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Hey all, need some help. I have a 40 cal Sig 226 and I want to be able to shoot 9mm. My understanding is that I just need to buy the parts and I'm good to go. However, I'm getting conflicting info from the local shops in my area. One says all I need to buy is the 9mm barrel & mag, while the other says I need to buy the whole conversion kit which includes the 9mm barrel, mag and slide. Who is correct?
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You can go from 40 to 9mm with a BARsto barrel but not 9mm to 40. But you can't just drop in a standard Sig 9mm barrel into your 226, because the barrel needs to be beefed up a little.
I don't have any experience with the Barsto conversion though. I've heard for some it has worked well, and for others the tolerances didn't quite match up. If this will just be target gun, you could just buy a Barsto conversion and hope it matches up well. My 226's are target and HD guns, so I'm not willing to risk my HD gun for a tolerance lottery. -
With a name like Mike357, I'd recommend a 357 Sig conversion. That's what I do with my .40 226, and love it! It's a simple drop-in barrel conversion, and you use the same magazines.Comment
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OP,
It all depends on what you are trying to achieve here
From a technical perspective, you only need to drop in a 9mm barrel. However, it's a hair thinner so it will be pointing a little bit down. Thus your accuracy with the .40 slide might be slightly off (POI will be slightly lower than POA). You may buy a BarSto conversion barrel, which is a tad thicker and matched .40 barrel outer size.
From a legal standpoint, you also need a 9mm 10rd mag, since your .40 10rd mag is capable of holding 12 9mm rounds, which makes you incompliant with the law. Yet, .40mags are working fine with 9mm configuration in free states.
.40 recoil spring (green) is much stiffer than 9mm (red), so you might have some FTE issues with low-recoil 9mm ammo.
If you want to have the legendary P226 accuracy, you need to replace the entire slide. However, if you are ok with a very minor inaccuracy, you are good to go with the barrel replacement only.
Also, note that CA Sigs will only accept a CA 9mm barrel due to a protruded LCILast edited by riderr; 03-14-2016, 12:05 AM.Comment
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.40 to .357 is a simple barrel change.
.40 to 9mm you need a CONVERSION barrel, a 9mm recoil spring and a 9mm ejector.
The conversion barrel is the important one, it is machined to match the .40 breech face in the slide.WTB: Sig P245 or P220 Compact
STOP THE TUNNELSComment
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By the time you purchase a Barsto 9mm barrel and have it fitted by a gunsmith (which is what Barsto recommends) you can get the entire conversion slide assembly for virtually the same cost. You will need P226 9mm mags to be compliant with the 10rd mag rule.The satisfaction of a job well done is to be the one who has done it
Originally posted by RazoEComment
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has anyone here down a 40 to 9mm with the p226?<iframe src="https://giphy.com/embed/3o7WTCBePyp2GCamIM" width="480" height="270" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe><p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/scared-donald-trump-bernie-sanders-3o7WTCBePyp2GCamIM">via GIPHY</a></p>Comment
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Just get the caliber x-change kit and be done with it. I received my 9mm x-change kit for my P229 .40. Haven't tried it yet as my P229 is still at Sig Custom Shop getting serviced and refinished. I don't know if there's a potential safety issue by just swapping barrels and forgetting which caliber barrel you have in the slide.
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