Joined
·
1,952 Posts
Project complete: "Old-style" P229-P228 Conversion
Just thought I'd share the results of my latest project. The simplicity of the classic P-series SIG design and being able to take them down and work on them makes them fun to tinker with for me, so this "expanded old-school P228" dual-caliber project was something I really wanted to try.
I really wanted a P228 to shoot, but with the market for old-school P228's going up and up, I was reluctant to fire the one "safe-queen" P228 I already had. So with a little research I now have a true "old-school" P228 to play with and shoot that I can convert back to .40 anytime I want.
The recipe is pretty simple... an older .40 P229 frame, a P228 upper (slide assembly, barrel, guide rod and spring), a P228 locking insert, a new-style P229-1 9mm 15-round magazine.
Lot of folks have been kicking around conversions for a long time with lots of ways to do it, including the SIG kits and aftermarket barrels. I really wanted an old-sytle P228, so I was interested in trying it this way. Initially, I wasn't sure the P229 .40 frame was the same until I discovered a factory P228 shipped from SIG on a P229 numbered frame, which told me it would work.
I guess one reason that using the full P228 upper for a conversion wasn't so popular is that up until recently, P228 uppers aren't all that easy to come by. This project all came together thanks to a guy who goes by the handle of "twogunjay" on GunBroker. Some of you guys might know who I'm talking about or seen his P228 parts kits on GB and eBay. As the story goes, his company was able to buy a load of P228 trade-ins from a state agency back East- with the stipulation that they could sell any parts of the gun, except the frame! So, Josh is selling these out for an average of about $170 bucks or so, which I think is an amazing price, and you get all these parts. I've purchased a couple of sets and overall, they're in really pretty good shape. I should probably make a disclaimer that I have no financial interest here. It's just a good deal.
![]()
So basically, here's how it shakes out. The older P228 and the P229 in .40 share the same exact frame with one key difference- the dimensions of the inside walls of the magazine well. A P229 frame is widened inside the magwell to accommodate the slightly wider P229 .40/357 magazine. When SIG abandoned the P228 for the P229 in 9mm, they still stuck with the P228 frame dimensions for the 9mm version of the P229 up until a few years back. So, same frame, two different mag well widths and two different size mags for the different calibers.
I did not like the idea of using the narrower "sloppy fit" P228/P229 9mm mags in a .40 frame. That concern went away when I discovered that the newer "E2" P229-1 9mm magazines were the same size and width as the older P229 .40 mags. What makes them even better is that they're 15 rounds compared to the older 13 rounders. This makes them perfect for the conversion project as it's all "factory spec" as a 9mm mag in a .40 frame.
Here's a shot showing the three different mags back to back. The one on the left is an older 10 round P228 mag from the nineties (didn't have a new 13 or Mec-Gar 15 rounder for the shot, but they're the same width). The straight, flat sides of the P228/P229 9mm mag is apparent. The middle one is the standard P229 12 round .40 mag. You can see how the sides are flared out and become wider (at the arrow) than the P228 mag. Then, the mag on the right is the new P229-1 9mm mag. Same width and design as the .40 mag, but now it holds two more rounds than the original 13 round P228 mag, and it's designed to fit the P229 .40 frame.
![]()
Since I'm a P229 fan anyway, I thought it wouldn't kill me to have another one just for the project, and I could sell off the slide I didn't need. P229's are plentiful and nice ones can be had for less than $500 for a full gun. I got lucky and found a really nice one for under $450 ready to go with all the parts. All it needed was a good stripping, cleaning and lube and it was good to go. Now I have an extra P229 .40 upper to sell or swap out with some of my other shooters.
So other than the P229 frame with internals and controls, here's the stuff I used from the P228 parts kit. I also swapped out the P229 grip panels for the P228 grips panels that came with the kit. Being LE trade-ins, the upper was pretty dirty, so I broke it down, cleaned the breech block, removed and cleaned the extractor, firing pin, etc, replaced the firing pin spring and re-assembled.
![]()
And here's a key to making the P228 slide work on your existing P229. The locking insert from the P229 .40 has to be swapped out for the P228 insert that comes with the kit.
![]()
When researching slide/frame swaps for the P228/229 swaps, everything I'd read said flat out that a P228 slide wouldn't work on a P229 frame. Some folks just took it as a given and gave up. Others attributed it to a difference in the frame. THEN, buried deep in the bowels of the interwebs, I found a post revealing the secret about the locking insert. Turns out that, because of some slight dimensional differences, a P228 barrel and slide will NOT lock up and cycle correctly on the exact same frame that has a P229 .40 locking insert. I experimented. They were right. It didn't work. Other than the magwell width, the frames are the same, but you need the P228 locking insert to function correctly with the P228 barrel and slide.
So, the long and the short of it is that after a few weeks of messing around, I finally have the look and feel of a real "Old School" P228 with full factory spec and design, with the benefit of it being a true 15+1 capacity pistol. I can shoot and enjoy as a 9mm, or swap out the slide and locking insert in 1 minute to bring it back to complete .40 P229 spec anytime if need be. This one is the real deal, from all stock factory spec SIG parts. I have full confidence that this pistol will be a fully functional and reliable for any purpose.
Follow up range report: Took the pistol to the range a week or so ago and the pistol functioned flawlessly with the exception of one slide lock failure, which ended up being a weak 229-1 mag spring. I'm digging this "new" pistol!
![]()
![]()
Just thought I'd share the results of my latest project. The simplicity of the classic P-series SIG design and being able to take them down and work on them makes them fun to tinker with for me, so this "expanded old-school P228" dual-caliber project was something I really wanted to try.
I really wanted a P228 to shoot, but with the market for old-school P228's going up and up, I was reluctant to fire the one "safe-queen" P228 I already had. So with a little research I now have a true "old-school" P228 to play with and shoot that I can convert back to .40 anytime I want.
The recipe is pretty simple... an older .40 P229 frame, a P228 upper (slide assembly, barrel, guide rod and spring), a P228 locking insert, a new-style P229-1 9mm 15-round magazine.
Lot of folks have been kicking around conversions for a long time with lots of ways to do it, including the SIG kits and aftermarket barrels. I really wanted an old-sytle P228, so I was interested in trying it this way. Initially, I wasn't sure the P229 .40 frame was the same until I discovered a factory P228 shipped from SIG on a P229 numbered frame, which told me it would work.
I guess one reason that using the full P228 upper for a conversion wasn't so popular is that up until recently, P228 uppers aren't all that easy to come by. This project all came together thanks to a guy who goes by the handle of "twogunjay" on GunBroker. Some of you guys might know who I'm talking about or seen his P228 parts kits on GB and eBay. As the story goes, his company was able to buy a load of P228 trade-ins from a state agency back East- with the stipulation that they could sell any parts of the gun, except the frame! So, Josh is selling these out for an average of about $170 bucks or so, which I think is an amazing price, and you get all these parts. I've purchased a couple of sets and overall, they're in really pretty good shape. I should probably make a disclaimer that I have no financial interest here. It's just a good deal.
So basically, here's how it shakes out. The older P228 and the P229 in .40 share the same exact frame with one key difference- the dimensions of the inside walls of the magazine well. A P229 frame is widened inside the magwell to accommodate the slightly wider P229 .40/357 magazine. When SIG abandoned the P228 for the P229 in 9mm, they still stuck with the P228 frame dimensions for the 9mm version of the P229 up until a few years back. So, same frame, two different mag well widths and two different size mags for the different calibers.
I did not like the idea of using the narrower "sloppy fit" P228/P229 9mm mags in a .40 frame. That concern went away when I discovered that the newer "E2" P229-1 9mm magazines were the same size and width as the older P229 .40 mags. What makes them even better is that they're 15 rounds compared to the older 13 rounders. This makes them perfect for the conversion project as it's all "factory spec" as a 9mm mag in a .40 frame.
Here's a shot showing the three different mags back to back. The one on the left is an older 10 round P228 mag from the nineties (didn't have a new 13 or Mec-Gar 15 rounder for the shot, but they're the same width). The straight, flat sides of the P228/P229 9mm mag is apparent. The middle one is the standard P229 12 round .40 mag. You can see how the sides are flared out and become wider (at the arrow) than the P228 mag. Then, the mag on the right is the new P229-1 9mm mag. Same width and design as the .40 mag, but now it holds two more rounds than the original 13 round P228 mag, and it's designed to fit the P229 .40 frame.
Since I'm a P229 fan anyway, I thought it wouldn't kill me to have another one just for the project, and I could sell off the slide I didn't need. P229's are plentiful and nice ones can be had for less than $500 for a full gun. I got lucky and found a really nice one for under $450 ready to go with all the parts. All it needed was a good stripping, cleaning and lube and it was good to go. Now I have an extra P229 .40 upper to sell or swap out with some of my other shooters.
So other than the P229 frame with internals and controls, here's the stuff I used from the P228 parts kit. I also swapped out the P229 grip panels for the P228 grips panels that came with the kit. Being LE trade-ins, the upper was pretty dirty, so I broke it down, cleaned the breech block, removed and cleaned the extractor, firing pin, etc, replaced the firing pin spring and re-assembled.
And here's a key to making the P228 slide work on your existing P229. The locking insert from the P229 .40 has to be swapped out for the P228 insert that comes with the kit.
When researching slide/frame swaps for the P228/229 swaps, everything I'd read said flat out that a P228 slide wouldn't work on a P229 frame. Some folks just took it as a given and gave up. Others attributed it to a difference in the frame. THEN, buried deep in the bowels of the interwebs, I found a post revealing the secret about the locking insert. Turns out that, because of some slight dimensional differences, a P228 barrel and slide will NOT lock up and cycle correctly on the exact same frame that has a P229 .40 locking insert. I experimented. They were right. It didn't work. Other than the magwell width, the frames are the same, but you need the P228 locking insert to function correctly with the P228 barrel and slide.
So, the long and the short of it is that after a few weeks of messing around, I finally have the look and feel of a real "Old School" P228 with full factory spec and design, with the benefit of it being a true 15+1 capacity pistol. I can shoot and enjoy as a 9mm, or swap out the slide and locking insert in 1 minute to bring it back to complete .40 P229 spec anytime if need be. This one is the real deal, from all stock factory spec SIG parts. I have full confidence that this pistol will be a fully functional and reliable for any purpose.
Follow up range report: Took the pistol to the range a week or so ago and the pistol functioned flawlessly with the exception of one slide lock failure, which ended up being a weak 229-1 mag spring. I'm digging this "new" pistol!
You're right LeftCoast, the presentation is probably a lot more complicated than the process! Basically, all you do is take a P229 -.40, swap out the slide assembly and locking insert with those same parts from one of the P228 parts kits and get a 229-1 (9mm) magazine. 
