quote:

; I still have several P239's (two in 9mm and two in 40 S&W)

Do you notice a weight/bulk difference between the 9mm versions and the .40s?

quote:

Originally posted by 92fstech:

quote:

; I still have several P239's (two in 9mm and two in 40 S&W)

Do you notice a weight/bulk difference between the 9mm versions and the .40s?

When in a holster no.

Sitting here at my desk, the loaded 40 is heavier than the loaded 9mm.
Also, the slide of the 40 feels a bit heavier. I don't have a scale handy to validate.

OK, then.

First, get a 357 Sig (the correct caliber) barrel from Barsto or similar.


Comparing dimensions of P239 to P225 or P229 is apples to oranges. Lets get serious and compare apples to pears. You'll need S&W 686 Plus 7 shot revolver so you can compare concealability of weapon & reloading devices.

You'll need IWB tuckable holsters so you can appreciate the slightly smaller than P229 yet significantly smaller than revolver dimensions' contribution.


Now about grips, I think you could save considerable time and effort sanding down and recontouring your hands and fingers to accomodate all the easily available standard size finger grooved grips for all the handguns you re interested in.

I hope this helps.

Not new to Sig, but new to 239’s. I’ve always been a hammer fired fan and after carrying multiple compact 1911s and moving to the P238 for a number of years, I wanted something a little bigger for my arthritis hands and the 239 has fit the bill. Not a real fan of the 9mm, so I opted for the 40 S&W. It really fits my needs and carry’s very well in my Sam Andrews saddle holster. No complaints from me on the P239.

That’s been the argument against the P239 since day one. Early on it was always a “vs the G19”.

On paper you are correct but for many folks it just “fit better” whether in the hand or
On the body. This combined with how well they shoot really make them a cult classic for lots of folks.

That said just as many folks find them oddly proportioned.

I always liked the P239, in .40 especially. That said it’s because of how it felt and carried on my body. It was my first serious carry gun. There is, however, no denying its lack of “efficiency” so to speak.

For you personally I would not spend the money on G10s other then for esthetic reasons as I don’t think they will help your LOP etc. I love ‘em’ though but while I don’t have hobbit hands….I certainly don’t have troll hands either.

quote:

Now about grips, I think you could save considerable time and effort sanding down and recontouring your hands and fingers to accomodate all the easily available standard size finger grooved grips for all the handguns you re interested in.

Thanks Richard, I just wish you'd suggested that years ago before I sanded down all those grips. Just think how much time and effort I could have saved! Damn troll hands!

And yeah...I've thought about a .357 Sig barrel...either for this one or for the P229. I even have a small collection of .357 Sig brass that I've saved up over the years. I've just never made the jump. Maybe I should.

Starchedcover, thanks for the assessment. You too, cslinger. You may have just saved me $100.

Having carried both the P229 and P239, I notice a big enough difference so that the P239 was my main carry for many years.

It seems to me, OP, you have a problem w/ the P239 grip area and your hands. It may not be the right gun for you.
The factory grips were horrible. I gave mine away free to someone here already or I would send you mine. They were so slick I could not maintain a consistent grip (.40) while shooting a few rounds. The Hogue rubber grips were the only reason I kept the gun and then made my edc.

The accuracy of the gun is excellent. I can swap out to .357sig and 9mm barrels in less than a min.

I'll always have the P239 but I've since switched my EDC to the G26. W/ the X-grip sleeve and g19 mag, I get double the capacity while staying at or under the P239's height and also 5 oz. lighter w/ 15 rnds vs. 7+1.

quote:

I can swap out to .357sig and 9mm barrels in less than a min.

Tell me more about this...particularly the 9mm. You can swap barrels from .40 to 9mm without changing the slide?

quote:

Originally posted by 92fstech:

quote:

I can swap out to .357sig and 9mm barrels in less than a min.

Tell me more about this...particularly the 9mm. You can swap barrels from .40 to 9mm without changing the slide?

Sorry, I should clarify I have a Bar-sto conversion 9mm barrel.
But I can remove only the .40 barrel and insert my factory .357sig or 9mm bar-sto and the gun works. The 9mm rnds function in the .40 mag and same recoil spring.

ETA: I think others have done the same w/ factory 9mm barrels but I went w/ a conversion for proper all around lock-up. I also have some .357 and 9mm mags NIB, but for the range, I just use the .40 mags.

I think it is hard, if not impossible, to argue preferences. It is sort of like trying to prove one style of music as "better" than another or one whiskey as "better" than another.

I carried the Sig P229 in .357Sig as my issued duty weapon for many years, with a Sig P239 in .357Sig as my issued back-up/off-duty gun. I love both of these pistols (in the traditional DA/SA version) and consider them two of my favorite handguns ever.

I am not a huge guy (5'10 and 185) and I have smallish hands. The P229 was a good fit for me, but the P239 was as close to perfect *for me* as any gun I have every carried. It fit my hand well; shot like a tack-driver; and concealed well. I also really like the .357Sig caliber. Although we changed duty weapons some time back, I still own both the P229 and P239 in .357Sig and the P239 rides on my hip quite often, especially in cooler weather. The P239 is to me what I imagine the 1911 to be to those who prefer it: a great combination of size, "carryability" (do I get credit for creating that word?), caliber, and function/accuracy. That being said, at the end of the day, I don't have to convince anybody of that. It is simply what works for me. I also prefer West Coast Jazz and high-proof Bourbons and Ryes, but not everybody feels the same way. If we all loved the same music, the same whiskey, and the same guns, it would be a pretty boring world.

quote:

At the end of the day, there’s nothing wrong with the gun. It’s actually a really good gun mechanically.
But when I think about it in comparison to other Sigs that I already own, I keep coming back to this question: “What’s the compelling purpose of this gun?”
What does it do that my P229 doesn’t do better? Dimensionally overall, it’s not much smaller. It’s not much lighter. It is a bit slimmer, but not so much so that it offers carry options that couldn’t be fulfilled with the P229.
All of those things are at a cost of 50% of the ammunition capacity, and it’s also discontinued so finding parts and mags is getting harder and more expensive.

So what are we supposed to do, either you like it or you do not.
It's your gun.

Also this is why for me.

https://sigforum.com/eve/forum...640058005#6640058005

That’s been the argument against the P239 since day one. Early on it was always a “vs the G19”.

On paper you are correct but for many folks it just “fit better” whether in the hand or
On the body. This combined with how well they shoot really make them a cult classic for lots of folks.

That said just as many folks find them oddly proportioned.

I always liked the P239, in .40 especially. That said it’s because of how it felt and carried on my body. It was my first serious carry gun. There is, however, no denying its lack of “efficiency” so to speak.

People get hung up on capacity too much; the 8+1 capacity of the 239 in 9mm (not that bad considering most shootings don’t involve that many rounds) is offset nicely by the accuracy and size of the platform. Before I retired and had switched to the 365 for the balance of my career, I used to carry a 239 9mm on my internal body armor prior to our switch to external carriers. It was just small enough that it didn’t print unless I twisted my body the wrong way and a pleasure to shoot.

quote:

I used to carry a 239 9mm on my internal body armor prior to our switch to external carriers.

Now that's an interesting idea! I never felt comfortable doing this with the P365, and the cylinder of the J-Frame made it a bit thick for vest carry, so I ultimately just opted for a J-Frame in a pants pocket. I should try it with the P239 and see what happens. Its flatter profile might fit better than the revolver, and I'm much more comfortable carrying a DA/SA in that capacity than a striker-fired gun. I'll have to play with it some tonight and see if I can make that work.

I carried mine in a flat kydex holster with all external googaw dremeled off and sticky velcro to secure it to the vest and secured with one of the elastic straps pinning it in place. I’ll see If I can find a pic from the OLD days…

Thanks, I'd appreciate that!

Had a P239 in 9mm, at the time it was the diminutive small 9mm carry, and I did so for quite a while. Sold it off to another member here who wanted it more than I did, compared to a P226 it is a much more concealable fire arm.

That was then, today, there are a lot more options when it comes to a concealed 9mm, more rounds, less weight, better options such as optics.

Still like the P239 it's a sexy beast, and yes you can convert that to a 357 sig.

My favorite grips for my 9mm Gen 1 P239 SAS were the Crimson Trace grips.






The Nils were nice, but certainly thicker..





The 40cal P239 I had I ran the Houge rubber grips.
I ran 357sig thru it most of the time.






I probably should have kept my 9mm P239 SAS for nostalgia's sake.
Had CCR do a lot of work to it.
But that was a time when I sold my least favorite to get something else..



Carried 2 years in custom Garrity holster before my Glock obsession took over..

quote:

Originally posted by 92fstech:
Thanks, I'd appreciate that!

You have mail