Baddest Tactical Pistol: Options & Upgrades

By John W. Myers, Internet Photojournalist

Glock Model 20, full-size 10mm with 15 rounds capacity

Glock Model 20, polymer frame, full-size 10mm with 15 rounds capacity

EAA Witness

EAA Witness "Wonder" full-size, steel frame, 10mm capacity 15 rounds, .38 Super/9x23mm capacity 18 rounds.

I've whittled down my list somewhat in my plan to buy the "Baddest Tactical Pistol I can afford" and settled on two preliminary candidates, the Glock 20 in 10mm or two models of the EAA/Tangfolio, the full-size Witness Wonder or Elite Match in either 10mm or .38 Super/9x23mm. There's a considerable price difference between the two/three. The G20's best price I've seen is $530, while I can get a Witness Steel for $340 or the Elite Match for $480.

I still don't have cash in hand to buy either, so by the time that happens, other candidates on my list may well have emerged. If I could up my $600 budget a bit, I'd get within range of a Para-Ordnance .45 ACP with 14 rounds, leader of the pack for high-capacity full-size .45s.

Then there's the G31 in 357 Sig with 15 rounds, the G21 .45 ACP with 13 rounds and a huge field of 9mm full-size pistols with 17 and 18 rounds. My favorite among the nines is S&W with their ambidexterous safety/decocker (for lefties like me) and the M&P offers 17 rounds.

So with those two candidates emerging, G20 and EAA, I began to look at options, upgrades, carbine kits, et c. that are available either from the manufacturer or after-market sources.

At this point in my investigation, I'd have to rate the G20 as leading for options and upgrades, particularly since I have found I can get a Mech-Tech carbine kit for $350 and a 9x25mm barrel from DoubleTap for $115.

The 9x25 round is even hotter than 10mm, 357 Sig or 9x23, as it is a necked-down, full-size 10mm shell casing; 357 Sig is a necked-down .40 S&W, while 9x23 is a longer 9mm shell casing.

Now adding a 9x25 barrel and a carbine kit for the G20 gives me three options with one pistol. And staying with a round I already have in the G29 makes sense, not to mention 10mm is king of the mountain, ballistically speaking, while 9x25 even takes that to another level. Probably overkill, but more seems always better to me. And DoubleTap will provide the 9x25 ammo.

Here's the specs on DoubleTap 9x25mm ammo, compared to their hottest 10mm 180-grain load:

Caliber Grains Type Mfg. FPS Muzzle Ft.Lbs. Muzzle

9X25mm 115 JHP Gold Dot DoubleTap 1800 827

10mm 180 JHP Gold Dot DoubleTap 1300 676

10mm 115 JHP Gold Dot DoubleTap 1650 695

I try not to get too carried away by just numbers, but holy moly, but comparing 9x25mm directly to the hottest DoubleTap 115-grain 10mm load and it's still king. That is mind-blowing stuff!

Only question is whether to go with a stock 9x25 barrel for the G20 from DoubleTap or go with the 6" hunting version, which will stick out about an inch and a half beyond the slide. Since this is not a carry pistol in the first place, I'm thinking the 6" barrel.

From what I've read, one should not shoot a 9x25 next to anyone else at a range without double ear protection. And probably not even then. The muzzle blast alone is said to be sufficient to scare Atilla the Hun into taking early retirement.

Mech-Tech carbine conversion kit, shown with a 1911 .45 in it

Mech-Tech carbine conversion kit, shown with a 1911 .45 in it.

Then there's the Mech-Tech carbine conversion kit for $350, which I've read both good and bad things about. Some of the guys at GlockTalk don't like it, even calling it dangerous.

So I look some more and I find from Lone Wolf Distributors, I find I can get a 16" IGB barrel for $250 to customize the G20.

Lone Wolf also has a Mako buttstock for the G20 for $90 and a Mako fore-grip for $30 that fits onto the rail of the G20 to help hold up that 16" barrel.

So for an extra $370, I can turn my as yet unpurchased G20 into a 10mm carbine.

IGB barrel

But then there's the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms regs for a permit for a Short Barrel Rifle (SBR) that comes into play if you own a buttstock for a pistol and also on adding a handgrip to the front of a pistol, which falls under the Any Other Weapon (AOW) permit, $200 each.

Here’s what I found on National Firearms Act rules and regs. It’s written by a veteran law-enforcement officer and NRA Certified instructor, plus certified armorer for Glock, H&K, Remington and Colt.

"In the Supreme court case of Thompson/ Center Arms v. US, - U.S. - (1994) ATF said it (SBR) was a set consisting of a receiver, a 16"+ barrel, a pistol grip stock, a shoulder stock, and a barrel less than 16 inches long. The idea of the kit was that you needed only one receiver, and you could have both a rifle and pistol in one gun.
"While making a pistol out of a rifle is making a short rifle, ATF has long approved of converting a pistol into a rifle, and then converting it back into a pistol, that was not an issue. (My emphasis. This is a crucial point.)
"T/C made one set on a Form 1, then sued for a tax refund, claiming the set was not a SBR, unless it actually was assembled with the shoulder stock, and short barrel, something they instructed the purchaser of the set not to do. The Supreme court disagreed with ATF, and agreed with Thompson/Center.
"The court said that a set of parts was not a short barreled rifle, unless the only way to assemble the parts was into a short barreled rifle. As this set had a legitimate, legal, use for all the parts it was OK."

And on Glocktalk.com, I got the following reply about SBR and AOW regs as they apply to a G20 with long barrel and buttstock.

"I am a lawyer and an leo (don't ask any more questions because I like to remain anonymous on public forums).
"I have a Glock and was interested in putting a 16" inch barrel on it with a buttstock (for cheap 'rifle' plinking at the range). I did the research, printed the Thompson case up and some ATF interpretations of applicable federal regs from their website. I believe that the state of the law is as was previously mentioned until there is a new case to overturn it. And that's how the law works. It is what it is until there is a new holding.
"But as of now, I believe that you can have your Glock with your stock barrel and you can have a 16" barrel nearby...LEGALLY. You can also have a buttstock nearby. The key in my opinion is to NEVER PUT THE BUTTSTOCK ON THE FRAME WITHOUT FIRST INSTALLING THE LONG BARREL."

As for the EAA Witness pistols, they can be converted into other calibers with kits available from the manufacturer in 10mm, .45 ACP, .38 Super and 9mm; barrel and slide for $229 per kit.

Join the discussion on this topic at Steyrclub.com, in two threads at Glocktalk.com, one on pistols and a second on carbine conversions, at CZForum.com on EAA Witness pistols and at S&WForum.com.

(John W. Myers is a former newspaper editor, reporter and photojournalist)