SIG P229 .40 S&W to 9mm...Just a new barrel?

[Murdock]

Being new to SIG handguns, I'm reading as much as I can about them and have come across several references to converting the P229 from .40 S&W to 9mm with the purchase of a barrel. The Bar-sto barrels seem to be well recommended.

But how does this work?

I understand the swapping of .40S&W and .357 SIG, because the case heads are the same, and the magazines interchange.

It seems reasonable that a 9mm magazine would be needed to switch to 9mm, since the cases have different diameters. But how does the P229 breech face accommodate the 9mm case head?

[Jim243]

Chamber of the barrel holds the cartrage and the cases while a bit different are not that much off. I went with a 357 sig conversion, no need to change mags that way.

[jetman]

I have an all stainless P229ST that came in .40. I bought a Barsto 9mm conversion barrel. I dropped it in with no change to either by recoil spring or magazines. It worked perfectly with 9mm ammo without any malfunctions at all. I have a 9mm P228 and it's magazines work great in the P229 too. One thing though you can't use is .40 rounds in a 9mm magazine. They just don't feed right, but the 9mm rounds in either the .40 or 9mm mags have always worked flawlessly. I have no problem recommending the Barsto barrels. The P229 shoots the lighter recoiling 9mm rounds great and not to mention the lower cost of 9mm ammo.

[bamaranger]

Very interesting. I would have thought that the extractor would have to be changed, due to the larger case rim. Obviously its working for folks, I wonder for how long?

[drb1611]

Based on reviews I've read, I just bought an EFK Fire Dragon .9mm Conversion Barrel (SS2299SBC) to convert my Sig P229R DAK from .40 S&W to .9mm. I haven't had a chance to fire it yet - I'm anxious to see if the brass extracts and ejects without failure. I bought the Mec-Gar P228 9mm 15rd magazine to ensure I wouldn't have any feed problems. Interesting point made about the extractor, since the shell casings are a different diameter - you would expect that the .40 S&W extractor would not work with .9mm round. Also, should I expect the .9mm brass casing to eject differently than the .40 S&W casing? Thanx for any feedback.

[Walt Sherrill]

Stock, factory barrels generally won't work. But a properly designed conversion barrel will. Bar-Sto makes a point of modifying the barrels they offer so that extractors work and head space is correct.

(The only .40/9mm conversions I've seen that work with the factory barrels are the Witness line of guns, which are designed that way. In most guns, the 9mm barrel has a smaller diameter, and it may not shoot as consistently if mounted in a .40 or .357 slide. Extraction may be a problem, and head space could be off. Some Glock .40s seem to function alright with a 9mm non-conversion barrel, but they shoot to a different point of impact. Probably not as accurate as the proper factory barrel.)

I had a nice SIG 2022 in .357 SIG, and a Bar-Sto conversion barrel. The conversion barrel shot beautifully, but I could never get the slide to lock back after the last shot. SIG said the slide stops were the same for the 357/40 and 9mm frame, so I didn't get a new slide stop. I did use 9mm mags. Others with Bar-Sto conversion barrels have not had this problem. Ditto some of the other trouble-free conversion barrels. Many work flawlessly.

[drb1611]

I fired 100 rounds of Remington UMC 9mm through the gun earlier this week and experienced no failures with the new EFK Fire Dragon 9mm conversion barrel (http://www.efkfiredragon.com/proddet...prod=SS2299SBC). I used the original .40/.357 mag without any problems, and the slide locked to rear when the mag was empty. For me, this is a great answer for shooting IDPA matches - cheaper ammo and less recoil.

[spodwo]

I fired 100 rounds of Remington UMC 9mm through the gun earlier this week

I would be interested to hear if you shoot any other ammo down the road - WWB, Federal, Tula - you know the "Wallly World" stuff...to see if you get the same results. I just like center fire pistols that can eat just about any kind of ammo.

I am tempted to get the EFK for my 229.

[drb1611]

I also shot Federal and WWB from Walmart without problem. I'm impressed that this EFK conversion barrel was truly drop-in, and I didn't have to change out any parts (extractor, extractor spring, recoil spring and even mags). I have also purchased a factory .357SIG barrel from TGS; which as advertised, is drop-in. Now, 1 gun - 3 calibers. I assume that other versions of the P229 would also accept the 9mm conversion barrel. When my son joined the US Coast Guard, and I learned that as part of DHS, the CG changed to the P229R DAK .40S&W, I bought him one for off-duty use, and then bought myself one. Great gun - really like the DAK trigger.

[hotshoe37]

I realize this thread is a little old but with ammo costs what they are this topic could be worth another look. I bought an EFK Fire Dragon 9mm Conversion Barrel for my Sig 229. This is an early generation gun without the rail. I have shot the gun for several years in IDPA and other action pistol matches with both .40 S & W and .357 Sig. I have always kept it clean and well oiled and have never had a failure of any kind with either .40 S & W or .357 Sig. I purchased the factory .357 Sig barrel soon after my original purchase. I do use a stronger recoil spring when shooting .357 Sig in the gun. I have had no problems at all with the 9mm conversion. The extractor and recoil spring work just fine with the 9mm rounds. I have made it a point to try several types of ammo. I have shot everything from Winchester Ranger to steel case Russian ammo including Fiochi, Winchester white box, PMC, Remington UMC, Federal of various types as well as personal reloads. I have shot probably 2,000 plus rounds of 9mm using both .40 S&W mags and 9mm 229 mags with no failures of any kind. This is one of the best handguns I own, and I have a bunch. It eats anything I feed it. The only adjustment I have to make when shooting most 9mm is the gun shoots about 1 to 1 1/2 inches lower at 20 yards. I paid a little under $160 for the barrel including shipping. Comparing the cheapest .40 S&W ammo to comparable 9mm stuff I save $5.00 to $6.00 per box. I shoot quite a bit so the barrel has already paid for it's self. Beats paying for another $700 229.

[AndyWest]

Hotshoe maybe I misread you but you use the same recoil spring for 40 and 9mm and switch out for a stronger for 357? I kinda do the opposite in my P226. I use the same spring for 40 and 357 but have to switch out to a weaker (15 or 16lb? I forget) spring for 9mm, else it often fails to cycle with stanard loads.

[solidgun]

For people that purchased or have posted on this thread about the reliability of the conversion barrel....

Can you provide some updates?

Can you confirm that you didn't have to change anything else? Just the drop in barrel? That you are using 40/357 mags?


I assume it is modeled to push the brass against the ejector side.

[Farther]

back to the top!

[therighttobeararms]

I have a p229 .40 and I just purchased the EFK conversion barrel and I can verify it works like a charm. I purchased it a week ago and got it Friday and put about 200 rounds through it Saturday. 115 PMC is what I ran through it. I used the Sig .40 cal magazine and did not change out a thing but the factory barrel and it works great. Same ejector and same extractor.

[noonesshowmonkey]

The P229 and P226 can convert between .40 and .357 with a factory barrel change. A 9mm slide will not convert to the larger outer diameter barrels, and a 9mm factory barrel will not fit properly in a .40/.357 slide.

A conversion barrel for the .40/.357 slide will allow it to fire 9mm.

The newer versions of the P-series pistols have a single part number for extractor, so the same extractor functions across all three calibers. Post-E2 changes, all P-series run the same locking block, standardized from the .40, meaning that a P229-1 9mm side and barrel will lock up on the same lower as a .40/.357 P229.

[Venom1956]

i think they got it sorted a few years ago. thanks for chipping in tho.