Sig P229 DAO to SRT conversion

[HCM]

Well after a couple hours spent in the garage tonight detail stripping the gun, cleaning and reassembling it, I have what appears to be a perfectly functioning DA/SA P229!

The only issue is that this has the magazine disconnect which sits next to the firing pin safety lever and interferes with the SRT sear.

Does anyone know the work around here?

From the looks of the mechanism, the disconnect works with the original safety lever so using a different safety lever should render the disconnect inop. So if I just remove the portion that moves against the safety lever and install the SRT safety it should work. Problem is I don't want to damage the disconnect since it is my only one and I can't find a source for them on the internet. Maybe a plastic shim?

I'll give Sig a call this week.

Of course that then opens up the can of worms surrounding disabling a "safety"

Is this the Flint MI PD gun you have posted pics of ?

I see you found the thread I started after purchasing a Flint MI PD P-226 DAO :

http://pistol-forum.com/showthread.p...agazine-Safety

To quote John Hearne:

There are two styles of magazine safeties in Sigs. The old style involved machining the frame and some extra parts. The new version is a replacement locking block. Removing the first type requires a precisely shaped spacer and probably isn't worth it. The second kind is very simple to swap. You need the replacement part and 2 minutes.

My Flint MI PD P-226 DAO had the old style mag safety. I was unaware the gun even had a mag safety until I purchased it. SIG developed the "new style" locking block mag safety in response to reliablity issues with the "old style" frame mounted mag safeties so I cut my losses and sold the gun. Not sure how difficult it is to get a 9mm P229 in California, Peoples Democratic Republic of, at this time so YMMV.

I was not worried about liability re: disabling the mag safety, however I was worried about reports of the old style mag safety failing and rendering the gun inoperable. If you want to keep the gun, I would contact Gray Guns about getting a shim to replace the mag safety.

[Suvorov]

How did this work out for you? What was your total investment in parts for the conversion?

I had thought that I wrote a follow up a while back but apparently not That is what having a toddler and a newborn will do to you!

Anyhow, I decided to go ahead and disable the magazine safety and install the SRT.

Sig Customer Service was not very helpful in the matter just telling me that they couldn't convert the gun to an SRT. Didn't really feel like playing a game of find the one CS agent or gunsmith that was willing to help so I just figured I'll do it myself.

I purchased a piece of brass shim stock in the 0.06" range and then fabricated an insert to get rid of the mag safety. The first one fit loose so I put a little JB weld on it. After getting it together it passed the function check but once at the range it only went through 7 rounds before the pistol locked up on me. Seems the insert I made rotated (the JB didn't hold) under the recoil and caused problems. So I fabricated a second insert this time carefully fitting it so that it fit nice and tight with no movement. Works like a charm! I have right around 500 rounds through the gun since the conversion and have had no issues and there is no apparent movement or odd wear around the insert. I continue to keep an eye on it but given that the insert bears no load, I don't see it ever being an issue.

This photo shows the magazine safety as well as on shim insert I fabricated. Not sure whether this is a photo of the successful insert or the bad one.



The gun shoots great and is my dedicated range gun for this year. Gun came with night sights which are dim but still serviceable. In addition to the SRT kit, and components needed to convert for DAO to DA/SA (hammer, decock lever and bearing), I purchased some new grips (Houge which I'm still trying to figure out if I like them or not or if I should go to an E2 grip), and new essential springs. With the purchase price of the gun I have about $650 - $700 into it. Not the best for those of you in the free world, but Sigs seem to still demand a premium in the used pistol market in Northern Kalifornia (SoCal has way better prices), so all in all I'm not too upset and I gained quite a bit of familiarity with the P-series platform in the process.

Is this the Flint MI PD gun you have posted pics of ?

I see you found the thread I started after purchasing a Flint MI PD P-226 DAO :

http://pistol-forum.com/showthread.p...agazine-Safety

To quote John Hearne:

My Flint MI PD P-226 DAO had the old style mag safety. I was unaware the gun even had a mag safety until I purchased it. SIG developed the "new style" locking block mag safety in response to reliablity issues with the "old style" frame mounted mag safeties so I cut my losses and sold the gun. Not sure how difficult it is to get a 9mm P229 in California, Peoples Democratic Republic of, at this time so YMMV.

I was not worried about liability re: disabling the mag safety, however I was worried about reports of the old style mag safety failing and rendering the gun inoperable. If you want to keep the gun, I would contact Gray Guns about getting a shim to replace the mag safety.

Yep, that is the gun in question.



The P229 is on the roster of approved handguns in the PRK but it is kind of sketchy as to which one is currently the allowed model (the roster only lists one specific version). When I purchased my Flint gun I had been looking for a P228 or P229 for a while but none of the distributors had 9mm 229s and the 228 had fallen off the roster. All of the 229s I have seen for sale at the LGS have been newer models with the -1 frame and LCIs. Didn't want a -1 frame as I have a fair amount of P228 magazines and I wanted to retain the commonality. Thanks for the suggestion for Gray Guns! If I have any future issues or needs I'll be sure to contact them.