Quoted:
Ok here is a question for all of you guys that prefer the 17/19 over the 22/23 what are the reasons you prefer the 9mm or the .40cal?
I will look into getting a conversion barrel and you"re right it would cosr about what I would lose on selling it and buying a 17.
several reasons;
first, imo, glocks were originally designed for 9mm––to an extent, they were over engineered for 9mm; h/w, when it came to introduce a .40sw, the glock 9mm was simply 'upgraded' to suite the ,40sw cartridge...in the end, even today, you will find a miniscule of problems (reliability, wear/tear, etc) with 9mm glocks when compared to ,40sw glocks
some notable problems include: extra wear/tear on .40sw frames due to recoil spring, locking block/pin (old gen), reliability problems w/ gun mounted lights on a good number of .40sw glocks, etc; that aside, .40sw glocks have a greater (imo), amount of recoil compared to other .40sw models and brands
ironically, even with the introduction of the 4th gen, which was to address the 'problems' of the ,.40, esp w. the weapon mounted light malfs, the newer, stiffer recoil spring HAS improved the reliability of the .40sw, but turned the 9mm 4th gens to sh*t––9mm 4th gens, due to the heavier springs, are easier to limp wrist and more supseptable to FTF/FTE, and yes, i've seen it numerous times via training clases
moreover, glock 9mms: hold a couple more rounds; dont really sacrifice "stopping power" vs .40sw, and has cheaper ammo; have up to 2-3 times the service life over .40sw (talking ~50k for .40sw vs 100K+ for 9mm glocks...if that matters to you)
about the ONLY reason why i even own .40sw is simply b/c of the huge US LEO presence of ammo supply and issue
as to conversions bbls: i dont like most of them; i think they are fine for plinking around or even competition, but for serious use, i prefer to stick to stock bbls and setups for reliabiltiy and use purposes; for me, i'd just as soon get a G17/19, and spend the rest on mags, ammo, and training