I went to load a spare magazine for my Sig P239 in 357 sig.... since I've delved into this pistol and caliber I've acquired a number of magazines... in fact just got 7 with my latest pistol... well this is strange... but even though it had "8" on it, it will only hold the standard 7.


Edit: just went through my inventory and found one more like that.

Nothing unusual

The reason they hold different amounts of ammunition is the base plate design, not the magazine body



More of the 8 round marked bodies were manufactures than ever sold.

So as the supply of 7 round marked magazines dried up, SIG put standard base plates on the remaining available 357SIG Magazine bodies rather than make more 7 round marked bodies

So, the only difference between the 7 and 8 round bodies is the 8th witness hole?
Find a base plate that allows for an extra round and you can convert 7 rounders to 8 ?

Yep. Sig used to sell a "Plus 1" P239 extended base plate for .40. Discontinued now. At the time, they marketed them for .40, NOT .357 or nine. Have no idea if anybody has any available now.

I have eight of them. Use them for BOTH .40 and 9mm. Work just fine in the 9mm mags. Besides the extra round, you get a bonus. I always had problems with the standard mags, the little base plate lip cammed my fingers upwards. Jammed the middle finger up into the trigger guard and was very uncomfortable shooting. The plate on the "Plus 1" eliminated the problem.

Here's a Galloway version. Slightly different, but same purpose. Unlike the Sig OEM, they say .40/.357 or 9mm flavors.
https://gallowayprecision.com/...for-sig-p239-pistols

Dern, I just keep learning things....

Nipper, thanks for the link, I just ordered two of those mag.+1 bases from Gallowy... other cool part from my regionally prejudiced view is they are located just up the road from me in Fletcher, N.C.

I don't partially like that this extends the grip on the pistol but will put them on the two mags marked '8' just to 'fix' them.

Top Gun Supply had a good inventory of the extended ones for like $24. I bought several and then traded away the plus one bases. They have been out of them for a few years now.

quote:

Originally posted by Blume9mm:
Dern, I just keep learning things....

Nipper, thanks for the link, I just ordered two of those mag.+1 bases from Gallowy... other cool part from my regionally prejudiced view is they are located just up the road from me in Fletcher, N.C.

I don't partially like that this extends the grip on the pistol but will put them on the two mags marked '8' just to 'fix' them.

Sounds like serendipity at work.

I've found the extra length makes no difference in conceal-ability or comfort. For me, it was a bonus due to the problem I mentioned. Glad I could help.

quote:

Originally posted by Nipper:

quote:

Originally posted by Blume9mm:
Dern, I just keep learning things....

Nipper, thanks for the link, I just ordered two of those mag.+1 bases from Gallowy... other cool part from my regionally prejudiced view is they are located just up the road from me in Fletcher, N.C.

I don't partially like that this extends the grip on the pistol but will put them on the two mags marked '8' just to 'fix' them.

Sounds like serendipity at work.

I've found the extra length makes no difference in conceal-ability or comfort. For me, it was a bonus due to the problem I mentioned. Glad I could help.

I've got a couple of these for my 9MM mags and they're fine, I think you'll like them Blume. Pay attention to the small set screw in the base.

The two I ordered for my 357 came in today and I installed them but then noticed one would not seat and the other you had to slam hard to get it to seat and that the grip was catching.... at the same time i went on their web site to see exactly how to set the little allen screw right... and then discovered that they say these will only work with factory grips... none of my Sig P239s have the factory grips... So I look and factory mags have the sides of the base bevelled where is slips up into the grip the extensions from Galloway are flat across the top. So, I fixed this and carefully ground a slight angle on the outside of the top. It does not appear this takes enough off to compromise the strength of the base, but we'll see.

The bottom piece on my Sig factory (357) 8 round magazines is 'open' in the back where the Galloway ones are solid on all four sides. Perhaps that may be why they may not function with aftermarket grips. The Hogue Finger grips on my P239 accept the oem 7 and 8 round mags without issue. Also, the spring base plate on the factory 8 round mags is quite different from the factory 7 round mag spring base plate. The factory 8 round spring base plate has a return that folds up along the back of the magazine where the base cover opening is. It fills up the opening on the factory 8 round cover plate. The factory 7 round spring base plate is flat without a return.

I'm not sure why Galloway needed to add the set screw to retain the base cover. Neither the factory 7 or 8 round mags need one to retain the base cover.

It's a bummer they didn't just make their base cover like the factory did. In my case, they may have re-engineered it to the point of not working on my factory 7 round magazines.

If I knew the Galloway item would work, I'd order 9 of them.

As mentioned before, Top Gun Supply was selling the P239 .357 8-round mags pretty cheaply. I bought several. Eventually I decided to split up the +1 bases and used some of them on my .40 mags. I have 8-round .40 mags with only seven witness holes and seven round .357 mags with eight witness holes. Inelegant, but all work.

Thanks to this thread, I just ordered mag bottoms for my 239-9. Ordered Sunday night, got them in the mail Wed. Great quality, super service. USA made, actually here in NC, up in Fletcher. Good vendor.

Good Deal Watergoat but just keep in mind you might have to do some slight trimming of either the bottom of the grip or the extensions if the grips are not factory....

It is really annoying that Sig will "parts bin" stuff to use up excess inventory instead of building things right in the way they were intended. It is inexcusable to use an 8 round body with a 7 round baseplate or vice versa.

Such practices suggest poor supply chain management, poor inventory control (too much inventory), and excessive "deviations" in the manufacturing process.

quote:

Originally posted by Lefty Sig:
It is really annoying that Sig will "parts bin" stuff to use up excess inventory instead of building things right in the way they were intended. It is inexcusable to use an 8 round body with a 7 round baseplate or vice versa.

Such practices suggest poor supply chain management, poor inventory control (too much inventory), and excessive "deviations" in the manufacturing process.

Considering the mags are no longer being produced, mixmatching them has allowed people to procure more mags.
I'm not defending them. I'm just pointing out that people w/ these mags probably wouldn't otherwise have them? To gripe about that when you can't find any mags seems a bit excessive.
And don't get me wrong, my daily carry is a p239 so I've enough resentment about it and it's parts being discontinued.

Was the P239 discontinued globally or only in some regions?

Is the 8 round base plate and base cover patented? If so, I’d guess that’s why Galloway didn’t just reproduce the original 8 round mag pieces.