converting 40S&W/357SIG to 9mm?

[Beav]

I have a SIG 226 chambered for 357SIG and I was thinking about getting 9mm parts for it. I checked a couple sites (BarSto and efkfiredragon) and although they did have conversion barrels listed they didn't state what else I would/might need.

So what else other than 9mm magazines would I need to make this work?

Thanks

 

[critter]

No SIG expert here but I do have a 40/357 setup in 229. In the currently running thread 'need help w/pistol decision', someone stated that 40/357 mags will feed 9mm just fine. If so, the only other consideration would seem to me to be a possible recoil spring change as the 9mm might not cycle the action reliably with a full power spring.

A 3-caliber gun would be a sweet deal!

 

[Walt Sherrill]

If the barrel is done right, as Bar-Sto (for one) does them, all that's needed may be magazines. If the barrel isn't done right, you may have extractor problems, and breechface problems, etc., etc.

I've seen some Bar-Sto conversion barrels, and some done for EAA guns. In these cases, a single gun can shoot .40, .357 SIG and 9mm. It could also be done for one of the big-frame witnesses, so that you could should .45, too.

It can be done and they can function properly. Just pick the right barrel maker -- a firm that knows what its doing.

Mags may be a problem -- with feed lips having to be tweaked/gap narrowed in some cases. (Once tweaked, you probably can't use them with the larger rounds again without risking breaking the feed lips.)

Guys on the CZ forum are getting their orders in for 9mm barrels for their .40 CZ-40Bs...(for Bar-Sto's once-a-year CZ production run.)

 

[Sergeant Sabre]

Seeing as how the 9mm is a smaller diameter cartridge than the .40, wouldn't the extractor be out of place?

 

[Walt Sherrill]

You'd think so, but Bar-Sto seems to know how to adjust the barrel so that its not an issue -- neither is headspace, nor the breechface which, you'd think, wouldn't be right, either.

I've seen a number of such conversions, so I know they exist and I know they work.

EAA makes most of their 9mm/.40 guns on the small frame, and all you need to convert one of those to the next caliber is a barrel change. It can be done. (Some IPSC competitors have barrels that they switch when moving from one type of competition to another.) They just use FACTORY barrels.

 

[PO2Hammer]

With the taper in the 9mm case, the rim is larger than you might think and the extractors are spring loaded swing arm types, so extraction should not be a major issue.
.40 cal mags shouls work fine, if not you may have to buy 9mm mags.

 

[Sir Aardvark]

I purchased a 9mm conversion barrel from Bar-Sto Precision for my SIG 229 .40 S&W. The one I picked out was the "Semi-drop in", not the "Match".

It functions flawlessly, and is very accurate. The original SIG .40/.357 magazines fit the 9mm cartridges with no problem, and also hold 12 rounds in 9mm, instead of the 10 rounds in .40.

I enjoy shooting the 9mm's - they have a sort of "POP" that the .40 lacks, and best of all, I didn't have to buy a whole new SIG 229 to get the 2 calibers!.

Irv Stone III from Bar-Sto is great!. I drove out to his shop in 29 Palms to pick up the barrel and have him do some gunsmithing on my other firearms, and he did everything while I waited and gave me a discount to boot!. If you check the posts here and at other forums, you will find that he has probably the best reputation in aftermarket barrels.

 

[grendelbane]

I would have been better off if I had never read this thread!

Now I have a use for all those 10 round post-ban mags for my P229. I can buy a 9mm barrel, and if I have to tweak the feed lips to make them feed 9mm, I can't possibly ruin anything valuable!

Looks like I will be buying a barrel soon.