Shoot as much as you can. In doing so, you learn more about the techniques and equipment involved, enjoy the company of other gun folks and help preserve the precious rights to do so. In this economy, shooting can be an expensive proposition, so anything that productively burns powder has at least some merit. For a gadget that's perfect for this line of reasoning, check out J&G Sales in Prescott, Ariz. You will find a new product that strikes me as a good idea. It's a conversion kit for most 1911 pistols in 9 mm Luger or .38 Super that permits the use of 7.62x25 mm Tokarev ammo. Please note the large quantities of this stuff that is currently on the surplus market.
The conversion is possible because of the similarity in case head dimensions. All three are pretty close to the same size. Although the website does not mention them, I would guess that Colts in 9x23 mm Winchester might also work. The kit consists of a new barrel and barrel bushing, as well as recoil, hammer and firing pin springs. Your base gun must be set up for a non-ramped barrel and you have to use .38 Super magazines as 9 mm magazines have a spacer to serve the much shorter round. You have to use the supplied springs because the Tokarev round drives a light .30 caliber bullet to some pretty zippy speeds. This changes inertia balances and timing cycles in the functioning of the gun.
The J&G website also shows a brief video of a J&G gunsmith shooting a converted pistol with the Russian ammunition. It's obvious that there is not a great deal of recoil and he seems to be doing pretty well with this clever conversion. If anyone has tried this system, I would appreciate hearing about it.
Also, J&G had an early issue and had to rework the design. Anyone with an early conversion kit should not fire surplus 7.62 ammunition (modern 7.62 is fine) and should contact J&G about exchanging barrels.
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