Glock 23 to 19 complete conversion? (locking block question)

[G454G]

Hey all, first post here after being a long time lurker, love the forum!

I am curious if converting my Glock 23 to a "G19" by switching the complete slide assemblies and trigger housings is all that I need to do? The reason I would like to do this is because I have a Gen4 19 with night sights, and a Gen4 23 with a Robar beavertail/grip reduction. I can't afford night sights for the G23, nor another Robar treatment for the G19 at this time, plus I prefer 9mm, so I thought I'd just switch the two. This way, I'd end up having a customized frame sporting a 9mm slide with night sights without spending any more money.

My question is this: Should I also take the locking block from the 19 and put it in the Robar G23 frame? I've shot both guns, so there may be slight part-mating wear on the locking block, and was thinking the locking blocks should go with their respective slide assemblies. Is that the case? Anything else I need to consider?

In any case, I plan to shoot the pistol for a 1000+ rounds before carrying, as I'd like to make sure this setup is reliable enough for EDC. As I understand it, the frames are identical, save for the trigger housing/ejector, so reliability should be fine. The only other mods are an OEM minus connector and an NY1 trigger spring. I'll report back any issues.

Thanks for any insight!

[farscott]

As you noted, the only caliber-specific part in the Glock 23 lower is the ejector, which is installed in the trigger housing. As for changing the locking block, there is no negative other than punching the pins in and out of the frame. There is also very little positive. Unless you shot the G23 quite a bit with a worn out/fatigued recoil spring assembly, that locking block is fine. The original G17 and G19 locking blocks had a single pin design, and the two-pin design was added across the board to improve durability of the .40 caliber guns. As such, the two-pin design is lightly stressed in the 9x19 guns.

[Chuck Haggard]

In doing this sort of thing for research more than a few times I noted that one can pretty much switch back and forth with zero issues.