Converting 1911 to 9mm?

[Wee Hooker]

One of my (2) S&W 1911's now wears a dedicated .22 Marvel upper. That leaves me with a slide assy collecting dust. Not that I need ( or even sure I want ) one, but I'm wondering what effort & cost would be involved to convert it to a 9mm or 38WC gun. I'm guessing barrel, barrel bushing, recoil spring, magazine and extractor. IS it doable?
Anything I'm missing? Too costly to make practical? Any input appreciated.

Dave

 

[m1gunner]

If it is a 9mm slide, no problem. No can do if it is a 45 slide. Also, ejector on frame needs to be 9mm as well.

 

[WOB]

Not practical as the .45 breech face is too wide for the 9mm cartridge rim diameter. Theoretically one could have the breech face welded up and remachined, but the cost would exceed the price of a new 9mm slide.

WOB

 

[RWJ]

Takes a little more

When Colt sold their 9mm conversion kits, it included the entire slide assembly w/barrel, slide stop, magazine, and ejector.

The breech face is different for 9mm, but the same one is used for 9mm and .38 Super, as are the extractors. The ejector is different for 9mm (extended), but you can make do with a .38 Super ejector as well. You can pretty much bet that you will need the entire top half, plus the ejector and slide stop, unless you are starting with a .38 super to start with.

The stripping bar on the 9mm/.38 Super slide is narrower as well. I've gone one step further, and had the stripping bar on my .45 slide milled to 9mm width, so that I don't have to change ejectors when going from 9mm to .45 and back; just throw on a complete .45 top half, slide stop, and .45 mags.

YMMV

 

[Wee Hooker]

OK, thanks Much gents. Guess it's a "no go" if it's going to get that complicated.