Soapbox/Rant time: Why interchangeable barrels/uppers/conversion are overrated

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

I'm sorry, but I've come to hate them. There's a million of them out there:

-T/C, Handi-Rifle, Optima Pro, etc.
-Semi-auto handguns with mulitiple uppers or just barrels for caliber conversions
-AR15s with multi-caliber conversions by switching uppers
-MechTech carbine conversions
-myriad of .22 conversions
-Dan Wesson revolver barrels
-on and on

Don't get me wrong. I love them IF and only if I also have a dedicated lower /receiver to go with each one, so that any given gun is a complete unit unto itself. In the past, I have dedicated both a complete 1911 lower and a Glock lower to two Mech Tech units, and liked them just fine. Would love to have 50 AR15s in different calibers, provided I have a lower for each and every one. What I hate is taking the time to switch them out. Who has time for that? It's just not worth the money saved, to me. When I want to hit the range or grab a carry gun, I want to just grab the gun I want out of the safe, load up quickly, and not spend my time at the range fooling with guns, switching things out. I want to spend my time *shooting*. I understand completely the appeal of the cost savings, and have fallen for it many times. But I always end up coming back to the same conclusion. I don't like fooling with them. I always end up either buying a lower/receiver to dedicate to each barrel, or selling the extra barrels/uppers.

One Gun ==> One reciever

That's the natural order of things when it comes to gun ratios.

Sorry, just had to get that off my chest - maybe someone else won't make the mistakes I did. Life's too short to switch out uppers. I even went so far as to dedicate an entire AR15 to the Ceiner .22lr conversion since I like it so much, so right now I'm looking to sell a .223 bolt carrier unit and looking for a replacement SHTF gun (another AR or XCR or both).

 

[Janitor]

Would love to have 50 AR15s in different calibers, provided I have a lower for each and every one. What I hate is taking the time to switch them out

Reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where it came out that Elaine didn't like the juice because she didn't have the time to shake the container.

It takes about 45 seconds to switch an AR upper. But - to each his own. I'm pretty sure there are folks out there with less time to squander than I have.

 

[sacp81170a]

It takes about 45 seconds to switch an AR upper

That long? It should take you more like 10 seconds unless you stop to scratch something...

 

[wally]

I like the EAA Witness steel frames with changeable uppers, I can let newbies shoot 9mm, .40S&W and .45ACP in the same package for a fair comparison of the difference in the calibers.

That said, the frame is used most with .45ACP or 10mm upper.

--wally.

 

[tank mechanic]

-

Semi-auto handguns with mulitiple uppers or just barrels for caliber conversions

I have to disagree with you on that one. I bought a G31 in .357 SIG and then I bought a .40 S&W after market barrel. I love to carry and shoot the 357 Sig, but the ammo is rather expensive and all I have to do at the range is swap barrels out. I shoot a box or two of .357 to stay proficient and then switch out barrels so I can shoot to my hearts content and not break the bank. On those days when I want to carry a bigger round, I swap the barrel and ammo out, and carry on with my day. One gun with two different caliber barrels is very convenient and a whole lot cheaper than buying another firearm dedicated for each caliber.

 

[Janitor]

That long? It should take you more like 10 seconds unless you stop to scratch something...

 

[Jorg Nysgerrig]

I wish my life were so simple that this was the kind of unbearable torment with which I had to deal.

An upper without a matching lower? Oh, the horror! Barrels just laying around doing nothing? Won't someone think of the children?

 

[R.W.Dale]

My deal with these swap barrel systems is that in most cases the barrel and optics alone will cost 3/4 of what a complete rifle will. As is the case with the Encore

 

[IndianaBoy]

I'm wondering if the original poster even owns an AR, and knows how fast and simple it is to swap uppers.


I can have a SBR and a long barreled, free floated 'sniper' rig and save a few hundred bucks by using a common lower.

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

You save bout a hundred and a half, and yes I do. I want the trigger style/pull, and the grip, to match the use of the upper. And the AR is not the best example because that is pretty easy. The better examples are 1911 extra barrels (pain in the rear to take down and put together 1911s) and Dan Wesson barrels. Also the .22 conversions.

Krochus, the Encore or Contender is about the only one that makes sense to me, to a certain extent because (a) The extra "lower" IS quite expensive, unlike a Handi-Rifle, for example, (b) They are guaranteed to easily swap without any machining tolerance issue that prevent a good match, (c) the optics stay ON the barrel, so they stayed zero'ed to the upper (unlike say, a .22 lr conversion for AR15 where your zero will be changed), and (d) being a rifle barrel, they are not easily lost or misplaced like a pistol barrel could be. Still you don't want a mismatched furniture....

I suppose it's much ado about nothing, but I am just hoping to cause others to pause before spending money on extra barrels if they will ultimately feel as I do about the situation, and lose money on re-selling stuff. There may be an element of obsessive-compulsive to it as well - I just want all my guns to be complete and ready to go at a moment's notice. Maybe I need some zoloft.

 

[Dravur]

Who has time for that?

ummmm, me. I can take the 10-20 seconds needed to switch them out. I can then own one registered SBR lower and many short barreled uppers. in different calibers... in different configurations.... with different sights..

Im pretty sure I can make time.

It took me longer to write this.

 

[waterhouse]

Who has time for that? It's just not worth the money saved, to me.

I know you already said ARs don't really fit your example, but the cost issue is even more so on something like an SBRed AR.

I've got a lower with a great stock and a nice trigger. Counting the $200 tax stamp I'm embarrassed to think about how much I have in that lower. The fact that the money for that lower is spread out over a 10.5" .223 and a 10" .22LR and any other short upper I want to add makes it easier to bear the cost of the lower. Plus, as mentioned, it takes about 15 seconds to switch out uppers.

 

[ArmedBear]

Some people don't only swap uppers with one lower, they even swap one high-end trigger assembly between lowers.

The horror!

Multi-caliber AR's are hardly overrated, especially when one of those calibers is .22LR.

Either way, you can have a lot of money in a lower, if you want a really good trigger, some other minor but expensive upgrades, and furniture you like.

A trigger can be 300 bucks, the trigger guard alone can be 20 bucks, an ambidextrous safety selector 30 bucks, some stocks are 300, $45 for a fancy grip, 15 more bucks to hold extra batteries.

If you really want to build up your lower with $700 worth of add-ons, why would you want to leave it behind because you're plinking with your .22 or hunting deer with a 6.8? But would you really need to build two, when you can't shoot both at once anyway?

Besides, using the same lower means your rifle will always fit the same and the trigger will feel the same.

I'm not saying it's not nice to have more than one fully-assembled rifle at a time. There's just a good reason for interchangeable uppers.

 

[Harry Paget Flashman]

I would only have cause to rant if the T/C Contender didn't have interchangeable barrels. Likewise the Rossi .22/.410, the Sig 239 .357Sig/.40S&W.

 

[browningguy]

45 seconds to change an AR lower is being very generous, more like 20 seconds or so. And the saving is much more than $150 on an AR, assuming you have quality parts installed, my triggers run almost $200 each.

But that's ok, absolutely no reason to not have a lower for each upper, why so worried about what other people choose?

 

[R.W.Dale]

Krochus, the Encore or Contender is about the only one that makes sense to me, to a certain extent because (a) The extra "lower" IS quite expensive, unlike a Handi-Rifle, for example, (b)

But not when compared to owning an entire Stevens 200 in any caliber you wish. This is why I sold all my encore stuff and went to savages. A good barrel for an encore costs the same as an ENTIRE Stevens 200 or used Savage. The Stevens will shoot circles around the Encore, the TC's accuracy is so overrated it's pathetic. Plus if you want a weird wildcat barrel they cost the same for either platform.

The encore might have made sense BEFORE but with today's awesome entry level bolt actions there's really no point.

 

[Furncliff]

CZ 75 9mm to .22... 10 seconds tops, for folks who don't have arthritis.

15 seconds for me. I love mine. I might be talked into a conversion for my 1911 some day.

 

[DWFan]

It makes all the sense in the world to me, at least for revolvers. 1. No two revolvers have an absolutely identical "feel" to their actions. 2. Having the barrel under tension reduces vibration and increases accuracy. 3. A single frame assembly can serve several functions. 4. Individual barrels can be fitted with their own optics and not have to be swapped around. 5. Buying a single frame and several barrels (such as the Dan Wesson Pistol Pak) is considerably less expensive than buying a revolver in each barrel length.

 

[Rembrandt]

Guess I'm one of those people who likes the flexibility of multi-calibers and quick change barrels.

Let's see....
- Desert Eagle with two different barrel lengths and optics
- S&W 41 with two barrel lengths and optics
- Dan Wesson revolver, w/three different length barrels and optics
- SA Omega, Peter Stahls 1911 with three different calibers
- Browning High Power, w/four different caliber slides and barrels
- Browning Superposed 4 barrel set
- 870 Remington with three different barrels
- Benelli M1 Super 90 with two different barrels
- Several AR's with multiple uppers.

 

[JKimball]

I don't know... I can buy a kit to convert my 5.56 XCR to 7.62x39 for about $1K less than buying a whole new rifle. That's probably worth a minute or two of my time every time I want to change. Granted, if money is no object, I'll take two.