Sig p6

[TASimpson]

Hello all,

I'm new to gun forums and from what Ive seen just browsing the posts I'm glad I picked this one. Bought my first 9mm (SIG P6) and would gladly accept any and all comments on this handgun. I am well acquainted with the Beretta 92 as it has been the weapon I have carried at work from 2001 till present. I wanted a 9mm but wanted to go with something different because I might get the chance to buy my duty 92fs if its decommissioned while I still work with the company. I chose the p6 at the local gun shop because of price($450 out the door with Tax), its a 9mm, and its made the same year of my birth 1980 which I thought was interesting. Its stamped Made in W. Germany and engraved C.A.I. Georgia VT one one side. Its stamped P6, NW, 8/80, and 724 on the other. It also has a serial number starting with "M". Once again any help to a noobie such as history, troubleshooting, experience, or websites to get more info on this gun would be a great help.

P.S. Thats free wolf ammo that some one gave me a couple of years ago. I shot two mags worth in the woods just to get a feel for the P6.

 

[rellascout]

What you have there is a W. German P6 which was a contract gun. These were imported over the last 2 or 3 years by CAI.

The are a contract version of the P225. I personally prefer the commerical P225 because the fit and finish of the commerical versions are superior but at the price range that the surplus P6s are sold at the difference is hard to justify. http://world.guns.ru/handguns/hg56-e.htm

The main differences is the hammer which has a cut notch in it. These was so that police armorers could quickly identify if the gun had ever been dropped.

Fire some hollowpoints out of the gun. Some of the them have a feed ramp which is not hollowpoint friendly. There is a serial number range but I cannot remember it off the top of my head.

These guns are like mini P220s The original caliber of the P220 was 9mm but you know how us Americans love 45s.


They are great guns. Enjoy. The price you paid is far. A little on the high side but you got two mags. The mags are the only down side to this pistol. They are expensive. They cost about $40 if you can find them. Most people are selling these things online these day for $350 in VG condition with one mag. So Plus $15 shipping, $15 Transfer and $40 for a mag you are right there and from the looks of it the gun is in excellent condition.

 

[Madcap_Magician]

The P6 is a European police contract gun that has been coming over in waves as surplus in the last decade. It's a slightly modified version of Sig's P225 pistol. I'm not an expert, but if I recall correctly the most noticeable difference is the hammer, which on the P6 is notched. The European police departments ran a thin wire or tie around the hammer here, and if the gun was fired, the wire would break. I have no idea why they wanted to do it that way.

The P6 is widely regarded as one of the finest bargains in surplus handguns.

It was part of the same police contract trials as the Walther P5 and the H&K P7, so it has somewhat illustrious compatriots.

Fine gun, and you can still get some decent aftermarket accessories for it. XS has Big Dot night sights for it, some makers have aftermarket grips.

 

[wgsigs]

Another difference between the P6 and the commercial P225 is the hammer (mainspring) spring. The P225 has a 24 pound spring while the P6 has a 28 pound one, which generally makes for a very heavy DA trigger. A replacement spring is less than $5 and is relatively "easy", but tedious, to replace - if you have 3 hands. A lot of time is spent crawling around the floor looking for the parts that may have "shot" across the floor so I've been told. I paid to have mine replaced.

I find the P6/P225 fits my hands the best of all the SIGs, and they are all great, accurate shooters. My 11/79 feeds HPs just fine, but the feeding ramp looks like it may have been worked on - your mileage may vary.

 

[Sapper771]

The P6 is an excellent pistol. I have a 1979 P6 that shoots great. The extrerior is worn, but the internals are like new, no wear on the rails. I have never carried it, and if I take it with me , it is normally a "bag gun" and gets tossed in my bag when I go out of town. I haven't fired any hollow points through mine, just FMJs. There are lighter mainsprings available to make the double action trigger pull a little lighter. If you don't have any gun grease yet, you may want to invest in some. Use the grease liberally on the slide rails,
It will help lengthen the service life of the frame.

The "NW" stamped on the right side of the slide stands for "Nordrheine Westfalen"(sp?) . It is the western most state of Germany, and it is where your pistol was issued. My P6 is also a "NW" issued pistol.

If you like the P6 , you may be interested in a H&K P7. I got my P6 , then got the bug again and got a P7. I liked the P7 so much , it became my on duty back up gun. My P7 was issued to a state Police Officer in the Lower Saxony State of Germany (borders NW).

 

[Whitman31]

I love mine. Sig Forum had a lot of info about them when they first appeared on the marked. Mine was purchased for $300 with the standard 2 mags and duty holster. The finish on mine is very worn but I don't mind. I'm planning on having it refinished soon. It's a great shooting gun.

The only downside (debatable) is that it's a 9mm single stack. I don't know if you can buy a 9mm today that only holds 8. But, this translates to a thinner grip.

Enjoy

 

[smartshooter.45]

I love the ergos of this pistol. it feels similar to a 1911 which is good IMO. google wolff springs and look up the p6/p225. youll find new recoil springs, new hammer springs AND new magazine springs. in my opinion new magazine and recoil springs are a MUST for guaranteed function. keep in mind your pistol was a duty gun and was kept loaded for much of its life. the magazine springs will be worn. like others have said, its also a good idea to get a lighter hammer spring to allow for a lighter double action trigger pull. after replacing springs mine has been 100% through thousands of rounds. enjoy!

 

[Madcap_Magician]

I was surprised how much I liked the ergonomics of it. It fits the hand nicely and for a gun that is as wide as it is with as low capacity as it has, it feels amazingly slim.

 

[AK103K]

I have a couple, one about a year older than yours and one from the late 90's. Both have been good shooters and both have fed hollowpoints without issue.

The early gun had plain black sights that were regulated for a specific person, and didnt shoot POA for me, the later gun had the more current SIG bar/dot type and did shoot POA. I replaced the stock sights on both with Meprolights.

I replaced the mainsprings on both, as the DA trigger was heavy, and I wanted them more inline with my other commercial SIG's just for commonality. I also replace all the other springs on the older gun, as it was obvious that it had seen a good bit of use, especially compared to the later gun.

Top Gun Supply has all the parts you might need to upgrade things, and they also have an armorers CD that will walk you through a total tear down and reassembly. Its easy to follow and well worth the money. There is one specific section on doing the mainspring too.

There are a couple of theories on the hammer spur, one as was mentioned, was it was a drop indicator. I've seen others that show a breakaway zip type tie that "sealed" the weapon to show whether it was fired, or at least put into the condition to be fired. There was a video floating around YouTube showing them on the gun and how they worked.

 

[TASimpson]

I want to thank everyone that has posted to this thread so far. A lot of great information. I plan on surfing the web a lot over the next few weeks for more fans of this gun. I have some other firearms that I am going to post just like this one as well. I took my wife out to the woods today and paced out roughly 15 yards. She placed 50 rounds of that cheap but free to me wolf ammo all in the 9 and 10 ring of a B27 target. She learned on a Walther P22 I bought for her 2 years ago and we often hop on the four wheelers and find a good place to plink during the summer. The transition to 9mm was nothing to her. My next leap for me will be .45 and probably some form of 1911 (funds permitting). Once again thank you and please keep posting.

 

[rcmodel]

Heres a link on replaceing the stock hammer spring with the lighter P225 spring.

Cheap, easy, and worth the effort!

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=358615&highlight=sig+p6

rc

 

[TASimpson]

This post has been dormant a while so I would like to once again thank all that posted. I got a lot of good info and hopefully this post will continue to come up now and again and help someone else.

 

[BAE984]

All this has been said, but I'll put in my $.02.

My P6 has become my primary carry gun. I'm confident that the capacity is plenty, and it really shoots well for me. Mine's a 2/84, and has fed everything 100% so far (124gr +P Gold Dots are usual loadout). Great ergo, great accuracy, and a perfect carry size for me. I may go to a P225 mainspring at some point, but it's not a priority as I've had no problems with standard pull.

 

[tincanhunter]

One more tidbit. Sig upgraded the feed ramps on the P6 in 1989 to help feed HP ammo better. Many folks have reported the feedramps from the older models work fine with HP's, others have had issues with certain ammo. Here's an article with pics of the different feed ramps http://www.sksboards.com/smf/index.php?topic=37346.0. That being said, I just picked up a P6, a few weeks ago, issued in 1/84 and love it. If you want to upgrade to wood grips look here http://www.grips4u.net/. I put a set on mine and find them quite comfortable.

 

[mgmorden]

A lot of time is spent crawling around the floor looking for the parts that may have "shot" across the floor so I've been told. I paid to have mine replaced.

While I haven't taken apart my P6 before, I can say from experience that my 1911 and AR15 have lead to me typically doing disassembly sitting on the floor in my hallway. All the doors are shut, the floors are laminate, and there is no furniture. Nothing the flys off can go too far .

 

[svaz]

Many folks have reported the feedramps from the older models work fine with HP's, others have had issues with certain ammo.

My experience: JHP fed fine until round #7. My diagnosis was a worn mag spring.

If yours doesn't reliably feed JHPs, try changing out the springs (and looking for patterns) before cursing the gun (the gun won't care anyway).

 

[NMGonzo]

I wish I hadn't sold mine.