Conversion barrel and self-defense

[TheProf]

I'm thinking of using a .40 to 9mm conversion barrel. Why? 9mm is cheaper to practice with. And even in carry mode (not just practice session), I thought of also using 9mm... just to remain consistent with my practice rounds.

What's the legal downside if converting a G27 to use 9mm in a self defense scenario? (I'm trying to avoid buying another gun.)

 

[Plan2Live]

I would think the odds of that modification going against you in Court are minimal. Good for you to think through your choices for self defense, especially modifications, from a legal perspective.

Your only mistake so far is chosing Glock. We all know that Glocks are almost as common in murders and mass killings as Bushmasters. (sarcasm)

 

[bannockburn]

Don't really see a legal downside with that conversion. If it came down to it in a trial your attorney could actually argue that you were being more humane by going down a caliber from your .40S&W. When the 9mm. was originally conceived for military use in pre-WW I Germany (so the story goes), the cartridge was primarily designed to wound opposing soldiers. The idea being that it took more effort, manpower, and resources to attend to a wounded soldier, thereby incurring greater cost to the opposition.

So in this way the 9mm. could be shown to be a more humane choice for you to use in self defense.

 

[hso]

Why would there be any? The point is miniscule compared to the question of whether you made a good or bad shoot.

 

[Sam1911]

I think this concern takes the "don't use a custom gun for SD" mantra quite a bit too far.

As Dr. Meyer (GEM) and others have pointed out, some gun modifications could potentially be used to sway the, otherwise ignorant, jury that you had some excessively aggressive attitudes or tendencies, or more simply, some guns' appearances puts a negative cast over the owner simply because it's "big, black, and ugly" or whatever.

So, perhaps you don't want to use the Punisher skull grips on your carry gun. Maybe you don't want to select a type of ammo that has "RIP" or "death-dealer" or something else sensational in its name. Maybe, maybe you don't want to show up in front of a jury after having shot a guy while strolling through your suburban neighborhood with an AR-15 pistol festooned with lights and lasers.


MAYBE.

But a common conversion barrel so your gun can shoot a slightly cheaper and/or less powerful round? It's going to be mighty hard for a prosecutor to get much of the superficial kind of "traction" they're looking for out of that.

 

[Midwest]

I think if you stay away from conversions like this, everything will be fine.

 

[Jim Watson]

I understand the concept of buying big and shooting small for cheap practice, but for carry I would shoot enough .40s for familiarization and carry the gun in factory configuration.
Or do you get in so many gunfights that the price of ammo is important?

 

[Claude Clay]

what Jim said.....x2

 

[wally]

While I find the conversion barrels great for lower cost practice, I also find they have a significantly higher chance for a "stovepipe" ejection failure, probably because of the extra 1mm slop at the base of the cartridge on the breech face causes weaker than normal ejection. OTOH using a .357SIG conversion in a .40S&W or vice versa wouldn't have the issue because the cartridge bases are the same.

I don't find the conversion stovepipe failure rate in practice to be objectionable, and its good to have some live fire stoppage practice, but it happens more often than I'd want in a carry pistol. YMMV.

Since the only two people I know who've actually fired guns in a self-defense situation both report not even hearing the gun fire (tunnel vision), once the adrenaline kicks in, I doubt the difference between shooting a 9mm or .40S&W would be very noticeable.

I don't find a lot of difference shooting 9mm vs. .40S&W in the same gun until I start getting tired toward the end of a long outing.

 

[WC145]

There are plenty of multi barrel/caliber factory guns out there already, never mind the .38/.357, .44spl/.44mag type interchangebility. With those kind of precedents I think they'd have a hard time making a case for your evil intent because you switched the barrels in your Glock.

 

[Arizona_Mike]

The risk is overblown. In the Harold Fish case his first lawyer left the DA's "evil 10mm" rant go unanswered. A little expert witness testimony on the cartridge and police use would have blown it apart, as would have happened if Fish testified that his primary concern when hiking was 4-legged attackers.

Mike

 

[BSA1]

Jim Watson,

I have the same problem as the O.P. My department has adopted 40 cal. Glocks. While I reload for 22 different calibers the 40 isn't one of them. Nor do I want to acquire the dies, bullets and brass to do so.

So a 9mm conversion while not all that cheap is still easier than starting loading for a new caliber.

But I'll still carry the 40 on duty.

 

[45_auto]

So a 9mm conversion while not all that cheap is still easier than starting loading for a new caliber.

Must be a LOT harder where you are to start loading for a new caliber than it is here!

 

[BSA1]

Dies $ 40.00. (I just brought a new set of Hornady 41 Mag. dies), Starline brass $ 155.00 / m, bullets $ 122.00 / m plus additional time to load them vs. reaching into ammo can full of loaded 9mm.

I have limited time and I am already reloading a number of different calibers.

 

[texasgun]

I just converted my Glock 35 Gen4 to 9mm with a Lonewolf conversion barrel.

All you basically need is the conversion barrel AND a Glock 17 RSA and magazines.

It works 100% but ejection is VERY weak and certainly NOT a SD gun I would trust in this set-up

If you install a 9mm ejector and extractor you should be good to go.

That being said: I use the 9mm conversion to train with and use the .40 setup in the nightstand (I still train with .40 but less than with 9mm). Surprisingly the recoil with 9mm and the Glock 17 RSA in the Glock 35 is comparable to the .40 recoil. Both are soft recoiling though in that longslide gun

 

[Slotback]

OP: If you go with the conversion barrel, use a heavier grain 9mm. Avoid 115 grain and go with 124 or 147.

 

[76shuvlinoff]

The 9mm conversion for my XD40sc very occasionally has failures to feed and eject. It's not often but often enough that I won't carry it in that configuration. The heavier slug may very well be the answer for that.

 

[Deanimator]

What's the legal downside if converting a G27 to use 9mm in a self defense scenario? (I'm trying to avoid buying another gun.)

In Ohio, NONE.

 

[Spats McGee]

Sam1911 has pretty well nailed my feelings on the matter. Avoid the Punisher grips and "Wait for Flash" engraving around the barrel. Those could raise jury perception problems. Lightening the trigger too far? Bad idea. Converting from .40 to 9mm? I don't see a real problem.

 

[scaatylobo]

G-27 to 26 = did it

I have had a G-27 for about 15 years [ might be longer ] and I just bought a Lone Wolf 9MM barrel for it.

with 9 MM mags it feeds and functions perfectly ---- so far.

The recoil is MUCH reduced and that is good as I am getting long in the tooth,but the .40 is still doable as that is my EDC [ G-23 ].

I also have the G- 23 barrel for the .357 Sig and the .22 conversion and they all work ----- so far and so good.

Good luck with your choices.

 

[j1]

Have been told that it is not as dependable.

 

[j1]

Not as dependable.

 

[Spats McGee]

If dependability is a problem, then it's a problem. I don't see a real problem from the legal side of it, though.