It isn't a permanent alteration. Although I do have a dedicated lower for mine, you can swap back and forth between the CCU and the pistol in about 25 seconds, with some practice. At least with the 1911 conversion. I've never messed with a Glock; that could be slower or faster.
And if you DO shoot th barrel out of your Glock, replacement barrels are relatively cheap and easily replaced.
I get it, a Mech-tech is not something you would want. There are millions of others who wouldn't buy them for half the price, even if they had the need for a pistol caliber carbine. It IS sort of a tinkerers device. A lot of people aren't up to swapping parts and want something you can just stuff the magazine in, rack the slide / bolt and pull the trigger.
OOOH, I just went to check prices... I thought you were just making a WAG or exaggerating the price when you wrote $500. My apologies .. When I bought mine it was under $300.00. I'll admit that I'd be hard pressed to buy for the $435 they are charging now.
Still they are a pretty decent machine.... Just that the market has advanced since I bought mine and there are NOW quite a few choices in the category. When I bought, there were few choices; the Marlin Camp and the Ruger 44 were discontinued and bringing some serious prices.
Plus, you don't have to go through an FFL to get one, like you do with any of the other options.
This one was a jewel.
But it needed a detachable magazine of higher capacity.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruger_Deerfield_Carbine
And I really, really like those Marlin Camp-9s.
The predecessor of all these new carbines.
Detachable S&W mags, up to 40 rounds.
But with a better fit/finish.
And about the same price, barely-shot used.
I’m going to find and buy one.