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View Full Version : Question for Sig Owners (Particularly P239)


Geopagus
July 21, 2005, 04:32 PM
I have a Sig P239 40 S&W. Now, if I choose to, can I purchase the .357 Sig barrel and drop it in this pistol? I called SigArms to verify the info., but they we're already closed for the day. Any replies are appreciated. :D

juliet charley
July 21, 2005, 05:33 PM
Unless something has changed, you will have to buy the appropriate calibre magazines as well. The P239 is the only model for which you have to do that.

sinister1811
July 21, 2005, 05:47 PM
I was on the SIG website earlier in the day. They have a P 239 in 40 cal. for sale that comes with the .357 barrel. The price is around $850-900. I'm not sure if this is a limited edition weapon or if you can order the .357 barrel from their custom shop.

IZinterrogator
July 21, 2005, 07:47 PM
The .357/.40 P239 is one of their monthly limited editions.

Geopagus
July 21, 2005, 08:02 PM
Thanks for the replys. It's a shame if I would have to acquire magazines AS WELL as the barrel (obviously more money than I wanna spend). I was under the impression that the .357 Sig was a necked down (.40 S&W, which means I wouldnt need a different magazine, only barrel). From what I understand, the .357 Sig is a VERY HIGH powered version of the 9mm with great penetration and expansion capabilities (depending on the load one uses). Basically, a bit of a drop down version of the .357 Magnum. But, it also seems that what you guys are telling me is that I have to have the limited edition to interchange barrels as well? Might as well get a new gun. :eek: Sounds like a good excuse to me...........God, I love this country.

juliet charley
July 21, 2005, 08:34 PM
The P239 is the only SIG model that requires the specific magazine for each calibre. I will admit the second barrel (and in the P239's case, magazines) never made a lot of sense to me. You can buy a lot of ammo for the price of a new barrel (and magazines)--skill (practice) trumps calibre any and every day--and all you would do is increase you ammo cost (357 SIG ammo can be pricey) for no gain in effectivness. BTW, you're also way over-estimating the 357 SIG. There's not enough difference between the 357 SIG and 9x19 to make a difference. Gary Roberts summed it up nicely:
We have not observed any better performance with the .357 Sig than with the better 9mm loads; the better .40 S&W loads appear to offer superior performance compared with the .357 Sig. Buford Boone at the FBI Academy and I have compared our respective test data on the .357 Sig--our results are nearly identical. The best .357 Sig load appears to be the 125gr Gold Dot JHP. In both the FBI testing and our assessment, it offers virtually IDENTICAL performance as the 9 mm 124 gr +P Speer Gold Dot JHP in both bare gelatin and through the various intermediate barriers. Likewise, the 9mm 147 gr Winchester Ranger Talon JHP offers similar terminal performance. The best that can be said of the .357 Sig is that it equals the 9mm in terminal performance, although at the price of less ammunition capacity along with greater recoil, muzzle flash, and wear on the weapon. Both the .40 S&W and .45 ACP make larger holes in the target and therefore have the potential to more rapidly incapacitate an aggressive adversary in a lethal force encounter. In addition, the greater mass of the .40 S&W and .45 ACP bullets offer an improved chance of defeating an intervening obstacle while still having enough penetration to reach the vital organs of an armed opponent. I fully agree with Mr. Boone when he writes that the .357 Sig is, “Not a great or lousy cartridge, just another choice.”

abcman
July 23, 2005, 01:29 PM
You can use your .40 mags with .357 in the p239 but not the other way around.

Texas Sized
July 24, 2005, 01:33 AM
Yes, but does the 9MM get attention at the range? :)

625
July 24, 2005, 07:06 AM
I'm not sure why you would want to spend the money on a .357 barrel and more expensive ammo. What can the .357 do that the .40 can't? Please don't answer that. It has been discussed here ad nauseum. More muzzle flash and recoil. Both are bad in SD situations.

If you want to attract attention at the range, shoot a .44 mag or better. .357's are hardly impressive IMHO.

juliet charley
July 24, 2005, 07:57 AM
Besides, if you're old enough to own a handgun, you should have outgrown the need to get attention long ago.