Beretta 96 conversion to 9mm?

[BrokenPaw]

I have a Beretta 96 Brigadier. It's my carry piece. Unfortunately, .40 is more expensive than 9mm to shoot. For plinking purposes, it'd be nice to be able to use the 96 with 9mm ammo.

I have a spare 9mm Beretta barrel and a few 9mm full-capacity mags. Would it be possible (and safe) to swap the 9mm barrel into the 96's slide, and use the 9mm mags, thus converting it into a less-expensive-to-feed plinker?

I imagine that the 96 may have a beefier recoil spring. Is the boltface different as well? I know that the Brigadier has a thicker, heavier slide than the standard Beretta. Other than that, are there other things that would stop this from being possible?

Thanks,

-BP

 

[Devonai]

You will have extraction/ejection problems and possibly cycling problems. If you already have the barrel and magazines, search here, on auctionarms.com and gunbroker.com for a 92FS/M9 slide assembly. Once you have one, you can swap out all the parts onto your 96 frame and it will work fine. If you still have cycling problems you might want to replace the rod and spring as well.

Here's one listing:

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=77032&highlight=beretta

 

[BrokenPaw]

Ok. Thanks for the info, Devonai!

-BP