I have a European mag release 220 in 9 MM. Can I convert it to 38 Super? If so what do I need. Thanks in advance.

Yes. All you will need is an appropriate Super 38 barrel and a magazine(s). In fact, if I'm not mistaken your 9mm mags will "work" - if not ideally.

A .38 barrel should drop in just fine. If you can't find one, a chamber reamer could be used, but I haven't had any experience doing this and can't recommend it.

The .38 Super cartridge is longer than the 9mm, so your magazine may need to be swapped out to a .38. If you have the U shaped spacer pressed into the rear of the magazine (should have four indentions on each side), they will not fit. Some of the .38s were converted to 9mm by the factory and the spacer may not be there. Some would suggest pulling the spacer out, but if time constraints allow, I'd recommend getting a .38 specific magazine as the rim of the cartridge may not pass through the indentions that were holding the spacer.

I don't have any specifics for the recoil spring. There may be a manufacturer that lists a .38 specific spring and have one in stock. If not, buy a range of springs and start with the heaviest and run down to the strongest one that will cycle properly. I had to do this when I wanted to shoot .38 Super from my Glock 21.

One thing you may also be able to do is if you can find someone who has a .38 and wants to convert it to a 9mm, swap parts with them.

Let us know how it turns out.

Current production P220 & P226 9mm recoil springs (orange) are rated at 16 lbs. In contrast, the current .45 auto recoil spring (green) is rated at 20 lbs. Oddly, the original single strand P220 Super .38 spring was rated at only 14 lbs. I've always suspected early 9mm and Super .38 P220's shared the same spring though I cant say for certain. I would follow .38supersig's advice and obtain several in various weights and use the heaviest spring which functions properly in your pistol. Depending upon the vintage of your pistol, you may have no choice but to order single stand springs from Wolff since the modern braided design doesn't work in the earliest pistols.

Member P-220 said it first, but man I wish Sig would come out with a P220 Carry Elite Stainless in 38 Super (w/o a rail, of course)!

Thanks for the info on the springs-most helpful.

quote:

Originally posted by hjs157:
In fact, if I'm not mistaken your 9mm mags will "work" - if not ideally.

Mine didn't, were too short. Too short front to back I mean.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: stiab,

You may also need the 38 Super slide Catch/Ejector. I did in order to get reliable ejection. But the 38 Super version also works fine with 9mm, so a caliber change is just the barrel swap. And the 9mm rounds feed fine from my 38 Super mags.

quote:

Originally posted by stiab:

quote:

Originally posted by hjs157:
In fact, if I'm not mistaken your 9mm mags will "work" - if not ideally.

Mine didn't, were too short. Too short front to back I mean.

Yes, the 9mm magazines have a spacer at the rear.

We can use 38 Super magazines for 9mm but we cannot use 9mm magazines for 38 Super.

The extractor might work, but you might need to shorten the ejector to allow unfired ammo to eject.