Converted Spanish "Destroyer": Mag Mods Question

[mainmech48]

I'm considering a swap with a fellow at my club for a nice Spanish carbine that's been converted from 9mm Largo to 9x19. The barrel work looks to have been well-done. The new chamber is smooth and the headspace checks out. It has been restamped to indicate the new caliber near the breech.

The problem is that, while it shoots just fine, the magazine apparently hasn't been modified to feed the shorter rounds.

Can anyone give me a lead on where I might find info to help me figure out how to go about turning this back into a repeater ?

 

[Skofnung]

Are you using ball or HP in it?

The Largo mags ought to feed the shorter rounds. If they don't you will need to have a gunsmith alter the magazines, probably by cutting the follower and welding a shim in the rear of the mag to shorten it.

If you are using HP ammo, that may be the problem. The one I have will not feed HP at all, only ball. Mine is still in Largo though...

 

[mainmech48]

The ammo was generic ball that I happened to have with me when I looked at it. Truthfully, feeding HPs or not isn't much of a concern. It'd be nice, but I wouldn't miss them in a 'fun' gun.

I'd like to keep the additional costs down to an absolute minimum, like $50 or so, if I can. At c. $200 value, we get into diminishing returns real fast here as any future 'collector' value is already down the tube.

Actual gunsmiths are relatively rare locally. The services of the very few that I know of within driving distance are in high demand. Consequently, they are heavily back-logged and their time is very expensive. It wouldn't take much more than a couple of hours of it to pretty much double the amount of money I'd have in the thing. Can anyone point me toward a shop who's done one before and already knows what's needed? 'Re-inventing the wheel' is what eats time and money with this sort of thing, IME.

I'm an industrial mechanic by trade, and a pretty fair tinkerer, so if anyone has DIY experience they're willing to share about what to modify and how, approximate shape and dimensions for a filler block, etc. I'd surely be much obliged.

 

[Jim K]

Most Destroyer mags work OK with 9mm P, so I am a bit surprised yours doesn't. Making the block would be easy enough, but the follower would also have to be cut down and a new spring used. I would try studying the magazine and its feeding a bit, as I think just tweaking the feed lips should do the job. If you want to alter the mag and follower, I THINK the spring from a Colt 9mm P magazine would work, but I have NOT tried it.

Jim

 

[BEARMAN]

If you have access to a .45 COLT 1911 MAG try it in the mag well. If it fits there is a very good chance a 9MM Colt 1911 mag will fit , they both have the same outside dimensions. Then there is little or no modification to be done. If a COLT mag doesn't fit nothing has been lost and you are still looking for a solution. Seems like an easy try.

 

[mainmech48]

Thanks, Jim. The only reason that I haven't already made the swap is because of the feeding problem. Being unfamiliar with the breed, I wanted to get an idea of what the PITA potential in terms of time and/or money to get it corrected might be before I commited to it.

Working on the assumption that a stock magazine with the correct geometry should feed 9x19, I've done a little digging to see if I could locate a source for another magazine. There's one listed in an old GPC/Numrich catalog (21st Edition; several yrs old, at least) for "Spanish 1921 'Destroyer' carbine magazines" at $14.95/each. No doubt that the price has gone up, but hopefully they still have a couple.

If they do, I'll go ahead and make the trade. At the very least, the new one would give me a better idea of what the lips are supposed to look like. If the problem goes away with a new mag, cool! If not, I'll have a better baseline to work with in order to figure it out.

Thanks to all for the help and advice!

 

[trueblue1776]

This may be a hair off topic, but I could have swore my buddy could shoot .38 super and 9mm Largo out of his destroyer, anyone have any experience with this?

 

[Jim Watson]

Largo and .38 Super overlap in case dimension tolerances and many Largo guns will chamber Supers.
CAUTION: .38 Super is a hotter load than 9mm Largo, the old Spanish guns marked 9mm/.38 are claiming intechangeability between 9mm Largo and .38 ACP which are at comparable pressure and ballistics. So a Super is something of an overload for a Largo gun. Frank DeHaas said the Destroyer is plenty strong enough for it, though.