Hugh,
I’m in agreement with the recent postings regarding .40 cal pistols. I have been shooting .40 for more than a decade now and am a firm believer. During the shortages I was still able to consistently locate ammunition, and as mentioned by another contributor you can swap parts out on the Glock easily.
I carry a Glock 23 and run full power ammunition for daily carry, but when attending a Front Sight four day pistol course I dropped in a Storm Glock 19 barrel. The pistol functioned just as well on 9mm ammunition as it did with .40. After four days and hundreds of rounds, I have zero failures to extract or any other issues. I have shot for days on end at other courses such as Magpul, EAG, DFG, et cetera with similar results. I had no failures to extract; as some have said it’s a concern I paid special attention to it.
Also of note is that being an enlisted man and having a small family, I didn’t have enough extra cash to buy all new Glock 19 magazines. So I borrowed two G19 mags and figured I would deal with any malfunctions as a training bonus. However, over numerous courses the .40 magazines fed my gen 2 G23 just as well as the G19 magazines. I realize this may not be the case for everyone, but that has been my actual experience. My Glock has simply been reliable to the point it’s boring.
Now that funds have increased a little bit, I have added Wolf Barrels and Gemtech threaded barrels. While I haven’t had nearly as much trigger time behind the Gemtech and Wolf when compared to the Storm Lake, they all seem to be excellent quality and run just as well. – S.M.