I've heard good things about the SAR conversion and the factory-shipped 9mm versions, but anyone have any direct experience doing the kit swap?

Loving my X95, but also like my 9mm ARs, so why not combine the two? My guess is that the recoil will be minimal and handling (which is already a strong point) will only improve.

There doesn't seem to be too much discussion about this - is it just because the kits are so hard to find or am I missing something?

Thanks!

I had an SAR kit.  Installed it once, realized that it's a PITA to install, packaged it back up, and sold it.  It's not a quick process, not easy, destroys your zero....that said, it was cool and lightweight.

but then the EVO carbine came out, and that's why I sold the conversion kit.  Now, for a hair bit more than the conversion kit, I have a dedicated rifle with cheaper mags.

YMMV.

The EVO is definitely on my shortlist, but still debating on pistol or carbine.

I didn't realize that the conversion was that much of a pain to install. I know it requires the barrel wrench and some minor takedown, but I'm not expecting a quick-change solution. I assume that if you just left a dedicated optic on each barrel/rail assembly that you would be OK for zero as it installs as a single unit - is that correct?

Thanks for the info, appreciate it.

On the SAR, you de-bolt the entire top rail, loosen the barrel nut, and remove the cocking unit.  All in all, it was more screwing/unscrewing, pushing and pulling, and clamping into a vice block than I was comfortable with on that platform, as it involved trying to get a lot of parts perfectly right, over and over again, to not risk destroying parts that you can't just go and order replacements for like on an AR or 10/22.

I also have an accessorized and rail-ified SAR, which complicated the changeover due to the presence of even more expensive stuff.  YMMV

The X95 shouldn't require removal of the cocking unit, I wouldn't think, but removing the rail, etc. would be the same.

Not to say it wouldn't be an awesome dedicated SMG platform.  If HPA passes, I will heavily weigh selling off other things to buy a dedicated 9mm to suppress with that Ratworx/Manticore rail setup.

That being said, I have also read a number of people who converted to 9mm and are so pleased they will never convert back.  But in my way of thinking, there are a large number of other dedicated 9mm systems that I would consider, which are purpose built and sized/weighted accordingly.  There are not as many 5.56 systems that are as good as a Tavor or X95 for my purposes.

This is my opinion, yours may differ.  But in the end, guns are fun, and I think variety is the spice of life.  Now if I lived somewhere with registration and practical limits on the # of serialized items, the conversion suddenly holds much more value.

Not the X95, but converting the SAR to 9mm is way more of a nuisance than I care to regularly endure. I bought the 9mm conversion, installed it once, shot a little, and switched back to 5.56mm.

I won't get ride of the 9mm conversion because who knows what the future might hold as far as anmo availability does (I always had an easier time finding 9mm during the Sandy Hook scare), but I also don't see myself converting to 9mm "just because" again anytime soon.

This is depressing.
I bought the 16" to convert to 9mm(still haven't done that, life got in the way)and have the 18" as a shooter.

Is anyone saying the 9mm Tavor is a dud? I didn't get that; it's just not like swapping AR uppers; I do get that, and hope to get it done this quarter!

I don't own an SAR or an X95, so my opinion probably isn't worth much.

But I've done a bit of looking. I cant find any videos on doing the conversion to the X95, but I'd imagine it's similar to the SAR.

It appears to be somewhat cumbersome to do the swap. And not something I'd wanna bother with very often. Appears to be a 15-20+ min. job. If I wanted a 9mm Tavor. I'd get or put together a dedicated gun. I have a  dedicated 9mm AUG. But that swap takes less than a minute.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fgHtJWomxk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j219oNd6HCM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmIo0YYKYCs

It's not a dud. Shoots beautifully. I just don't like doing the conversion. Not a quick swap like changing AR uppers.

Thanks Serein, I'll plan to move forward. I already have some vids pulled up for when I have time to try.

I know it won't be a quick swap like you have with AR uppers, but I've had the barrel assembly out more than once and it wasn't too bad in my opinion. I think as long as I leave a dedicated optic on both, it shouldn't be too bad. I am reassured to hear that it's a smooth shooting combo - I didn't expect anything else, but it's good to hear from people using it firsthand.

Has anyone seen any recently? IWI has been OOS forever and the only ones I usually see in stock are the SAR versions.

Thanks again!

There is no duplicate top rail, or at least there wasn't on the SAR version.  You reuse the same one.

And use the UPC code to cruise the Internet for the kits.