Stupid question here.

I have a P229 in .40/.357 sig.

What does it take to be able to convert to 9mm?

Besides barrel and magazine.

Is it possible?

Thanks,

Scott

Conversion barrel and magazine is all I did. EFK was drop in, Barsto may need some fitting and pricier.

quote:

Originally posted by Srober40:
Stupid question here.

I have a P229 in .40/.357 sig.

What does it take to be able to convert to 9mm?

Besides barrel and magazine.

Is it possible?

Thanks,

Scott

This is not a stupid question. I've been wondering that too.

To convert a 357/40 P229 to 9mm requires an aftermarket conversion barrel. The factory 9mm barrel is smaller in diameter than the 357/40 barrels, and the locking insert of the 357/40 gun is different so that a factory 9mm barrel won’t work with it.

Thanks for the replies.

You have confirmed a suspicion I had about factory vs. conversion barrels.

To those more knowledgeable than I, would this be suitable for edc?

quote:

Originally posted by Bulldog7972:
...would this be suitable for edc?

With any guns, be they Frankenguns or original, once you have ensured functionality and reliability, why wouldn't they be suitable for carry?

You will get the opposing view of carrying a gun built for one caliber, but adjusted for another, but in my experience my Barsto 9mm conversion barrel using 40/357 mags and no other changes has been 100% reliable. Further, a Barsto 9mm conversion barrel will allow for more accuracy than the Sig 40/357 barrel shooting that caliber.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:

quote:

Originally posted by Bulldog7972:
...would this be suitable for edc?

With any guns, be they Frankenguns or original, once you have ensured functionality and reliability, why wouldn't they be suitable for carry?

This. My current duty carry pistol is a P226 that started as a .40, but now sports a 9mm upper from a DAK gun. Shoots like a dream.

Don't worry about converting calibers, just buy a complete 9mm P229. There's plenty of deals out there CDNN has some brand new P229s in 9mm for about $650 right now.

FYI, a "Conversion Barrel" is a complete halfassed way to accomplish it. It's just a offset chamber so the 9mm shell can reach the extractor and then you still have a 40cal extractor trying to grip a 9mm shell. You also still have to buy 9mm magazines and a 9mm recoil spring. It's just seems like a bad idea to me. Cheap halfassing it. We all know THAT guy that tries to always do something on the cheap and we all know that it ends up biting him in the end.

quote:

Originally posted by gearhounds:

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:

quote:

Originally posted by Bulldog7972:
...would this be suitable for edc?

With any guns, be they Frankenguns or original, once you have ensured functionality and reliability, why wouldn't they be suitable for carry?

This. My current duty carry pistol is a P226 that started as a .40, but now sports a 9mm upper from a DAK gun. Shoots like a dream.

This is basically the same thing as a SIG caliber exchange kit and this works great on a P226.

I believe the p229 uses different locking blocks between 9mm and 40/357 so you can't just put a 9mm slide/barrel on a 40/357 frame on a P229.

I've done it. Easy as cake.

I had bought a second complete .40 slide assembly on the cheap a while back; one of those 'I was there, it was there' kind of moments. Initially thought this complete slide would just act as a spare to my 40 P229 but then I had one of those 'I'm bored/what-if' instances where I decided to do the caliber conversion swap using that assembly as the starting point since I already had most of the parts to do the change. Small-style 9mm extractor out of my spares (yours would depend on which 40 slide you're dealing with), a Fire Dragon conversion barrel just lying around (bought used from a friend who couldn't stand its silvery gaudiness; I likewise concur with that assessment), new locking insert for the frame. I also used a new ejector but I don't recall if the new piece was something tagged as a 9mm-only part or not; the old part looked kinda beat so I reached out to my spare parts bin and switched it out with whatever I had at hand. I think that I also used a new recoil spring out of my P229 parts stash. That's all of the changes that I recall doing for the swap although I might have changed out one or two others due to me not knowing the amount of wear on some of the old parts; it was some time ago and I will admit that my memory for details and minutiae has never been my strongest suit.

I do however vividly remember that the converted gun worked flawlessly; probably put a case and a half worth of various trouble-free 9mm through it post-conversion. Had my fun, subsequently sold the conversion slide assembly since I already had two 9mm P229s at that time, and have since added a third. Converted the gun back to its original 40S&W configuration and glory since I really, REALLY missed shooting the caliber with that P229. Fact is, it's the only one of my P229s that I've shot in the past year.

-MG

quote:

Originally posted by John3200:
I believe the p229 uses different locking blocks between 9mm and 40/357 so you can't just put a 9mm slide/barrel on a 40/357 frame on a P229.

Yes, it is:

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:
[T]he locking insert of the 357/40 gun is different so that a factory 9mm barrel won’t work with it.