Looking for .357SIG barrel for Ruger KP944D

[doublebarrel]

My P94 .40 shoots great. Other than the bulkiness(a Ruger trademark) there's one thing I haven't found for my gun to make it perfect, well, as much as possible: a .357SIG barrel.

I've found one on EFK Fire Dragon site: http://www.efkfiredragon.com/Price5.htm

They call it "Link & Pin", which I suppose is the older version of P94 that uses toggle link instead of cam block for the barrel/guide rod(I'm not too familier with these terms, just repeating what I've read).

Mine is newer version, like P95, as seen in the picture. So I wonder if anyone out there has found an after market barrel to shoot the other caliber?

Thanks!

 

[doublebarrel]

Since nobody seems to know anything about it, I'll share what I found out today.

I made two phone calls today, one to Ruger pistol plant in Arizona, the other to EFK Fire Dragon.

I talked to Mr. Smisko, one of the top tech at Ruger. He told me he was on the design team for the P94. He said there's no plan at Ruger to build a .357SIG pistol or even a barrel, as this involves essentially a redesign of the P94. The reason he gave me is that the demand wasn't high enough, though I said others like Glock, SIG, HK, Springfield, Beretta, Taurus, etc. all got at least a pistol, if not widely available replacement barrels. He said many years ago Ruger was debating on the .357SIG. They called many ammo makers and asked them how many cases of .357 they sell for the year. The sales was too low for Ruger to consider this as feasible/profitable.

Mr. Smisko also told me that I probably could find aftermarket barrels like EFK to put on the gun, and it might even work. But the gun, he said, was designed for the .40. The techie part he told me I don't completely understand, but I'll try to repeat here. After a round is fired, the time it takes for the "breach"(I assume it's the point where the slide meets the back of the barrel) to open is designed around the .40's pressure level. With a higher pressure like the .357, the breach will open early, and when I asked about a heavier recoil spring he said that didn't matter, as during the first fraction of slide travel the spring weight made no difference. When the breach opens sooner than supposed to what I'd get is, case rupture!

He said it basically needs a heavier slide to function right. And that's like a redesign of the weapon.

EFK told me on the phone that, the P94 .357SIG barrel they sell is indeed for the older version of the gun, that uses toggle link. I was told they have no plans right now to make a cam block version of the barrel as they're so behind on current orders. He did say he'd expect they add it to their product line, in the future.

That's all, folks...

 

[gandog56]

Yeah, I'm in talks with my gunsmith about trading in my Ruger KP944D With Crimson Trace Laser Grips for a Sig 229 with both the 40 S&W and the .357 Sig barrel. Too bad I just can't find a .357 Sig barrel for the Ruger.