Question for a Sig P226 expert

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Agsalaska

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I have an interesting Sig P226 and I cannot find another one quite like it. It was manufactured in Germany in 1995. It appears to be an all stainless steel construction but nowhere on the gun is it stamped Stainless or S or anything. It just says P226.

Was it common for stainless Sigs to not be stamped 'Stainless' back then? Even the picture user manual shows stainless stamped on the slide.

If so is there anything different in value? I am thinking about trading it with a guy(who will probably read this haha) but want to establish its actual value first. I know its worth a lot more than what I have in it, but I don't know how much more.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks
 
Are you SURE the frame is stainless? If so you might want to ask at the Sig forums. Got a pic? It might be nickel. They are very desirable, as are the all stainless models.
 
Some pictures might help... but does it have German proof marks, roll pins holding the breech block, etc? Those would point to a folded slide. Caliber could point either way - .40 or .357 Sig is likely a Stainless slide while 9mm could be either but is more likely going to be a folded slide at that time period.

Even if it's a stainless slide without the word "stainless" on it, I doubt it would be worth more than a normal Sig except to someone who was a very serious and detailed collector. Even if it is a stainless slide without the "stainless" mark, a mismark like that would be very low on the "gotta have" list. For someone just looking to trade guns, I don't think it would command a premium.

Not to put a damper on the value proposition, but there are a decent number of .40 p226s on the market for between $400 and $500 depending on grade. Not saying that is the value of your gun, but if I was looking at a p226 as trade those numbers would be in my head as a sort of known value.
 
Telekinesis said:
Some pictures might help... but does it have German proof marks, roll pins holding the breech block, etc? Those would point to a folded slide. Caliber could point either way - .40 or .357 Sig is likely a Stainless slide while 9mm could be either but is more likely going to be a folded slide at that time period.

Even if it's a stainless slide without the word "stainless" on it, I doubt it would be worth more than a normal Sig except to someone who was a very serious and detailed collector. Even if it is a stainless slide without the "stainless" mark, a mismark like that would be very low on the "gotta have" list. For someone just looking to trade guns, I don't think it would command a premium.

Not to put a damper on the value proposition, but there are a decent number of .40 p226s on the market for between $400 and $500 depending on grade. Not saying that is the value of your gun, but if I was looking at a p226 as trade those numbers would be in my head as a sort of known value.
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Its a 9mm and unfired and does have all of the proofmarks. It is definitely a 1995 make and all German.
 
1KPerDay said:
Are you SURE the frame is stainless? If so you might want to ask at the Sig forums. Got a pic? It might be nickel. They are very desirable, as are the all stainless models.
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I think it is stainless. But after looking at a couple of nickel plated P226s online I may be wrong. If it is nickel it certainly doesn't look like any of the nickel plated guns I have owned or handled in my life.

J0A6r1B.jpg
[/IMG] J0A6r1B.jpg
 
Most likely electroless nickel, which is rather dull, on the slide. The frame could be nickel or anodized aluminum.

Weight is the giveaway here- a steel framed 226, with empty magazine, weighs in around 43oz compared to a standard aluminum framed gun at approx. 34oz.
 
Looks nickel to me. Do you have the original box with label? Fantastic pistol... you sure you want to get rid of it? They don't make them like that anymore. ;)
 
1KPerDay said:
Looks nickel to me. Do you have the original box with label? Fantastic pistol... you sure you want to get rid of it? They don't make them like that anymore. ;)
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It is in a Sig box but doesn't have the sticker.

It has to be electroless nickel. I didn't know they made em that way.

I am just not into collectors pistols and there are quite a few revolvers I do not have yet. I am willing to trade it to this guy but he is going to have to come up with something pretty nice.

Thanks TheHighRoad. ​
 
Agsalaska said:
It is in a Sig box but doesn't have the sticker.

It has to be electroless nickel. I didn't know they made em that way.

I am just not into collectors pistols and there are quite a few revolvers I do not have yet. I am willing to trade it to this guy but he is going to have to come up with something pretty nice.

Thanks TheHighRoad. ​
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Yep, I think you would have no problem getting 6-700 for that on GB. Very nice gun!
 
Agsalaska said:
I think it is stainless. But after looking at a couple of nickel plated P226s online I may be wrong. If it is nickel it certainly doesn't look like any of the nickel plated guns I have owned or handled in my life.

J0A6r1B.jpg
[/IMG] View attachment 813040
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Look above the decocker (actually to the left, given the gun's orientation in the picture). Those are 2 nested roll pins which hold in the breech block, which means you have a folded carbon steel slide.

As far as sig fans, these folded slides tend to be preferred over the current production guns using milled stainless steel slides. Adding to that the nickel finish and being unfired, it's definitely worth more than a recent production stainless slide police surplus gun.

FYI all current Sigs are made with stainless steel slides, even the ones that have a black finish. That change happened when they started producing .40 caliber slides for each model, so the date of change varied with model. Some got different designations like the 9mm 228 (folded) vs .40/.357 Sig 229 (stainless) while others like the 226 just had different slides for 9mm vs .40 for a time. Eventually they started making 9mm slides in stainless too (and that's when they dropped the 228 and just had a 9mm 229).
 
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AFAIK SIG did not make any stainless steel frame guns in 1995 and the only stainless slide (marked "STAINLESS" on the slide) pistols were the P229 until 1998 or 1999.
 
If it has German Proof Marks, it isn't stainless. The folded slide, as indicated by the roll pins, would further confirm this.

It does look like Electroless Nickel.

The 226 was originally offered in both blued and nickeled finishes. They had a lot of problems with the nickel peeling and began importing guns "in the white" and shipped to Texas where they were plated by a company named T&T Technologies (their main business was plating Ocean Oil Rig drilling equipment.)

If you had an original factory nickel plated P226...with the finish intact...it would be quite a collector's item
 
Agsalaska said:
I think it is stainless. But after looking at a couple of nickel plated P226s online I may be wrong. If it is nickel it certainly doesn't look like any of the nickel plated guns I have owned or handled in my life.

J0A6r1B.jpg
[/IMG] View attachment 813040
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That is not stainless.

Besides the appearance, the stainless slides have a different shape and would not be proofed. That's a folded slide, which can only be 9mm.
 
That is a nice looking nickel plated P226 from the picture. However without the original box with the original label and matching serial number it would be difficult to tell if it is factory nickel or someone else did a refinish. Still if in really nice condition it should be worth more than a plain Jane P226 but not a vast amount more. Easy way to tell if a SIG frame is stainless steel or not is to test with a magnet.
 
sigarms228 said:
That is a nice looking nickel plated P226 from the picture. However without the original box with the original label and matching serial number it would be difficult to tell if it is factory nickel or someone else did a refinish. Still if in really nice condition it should be worth more than a plain Jane P226 but not a vast amount more. Easy way to tell if a SIG frame is stainless steel or not is to test with a magnet.
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Hmmmmm....interesting idea. We would have to find somebody with an ST to test your theory. Many stainless alloys have so much chromium in them that they are basically nonmagnetic.
 
Do the interested people out there know where to find German proof marks on a Sig P series? All four of mine have the same "bug" symbol from Kiel, plus the other tiny stamps.

If you don't know, just ask us. I don't want to preach about trivia which bores most people.
 
9mmepiphany said:
It does look like Electroless Nickel.

The 226 was originally offered in both blued and nickeled finishes. They had a lot of problems with the nickel peeling and began importing guns "in the white" and shipped to Texas where they were plated by a company named T&T Technologies (their main business was plating Ocean Oil Rig drilling equipment.)

If you had an original factory nickel plated P226...with the finish intact...it would be quite a collector's item
Click to expand...
I thought the desirable Electroless Nickel finish on SIG pistols was done by Klein who did the "factory" nickel plating for SIG in the '90s.
 
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