Glock 30--10mm conversion?

[MikePaiN]

With the snow clearing its time to get hiking....I usually carry some type of .45auto this year its a G30 again .
You know typical handgun cals. like .45auto, .40S&W and 9mm are always iffy on four legged adversaries...From what I've been reading hot 10mm loads are most effective..
I have no interest in buying a 10mm pistol, I wouldn't want the expense of buying one or feeding it just to use in the woods.
I've learned that the G30's can be "converted" to 10mm. This might not be a bad idea....just a setup for hiking use, a barrel and mag. I wouldn't feel like I needed more than a few rounds on hand and I'd shoot only it enough to get used to the round.
Any info. or opinions on this? Stormlake or KKM makes the barrels and regular G29 mags fit the G30 frame?

 

[NG VI]

Yeah a G29 mag will fit the 30 frame, I'm not sure if you will run into ejection problems or not, if you do the ejector block is cheap and easy as hell to replace, not really all that much more involved than a normal field stripping to swap out the 10 and .45 versions.

 

[mr.trooper]

A quality barrel alone would put you 1/2 way to the cost of a G29 - let alone any issues you may face with the extractor and recoil spring, AND buying a new set of mags anyway.

Just buy a G29.

(Of course this is all ignoring the ballistic reality that a compact 10mm gives NO better ballistics than a 40 service pistol - extreme velocity spread will be between 20 - 100fps dependent on brand for the same bullet weight... and its usually the service length 40 that comes out on top)

 

[GLOOB]

Well, you can't shoot a 230 grain hard cast Double Tap 10mm bullet out of a .40.

 

[MikePaiN]

A quality barrel alone would put you 1/2 way to the cost of a G29 - let alone any issues you may face with the extractor and recoil spring, AND buying a new set of mags anyway.

Just buy a G29.

Last I looked even a used G29 goes around $500(not incl shipping, ffl fees or taxes)which puts the real cost at ~$600+...I can get a Stormlake Conversion barrel and G29 mag delivered to my door for $190...By my math that is < 1/3 the cost of "just buying a G29".
Here's more info for you....G29 and 30 use most of the same parts including the recoil spring assembly and extractor. The G30 in a very over engineered .45auto.

 

[swinokur]

Yeah a G29 mag will fit the 30 frame, I'm not sure if you will run into ejection problems or not, if you do the ejector block is cheap and easy as hell to replace, not really all that much more involved than a normal field stripping to swap out the 10 and .45 versions.

The ejectors are the same. The extractors are different IIRC. The ejectors are part number 8196-2. The ejector is in the middle of the picture

You can put a G29 barrel in a G30 but not the other way round because the hood dimensions for the G29 are slightly smaller than the G30. I would not depend on this setup for SD or woods defense. The G30 slide has had a small amount of it's interior shaved down as well to account for the 45 load having less recoil. The G29 barrel will fit but there is a small amount of play. Not sure how accuracy is affected. If you shoot hot 10mm loads you may have to go with a stronger recoil spring. I'm using a Wolff 21# Stainless steel spring and guide rod. I use a complete G30 slide on my G29SF. That is the absolute best way to convert IMO

 

[MikePaiN]

Sorry my mistake on the extractor/ejector. I'd never "drop in" a G29 barrel...if I do this the barrel will be one made for a G30 .45auto to 10mm conversion. Either a Stormlake or KKM Precision
I'd get a new Wolff recoil spring for the setup also

 

[swinokur]

That's the best way to go. If you are gonna shoot very hot loads, after market barrels have better chamber support than stock OEM barrels

I use a Stormlake 4.48 " barrel. sticks out 3/4 of an inch. Almost identical length to a G20. I use G20 15 round mags and A & G mag sleeves for HD and switch to 10 rounders for CC. Attached are crappy phone pictures.

My G30 is st up the same way but with a stock barrel. I did put Wolfe 17# spring and SS guide rod in the G30. used stock 17 pound strength since the 45 is a lower pressure round.

Let us know how it works out.

 

[MikePaiN]

Ah...excellent someone that has actually done the conversion..
swinokur..How has it worked out for you? Any functional problems?
In my case, the only use for this in 10mm would be in the woods hiking(I wouldn't even shoot it much at the range). So I'd want to keep the G30's compact dimensions.

 

[NG VI]

(Of course this is all ignoring the ballistic reality that a compact 10mm gives NO better ballistics than a 40 service pistol - extreme velocity spread will be between 20 - 100fps dependent on brand for the same bullet weight... and its usually the service length 40 that comes out on top)

Doesn't look like the compact ten is worse than the fullsize .40, especially since almost all the compact tens are around 3.8 inches while service .40s start at from about 3.8 (like the 229) up to five inches for things like the CZ, Beretta, and 1911 offerings.
http://www.ballisticsbytheinch.com/10mm.html

http://www.ballisticsbytheinch.com/40sw.html


And I've never seen a 200+ grain .40 load, with the sole exception of a 200 grain load from Hornady.

 

[Remo223]

I have a glock 29. It's no fun to carry...very thick and heavy.

 

[swinokur]

Ah...excellent someone that has actually done the conversion..
swinokur..How has it worked out for you? Any functional problems?
In my case, the only use for this in 10mm would be in the woods hiking(I wouldn't even shoot it much at the range). So I'd want to keep the G30's compact dimensions.

To clarify, I have not run a 10mm barrel in my G30, because I have a G29SF as well. I have a 10mm to 40 KKM conversion to shoot 40. No issues. I also have a 4.48" Storm Lake barrel in my 10mm to get better chamber support and to get back the velocity the shorter stock barrel causes. My G29SF has identical performance to a G20 and with G20 mags it's basically the same gun except I can shrink it down for carry,

I use very hot loads from Swamp Fox, Buffalo Bore and Double Tap no issues using the Storm Lake barrel.

As I said, hopefully you will have no issues with a 45 to 10mm conversion but keep in the back of your mind there is a chance you'll have extractor issues. If so the only reliable alternative for anything beside range use is a total upper swap. I can tell you I have swapped both uppers with both of my receivers with no issues, so I know that's a dependable and viable alternative, albeit more expensive.

If you cannot get absolutely 100% reliability, I would not use this conversion for SD in the woods or anywhere else. My recommendation if your wallet can stand it is a slide swap.

 

[mr.trooper]

Doesn't look like the compact ten is worse than the fullsize .40, especially since almost all the compact tens are around 3.8 inches while service .40s start at from about 3.8 (like the 229) up to five inches for things like the CZ, Beretta, and 1911 offerings.

BBTI is the exact site I researched before I made that post.

The variance is dependent on brand and load. I said as much, and your own links show it.

Many service .40s have barrels of 4.5" or larger, as you yourself state.

It seems this thread is a hair splitters convention. That's fine... But fact remains that a compact 10mm is still no advantage over a service .40, which was the OPs entire notion in wanting to do this conversion ("You know typical handgun cals. like .45auto, .40S&W and 9mm are always iffy on four legged adversaries")

 

[MikePaiN]

Thanks for all the input....As I've researched more details of this conversion based on what you all said, I've decided not to do it.
Its not as straight forward as I originally thought and likely only marginally more effective. I'll just stick with what I've typically carried in the woods, two mags of hot "bonded" .45auto rounds in my ultra reliable G30 and a can of Bear Mace