Glock 32/23

Legal & Second Amendment
1

I’ve got a question. I know it is possible to use a Glock 23 barrel in a Glock 32. What are the legal implications of doing so if one is involved in a self defense incident?

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2

Is the barrel serialized?

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3

I don’t have an actual reference firearm. This is more of a hypothetical question.

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4

@MikeBKY
As the barrel is not the part of the weapon that the ATF cares about, I would say no. That being said, I am not a lawyer. However, you can upgrade barrels with plenty of after market barrels and that isn’t illegal so why would doing what you asked become illegal? If you used said gun in a self defense situation, I could see them asking why does the ballistics match a Glock 23 model but you have a Glock 32 model. They might ask you why you put a different model barrel in a different gun instead of buying a different Glock 32 barrel. That being said, If everything else in the situation came up as self defense, that barrel switch alone could not be used to sway a jury against you if it was obvious self defense.

5

I ask because there has been discussion that modifications to firearms can have unintended legal implications in self defense incidents. The Glock 32 is a .357 Sig. The 23 is a .40, so I am curious as to what if any issues this could have.

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6

I don’t think replaced barrel can be treated as modification. Especially when you use Glock’s stock one. If changed barrel comes with different caliber, it doesn’t matter.
There are few other handguns with conversion parts (fe RIA 1911 TAC 2TCM/9mm) which can be legally used with either barrel / caliber.

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7

Glock barrels have serial numbers on them but they can be interchanged and replaced. There is nothing illegal about this under federal law. That does not mean that some states may have passed laws contrary to the federal law requirements.

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8

@MikeBKY Thanks for the reply. I live in GA which is fairly firearm friendly, but as other posts have noted, sometimes prosecutors will try to make an issue of things like certain ammo, or certain firearm modifications.

Rob

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