Cartridge Compatability - Tanaka Works Guns

Post by Tancor

Hi all,

Does anyone know if the Sig 226 cartridges will fit/work in a USP? I noticed on the UK model gun site, that they say their 9mm replica shell will fit both so it made me wonderif the tanaka cartridges were the same between the two...

-Tony

Post by Mark

Hi Tony,

Yes, I have been wondering this myself, as I have a USP and only 5 cartridges and I definately would like to get more but, they are usually too expensive from most of the sources that I have found.

Post by Claymore

if you look on the endoshoji site they have the Tanaka USP rounds as 8x26 and the Sig as 9x26 in size. I think the size of the round and how it fits the gun is critical in these models for them to work reliably anyway. so by going on those sizes i dont think the Sig rounds are meant to be used in the USP.

I have had my USP modified to fire the Mulberry field rounds, you get a new spring and barrel pin in the kit. They do work but so far not as well as the original rounds, i have noticed that the slide is not quite fully home so maybe the new rounds are a bit bigger, i have not compared them yet.

I will try the new rounds a bit more but if i still keep getting jams i will go back to the original rounds. I mention this as the Sig rounds although slighty bigger may just work but not be as reliable. might be worth a try if you can get hold of some rounds.

Post by Mark

I am not quite sure that endoshoji is quite right about the Tanaka cartridges, but, I cant quite tell as I won't buy any from them to find out as they want far too much for their cartridges and shipping!

But, I have yet to find a good supplier of Tanaka and Hudson cartridges. The MGC and the Marushin cartridges seem to be fairly plentiful at this stage.

I looked into the Mullbery Field cartridges,but they are far too expensive and they look too good to use!

Post by John

I have the Tanaka G17, SIG226 and USP. All their cartridges look very similar and no significant difference in size. The G17's (second hand, probably made long time ago) has a bit thinner rim than the 226 & USP's (which I bought brand new in less than half year).
The G17's cartridge can be put in all 226 and USP magazine, then chambered and ejected perfectly (of course by pulling the slide by hand).
I have not tried to experiment with all combinations with 226 & USP's cartridges. But I believe they are the same & compatible.

Oh yes, the Tanaka cartridge is VERY expensive, in comparison to Marushin, KSC & MGC. But Tanaka's 9mm cartridge is the only original maker's cartridge come with 2-tone color (silver bullet and brass cartridge), I think. They looks very outstanding, excellent in photo taking.

Hope this helps.

Post by Mark

Thanks John,

I thought that might be the case that the cartridges where indeed the same..(with maybe some small production changes) I am sure that small production changes happen from time to time and the small details change like the cartridge rim thickness.

Yes, it is sad that the Tanaka cartridges are more expensive than the others as I would love to have more of them!

But, looking at the Tanaka cartridges, you can see why they are more expensive as they are multi-piece cartridges that require more machines and materials to produce. (but they do look the best!)

Post by Claymore

Yep they do look good and they work very well but what an absolute pain they are to reload. Having to load everything into that little cylinder first is a pain and of course the seals are so tiny that they keep getting blown of and splitting.

Thats why i changed the USP to fire the new mulberry field 9mm round, however as i said before the gun is working but not as well as it should with the new rounds, if i cannot get it working better i might go back to the tanaka rounds, bummer.

Post by Mark

I tried the MGC/KSC cartridges in my USP and they showed promise even with the original Tanaka detonator.

Now, if I can make a new detonator for my Tanaka USP, I think that the MGC/KSC M9/M93R cartridges might work as good or a little better than the original Tanakas...

Post by Claymore

Mark that sounds great. I hope you can make a detonator for the USP (or maybe a couple) as i would want one of them.

What about the spring though, would the original spring be OK, you get a new spring and detonator for the mullberry field rounds and i think that had to be adjusted before it would work.

Post by Mark

claymore, the original spring should be ok, as the MGC/KSC cartridges have a rather good piston design and they have good power.

I will look into the detonators and see what types of revisions to make...

I think that the original spring is a fairly strong spring as the original Tanaka cartridges have good power and they need a strong spring to work properly..

The MullBerry field cartridges might not be powerfull enough to blowback the original spring...