Pistol to Carbine Conversion Kits

[Surnia]

I understand that a lot about Airsoft has to do with aesthetics and looking the part for some but from a functional standpoint, why aren't those Pistol to Carbine Conversion (PCC?) kits more popular?

Given ThunderCactus' post on Airsoft physics (specifically the section on barrel length) and what people have found in terms of BB accuracy, the limiting factor on pistols is the user themselves. The basic design is good enough for actual long range accuracy, and the shorter barrel is really only limiting the FPS. The only major limitation is number of BBs in your mags, but glocks do have the 52 round magazines. With this information, why aren't kits like the CAA Roni conversions more popular as a "GBBR" option in airsoft?

With a pistol + a conversion kit (which, I believe should actually be purchasable globally, but there's very limited information on them in Airsoft), you basically have a slightly under capacity gas SMG with blowback action for a LOT less than most GBBRs, with all the accuracy you need and the huge parts/internal upgrades for pistols. If velocity is too low/range isn't good enough for outdoors, grab a longer barrel and it'll still hide within the internals of the PCC kits and give you that extra FPS boost (and range with proper hop adjustments/upgrades) from gas getting a little more distance to expand.

Want to run a different primary, take the pistol out of the kit and you have a sidearm again for backup.

I'm genuinely curious what the rest of the community thinks about those kits, as it seems to make sense from a functional play standpoint.

*edit* did a bit of poking around some retailers online, GBB SMGs come out to be around the same price as the kits + mid tier GBBPs. So price point isn't as big of a difference as I initially thought.

[wind_comm]

basically boils down to money. majority of those roni kits are 2x the price in Canada then they are from HK. availability of long mags is not always great for the Sig and m9, and with the glocks everybody has a boner for the 18, but TMs have that nasty habit of cracking frames while shooting. not to mention that people would tend to use them indoors with semi auto only.

for me, I've been pretty antsy to get my hands on a Sig kit and some long mags for when I want a change at the indoors place, but nothing has come up that's affordable.

[Surnia]

I've found some decent prices for the kits in Canada, but being in general I'd rather not post the sources. Based on conversion rates though, they're about on par after conversion. ~$150-200 + pistol ($200-300), puts you within range of almost all GBBRs.

I thought the TM glock 18 frame cracking was taken care of? or was that just aftermarket fixes?