Reliability of LW conversion barrels

[G22bullseye]

Hey everyone. I have a glock 22 and was considering a LW converion to 9mm. Are they reliable/ accurate enough to leave in for carry/home home defense

[MTPD]

I sold mine, but it worked OK.

[1-2man]

Any modified Glock beyond night sights and possibly NY style trigger kits is something I wouldn't trust. I've had two conversion barrels (I'll keep them nameless) in my Glock 27 and Glock 35 and they were both not 100% reliable. I would still use them for competition and range use but NEVER personal protection. That's from my experience.

[DrMaxit]

Any modified Glock beyond night sights and possibly NY style trigger kits is something I wouldn't trust. I've had two conversion barrels (I'll keep them nameless) in my Glock 27 and Glock 35 and they were both not 100% reliable. I would still use them for competition and range use but NEVER personal protection. That's from my experience.

I think you should name them so people don't buy them for SD or carry or something. Its just your opinion, its not bashing a product (unless of course you are sponsored by them or something.)

I've also thought about getting a .357 and 40/9 barrel from LW for my G22. .357 for the woods and .9mm for the woods/target/plink. But I don't want to buy something thats not as reliable as the gun was stock regardless.

--Chuck

[DannyR]

One should never use any conversion barrel for personal defense. If you cannot handle the caliber of your pistol, get a smaller caliber pistol.

[Brian Lee]

One should never use any conversion barrel for personal defense. If you cannot handle the caliber of your pistol, get a smaller caliber pistol.

I think some people misunderstand the reasons why others want conversion barrels. It's not always to permanently downsize guns "they can't handle" (that's such an overused and silly insult). It's often just a way to shoot cheaper ammo at the range when you want to fire 400 rounds in a day without having to sell your car to pay for it. The same person will probably go back to the large bore for SD use, and some less frequent (expensive) target shooting.

[G22bullseye]

Its not that I can't handle the cartridge. I happen to like the .40. Its more of a cost issue. When I first bought the 22 about 2 years ago .40 was a nice middle ground between 9mm and 45, now .40 is 1$ less per box of 100 than 45 and for the extra dollar ill shoot 45 everytime. Id rather just turn the gun into a 9mm and leave the .40 cartridge behind. Im really just looking for options to change the pistol to 9mm without actually having to sell it off and buy a G17.

[G22bullseye]

I think some people misunderstand the reasons why others want conversion barrels. It's not always to permanently downsize guns "they can't handle" (that's such an overused and silly insult). It's often just a way to shoot cheaper ammo at the range when you want to fire 400 rounds in a day without having to sell your car to pay for it. The same person will probably go back to the large bore for SD use, and some less frequent (expensive) target shooting.


+1. Brian explained it well. I was just wondering if the reliatbility and accuracy would stay the same if I converted the caliber.

[New2GT]

I have the LW .40 to 9mm conversion barrel in my G31 (essentially the exact same gun as your G22 only different barrel, so my experience should translate pretty well for you). The barrel and 9mm magazine are the only changes I made for 9mm conversion.

Only problem I have with it is that it ejects the casings such that a large percentage of them come back and hit me in the face. I believe a 9mm extractor would solve this, but then it would take a bit longer to convert to 9mm. I may just wear a baseball cap next time I shoot with the LW barrell.

In about 120 rounds through the LW barrel, I had one double feed. In contrast, in about 300-400 rounds of .357 sig through the stock barrel, I've had zero problems. I also have a factory .40 barrel, and I've put maybe 200 rounds through that without a problem (makes sense because the .40 is a factory barrel, fits the G31 perfectly). IMO, the LW barrel is good enough for the range, but not when my life is on the line.

I bought my LW 9mm conversion barrel purely to do some lower cost target shooting at the range. When the gun is on my nightstand, it always has the factory G31 barrel in it. I would not use the LW conversion barrel for home defense or carry, only for the range.

My recommendation is, if you want to carry w/ a 9mm pony up and add a G26 to your collection.

[Snapper2]

I dont think I would shoot "someone elses" reloads with the conversion barrels because of tighter chambers and headspace issues.

[xring04]

I love my lw 40-9 barrel in my g23.

I use it for plinking, but so far it has been 100% percent reliable for me.

It even functions fine when I use a .40 mag instead of a 9mm.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v609/xring04/IMG_1741.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v609/xring04/IMG_1742.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v609/xring04/IMG_1737.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v609/xring04/IMG_1536.jpg

[bigdog_3bc]

I love my LW 9mm conversion barrel and find it 99% reliable but I still would never concealed carry it. ( Just my 2 Cents )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLjNXG5MEnk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=895VIc4ZyoU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDxF09QAFeU

[Habu]

LWD barrels are great. And no, it's no problem to trust one for defense. Like ANY other pistol or mod, reliability is the question. Only you can determine that, by shooting hundres of rounds through it. What else determines reliability?

My project with my G23, with LWD 9mm barrel, is complete now.

I experienced some reliability issues, put in a 9mm extractor with appropriate SLB, helped, but that chamber was too tight. Reamed it out slightly.

It is now, in fact 100% reliable with everything I've put through it so far. 500 rnds and no malfunctions, about 200 of those various defense rnds. I'm at the point where I can trust it for defense, if ever need be.

[rakamin]

My LW 40 to 9 in my 23 had a few FTF in the first 100 rounds but has been fine since (at least 1000 rounds). The only changes I made were the barrel and magazine.

It has been nice to be able to shoot 9 out of the gun but those first hiccups have made me unwilling to use it other then at the range.

[G22bullseye]

Thanks for the input everyone. I will probably end up getting one soon and from what Ive read here I'll probably just be using it for cheap plinking.