Best Carbine Conversion Kit for the Glock 17
Any time we talk about Glock 17s, people want to debate whether the Glock 17 is better than the Glock 19. Today, weโre going to leave the G17 vs G19 debate alone and focus on helping proud owners of the Glock 17 find the best conversion kit for their G17.
Letโs start with a little history on conversion kits. The Micro Roni and CAA MCK burst onto the scene with their Ronis and micro conversion kits, which created the booming carbine conversion kit market we all enjoy today. Other conversion kits entered the market including kits from Recover Tactical and their pistol conversion kit, FAB Defense, and others who developed and marketed handgun conversion kits. And it’s not surprising that Glock became the most popular model for most conversion kit companies with the Glock 17 and Glock 19 being the most frequently purchased.
Hereโs the criteria we believe is important when evaluating the best carbine conversion kit for the G17:
- Performance
- Design
- Value
- Legality
Letโs talk about performance first. For us, performance is about functionality, ease of use, reliability, and accuracy. We know the G17 is a favorite for law enforcement, military and tactical enthusiasts because of its unsurpassed reliability and because itโs incredibly lightweight. Weโll add weight to our list and emphasize reliability.
Glock 17 (Gen 3-4) 16″ Barrel
From a performance standpoint, the META Tactical APEX-Series bullpup style carbine conversion kit is the best conversion kit for the Glock 17 โ the bullpup Glock as some people like to say. Again, we are fans of the Roni, CAA MCK and others, but the Glock bullpup canโt be beat. The META Tactical carbine conversion kit for the G17 is incredibly versatile and easy to set up. Simply swap out your G17 barrel and replace it with META Tacticalโs proprietary 16โ barrel (note: the barrels are specific to each generation of your Glock17 so make sure you configure it properly when ordering). Once the barrel is swapped, itโs easy to slide your gun into the META Tactical conversion kit chassis, screw on the compensator, load your magazine and youโre ready to go. We highly recommend adding a Glock drum or high capacity magazines. Shooting the META Tactical is a riot and youโll burn through a ton of rounds.
The Glock bullpup from META Tactical is easy to use and is incredibly accurate. There are several online video reviews with people consistently hitting steel at 100 yards and shooting it at 200 yards. Thatโs pretty incredible with a 9mm. Finally, the APEX-Series pistol conversion kit for the G17 is incredibly reliable; just like the G17 itself. Weโve put 10s of thousands of rounds through it and it works like a charm. And weโre confident youโll be plenty surprised with the sensitivity of the trigger; it feels almost exactly like your Glock 17. The META Tactical handgun conversion kit comes standard with M-LOK accessory mounting system and can be outfitted with hundreds of accessories including picatinny rails and META Tacticalโs proprietary custom grips.
The design of the META Tactical APEX-Series speaks for itself: itโs the worldโs first and only bullpup style carbine conversion kits. If you like bullpups, youโre going to love the Glock bullpup. The Glock bullpup is available in four colors: black, grey, tan and OD green and META Tactical is offering some limited edition color ways and hydro dipped (hydrographic) patterns. Several of these were unveiled at the NRA show in Houston this summer.
Value. On the surface, the META Tactical Glock bullpup may seem more expensive than ronis or the CAA MCK. It retails for $599 vs $250 – $300 for most others, but it does include a 16โ barrel that retails for $300 – $350 on its own, making the bullpup Glock an incredible value. In addition, META Tactical often runs accessory promotions, and gave away tactical carrying bags to early purchasers.
Finally, legality. Anyone who has purchased a roni or micro conversion kit wonders if itโs legal. Every company selling pistol conversion kits at SHOT Show was bombarded with questions about whether or not conversion kits are legal, will be legal or made illegal. Whatโs frustrating is that the answer can vary by state (good if you live in Texas, bad if you live in California). We are not going to make any definitive statements, but hereโs what we do know: many products that rely on stabilizing braces are likely to face increased and additional scrutiny from the government and ATF. Do you need a tax stamp? Is it legal in Maryland? Make sure you get a straight answer from your gun dealer, range or gun shop before you buy a conversion kit that relies on a stabilizing brace. By contrast, the META Tacticalโs bullpup Glock does not use a stabilizing brace. By contrast, the bullpup Glock has a 16โ barrel and meets the ATFโs guidelines and definition of a rifle based on overall length when the adjustable stock is fully extended (over 26โ). It seems like the safest bet when it comes to legality, but againโmake sure you get a definitive answer from your gun dealer before you purchase any hand gun conversion kit.
Itโs for all these reasons that we feel confident stating that the META Tactical APEX-Series carbine conversion kit is the best pistol conversion kit for the Glock 17. Happy shooting with your Glock bullpup.