In theory, a firearm that supports multiple cartridges and/or chamberings sounds good. In practice, it often is a more expensive compromise offering lesser performance. If I lived in a locale where serial-numbered receivers were hard to own, it might change my view. But seeing as I do not, my experience is cartridge and application specificity is a good thing.
That being said, I do have two spare uppers for my VP9, a VP9L upper and a VP40 upper. That works well as the VP9, VP9L, and VP40 lowers are the same. The HK solution is nice for reliability but requires three complete uppers as well as magazines. The uppers with additional magazines do not cost much less than a full pistol cost before the pandemic created a whole new level of demand. I also have a Glock 23 with conversion barrels for 9x19 and .357 SIG. The Glock solution requires just a different barrel, but now the sight regulation is the issue as at least two cartridges have different POA/POI. I also have multiple Contender and Encore actions and barrels. Here is where it gets dicey as each barrel needs its own optics. While there are QD mounts, each barrel has a specific zero. So, in practice, each barrel has its own optics. And if the barrels come from different companies or have different profiles, then additional forearms are needed. Swapping barrels tends to require some zeroing changes even with the Bullberry forearm hanger attachment which reduces pressure on the barrel from the forearm.
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Originally Posted by OlongJohnson
