Sig Sauer Ammo?
I bought a Sig Sauer P232 a while back at a gun show, and I'm now feeling confused about the ammunition. The barrel says "9mm" but everything I read on-line says it takes .380 ACP. Is this because 9MM means .380 ACP in Germany, as was implied on an earlier thread?
Not wanting to damage the gun or have other ill effects, what should I buy for this gun, or can I use either?[?]
Also, I may be defying all protocal, but does anyone know a good place to buy ammo these days on-line? Every place I look says it is back ordered for months! I just started membership at a Gun Club, and being an outdoor club would like to use it before the snows come in.
Thanks
Not wanting to damage the gun or have other ill effects, what should I buy for this gun, or can I use either?[?]
Also, I may be defying all protocal, but does anyone know a good place to buy ammo these days on-line? Every place I look says it is back ordered for months! I just started membership at a Gun Club, and being an outdoor club would like to use it before the snows come in.
Thanks
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9mm Kurz (9mm short) is 380. Also known as 9x17 0 -
9mm Kurtz (Kurtz = short) is the same as 9x17mm is the same as 380 is the same as 380ACP
This is NOT the same as the other 2 common 9mm rounds, the 9mm Makarov = 9x18mm or the 9mm Parabelum = 9mm Luger = 9x19mm0 -
The SIG is a European gun.
In Europe they like the Metric system, and the round they call the "9mm short" (aka 9x17 mm, 9mm kurz [German], 9mm corto [Spanish], etc) is the same round we cowboy Americans call the ".380 ACP" with our infernal Imperial inches measuring system.
So your Sig is groovy with .380 ACP.
The round that most Americans call "9mm" (aka 9mm luger, 9x19 mm, 9mm parabellum, etc) will NOT fit your Sig, so don't try to use it.
And as to buying .380 ACP ammo right now. . .forget it.
.380 ACP has been one of the hardest hit rounds because of post-Obama ammo-shortages, and its pretty much unavailable EVERYWHERE via normal retail.
You can undoubtedly find plenty of rounds for sale on the auction site here, but be prepared to pay EXHORBITANT sums for it right now, literally 2x what it cost 6 months ago.0 -
I dont know much about sig but it is possible someone swaped a barrel. Try to find a 9X17 or 9X19 marking you would hate yourself it it was one or the other. I would take it to a smith and get a chamber cast just to be sure. 0 -
Calm down, chris, there is no reason to send him screaming to a gunsmith.
The P232 is not available in 9x19 (9mm Para). Cannot be, it is a lightweight blowback and could not handle the pressure.0 -
Rather be safe than sorry. You dont know who had it last if it came from a show in most cases. I didnt say screaming but id be looking it over real close before shooting it. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by chrishiher
Rather be safe than sorry. You dont know who had it last if it came from a show in most cases. I didnt say screaming but id be looking it over real close before shooting it.
Forget it. There is nothing to be "safe" about here, and nothing to look over.
The SIG 232 gun has NEVER been chambered in 9x19mm and CANNOT be chambered in 9x19. No conversion barrels ever have been offered, nor COULD them be offered.
The frame isn't sized properly for 9x19, and as already mentioned, the blowback action simply isn't strong enough to handle the relatively high pressures of the luger/parabellum/9x19mm round.
Further *EVERY* Sig 232 I've ever seen or shot was labelled "9mm Kurz" on the side. They all come that way, as do several other guns by European manufacturers.
If you know what that means (that 9mm Kurz is the exact same thing as .380acp and 9X17mm) then there is no reason to be concerned.
Lastly, EVEN IF YOU DID think this gun could be somehow be a 9x19 gun mislabelled as a 9x17 (which is again, impossible), you still wouldn't need a chamber cast to prove that it isn't true.
All you have to do is try to cycle a few dummy 9mms (or snap caps, etc, or even live rounds on a safe range) through the action manually without firing the gun to convince yourself that they won't fit in the chamber or cycle. In fact, they probably won't even fit in the magazine.
Then try it with .380 rounds.0 -
quote:Originally posted by beantownshootah
The SIG 232 gun has NEVER been chambered in 9x19mm and CANNOT be chambered in 9x19. No conversion barrels ever have been offered, nor COULD them be offered.That's the bottom line.
A contributor to the small size/light weight of .380's is the fact that they require no breech locking mechanism. They're very simple, straight blowback actions.
The fact that the 232 lacks any sort of breech locking mechanism limits it to lower powered calibers. The hotter 9mm Luger round requires a locked breech.
Basically, forget it possibly being a conversion because there's really no way the 232's design could handle the 9mm Luger.0 -
Hi-Point makes pistols in .380, 9mm, .40 S&W, and .45 ACP, and all are unlocked breech. Just sayin'.... 0 -
quote:Originally posted by nunn
Hi-Point makes pistols in .380, 9mm, .40 S&W, and .45 ACP, and all are unlocked breech. Just sayin'....
That's true, and to be clear MOST 9mm luger CARBINES use a simple blowback action. Most of the submachine gun type pistols in 9mm luger are also blowback actions.
There is nothing mechanically that prevents you from designing a conventional blowback activated 9mm luger pistol, but that such guns require a heavy action to cycle properly and tend to be clunky (ie like the Hi-Point).
In the case of the SIG 232 its not just the low mass of the gun that prevents conversion to 9mm luger, but also the size of the magazine and chamber, which are too small for the bigger round.
If you want a gun the size of the SIG 232, but in 9mm luger, now there are a few choices available, including the $1000+ Rohrbaugh pistol and the Kel-Tec Pf-9. Of course all of these use conventional locked breech type actions.0
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