Good evening, SF.

A while back I bought a LE trade-in P226, in .40 cal. I like it, and I'd like to shoot it more.

One of my friends at work has gotten me into shooting the local IDPA matches, and I'm thinking I'd like to shoot this one at the next match. I'm also thinking I'd like to convert it to 9mm, if that's a reasonable thing to do.

"You can find anything on the internet," including good advice, bad advice, horror stories... I know better than to blindly follow random/anonymous stuff, and to ask gun questions here first.

So. What do I need to do? Is it as easy as a new barrel ( Bar-sto?) and recoil spring and magazines? Or is this more complicated? Whole new slide and magazines?

I don't really know what I'm getting into here, and my "winter project" list includes either convert the P226 or get myself a railed 9mm P229 (because I really like those).

Thanks, all!

quote:

So. What do I need to do? Is it as easy as a new barrel ( Bar-sto?) and recoil spring and magazines? Or is this more complicated? Whole new slide and magazines?

It's that simple. I found on my P229 that a new recoil spring was not necessary.

But keep in mind that your sights will be off a little since they are for 40sw and it has more drop than 9mm.

So it seems you found an excuse reason to get a new pistol!

If you can find a Bar-Sto conversion barrel and some magazines on a Black Friday sale, you'll have extra funds to get that P229...

I think in part it depends on the vintage of the P226. From an old post of mine (prices out of date, I'm sure):

I used a EFK barrel that dropped in, no problems. I have to use 9mm magazines--the feed lips on my .40 magazines are too large to hold 9mm (more on this below).

It may have been based on my particular pistol's age, but I had to get a new slide stop from Sig. As I recall, the slide stop that came with it had a wider bend for the .40S&W's ogive, so wasn't contacting the slide stop with the 9mm magazines. Sig sent this to me for free and the new one works. It's the same part for all calibers, so they redesigned it at some point.

Again, probably based on age of the gun, my .40S&W magazines have a little extra bump on the follower. With the new slide stop, this bump isn't needed, and the 9mm magazines don't have it. If the newer .40S&W magazines don't need the bump, they may also hold 9mm rounds.

In my case, figure $165 for the barrel, $20 each per magazine (at least 2) and that's about $200. For me, it's worth it to have both calibers. If you are just going for a 9mm, probably easier to find something you want (and maybe not a DAK).

For casual shooting, I have not noticed a difference in impact between the two calibers.

quote:

Originally posted by .38supersig:
So it seems you found an excuse reason to get a new pistol!

If you can find a Bar-Sto conversion barrel and some magazines on a Black Friday sale, you'll have extra funds to get that P229...

I have a California-version P229 listed in the Classifieds here -- if I can get it sold, then it'll likely be replaced with a non-CA version.

Meanwhile, I'll be watching for Black Friday P226 goodness at Bar-Sto. Thank you for the hint.

quote:

Originally posted by anothercuervo:
my .40S&W magazines have a little extra bump on the follower.

I need to go look at existing magazines now. Thank you!

If you are trying to minimize cost for the conversion, the barrel swap + mags is the way to go. I have never done it this way, so I'm assuming the cost of the conversion barrel is less than the way I've done this, multiple times...

Which is get a P226 slide assembly. Then there's no question about the 40 cal breech face/extractor possibly not reliably extracting 9mm cases (but anecdotal info says it will be fine).

A complete 9mm slide assembly will pop onto the frame and w/ correct mags, you're good to go.

quote:

Originally posted by RobLew:
A complete 9mm slide assembly

I'm open to this. Gotta go looking for one now.

quote:

Originally posted by vthoky:

quote:

Originally posted by RobLew:
A complete 9mm slide assembly

I'm open to this. Gotta go looking for one now.

Iron sights only, or cut for optic?

There are two ways to do this. Sig made 9mm conversion kits for the P226 that comsisted of a complete slide assembly and one magazine. I have one that I used to convert a 40 caliber DAK P226 to 9mm. The DAK frame also runs with a 22lr kit, so I'm guessing there will be no need to do anything to the frame. You could also just pick up a complete 9mm slide assembly if you can find one.

The second way is to get a drop in conversion barrel from someone like Bar-Sto. You may or may not need a different recoil spring, and you'll need 9mm magazines. On my G23 I did the drop in 9mm barrel in the 40 caliber slide with the 40 caliber extractor. On the Glock the 40 caliber extractor is 1mm wider than the 9mm one, but the Glock has been 100% over several thousand rounds so I would expect the Sig to run reliably under the same conditions.

https://barsto.com/product/9mm-conversion-p-226/

quote:

Originally posted by RobLew:
Iron sights only, or cut for optic?

I'm thinking irons only. So far, I'm not very good with the add-on optics.

quote:

Originally posted by SgtGold:
The second way is to get a drop in conversion barrel from someone like Bar-Sto.

I'm liking this option, so far.

If you don't mind used parts, go to Gunbroker and search for "P226 Repair Parts" or "P226 slide assembly". Every now and then there will be complete slide assemblies, including barrel and recoil spring assembly, available. As long as you can prevent yourself from over bidding, you might be able to get a good deal.

If you go this route make sure you get the conversion barrel to convert 40 to 9mm. The original 9mm barrels are a smaller diameter, and won't work in a 40 caliber slide.

quote:

Originally posted by vthoky:

quote:

Originally posted by SgtGold:
The second way is to get a drop in conversion barrel from someone like Bar-Sto.

I'm liking this option, so far.

Idk I love my P226 in .40 so hard to say, but for a simple conversion I hear a barrel and recoil spring is all that’s needed. Some people recommend a mag change, while seems like some say the .40 mags work. I’ve been tempted to get the barrel and spring to see if my .40 freedom week mags work.

Brings me to the CA P229, I may be interested in taking this off your hands! Are you in CA?

Found the FS ad shortly after posting. I’ll stand by to stand by.

It is so nice to have conversation on a Sig pistol that is non striker fired.
I never was much into barrel/caliber conversions except for swapping the 357 Sig and 40sw barrel/mags.
I have done that in my P229, P239, P226's
Maybe add 357 Sig to your mix with a barrel?
Never tried the Barsto Conversion but it's worth a shot.
Great to hear about these old school P Series > truly great, IMO.

I almost never shoot my P226 in .40 anymore. A drop in BarSto barrel, new recoil spring, and new magazines was all it took. It's been completely reliable through thousands of rounds, and extremely accurate to boot.

I've heard some people claim that they could use the 40/357 magazines with 9mm, but my experience was that the feed lips were too far apart to retain the 9mm cartridge. That also gave me a good excuse to buy a bunch of 20 round MecGars.

I've had great success with the Bar-Sto conversion barrels, 9mm recoil spring, and 9mm magazines. Rumor is you can run the 40 mags, but I've never tried it.
I like having a 9mm, 40S&W and 357 SIG pistol and a 22lr conversion is the cherry on top.

One thing to note about the Barsto barrels is that they have very tight throats. They should be ok with most factory ammo, but if you reload you have to be careful. I use a lot of coated 135gr bullets that have a pretty wide ogive. They work great in all my other guns but they'd get stuck in the lands with my Barsto P229 conversion barrel. I ended up selling it and just shoot that gun in its native .40 now.

Provided I had bullets that fit the chamber, though, that gun ran great in 9mm with the .40 mags and recoil spring.