Less Common Pistol Rounds

[TSK]

Wouldn't it be neat to run your favorite full size pistol (glock, xd, 1911, Tanfolio, CZ, etc) with a range of pistol caliber conversions? Many companies offer 22lr conversion kits for full size pistols, many 40sw models can be down-converted to .357sig or 9x19. Some 45s can be converted to 10mm auto or .40 Super. I'd love to have a pistol that could run anything from 460 Rowland on down to 22lr.

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[TSK]

Wouldn't it be neat to run your favorite full size pistol (glock, xd, 1911, Tanfolio, CZ, etc) with a range of pistol caliber conversions? Many companies offer 22lr conversion kits for full size pistols, many 40sw models can be down-converted to .357sig or 9x19. Some 45s can be converted to 10mm auto or .40 Super. I'd love to have a pistol that could run anything from 460 Rowland on down to 22lr.

 

[ditchtiger]

Thompson/Center Contender

 

[Certaindeaf]

The 9mm is the perfect cartridge and it'd be pretty lame having a 9mm big enough to take the 10mm etc.
So no.

 

[TSK]

I've met a guy that had a Glock 21 that could run 9x19, 9x21, 357sig, 40sw, 10mm and 45acp. There is a gentleman online goes by Haversack who runs an XD 45 with 40 super, 10mm and 45acp by swapping barrels and recoil springs. A gentleman somewhere on this blogspot has a glock 21 that can run 38 casull and 45acp. There are lots of people who have their 1911 set up to run 45, 10mm and 38 super. I am interested in eventually being able to run 9x19, 357 sig, 38 casull, 40sw, 10mm, 40 super, 45acp, 45 super and 460 Rowland all in my XD pistol. Would be a hobby and as I am mainly just a collector (hope to never shoot my handgun at anything but paper) I think it all just comes down to money. A project like this would be thousands of dollars. Anybodys thoughts (if polite) are welcome. I already am to the point where I can run 9x19, .357sig, 40sw, and .45acp all from the same gun with barrel swaps, and magazine swaps so please don't tell me it can't be done.

 

[41mag]

Ambitious and intriguing idea. Decades ago had unsatisfactory experience with admittedly far less quality convertions. One fail was a then-favored 38-45 acp. Too many variables to get satisfactory performance. Another disappointment was 22 on 1911 frame, now common. Good luck.

 

[bbbass]

And then there's this. Got a 12ga? Caliber conversions. Never tried it but I find them interesting.

 

[bbbass]

Thompson/Center Contender

View attachment 419521

Always wanted one. Just for fun. But they are practical for hunting.

 

[Argonaut]

H&K experimented with a medium semi auto that changed between 22 LR, 32 and 380. Was never popular even though it was a quality gun. Conversion kits frequently cost close to buying a complete second gun. Blazer, Sauer, Merkel, many manufacturers still make guns that are convertible to other calibers. They make more sense in Europe where gun ownership is difficult making multiple gun purchases expensive.

 

[TSK]

Conversion kits for 38 casull and 40 super will cost well more than just buying a new gun. The XD pistol can be had for $350 whereas doable conversions including custom work that I am not qualified to do will cost around $500 each. 460 Rowland factory conversion will cost $350, I'm trying to get EFK, Bar Sto or Storm Lake to make me a 10mm barrel for my XD but so far no luck. Might have to buy a 40sw barrel and have it custom reamed and the outside of the chamber beefed up by a precision welder (what Haversack did with his project)

 

[TSK]

One fail was a then-favored 38-45 acp. Too many variables to get satisfactory performance.

I have looked into 38-45. Also rare now, but I think I would like the 38 casull. I love my 357sig XD and Beretta conversions and 38 casull seems like it is pretty consistent in loads and reliability. Do you still have your 38-45? Were the issues you saw due to limited reloading powders? Curious.

 

[tac]

Anyone here heard of the Boz?

I'll tell if you haven't, AND show a cartridge in my collection, else I'm going to have a piece of Marionberry pie and a mug of cawfee.

tac

 

[41mag]

Do you still have your 38-45? Were the issues you saw due to limited reloading powders? Curious.

long gone and fail for a variety of limitations from that era.
Mine was obtained from a highly motivated professional 'smith with a very long hobby of extracting maximum performance, circa 1970-80s. Choice of powders available were adequate but weren't the source of the real issues.

Many of his ballistic buddies were striving to make an actually reliable 38/45, which was under considerable development. I don't know for sure, was told it was a sort of grandfather to the 357 Sig ballistically.

The order of difficulty for my own use of this particular pair (standard 45 acp 1911 set up...which performed well) was anything to do with the 38/conversion performance. I also grew confused by the advantages, if any, over the 38 Super, which to this day I continue to ignore for a host of reasons unrelated to the conversion story.

There was a name for 38/45 the wildcatters used but I forget what it was. The issues I was never able to solve, despite the repeated intervention of the 'smith, were these, in 'worst to least worst' IIRC:

1) Failure to feed into chamber;
2) Failure to extract;
3) Reliability beyond a magazine full, if that much, was FAIL;
4) Erratic accuracy of any loads tested;
5) difficulty of forming new brass (NONE commercially on the market);

While the parent 45 1911 did work well, the conversion 34/45 had simply too many unresolved engineering issues. His enthusiasm for solving such issues was limitless; I was a working guy that wanted to put more than 3 down range without having to get out the tool kit.

A buddy in the mid-80s grew enthusiastic about a 3-caliber small bore auto, Mauser 380 IIRC, that had 25-32-380 components. He didn't like the 380 which worked pretty good; he really didn't like the 32 for some reason ( I did enjoy it for the pleasant 'accurate enough' performance) while the 25 he wrote off as a horrid mistake. I never shot that set up with him.

In my own travels I've made the discovery that most conversions cost way more than I'm willing to pay for an otherwise non-function bag of parts that must be supported with any number of other parts: magazines/calibers/brass/reloading components etc. Since I use Dillon press the cost of each caliber conversion itself adds more towards my 'if you want this caliber just buy the gun' strategy.

For me, I prefer the 'shooting' part more than the 'tinkering' part of the hobby.
Thanks for asking. And don't let me deter you from an exciting adventure.

 

[41mag]

Just for fun. But they are practical for hunting

I shot IHMSA for several seasons with a host of T/C barrels for the same frame. Great platform.

 

[TSK]

Anyone here heard of the Boz?

tac

.224 BOZ. Isn't that like a 22tcm for big boys?

 

[tac]

Dunno. All I did was to shoot it.

tac

 

[KKG]

Shooting the 9mm and .45ACP would require separate Slide/Barrel assemblies because if the way they operate. At least, if you want reliably.

 

[tac]

That is so.

tac

 

[TSK]

For me, I prefer the 'shooting' part more than the 'tinkering' part of the hobby.
Thanks for asking. And don't let me deter you from an exciting adventure.

Is your tinkering buddy still around? I'm more the Tinker type with lots of small dreams. I have lots of fun with my pistols that can shoot multiple calibers. Most of my shooting is with friends who are new to Guns and

Shooting the 9mm and .45ACP would require separate Slide/Barrel assemblies because if the way they operate. At least, if you want reliably.

Shooting the 9mm in a 45 requires a barrel that will fit and function and a magazine that will stay in place in the large magwell. No spring changes. No extractor problems, no issues with the size of the breach face. 9 slide won't fit on my 45 frame. Springfield XDM 4.5 inch barrel (9) in an XDM 45 slide. So far using plastic shims between the magazine and the magwell. The mag catch is in the right spot from the factory. Working on a removeable slip sleeve that will go over the magazine so I don't have to permanently modify any mags.

 

[41mag]

Is your tinkering buddy still around

he's long gone to that Great Gunsmithery in the Sky