[Dozerdog]

Mr. Shepard, I own a G23 and, reading on GT, there seems to be a way to easily change calibers from the standard .40S&W to .357 sig to 9MMpara. I am very interested in owning a 9MM Glock, and mildly interested in owning a .357sig Glock. Is there a safe, easy and relativley inexpensive way to make my G23 shoot 9MM and .357sig? I am aware that it should be no more than a barrel change for the .357sig, but is it the same for the 9MM? Obviously, the mag and barrel should change for a 9MM, but is there something else? Springs perhaps? Thank you in advance for your response. It will be nice to get a response that is not an opinion, but one that can be considered as close to Gospel as possible.

[JR]

Converting your G23 40 S&W to fire 357 Sig ammunition is as simple as a barrel swap. All you need is a G32 357 Sig barrel. Drop it in and you are ready to go! There are no other parts or modifications required HOWEVER I personally recommend you also pick up the correct G32 357 magazine. This will help you avoid accidentally shooting 357 ammo out of your 40 barrel. Always use the correct ammo in the correct magazine to be safe.

Converting your G23 to fire 9mm ammunition is also just as easy. Simply drop in a LWD-239 barrel (or other manufacture) and use a G19 9mm magazine.... you are good to go. If you have a problem with a 9mm conversion barrel it will be related to the power of the 9mm ammunition you are using.

About 1% of our conversion barrels are affected by the poor performance of 115 grain ammunition. This rare failure is too low a percentage to make an issue, however it is one we are well aware of. The fix to resolve this issue is quite simple.

1 Clean and lube your slide and barrel.

2 Shoot 1 mag to 1 box of good quality +P or +P+ ammunition through the barrel.

3 Try the 115 gr ammunition again. If it runs... great! If you experience more failures you will have a couple choices to make.

Fix A Reduce the recoil spring weight. Try 11 to 13 lbs. Cost is about $25 for stainless steel guide rod and reduced power spring.

Fix B Shoot 124 gr or a better quality 115 gr ammunition exclusively. Your current 115 gr ammunition is no longer a valid option.



What causes this problem? Several issues come into play.

1 The 40 slide and (40 conversion) barrel is thicker than any standard 9mm slide and barrel. This extra thickness equates to more weight. The combined extra weight taps the energy of the "weak" 115 gr ammunition to its complete demise. It simply lacks in power and fails to reliably eject the spent round.

2 Every once in awhile a Failure To Feed/Failure To Eject (FTF/FTE) is caused by a fit issue. We resolve fit issues by pumping +P or +P+ ammunition through the gun. This hot ammunition provides extra pressure and the pressure will positively align any and all components. Once they are all aligned there is no longer a fit issue. The FTF/FTE is usually resolved.



FYI: there are SEVERAL brands of 115 gr ammunition that is known to produce failures in all standard Glock 9mm pistols.

[Dozerdog]

Thanks JR. That's the answer I was hoping for. Just swap out the barrels and magazines and I should be good to go. I like 124gr for 9MM. Good idea on the magazine for .357. I suppose the .357 would shoot out of the .40 barrel, just not very well at all, and the .40 wouldn't fully chamber in a .357 barrel. Is it possible to fire a .40 in a .357 barrel if it is not fully chambered? I think an order to LoneWolf is in my future.

[JR]

Yes you can accidentally load a 9mm or 357 Sig cartridge into a 40 mag. Don't kid yourself into thinking you will catch the mistake, I guarantee at a glance you will miss it. (Been there done that)

Yes we have test fired 9 & 357 out of 40 barrels.
Yes we have test fired 9 out of 357 barrels.
To date: We have not encountered any catastrophic failures in our test barrels but that don't mean there is not a penalty to pay down the road.

Beat the odds of having a real bad range day: Use the correct magazine for the ammunition!

*The 40 cartridge will not chamber into a 9 or 357 barrel so you are safe here. If it did chamber it would blow like a grenade.