Pistol caliber carbines have seen a bit of a resurgence over the last year with the introduction of the CZ Scorpion EVO, the Sig MPX, and new HK MP5 clones. As you might expect, there are companies looking for a way to tap into the pistol caliber carbine segment through some interesting avenues. American Manufacturing Group sent us their Lock, Stock, and Barrel conversion kit for the Glock 17 to try out. The concept seems a bit strange, but what the hell, I will give anything a shot.
Before I headed out the the range I called my friend Scott to show him the new Lock, Stock, and Barrel Kit. We pulled out a tired old Gen 2 Glock 17 started the process of turning a pistol into a rifle.
After field stripping the pistol and setting aside the recoil spring assembly and barrel since they will no longer be needed. If you fit the kit to a Gen4 pistol, the recoil spring assembly is retained with only the barrel being replaced. IMG_3880
Sliding the barrel into the slide is just like inserting the factory barrel except you need to remove the locknut and piston to fit the barrel through the hole. As you can see in the photo below, there are three ports in the barrel to provide the needed gasses to assist the slide in operation.
Once the barrel is in the piston/bushing is slid over the barrel with the narrowed portion extending into the slide to keep everything centered. The next step is to thread the retaining nut over the threads, tighten it down to keep everything in place then back it off enough to center the lock screw over one of the flats in the threads.
The kit comes with a heavier recoil spring assembly for Gen 1-3 Glock 17s; the kit did come with an adapter for Gen 4 pistols, but the instructions recommend that you retain the stock unit instead.
The Joker would be proud to take a shot at the Batplane with this guy. Sadly we found in testing that shooting the 16″ barrel without the stock was unreliable at best. I guess that isn’t a big deal since the kit is intended to be used as a rifle. IMG_3891
Attaching the stock is a simple operation, pull the latch and rotate it 90 degrees to retract the pin and slide the frame plug into the empty grip hole. Then make sure the back of the frame clips into the top portion and insert the pin through the lanyard hole. The entire process only takes a few minutes from start to finish making it a rather easy conversion. IMG_3893 IMG_3894 IMG_3895
It does look a bit goofy when it is all assembled, as long as it functions correctly I will gladly overlook the cartoonish appearance. While running some dry fire drills we did find that changing the magazine was a bit on the tough side due to the location of the button, with practice mag changes would get easier as well as faster. IMG_3900
Shooting the Lock, Stock, and Barrel kit was a bit strange. While at the range we put the kit onto a Gen4 Glock 17 so that I could run the magazine release on the left-handed side. I found that this made magazine changes much easier than on the Gen 2 pistol.
Aside from some small hickups that I chalked up to cheap 115-grain ammo the Lock, Stock, and Barrel kit seemed reliable enough for range use. Based on the performance after shooting about 100 rounds of hot +P+ 124-grain defensive ammo I am not sure that I would rely on the conversion in a defensive situation, but as a range toy or to acclimate new shooters I can see a use.
My friend Mike came out with me since he was dying to try the kit out. We found that shooting at about 25 yards the conversion seemed to be accurate enough to be fun. We did try shooting the Glock with just the barrel fitted for fun; every single shot was a failure to extract. Since it isn’t intended to be used in that manner I can’t be upset about it not working. The same failure was present if you didn’t have the stock firmly planted in your shoulder. 4
The 5 round group was shot at 25 yards, the kit id more than accurate enough for range time. I was able to reliably connect with an IDPA target at 100 yards pretty reliably, but when I tried to push the kit past 100 yards on the rifle range, I didn’t have much luck. Shooting at distance with pistol sights is not an easy task. IMG_3539
After spending some quality time at the range with the Lock, Stock, and Barrel pistol to rifle conversion kit I can see a place for it on the range. As I stated previously, I don’t think it is reliable enough to be used as a defensive tool but could be really useful if you wanted to shoot cheaper 9mm while running rifle drills, want something different to shoot, or are working with a new shooter that is recoil or noise shy.
With an MSRP of $299.99 the buy-in price is a bit steep, but again, the group that this kit appeals to is very small. If you are looking for a carbine kit for your Glock that will fit into a backpack there aren’t many options out there.
