9mm conversion for 1991a1?

[MAURICE]

Hey gang,
As much as I like to shoot, and being broke, it is getting to be expensive . Is anyone aware of a 9mm conversion unit for series 80 colts? I know of .22 cal conversion units, and I will get one soon, but I am also interested in something with a little bit more recoil and bang-but not as pricey as .45.

Can anyone help?
Thanks,
Maurice

 

[Jim Watson]

Colt actually made a 9mm conversion kit at one time. They apparently did not sell well, I have only seen one and a couple of magazine articles.

The kit included a barrel, magazine, slide with small parts, a recoil spring and ejector. You can, no doubt, accumulate the same parts yourself. People will tell you it won't work because the .45 feed ramp is so different from smallbores, but Colt didn't think so. Or maybe they found out the hard way, with failures in the field. But a friend has a .38 Super upper on a Gold Cup lower that shoots very well, so they can't be that far off. Not all of them.

I don't know if you can do it for the price of a new pistol, though.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

You could make your own conversion kit -- you simply replace the whole slide assembly, the ejector, and use a 9mm magazine.

But it would probably be cheaper to buy a Dillon 550B and start reloading in mass.

 

[stans]

Yep, you will need a whole top end, new ejector and slide stop as well as magazines. Some people have made the conversion work, others ran into feeding problems, but I expect most would feed round nosed FMJ ammo. You may wind up spending $400 to $500 just in parts, so you might just be better off buying a 9mm pistol.

 

[CWatson]

I saw a NIB Springfield 9mm conversion on Ebay just a couple days ago.The seller wanted over $300 for it.

CW

 

[stans]

That's not a bad price for a Springfield top end. Now add an ejector, slide stop and magazine, that's another $50. If you are fortunate it will drop in and work properly. If not, then you need to know how to fit a slide and barrel to a receiver. If it doesn't want to feed, you need to know how to tune it to make it feed and still be able to maintain reliability with the 45 ACP round.

Every time you switch between the two calibers you will need to swap out the slide stops and ejectors. Slide stops are easy, ejectors are not as easy. Last time I took out a Colt ejector, the pin drifted out fairly easy, but the ejector itself was so tightly fitted that I didn't think it would ever come out.

 

[MAURICE]

Looking the way it is, I might as well buy a 9mm 1911.
The reloading .45 will come soon. WWB is good stuff at a good price, but I wonder if I can reload it for less than that.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

Quote:
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the ejector itself was so tightly fitted that I didn't think it would ever come out.
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Wrap a wire around the ejector, and attach it to something solid, and pull on the frame. I believe Khunhausen shows this technique in his book.