changing barrels on a Glock 31

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GuysModel94

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Read a blog that said if you have glock 31 in a .357 SIG, you could purchase and use a .40 S&W barrel, the point being to save money on target practice, does anyone have experience or solid info, is it really as simple as changing out the barrel?
 
It really is as easy as that. 357 SIG is just .40S&W necked down to 9mm, and the Glocks in 357 and .40 share virtually all parts except the barrel, whereas the 9mm Glocks have some differences in the extractor and ejector mechanisms.

I believe there are some differences in the magazine, so you may want to buy a few Glock 22 mags to make sure it feeds 100%.
 
@GuysModel94 Yes, I've done the conversion in a Glock. I actually went the other way, from a .40 S&W to a .357 Sig. I had a model 23, which is the mid-sized .40 S&W, and I simply dropped in a .357 conversion barrel. It really is that simple. The G31 and the G32 are virtually the same pistol except for the barrel and the number stamped on the side. The .357 Sig is simply a .40 S&W case necked down to a 9mm bullet. Thats why both cartridges can use the same gun, the magazine, breech face, extractor, and ejector are already the same. Simply pop in the conversion barrel, and you're ready to go.

It's kind of neat to have two pistols in one. You can get conversion barrels from BarSto, Lone Wolf, KKM, Glock, EFK Firedragon, or Jarvis among others. Some people choose not to go with a Glock factory barrel because they have polygonal rifling that is not meant to shoot lead bullets.

While not necassary, I did two additional things to my Glock. I swapped out the factory plastic guide-rod for a stainless one offered by Wolff Springs. Some say that the plastic guide rods may become brittle in extremely cold weather, but I don't know if this is true. The steal rod is stronger, lets you play with different spring weights, and puts weight forward for better control. Glock tends to put "soft" springs in their guns because they must function with all commercial loads and shooters. Light loads, for example will take recoil energy out of the spring. A small, less-rigid, or limp-wristed shooter will also take recoil energy out of the spring because they may be letting their arms come back as they fire. Light springs ensure function in these situations. I found that I achieved better results with a spring from Wolff that was a little over factory weight. There is less battering of the slide and better control that way. If your Glock is throwing your brass a great distance, it may be an indication that you'd benefit from a heavier spring.

On a final note, I bought a .357 conversion barrel that was one inch longer than my factory barrel. My reasoning was the the .357 barrel has a smaller internal diameter (outside diameter is the same to fit slide), and thus less volume to burn powder. The longer barrel gave me weight forward, more volume to effectively burn powder, less muzzle flash, and higher velocities. Remember, the .357 Sig is like a 9mm on steroids, it really screams.

Some people really like the South-Korean Lone Wolf barrels because they represent a good value. Personally, I don't like the cartoon wolf they put on the barrel, so I went with a different brand. If you have questions on barrel brands, there are many threads covering it. I know you'll love doing the conversion.
 
I had a Lone Wolf 9mm barrel (40-9) for my 31. It dropped right in, and with my 17 mags, the gun ran without problems.

Some will tell you you need to also replace the extractor and ejector with the 9mm, but I never had any problems.
 
I have a g31 and have both a factory .40 and a lone wolf 9mm conversion barrel. While it's cool to have them, the truth is I almost always just leave in the factory .357 barrel.

For the 9mm conversion, you should get some g17 mags. For .40, the g31 mags seem to work just fine. In my experience, the factory .40 barrel has been 100% reliable while the LW 9mm conversion has not, which is fine with me as long as you are only using it for practice.
 
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