i have a sig p226, does that take a conversion kit?
Yes, it does. $300 at Cabela's, and I've seen a couple people using them, fairly successfully. I don't trust the very long, cantilevered ejector that sticks way out into space, just asking to get bent or broken, but apart from that they seem to be one of the better conversions. Of course, the CZ-75 Cadet or conversion is probably the best.
Is stripping a 22 for cleaning really all that important? I've read two schools of thought on this subject. So far with my Buck Mark I've just occasionally run a bore snake through it and swabbed out the breech. The owner's manual from Browning says there is no need to take it down.
I vote "darn right, it's important". I don't like cleaning guns, and generally let any of them go until they start giving me problems. By far the gun that needs to be cleaned in order to restore functioning the most often is my Ruger MkII. And speaking of stupid designs that you don't want to disassemble, the Buckmark is awful. I bought one once and came very close to returning it without shooting it, because I did the initial pre-firing cleaning and was shocked at the way it came apart. You have to remove the rear sight to clean it, so you have to sight it in after every cleaning. The ejector is a bent wire. I was appalled, and suspect John Browning would have been, too.
Well the upside is that it sounds like you got a 'keeper' for a wife
I see used .22lr kits (for your sig226) on the EE for about $300 sometimes.
That's probably the cheapest way to go if you're truly done with your 22/45.
Honestly, the best approach is probably to take some time and learn the Ruger. They are tricky, but once you've learned the trick and the gun has been apart often enough to loosen up a little, they aren't bad. If you can find one, a guy I shoot with regularly has one of the Norinco knock-offs of the Cold Woodsman (Norinco 193, I think?), that he thinks is a heck of great pistol for $200. Barring that, the P226 conversion kit is an excellent option. Or if you can roll up the pennies get the CZ Cadet.
