xopher88x
Member
One advantage: for those of us who don't reload, 9mm is about half the price of .357 which means more shooting, more practice.
You're not going to believe what the S&W rep told me yesterday!!!!!
- Thread starter WC145
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williamlayton
Member
Yesterday I called S&W--gun smithing--to see if they would do a caliber conversion for me. From .357 to .38super/9x23.
The young man said no they would not "it is illegal to change the caliber on a gun."
I said OK.
Blessings
The young man said no they would not "it is illegal to change the caliber on a gun."
I said OK.
Blessings
S&W doesn't do that sort of work, as you now know. Call Mark Hartshorne at Pinnacle High Performance - Pinnacle-Guns.com: Pinnacle High Performance Custom Gunsmithing - he did the work on my 9mm (9x23) snubby.
There's a good chance that .38 Supers will fit and fire in your gun just the way it is, you'll have to check it yourself. For 9x23 you'll at least need to have the cylinder face cut for moonclips. Give Mark a call, he can answer all of your questions.
I'm curious why you'd want to have this conversion done. I know some folks compete with .38 Super revolvers, but why 9x23? You're not gaining anything over the .357mag and the .357 gives that performance at lower pressures.
ETA:
I just read the new posts in your custom project thread and now understand your interest in the Super/9x23. Like I said before, try the Super in your 586 before you do anything else, a lot of .357's will chamber them without any problem. Pinnacle can cut your cylinder for moonclips and rechamber it if needed. Make sure you call Mark, he answers the phone when it rings but it takes him forever to answer an email (if he does!).
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williamlayton
Member
I did talk to Mark. I liked him.
Gun is on the way.
I have reloaded with Zero jacketed bullets for a while now--9mm.
They work well in my .38's and STI 9x23.
I am going to try some semi-wad cutters pretty soon.
The point of the conversation was him telling me it was illegal.
Blessings
Gun is on the way.
I have reloaded with Zero jacketed bullets for a while now--9mm.
They work well in my .38's and STI 9x23.
I am going to try some semi-wad cutters pretty soon.
The point of the conversation was him telling me it was illegal.
Blessings
M2MikeGolf
US Veteran
I'm curious about that statement by the S&W rep, and a little skeptical. There is a big difference between the terms "caliber" and "cartridge". Caliber essentially refers to the diameter of a projectile, and thus the bore of a barrel. Cartridge is a more specific design difference. For example, .38 Spl and .357 Magnum may be fired out of the same revolver due to the caliber being close enough to being the same, but they are different cartridges. And yet most (if not all) .357 magnums do not have ".38 Spl" stamped on the barrel, only ".357 Magnum", which officially designates the cartridge the weapon may fire, and since this is common in America, I can't believe that is a legal issue...and did he refer to a federal or a state law? I live in Germany, and in order to legally fire .38 Spl from my .357 magnum, it must annotated on my license, there's no "it just works" like in the good ole' USA. You must have a license to purchase handgun ammunition here, and it must be specific to the cartridge, not caliber. However, in the US, rechambering a weapon with the same caliber, can be done legally, but I believe the new cartridge must be stamped on the barrel aftewards, or at least should be. I once worked in a company in Texas, that is still in business, and we rechambered high power rifles, legally and routinely (we always marked the new cartridge on the barrel). Think about it, you can buy barrels from McMillan and many others in a unchambered caliber, or prechambered cartridge, and as far as I know there is no federal law that prohibits that. Anyone know the legality of re-chambering to a new cartridge designation, federal or state? Since I plan on converting a Model 64 to 9mm, I wonder if the barrel must be marked as such, by some law.
I think S&W simply doesn't want to do that kind of conversion as it would open them up to all kinds of complications, to include legal or liability ones due to chamber pressures, handloads and misuse accidents (wrong cartridge for a new chamber). It happens pretty often in the post-customization world.
J D Allen
Member
9mm revolver
The 940 was a great gun. But I would love to see a 40 caliber 5 shot revolver. Now that would be impressive.
The 940 was a great gun. But I would love to see a 40 caliber 5 shot revolver. Now that would be impressive.
J D Allen
Member
Cylinder & slide does convert between calibers and its not illegal. You can rechamber a 357 blackhawk to 44 special or 38/40.
You need to pin them down on the year
I also talked to my "REP" in Florida... he agrees with you Caje..
M2MikeGolf
US Veteran
I have to correct myself; I should have said caliber refers to the diameter of the bore.
Back to the orignal subject though, I would love to see the 940 back in 9mm, but for those of you who have mentioned some other cartridges like .357 SIG and .40 S&W, I give a thumbs up to that idea, but think we'll have to talk K or L frames for those.
In the meantime, a 3" barrel 940 in 9mm would make me really happy!
williamlayton
Member
The reason I said nothing was that it was poinless--I know better and have done it a couple of times in 1911's.
A.38 is a .357 is a 9mm is a 9x23---though they may not be interchangable between weapons.
It is considered a calibe change---but it is not illegal.
I did not think Smith would do it---but what the heck---I thought I would give 'em a shot at the work if they wanted.
Blessings
A.38 is a .357 is a 9mm is a 9x23---though they may not be interchangable between weapons.
It is considered a calibe change---but it is not illegal.
I did not think Smith would do it---but what the heck---I thought I would give 'em a shot at the work if they wanted.
Blessings
Titan
Member
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I could be in the market for a 9mm revolver if I didn't already have other guns chambered in 38/357.
There's something to be said for minimizing the calibers you have to reload (or stock up on), but I don't see a big win if you're already into the other calibers.
There's something to be said for minimizing the calibers you have to reload (or stock up on), but I don't see a big win if you're already into the other calibers.
M2MikeGolf
US Veteran
I'm not sure I agree it's pointless, the difference is important. I meant that I should have stated bore diameter before bullet diameter. The bullet diameter of a .38 super/9x23 is not the same as .38Spl/.357 magnum as they are slightly smaller (9mm is .356/9.03mm and the .357/38 is .357/9.1mm). It is a simpler for an automatic with interchangeable barrels of the drop in variety as the caliber and the cartridge both change. However, with a revolver you have a different problem as you have a separate chamber from the barrel. Caliber and cartridge names developed in at least three different directions by name after that advent of smokeless powder; the Europeans, British and the US designated them differently, even today. A good example is the German 8X57mm....there's two of those (the "I" and the "IS"), and they actually are different calibers (one is .318, and one is .323), so the cartridge name actually differentiates the caliber. Many US cartridges/calibers are the same. My Model 619 states ".357 Magnum CTG", and they do that so that you understand the caliber of that barrel. I think that the meaning of your S&W rep is that it may be illegal to convert to a .38 super/9x23 since technically it is a different caliber than .357 magnum/.38 Spl. even if by a little. But I am curious if there is an actual law, whether Federal or State that would prohibit such a change. Again, it wouldn't affect pistols since you change both at the same time. I do know that there are several companies (TK Custom, for example) that will convert cylinders to fire these different cartridges and I've considered it, but had not heard any law prohibits it. At the very least it would seem prudent to mark the cylinder with the new cartridge type. Once again, I think it's a liablity issue more than anything.
hunter3705
Member
The odd thing is, When they marketed a 9mm revolver years ago, it wasn't a big seller at all. I'm not going to say "nobody" wanted them, but let's say the majority of people went with a rimmed cartridge. The same thing happened with the .38 Centennial model, when they stopped making that, the demand for it shot up and it was re-introduced. I can see it as a back up gun to a 9mm auto - to have ammo interchangability. For a small revolver though, a .38 is hard to beat.
