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Have been shooting some revolver matches for the last year. Fun stuff. 38 is expensive and I really don’t want to reload again. I was looking into moonclips, bmt mooners, etc and notice TKCustoms offers a service to “convert” your cylinder to shoot 9’s. Anybody have any experience? Does this basically just mean adding a cut for moonclips or actually do something to the cylinder? I have a New Vaquero with a convertible cylinder but that uses a headspace on case mouth so I’m confused as to what this conversion consists of.

I also wonder if that .355 bullet going down that bore is negatively affected in the accuracy department. And POI.

Anyway, if anybody has experience good or bad I would appreciate it. Thanks.
 
Posts: 7327 | Location: Florida | Registered: June 18, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
teacher of history
Picture of maxwayne
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I have dealt with Tom for years and he does first rate work.
 
Posts: 5608 | Location: Central Illinois | Registered: March 04, 2001Reply With QuoteReport This Post
3° that never cooled
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I've thought about having this conversion done myself. It is more than just machining for moon clips. The cylinder has to be reamed for 9MM. This, because the 9MM case is tapered and larger toward the base than .38 Spcl/.357. The 9MM cartridge will not fully enter a .38/.357 chamber unless reamed. Also, many 9MM bullets are not exactly .355, and .38/.357 bores may not be exactly .357 as many shooters assume. I have had Ruger 357/9MM convertibles, and 1911 pistols with 38 Super and 9MM barrels. Using bullets from .354"-.357" interchangeably has not created any issues at all......ymmv


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Posts: 1561 | Location: Under the Tonto Rim | Registered: August 18, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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I don't know what costs are involved, but I'd be tempted to ask if simply picking up an S&W 929 or 986 wouldn't be an easier and cheaper way to get something that was (at least notionally) made for the purpose.
 
Posts: 27291 | Location: Deep in the heart of the brush country, and closing on that #&*%!?! roadrunner. Really. | Registered: February 05, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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It is only 150 for the conversion. Of course you could add the cost of buying moonclips, bmt mooner, etc. but that portion is the same whether I buy a whole new gun or not.

I also am recently not a fan of the 9mm S&W's. Apparently it is a well known fact that unless you shoot standard velocity or less, the cases stick mercilessly. At least with the conversion, I'm not stuck with powder puff loads if I want to go back to 357 magnums.

I do wonder if this reaming makes 38 cases harder to reload since they might fireform larger than usual.

I am just looking to add some cheap versatility to a couple wheelguns but I don't want to lose any functionality with the original calibers either. I want a win/win. lol
 
Posts: 7327 | Location: Florida | Registered: June 18, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Gracie Allen is my
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I can dig it. OTOH, I actually wrote Lipsey's to see if they could be talked into commissioning a run of 9mm blued 5" GP100s, so I guess my brain is already in that other channel.

(If anyone's interested, the response was "we're working on a 10mm, we'll see what else appeals to us later".)
 
Posts: 27291 | Location: Deep in the heart of the brush country, and closing on that #&*%!?! roadrunner. Really. | Registered: February 05, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
The Great Equalizer
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Converting 357 Magnum Smith and Wesson to for the 9MM Parabellum is not uncommon. It has been going on for decades

While the converted cylinder will chamber and fire the 357 Magnum cartridge, I would not recommend it as a steady practice.

As a hand loader do not expect to fire 357 Magnum ammunition in the converted cylinder and be able to hand load it easily.

If you want to shoot both families of cartridges, then get yourself a second cylinder to be converted



This 627 has a second cylinder that is chambered for 9x23 Winchester. The unfluted cylinder is the firearms original (un-modified) 357 Magnum cylinder. This conversion was done by Mark at Pinnacle well over a decade ago

Smith and Wesson revolvers (with the exception of the Model 547) that fire rimless cartridges are meant to be shot with moon clips. These revolvers are designed to head space on the moon clip. This is what allows them to chamber and fire all of the smaller cartridges.

My 627's 9x23 Winchester cylinder can also fire 38 Super, 38 Auto, 356TSW, 9x21, 9MM Parabellum, 380ACP and more. FYI the 356TSW runs at 50,000PSI and the 9x23 Winchester runs at 55,000 PSI, much higher pressure than a full power 9MM Parabellun at 35,000 PSI. If 9MM Parabellum cartridges are sticking in someones Smith and Wesson revovler, then something is wrong

When I want to shoot 357 Magnum, 38 Special or 38 Colt I put the original cylinder back in the firearm

Accuracy is a non-issue with plated, coated or jacketed bullets. Cast or swagged lead bullets are another story and need to be tailored to the firearms bore.

POI/POA has nothing to do with bore diameter. It has to do with projectile weight and velocity. A set of fixed sights are regulated to a specific point. If you are converting a revolver with adjustable sights, it is a non-issue


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Posts: 5176 | Location: Cocoa Beach, Florida | Registered: November 04, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
3° that never cooled
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pedropcola, within my humble experience one is not necessarily stuck with standard or less velocity powder puff loads in the 9MM revolvers. My Ruger Blackhawk convertible did require that chambers be dry, free of lubricant, in order to easily extract 9MM ammunition of any kind. Other than that, I did use +P and +P+ ammunition in the Ruger convertible,two S&W 547s and a Ruger Sp-101 without issue. Now I do have one 9MM revolver, a little S&W 940, that will give sticky extraction with some of the higher pressure ammunition. But that 9MM revolver has been the exception.

Does your Vaquero convertible display merciless extraction with other than standard ammunition? If so, have you tried shooting it after removing all traces of lube from the charge holes? When I first got my Blackhawk convertible, it routinely displayed hard extraction with even the wimpiest 9MM ammunition. Then I recalled having read something years ago about the S&W .22 Jet chambers having to be free of lube to prevent the tapered Jet cases from setting back and tieing up the revolver, and to allow normal extraction. Thought I'd try it with my Blackhawk, due to the tapered 9MM case. Problem solved, no matter if standard pressure, +P or +P+ was ammo used.

If 9MM ammunition in a revolver actually caused merciless extraction issues with any but standard or less loads, can you imagine how hard extraction would be in colt_saa's revolver with 9X23 Winchester ammunition at ~55,000 PSI???


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Posts: 1561 | Location: Under the Tonto Rim | Registered: August 18, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Just got off phone with one guy who does this work. Not much of a conversationalist. To the point of painful actually. He disagrees with the above. He says you can shoot as much 357 mag as you want. Makes it slightly harder to reload is all. Claims no sticking cases or any other negatives.

Anybody actually have this done and use one cylinder for both? Finding a Ruger cylinder is harder than a S&W so that isn’t a good option. This thing will be all in or I don’t do it.
 
Posts: 7327 | Location: Florida | Registered: June 18, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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To answer Rock, I only really shoot standard loads. The only guns that get higher pressure stuff are SD guns. Of which this won’t be that. If I use for HD I’m sticking with 38 +P or straight up 357.

I don’t mind using std loads in 9. My big question is how does this affect my gun using 357. One of them in question is probably my favorite revolver. A Wiley Clapp GP100. I love this gun. If the s turns it into a 9mm only gun I won’t do it. I would then find a straight 9 revolver. Ugh.
 
Posts: 7327 | Location: Florida | Registered: June 18, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
3° that never cooled
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I have no doubt that .357 ammunition fired in a cylinder converted to shoot 9MM is going to fire form near the base to 9MM dimensions. I have an extra S&W 686 Cylinder that I may have converted by Pinnacle High Performance. In any case, Pinnacle recommends that .38 and .357 NOT be fired in cylinders they have converted to 9X23Win/9MM/38 Super. If you decide to have the conversion done, I'd sure be interested in your comments once you've had the opportunity to try different types of ammunition in your converted revolver.

BTW, years ago, I got to fire an unusual revolver advertised as being able to fire about any 9MM/38/357,etc. ammunition. The .357 did fire form due to the chamber dimensions necessary to fire the various 9MM cartridges. I was not tempted to buy one.....


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Posts: 1561 | Location: Under the Tonto Rim | Registered: August 18, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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I sure wish it was easy to find extra Ruger cylinders. I would do this a heartbeat.
 
Posts: 7327 | Location: Florida | Registered: June 18, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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You may want to check out Pinnacle High Performance Revolvers outside Philadelphia. Mark Hartshorne -- very nice guy.
Highly recommended.
I have two J frames there now awaiting conversion.
 
Posts: 826 | Location: Baltimore, MD | Registered: March 29, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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What exacting does “fitting” a cylinder entail? Ie, if I had a GP100 they aren’t dropin parts I gather. But I don’t see where they are to be adjusted exactly either. Lol.

Looking to buy cheap used GP100 and try out conversion on that first.
 
Posts: 7327 | Location: Florida | Registered: June 18, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
3° that never cooled
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The ratchets on the cylinder, and the hand that rotates the cylinder, have to interface/carry up/time up to properly align the cylinder with the bore. The barrel/cylinder gap has to be within spec to allow the cylinder to turn freely, yet not have too much clearance. End shake and headspace also have to be addressed to ensure they are proper. Some have lucked out and had a cylinder drop in,time up properly, with proper B/C "flash gap",end play and headspace,etc. But I wouldn't count on it myself. With my S&W, both cylinders are fitted to my particular revolver, so if I have the conversion done, these issues will already have been addressed. But, as I say, you could luck out with another cylinder, and have everything fit and function properly....


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Posts: 1561 | Location: Under the Tonto Rim | Registered: August 18, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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