357 Mag to 9MM

Question
QUESTION: I have a J.P. Sauer and Sohn "Chief Marshal" .357 Magnum. I read a few years back that if I changed the cylinder to a 9MM I could fire 9MM ammo (which I have a lot of) with no problems. I can no longer find the article and wonder if you have heard of such a modification? Any help greatly appreciated.

ANSWER: Les, thank you for your question. Let me begin by saying your revolver was manufactured by J.P. Sauer in Eckernforde, Germany and was imported into the United States by the Hawes Firearms Company in Van Nuys, California. The guns were manufactured and imported during the 50's and 60's in response to the cowboy craze in the U.S. brought about by radio and TV programs of the time.

Back to your original question.... The quick answer is yes, what you want to do can be done. Ruger actually has a Blackhawk Convertible Model that comes with a .357/.38 cylinder and a second cylinder in 9MM. The rest of the answer is a bit more complicated. A straight wall handgun cartridge (such as the .357) has a rim around the base that keeps the cartridge from sliding all the way through the cylinder. A semi auto pistol cartridge has no rim, relying instead on the cartridge headspacing on the actual case mouth of the brass.

Because of this a separate cylinder would have to be manufactured from scratch. I have never seen or heard of a 9MM cylinder made for your revolver. That does not mean such a cylinder does not exist.... it might be worth your time to do a bit more searching. As far as having a cylinder made... there are companies that can do that for you but the final cost would probably be more than simply buying an existing .357/9MM convertible such as the Ruger.

Thank You for submitting your question and I wish you luck in your search.

Don Orem

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Don, thank you so much for your quick and knowledgable answer. I appreciate your expertize and time. F.Y.I. after much searching I found a company (Numrich Gun Parts Corp) that listed used 9mm cylinders for my gun in stainless and blue.....But unfortunately they both were sold, I guess I'm not the only one looking. Thanks again for your help. Les

Answer
Les, one word of caution... your gun (and any factory cylinder you find) is approx. 50 years old. In that amount of time there is no telling how much wear has taken place. If and when you find a 9MM cylinder I would strongly recommend having an experienced gun smith look the gun/cylinder combination over to determine compatibility. If the gun or new cylinder has seen a lot of wear it could effect the lockup and/or timing resulting in the gun "shaving lead" (a condition where the chamber in the cylinder does not line up with the barrel that causes lead and gas to escape to the side)  or other conditions leading to injury of yourself or those around you.

Good luck in your search and shoot safe!

Don