Advantage Arms Glock Full-Size .22lr Conversion Review

Call me crazy, but I like shooting Glocks, especially with one of these conversions.

Item reviewed is the L.E. conversion for Glock full-size 9mm/40SW/357SIG/45GAP frames.

How Does It Work?
With the conversion slide installed, the pistol works just like a factory Glock pistol. Unlike some conversions, the slide will lock back after the last round is fired, quite important if you are using the kit to practice reloading, or you are using the pistol in action matches. The conversion slide has a firing pin safety, similar to the Glock firing pin safety, so you still have all 3 safety devices working.

The only thing that bugs me is the magazines not dropping free, which I plan to remedy with a weight screwed to the floorplate. Weighted floorplates for Glock magazines will not work because the AA floorplates are smaller.

As it came, the tang on the firing pin was too long, resulting in a long creepy trigger pull. Rather than sending it back, I opted to measure and stone, and measure and stone, until it matched the Glock firing pin tang protrusion. After that, the trigger pull matched up with the stock Glock slide really well.

Sighting
I’m not a huge fan of the sights, but that’s more Glock’s fault than AA’s. The front sight is too wide for much precision. The sights can be adjusted to match point of impact to point of aim, but I’m not sure that the rear sight will hold a zero, since the insert is held above the body of the sight. A frame mounted red dot scope is great, and I’m thinking about getting the adjustable sight set from Custom Glock Racing for when I’m not using the scope. I’ve not had any problems with the Carver Hunter scope mount with the AA conversion kit that I could directly attribute to the scope mount.

Recoil
There is recoil, but it’s just a small fraction of what you get with even a light-loaded 9mm. It’s not too hard to shoot as fast as you can pull the trigger, and still keep all your shots on an index card at 7 yards. The pistol just shakes a bit, and then the sights settle back down on the target.

Reliability
Things were a little rough at first, even with the MiniMags recommended, but I think it’s broken in now. I’ve gone a few hundred rounds of MiniMag solidpoints without any issues. I’ve only run a hundred Super-X high velocity 40gr. solids through it, but I didn’t have any stoppages. The cheap Federal bulk ammo works, to a point; I’m getting stovepipe jams and duds, but it makes for really cheap practice.

A (Vanek) competition trigger kit doesn’t seem to make any difference in reliability. I did have light strikes using a reduced power striker spring, using MiniMags. I am experimenting with cut down Wolff factory power striker springs.

Accuracy
I’m not a great bullseye shooter, I’d rather plink steel targets or bowling pins. I was hitting the 6x8” plates at 50 yards most of the time from the bench with the Glock adjustable sights and a smooth 5 pound trigger pull.

With the 5MOA dot scope mounted, and the Vanek trigger, I managed to shoot a 1” group at 25 yards with MiniMags. Like I said, I’m not a great bullseye shooter, so this truly shocked me. I even had a guy looking to become a member at the range looking over my shoulder at the time.

I’m very happy with the kit. My Ruger Mk.II has not run as reliably as the AA upper since the grip frame started to come off the receiver. The converted Glock is faster to reload, and there are mag funnels available. A converted Glock would be about perfect for a rimfire action pistol match, since many other conversion uppers don’t lock open when empty, and many dedicated rimfire pistols are slow to reload, and there aren’t many racing parts available for rimfire pistols.

I carry and compete with Glocks, so the inexpensive trigger time is greatly appreciated. I can easily tuck the conversion slide and a couple magazines into my range bag, but stuffing in another full size pistol is not always an option.