would probably head to glocktalk.com and see if someone's done it there successfully.

I would suggest the Glock myself, it is lighter than a 1911 but it's wider and distributes recoil over a broader area. The barrel will be comped and as long as the supplied comp does a good job, you shouldn't need anything else. If it's a Gen3 21 it wouldn't hurt to get a 24lb recoil spring to help out.

I went a slightly different route, I use a KKM compensated barrel for my Gen4 21 and load up .45 Super to 460 Rowland level. The Rowland brass isn't any tougher than Starlines .45 Super, it just a touch longer. But since the OAL is the same, it doesn't have greater powder capacity, it just has a longer case. To make my point, I can load a 185gr XTP to 1600 fps or all the way up to a 300gr hardcast at 1150 fps and the brass looks fine, and to top it off the very same setup shoots .45 ACP like a champ, although it feels like a .22 in comparison.

I have a 10mm, but to be frank, the .45 Super and 460 Rowland spank the 10mm.

That's just my two cents worth of advise, but if you're dead set on the Rowland, I'd go for a Glock.

I also shoot the KKM threaded, compensated barrel in my G21. Have shot some .45 Super and .450smc through it, with no problems.

Since I don't hunt with my Glocks, I have no motivation to shoot .45 Super or .450 smc. The KKM barrel/comp handles recoil and muzzle flip in fine fashion.

SDGlock23 said:

I would suggest the Glock myself, it is lighter than a 1911 but it's wider and distributes recoil over a broader area. The barrel will be comped and as long as the supplied comp does a good job, you shouldn't need anything else. If it's a Gen3 21 it wouldn't hurt to get a 24lb recoil spring to help out.

I went a slightly different route, I use a KKM compensated barrel for my Gen4 21 and load up .45 Super to 460 Rowland level. The Rowland brass isn't any tougher than Starlines .45 Super, it just a touch longer. But since the OAL is the same, it doesn't have greater powder capacity, it just has a longer case. To make my point, I can load a 185gr XTP to 1600 fps or all the way up to a 300gr hardcast at 1150 fps and the brass looks fine, and to top it off the very same setup shoots .45 ACP like a champ, although it feels like a .22 in comparison.

I have a 10mm, but to be frank, the .45 Super and 460 Rowland spank the 10mm.

That's just my two cents worth of advise, but if you're dead set on the Rowland, I'd go for a Glock.

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This!

Also bear in mind a 1911 must be fitted very well and have a fully supported ramped barrel to shoot full pressure Rowland. Helps to have a square bottom firing pin stop too. The Glock 21 will handle heavy loads in a much lighter, much cheaper platform. I have a springfield that I've considered making into a Rowland but it's just so expensive and heavy and I just don't want to beat the crap out of a fine steel pistol. G21 has worked great and is surprisingly accurate.

Yes any 21 would work for this, I personally prefer either the Gen3 SF or the Gen4 version due to the smaller grip, but again that's just me. If you don't mind the 21C, it would work for the conversion, plus I hear Glock is discontinuing the C models so it might be a good chance to grab one while you can.


As Cycletroll mentioned, the Glock platform is going to be less expensive and I'm not sure if the 1911 kit is a simple drop in unit or if it needs fitting, which is often the case with 1911's, the Glock is more plug and play without the fitting hassles.


I'm not claiming that the .45 Super is better than the 460 Rowland, just that in the right setup it can be loaded just like a 460 Rowland. I went the Super route because I like the idea of not having to switch barrels to shoot ACP, the same setup shoots both because dimensionally both are identical (externally anyways). Some say you can shoot ACP from a 460 Rowland barrel, but doing so is causing the extractor to do a job it was never intended for since the headspacing is different between them. I just want to throw out that word of caution, but if you intend to swap out barrels you won't have an issue.

The flash doesn't significantly affect night vision in compensated Glocks. Those who have actually shot "c" Glocks in low light know this.

I don't quite understand your saying that the Glock conversion would be more expensive than the 1911? (unless, of course, you're adding in the price of a Glock that you don't currently own. ) With the Glock, all you need is the conversion barrel and a stronger recoil spring. Just for "comfort's sake," I recommend a threaded, compensated barrel. (Not ported, but with a real compensator).

Unless you're thinking about trekking around in Griz country, I don't believe any perceived predators would realize any difference between .45 Super and .460 Rowland.

Good timing. I'm also going to convert something into a .460 Rowland. However, I'm taking a slightly different route with the Springfield XDm 5.25 Competition. The XDm 4.5 (in .40S&W) I have fits my hand well whereas for some reason Glocks don't.

Originally, I was going to just get a slightly heavier spring and use .45 Super from Underwood. However, the .460 Rowland is such a step up in power.

Let us know how your project goes.

Mine. Put atop a Norinco.

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If KKM makes a threaded, compensated barrel for the G21 in .460 Rowland, I'd highly recommend it to you.

Since I already own a G20, I'd probably just shoot hot 10mm for deer and hogs, if I hunted Bambi and Porky.

KKM doesn't make a .460 Rowland barrel and doesn't recommend shooting .460 Rowland through a Glock, because of "chamber wall thickness." I know that there are guys' shooting .460 Rowland through G21s, but I don't know what brand barrels they're using.

I don't have any interest in .460 Rowland or .45 Super. Did have a lot of fun playing around with .40 Super, but never could get it to feed from double-stack G21 mags.