I've been hoping Colt would start making Government Models in 9mm again for some time, but unfortunately it doesn't look like that's going to happen anytime soon. So I've decided to buy a Colt .38 super (02071ELC2) and convert it over to 9mm. I know this requires a barrel change and 9mm magazines, but is it necessary or advisable to change the extractor as well?
Also, which 9mm barrel would you'll recommend? Should it be ramped or unramped? And if the extractor does need to be changed which extractor would you'll recommend? Any other things/potential problems that I should consider when converting a .38 super to 9mm? Thanks.
You might or might not have to change the extractor. I had one gun that would shoot 9mm and .38 by changing out barrels only. The other had to be set up for one or the other.
You might well be able to adjust the extractor for the rimless 9mm and not have to replace it.
My 9mms will feed ball ammo out of Super magazines, and even JHP from the 9- round Colt and Metalform, but the Shooting Star 10 round Super mags are pretty well limited to RN.
You do not need a ramped barrel. That would make it a one-way conversion, the stock .38 barrel no longer usable, and would add unnecessary expense.
The ejector for the 9mm is longer than the one for the .38 Super. This is because of the shorter case of the 9.
I would want the proper ejector for any serious use. However, I have used a 9mm barrel in 3 different .38 Super examples, and had 100% functioning.
Still, for serious purposes, I would change the ejector. I would also use proper 9mm magazines for any serious purpose. The extractor will probably work fine, but may need some tweaking.
The recoil spring will probably be fine, though you might have a little problem with light loads.
Each example is unique. I currently have 2 Gov't models, and 1 commander in .38 Super. A barrel and mag change will allow all 3 to run 9mm ball quite well, and 2 of them will run with a variety of JHP. Good enough for range use, but I would still want to change that ejector for any serious use.