Can a Browning HiPower in 9x19 be converted into a 9x23?

[Saw-Bones]

Can a Browning HiPower in 9x19 be converted into a 9x23 using a stock barrel. I know that the 9x19 chamber is shorter and its chamber pressure can be up to 38,000 psi with +P ammo.

The 9x23’s chamber pressure can be as high as 55,000 psi, so will the metallurgy in a stock 9x19 barrel contain that much of a pressure increase?

If it can be done, who would you recommend?

 

[rcmodel]

Sure.

But it's unlikely a 4mm longer cartridge is going to fit or feed in a 4mm shorter magazine.

rc

 

[BBBBill]

No. I strongly suspect that the slide would fail first followed shortly by the barrel cam/frame cross pin. There are 9mm conversion barrels (with 3 lugs) available for the 40 S&W version, but even that only operates at 35,000 psi.
Contact a true HP expert like Chuck Warner (he now manufactures new HPs) at http://www.elitewarriorarmament.com/ or Don Williams at http://www.theactionworks.com/ for guidance on what will and will not work.

Edit - I didn't even stop to consider the cartridge length and magazine. There were some S&W Model 39-2's converted to 38 Super with attendant cartridge length/magazine issues, but the shot loose pretty quickly according to my sources. And that's a cartridge not much more powerful than the 9mm. Bottom line is that the HP is not robust enough to sustain a hi pressure round as designed. In its original form it is just about perfect for a 9mm (or equivalent) energy level round. The 40 S&W version has a much heavier slide, but little was changed in the frame. It might survive the 9x23 for a while, but I would suspect it to shoot loose pretty quickly without major reengineering.

 

[rcmodel]

My buddy bought a .40 BHP 20 years ago when they first came out..

And even then, when I was still 50 and strong?

I wasn't strong enough to rack the slide without hurting my hand!!

They did most of it with a heavier slide, and impossibly strong recoil spring.

A 9x23, even it would fit, would be way too much for a BHP.

Rc

 

[Saw-Bones]

Thank all of you for your input; it is much appreciated.

I was thinking of my BHP single action auto as a higher capacity alternative to my Colt Government Model single action auto in 9x23.

I didn’t think of the magazine limitation in the BHP as rcmodel pointed out either. I am going to check the links that BBBBill provided this coming Monday, but from his discussion it doesn’t appear that I’ll get the answer I’m looking for.

So the next question: Is there a high capacity single action auto out there that will lend itself to the 9x23 cartridge? Maybe something in .38Super that might be able to handle the increased pressure? I wouldn’t consider custom pistols like Wilson, STI, etc.

 

[Jim K]

The old Spanish pistols chambered for the 9mm Largo should handle the 9x23 as far as cartridge length goes; pressure would be another matter.

Jim

 

[BBBBill]

The metallurgy of the old Spanish Largo pistols would be very suspect.

 

[fa2]

EAA Witness Match in 38 super might fill the bill.

 

[Jim Watson]

If you wouldn't consider an STI, the EAA seems to be your only option.

There have been Glock 20s rebarrelled from 10mm to 9x23 but getting the magazines right seems to be a challenge.

 

[joem1945]

I shoot a bit of 9X23 or 9mm Largo. As I reload for that caliber, my reloads are on the light side. No sense in beating a old gun to death that can't be replaced.

 

[WardenWolf]

From everything I've read, the ideal gun for such a conversion is a Tokarev pistol. They can take the full-length 9x23 cartridges. You'll want to get a Norinco 9mm Tokarev for the initial conversion, then ream out the chamber to the proper depth. You'll then use the standard 7.62x25 Tokarev magazines. Because 9mm is longer than 7.62x25, the 9mm magazines have a spacer at the rear to allow them to more reliably feed the shorter 9mm Luger rounds. Some, in lieu of this, have a spacer at the rear of the magazine well and a shorter magazine. Ideally you want to get one with a modified mag, although you can also get one with the spacer and remove it.

 

[Clark]

~ 10 years ago I converted Tokarev 9x19mm and Star Super B 9x19mm pistols to 9x23mm. With 158 gr bullets, the Tokaev will feed 1.36" and the Star will feed 1.29".
That is not with the standard 9x23mm reamer that Brownells sells.
That is with me throating them out.

The Starline 9mm Super Comp brass has more capacity and the Win 9x23Win brass can handle higher pressure.

But as I try to tell everyone doing the conversion, your pistol can't handle HALF the recoil 380 can make with loaded hot, so what makes you think there is any point in stepping up from 9x19?

There is this problem of your slide mass and your recoil spring are a wimpy combination.
If you have a slide mass of a magnum research Desert Eagle, you could find a useable increase of maximum power between 9x19mm and 9x23mm.

My father once said to me that the maximum recoil spring energy for a given volume of the spring is at 50% preload. This can be derived by ~~taking the equation for a spring, integrating over distance to find the energy in the spring, take the derivative and set it equal to zero. The top of the hump is when the slope is zero and that is with 50% pre load.

There is inadequate volume for recoil springs in a Star Super B, but I bored out my cowling on the bottom of the slide and made room enough to go to the next higher size in the Wolff gunsmith pak #14.

 

[rcmodel]

If you have a slide mass of a magnum research Desert Eagle

But, if you had the slide mass of a Desert Eagle, you would have a gas operated, rotary bolt action that could handle anything you could fit in it.

And slide mass wouldn't matter much with a 9x23

rc