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9x19mm Pistol to .38 Super??

4K views 38 replies 7 participants last post by  Doughboy 
#1 · (Edited)
Friends,

As a result of us getting prepared to move overseas, where my beloved 9mm pistols are ILLEGAL TO POSSESS, I need to find a CHAMBER REAMER to convert 9x19mm to .38SUPER caliber.
OR
I would pay a gunsmith to do the RECHAMBERING for me.
(It's not much a job, if you have the tool.)

I have had ZERO luck finding a chamber reamer to rent OR a gunsmith to do the job.

ANY ADVICE would be appreciated, other than "Go buy another pistol".

yours, sw
 
#4 ·
Actually, there's another way out: the 9x21 mm. Developed for those countries where the 9x19 mm is verboten. Factory ammo is available, don't know supply situation where you're going.

Would probably avoid magazine issues too.
 
#5 · (Edited)
William R. Moore,

THANKS for the info. - Frankly, I don't know whether 9x21mm is available there or not.
(A Captain of the local National Police suggested that I buy/carry a .38 Super as "That's what we all carry." AND "If you desire to carry a 9mm Luger caliber firearm you have to explain to a judge WHY some other caliber is both unreasonable & unacceptable to ask you to carry. I don't think that a judge would believe that.")

9x19mm ammo, cases & firearms are (with .45ACP, 9x18mm MAK, 5.56NATO, 7.62x51NATO, 7.62x39mm & several other sorts of ammo) considered to be "Weapons of War" & those sorts of firearms & ammo are ONLY generally available to the armed forces of the republic, without a "special exemption from the courts"..
(Oddly, 7x57mm, 7.92x57mm & .30-06 ARE Legal, despite the MILLIONS of such firearms that world military forces have issued & are currently being used.)

Fwiw, I don't know if ANY 9x21mm components (mostly the brass cases for Boxer priming) are even AVAILABLE there. OTOH, .38 Super is widely available at any number of retail stores.

INTERESTING FACT: By act of the national government, NO single individual may own or possess more than 10 percent of the total arms & ammunition in the combined possession of the military forces & police agencies of the nation.
(I was told that a family's adults may EACH possess up to 10% of that total.)

yours, sw
 
#6 ·
What country are you going to?

What 9MM pistols do you want to take there? Depending on what you have, you will not be able to use the 38 Super magazines. Over all length for the 38 Super round is near max is 1.260" and for the 9MM round is 1.169" max.

Reaming a 9x19 chamber to 38 Super? When you fire 38 Super rounds, your brass will bulge upon firing. 9x19 brass near the base is larger than the 38 Super.

If you have a 1911 chambered for 9MM, get a 38 Super barrel and 38 Super magazines. You might have to adjust the extractor - It might be a little tight for the 38 Super.
 
#7 ·
14kuma,

FIRST, WELCOME ABOARD. - You have found what I believe is THE BEST gun forum on the Worldwideweird.

The "problem" has essentially "been overcome by events". = At 1430 this PM, I talked to a nice lady (who I've talked to & placed orders with several times) who said, "I believe that we have enough factory parts in .38 Super to make up a whole parts kit. Then assemble the parts on a bare 1911 frame & you're all set."

She said that she would call me tomorrow (Friday) or Monday to tell me if her "parts search" in the warehouse was successful. - She also said that IF they don't have everything, that I'll only need to look for a few small parts & a stripped 1911 frame.
(I may well have enough small parts in my "junk drawer")

yours, sw
 
#8 ·
If the barrel isn't a fairly recent production set up to head space on the case mouth rather than the rim, you may find the accuracy rather disappointing.
 
#9 ·
I've put off asking as long as I can: Why on earth are you moving to a nation so unfree that you're not allowed to own a simple stupid 9mm handgun? :confused:

I live in the Democrat People's Republic of a Blue State, and I long to move to a place that is MORE free, not LESS.
 
#11 ·
Snake, the .38 Super has a long and respected history, especially here in Texas. Back during the 1920s and 30s it was a favored caliber for a 1911 carried by Texas Rangers. Yes, many still packed the Colt SAA Peacemaker.
 
#12 ·
Come to think of it, if you're converting a 1911 in 9 mm, why do you need another frame? I think we tossed around the Super .38/9 mm thingie a couple years ago. In many cases, a barrel and magazines, possibly different extractor and you're ready to go. Unless that one is gonna stay in the US in storage.

OK, slide markings, if any, might be a problem.
 
#14 · (Edited)
Snake45,

Check your mail, por favor.


BTW, .38 SUPER in any number of formats is CLEARLY superior to ANY 9x19mm ammo & W/O exceeding SAMMI specs for handguns. = One "custom loader" claims 1300FPS & 456# of ME from a GM barrel.

yours, sw
 
#15 ·
.38 SUPER in any number of formats is CLEARLY superior to ANY 9x19mm ammo & W/O exceeding SAMMI specs for handguns. = One "custom loader" claims 1300FPS & 456# of ME from a GM barrel.

yours, sw
Again, that's not the point in question.
 
#19 · (Edited)
Javlin,

TRUE FACT. = The Communists have RUINED my much loved VZ for I fear (unfortunately) decades.

In January I talked to a former staffer of HQ, MTT-OAS FWD about current conditions there.
(Raoul & his wife/kids ESCAPED last fall from VZ & are now residing in Mexico.)

His comment was: "Commandante, do not EVEN consider returning to Caracas anytime soon as it is far too dangerous for our own citizens, much less former foreign service people." (PAUSE) "I am also saddened to tell you that La Casa de la Sombra now looks nothing like you remember your home, as the criminals of Maduro's group of thieves 'carried off' everything that they wanted & then the house was looted by other people for something to sell. That situation is typical as Caracas is now a lawless, sad, dangerous place & solely populated with only poor, dispirited & desperate people, who were unable to escape the current situation."

yours, sw
 
#20 ·
"Caracas is now a lawless, sad, dangerous place & solely populated with only poor, dispirited & desperate people, who were unable to escape the current situation."

yours, sw
I HOPE AND PRAY that's not a "preview of coming attractions" for the US. :(
 
#23 · (Edited)
csmkersh,

Inasmuch as you brought up what was being routinely carried as sidearms by our TEXAS RANGERS, the Colt's New Service & S&W WWI- issue revolvers in .45ACP were VERY COMMON because they could be bought so cheaply after WWI, as well as Colt's 1911 in .45ACP.
(I don't think that any past/present LEO would say that the New Service revolvers were UNSUITABLE for police work.)

Some Rangers were also packing Colt's Model of 1909 revolvers too.

The WWI surplus Colt's & S&W revolvers were freely available to peace officers for as little as 2.oo each & .45BALL ammo was as little as 1.oo per hundred & fifty rounds.

Note: In those long-ago days, RANGERS got paid "peanuts". - In point of fact, I've heard my mother state that her friend Mrs. Allieen Arnold, who was the wife of Ranger Robert "Red" Arnold, said that, "I had to get a job shortly after the war (WWII), so that we could afford for Bob to BE a Texas Ranger."
(EMPHASIS: MINE)

INTERESTING FACT: By 1933, the TOTAL number of Texas Motor Patrol officers, for the whole State, was only 18 troopers. = There was NO DPS at that time & those few troopers worked for the Texas Highway Department & were supervised by the SENIOR HIGHWAY ENGINEER in each THD district.
(That is ONE reason that in those days that the Governor could swear in SPECIAL RANGERS, who did NOT get paid, as there was simply NO MONEY during The Great Depression to pay more than 18 State Troopers & VERY LITTLE MONEY to pay our Rangers.)

NOTE: Ranger Frank Hamer was NOT BEING PAID by the State, on the day that he & his "posse" killed Bonnie Parker & Clyde Barrow in LA. = CPT. Hamer was a VOLUNTEER & "had his out of pocket expenses paid" by a Kilgore oilman.

yours, sw
 
#24 · (Edited)
The Colt and S&W revolvers were available to the public for years as well. There were a few in .45 Colt but the vast majority were .45ACP. Most needed moon clips but some were chamber to head space on the ACP's brass. Special Rangers often worked as brand inspectors at auctions to supplement the meager to non-existent pay. Once Ma was voted out in 1936 the legislature reinstated the Rangers.

Frank Hamer was "retired" by Gov "Ma" Ferguson in 1932 along with the rest of the Rangers. She called him in and made him and his partner "highway men," no commissions, but ordered to get Bonnie and Clyde, period and would not have been able to afford the chase except for the supportof a Texas oil man. After following them all over the U.S. despite not having any authority outside Texas and damned little even there, he convinced the Sheriff of Bienville Parish, Louisiana, that maybe the sheriff ought to get a posse together and ambush the pair. There were over 100 bullet holes in the 1934 Ford they died in.
 
#28 ·
csmkersh,

I have SEEN the "Death Car" at the Dallas Fair some 30+ years ago. = SHOT TO PIECES.

yours, sw
Who hasn't? I saw it at a strip mall in the early '70s or maybe even late '60s.

I've heard rumors that there have been at least half a dozen "B&C Death Cars" touring over the years, some of them even at the same time. It's been said that if you had a '34 Ford Fordor and a few guns and some ammo, you had a career!
:D
 
#27 · (Edited)
csm kersh,

And a REAL MESS.

BTW, Edgar J. "KINKY" Bohannon, who was with the PARKER-BARROW gang, worked for my grandfather when I was a kid. - I once as my uncle about him & he said, "WELLLLLLL, as far as I know he hasn't killed anybody in THIS county. He's pretty good help for 'sawmill trash'.".

Note: He survived the shootout in LA because he was
sick with a bad cold that day.

I tried, W/O success to interview "Kinky" when I was in college for a school writing project. - He said NO & that he had killed at least a dozen people that he was never tried for, so he didn't feel that he could tell me the TRUTH.
(He spent 15 years at HUNTSVILLE for kidnapping & was paroled to our county for LIFE.)


yours, sw
 
#29 · (Edited)
Snake45,

I doubt that the Texas DPS would have participated in an outright FRAUD.

The "Bonnie & Clyde car" that I found OUTRIGHT AMUSING was the "display" in FL about 25years ago of a 1935 Chevy coupe that was claimed to be be THE REAL "Death Car". =When it was pointed out that the REAL CAR was a 1934 FORD, the "owner" claimed that the photos in the Louisiana newspapers & in the Parish SO archives were FAKES.

yours, sw
 
#30 · (Edited)
Snake45 & All,

ONE "government FRAUD & tapestry of lies" is the FBI's claim to have killed John Dillinger outside the theater, after "Dillinger was pointed out by the lady in red". = SA Purvis & his agents DID kill "somebody" but who the deceased actually was is still a MYSTERY.

OBVIOUSLY, if one reads the original autopsy report, it could NOT have been Dillinger, as whomever that the deceased was, he had all of his natural teeth.
(John Dillinger had had all of his rotten teeth pulled & replaced with false teeth while an inmate of a prison farm years before his reported death & medical records still exist of him complaining bitterly about how poorly that his false teeth fit & caused him constant pain.)

The "vaunted" FBI has ALWAYS been really good at promoting the MYTH of the FBI as "America's best LE agency" & "perfect in every way".

yours, sw
 
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