Pardini conversion kit or two separate guns?

[Korp]

I have a Pardini SP and am thinking of getting an HP as well. The cheapest option is getting a conversion kit but I’m curious to know if there are any arguments for getting a separate gun instead. What are the issues with having a conversion kit?

An obvious issue is if I’m shooting both .22 and .32 in a competition I need to break down my gun and put it together again which might be a distraction and is extra work when I could be taking a break between matches.

Any other issues? Problems with ejection maybe?

I’m talking ISSF style competitions, if that matters.

[Gorbag]

A member in the same club as me, started with the conversion set, but bought a second gun after a while.
The main reason was the need for adjusting the sights when changing the kit. It seemed like the aim zero on the 32, was a little different for each time.
As i have the 2015 model of the SP, i can't use the conversion kit. So a used HP is in the mail.

[David M]

years ago I had the conversion kit for the Hammerli 280 which eventually became a pain.
Next I bought the SP20, two pistols .22 and .32, grip, trigger, rame the same.
One became a backup set of spares for the other. Add in firing pins and I had all parts covered.
If you can affors it, I would buy the second frame plus the C/F feed ramp to fit to the .22 frame
to allow swaps.

[FWB_700_Alu]

@ Korp: If you live in the US, whats the problem?!? Just buy a second pistol!

[Gwhite]

No matter where you live, that a pretty sizeable investment. I am currently helping the family of a long time shooting buddy who passed away recently. Having dealt with several similar situations with family & friends, I have some observations:

When you are young and your eyesight & arm are capable of shooting well, it's often hard to scrape together enough money to buy the ammo & firearms required to compete at a high level.

As you get older & your earning power increases, you can afford to buy all sort of guns & ammunition, but you are too busy to devote enormous amounts of time to the sport.

Then, you get married, buy a house, and have kids. There is very little money to spare, and ZERO time.

Finally, you reach retirement age, the kids are grown & you have time to indulge seriously in your shooting. However, now your eyes are iffy, you have aches & pains, and it's not nearly as easy to compete with the youngsters.

I am at a point where I have too many calibers and too little time. My elbow got damaged doing too many pushups to "get in shape for shooting" when I was in my 30's, and I can't shoot any of my centerfire pistols much without pain. My friend's widow offered me my choice of one of any of my friends guns. I already have guns I will never have time to shoot, so I declined. He had some beautiful stuff, with some pieces worth many thousands of dollars. They would just sit in my safe, and be a hassle for my kids to dispose of.

I still compete, because I love the sport. I only shoot air pistol, .22 bullseye & a local offhand centerfire rifle league. That's actually plenty to keep me busy.

My recommendation for the youngsters is to select a couple disciplines you enjoy, and don't get tempted by all the neat pistols you can afford. Save your money for good ammo, and make the most of it while you can.

[rmca]

A member in the same club as me, started with the conversion set, but bought a second gun after a while.
The main reason was the need for adjusting the sights when changing the kit.

Korp

This is the only disadvantage of the kit. Unlike other pistols, where the front and rear sight stays with the parts that you change, the Pardini kit doesn't change the rear sight. You only change the barrel (front sight) and bolt. This usually means that you have to adjust the sights when changing from .22 to .32 and vice-versa.
The number of clicks will vary from gun to gun, but it's the same both ways. Just make sure you rotate the knobs in the right direction!

If you can afford it, two separate guns will be better.
The kit saves you a lot of money, but has this disadvantage.
If you get the kit, and find it annoying messing with the sights all the time, you can always get the lower part and have two guns.
This should be (kit + trigger housing) roughly the same price as a new complete pistol.

Hope this helps

[Korp]

Thank you for all of your replies. I'm leaning toward buying a second gun - even though there seems to be some advantages to using a conversion kit as well.

[BobGee]

Thank you for all of your replies. I'm leaning toward buying a second gun - even though there seems to be some advantages to using a conversion kit as well.

The beauty of interchangeable uppers is the retention of the grip and trigger, both of which will have been modified and/or adjusted to suit the shooter, for either calibre. The Walther GSP is a great example of a pistol that allows this which, unlike the Pardini, does not require adjustment of the sights. The GSP also has the ability to interchange trigger groups from the original single stage, breaking glass to the more recent two stage (there is also a five-click training trigger group for RF and Duelling).

If the decision comes down to one pistol or two, I’d say that opens up the whole field to, for example, a Pardini for .22LR and a Manurhin for C/F.

Bob

[JamesHH]

I got tired of adjusting sights between standard and rapid, so I bought two .22s, SP and RF (I did want the RF slide)
If I wanted a .32 I'd get an extra gun.

Pardini barrels don't go on consistently I think, the contact area is quite small, screw torque probably has an impact.
Swapping regularly will mean chasing the sight adjustements.

The Pardini .32 has some glitches, like being able to fire with the bolt not fully closed due to fouling or malformed round, some people have blown their guns up this way.
Its also heavier than I can deal with.
I like the .22 but not the .32.