sig sauer p226 question

[MJ_ATL]

I read where a gentleman said he got the stainless elite for 1000 bux. That's the one I want but I was quoted 1300 bux at my local gun shop. Now I'm trying to figure out which model is the cheapest and has the str in it. 1300 is a little out of my budget at this time. Having said that I want to buy new because all of the used ones at my two gun shops have seen better days to say the least

Finding a new P226 Stainless Elite is hard enough and is usually special order which will take what seems like forever if people are to be believed.

The least expensive P226s I've seen with night sights and the SRT from the factory are the left over E2 models from last year (selling around 800 and lower online).

 

[sigarms228]

I read where a gentleman said he got the stainless elite for 1000 bux. That's the one I want but I was quoted 1300 bux at my local gun shop. Now I'm trying to figure out which model is the cheapest and has the str in it. 1300 is a little out of my budget at this time. Having said that I want to buy new because all of the used ones at my two gun shops have seen better days to say the least

Just to give you an idea here are some models with SRT available from Top Gun Supply including their prices that are quite a bit less then that.
The last 2 however are currently out of stock though you can sign up for email notification when they are back in stock.

http://www.topgunsupply.com/sig-sauer-p226r-9mm-nitron-siglite-night-sights-da-sa-srt.html

http://www.topgunsupply.com/sig-sau...-siglite-night-sights-da-sa-srt-e2-grips.html

http://www.topgunsupply.com/sig-sauer-p226r-9mm-reverse-t-tone-cerakote-night-sights-da-sa-srt.html

http://www.topgunsupply.com/sig-sauer-p226r-elite-dark-9mm-adjustable-night-sights-da-sa-srt.html

http://www.topgunsupply.com/sig-sauer_p226r-elite-9mm-ss-siglite-night-sights-da-sa-srt.html

 

[Dogguy]

The base model P226 is black Nitron-coated slide with contrast (Dot-The-I) sights, plastic grips (the "ergo grips" could be on the base model now--I don't know), accessory rail and standard DA/SA trigger. As noted above, the other options are mostly cosmetic with a few options that may or may not improve the function--depends on the individual. If you are looking for the "base model" P226 though, that's the one.

If you want the best price and the local guys won't budge on their price, shop online. If you want the Elite model, you will probably find it considerably cheaper online. I bought both of my SIGs from Bud's Gun Shop online and saved about $300 on each even after paying the 3% markup for using a credit card and paying the local FFL for the transfer.

 

[thefamcnaj]

Ok guys I decided to go the cpo rout to own my first sig. So I go to my gun shop and ask about it and what I needed to do to in order to get one. He told me in order to get a cpo sig a person has to be "direct with sig". He is not, so I went to my back up gunshop and they told me the same thing. So with my two gun stores not being direct with sig a cpo through them is out of the question.
There is a gun show coming to the next county over this weekend hopefully I'll find one there. If I don't then I'm just going to have to dig a little deeper into the ol wallet to get a new one. If any one knows of another rout to get a cpo sig let me know please.

 

[derrelw]

Top Gun Supply has CPO's now and then and they are a fantastic company to deal with. I have quite a few Sigs in various models but all are P series (P220, P6, 226's, 228, 229's). Some are all german made with the matching triple serial #'s and some were made in New Hampshire but IMHO the P series Sigs are the best combat handguns ever made. I compete in IDPA with my P226 SCT in 9mm and it is the most reliable and accurate handgun I own. Good move and good luck!

 

[chrisb507]

I'd keep an eye out here: http://www.summitgunbroker.com/USED_SIGS.html

 

[918v]

An alloy frame SIG will hold up very well in maintained correctly though if one could afford the ammo they most likely would wear out an alloy frame SIG before a stainless steel frame SIG but I am talking in the range of 100,000 rounds and maybe even more.

Where are you getting these numbers? When I talked with Sig armorers they said @ 30,000 rounds is where the frame cracks. Now you may get lucky but 100,000 rounds is unrealistic.

 

[sigarms228]

Where are you getting these numbers? When I talked with Sig armorers they said @ 30,000 rounds is where the frame cracks. Now you may get lucky but 100,000 rounds is unrealistic.

That may have been the case for the very early P226s with the mud rails which SIG recognized as a problem and have long since beefed up considerably. Since then though, particualry the stainless steel slide SIGs, a P series SIG is just getting warmed up at 30,000 rounds and might need a new barrel. Of course proper maintenance will be needed including proper lubrication of frame rails and changing of recoil springs at 5000 round intervals.

Here is info recently posted from Todd G. of pistol-training.com fame who has had VAST experience with SIGs and pistols in general. You could probably email him at his website if you have any futher questions. You could also post on the Sig Forum to ask members there, many who are SIG Armorers, what their experiences have been with high round SIGs and there are a lot of those. The way the Navy SEALS burn through ammo in training I am sure they would not have selected the P226 if it had early frame cracking problems.

"I've seen a number of very high round count SIGs in my day -- I mean over 100,000rd -- and they were all the newer solid-slide guns."

http://pistol-forum.com/archive/index.php/t-1327.html?

 

[danfive555]

I got my P226 bitone from sigforum classifieds. $440 bucks about 80% finish on slide (holster wear). The plain P226 is wonderful, the trigger is fantastic---so in my opinion there is no real advantage in getting the Elite or adding SRT (I got P229 Elite). Also no real advantage in buying new versus used (just check the rails for wear/burrs).

BTW excellent condition p226 dark elites are going for $850 (haven't seen the stainless ones).

 

[Onmilo]

If you look around a bit you can find excellent to like new older Sig 226 pistols for very good prices.
I paid $500 for this one when the store couldn't locate the box, spare magazine, or paperwork that supposedly came with it.
They had it priced @ $600 to start.


A basic 226 or one of the SEAL versions should suit you fine.

 

[thefamcnaj]

@onmilo. Is there a particular year or time frame I should be looking at? If so is there a marking on the slide to show date of manufacturing......Kind of like how the hk has the letters on the slide?

 

[9mmepiphany]

German Sigs uses the same date code system as H&K. It is located under the nose of the slide

 

[dondavis3]

I've got two different Sig P226's

This one is a Swiss Police Trade in .. in 9mm

It's slide was kinda sad, so I had CCR re-do the slide & Added Aluminum grips



It's a great gun.

My other Sig P226 is a X5 model & I have a .40 / 9mm barrel setup.



This shoots like a tack driver.

You can't go wrong with a Sig P226 IMHO

 

[10P8TRIOT]

Bought a new plain jane P226 with night sights last Christmas. Bought it online for about $300 below suggested retail. It has performed flawlessly for over 1600 rounds. I didn't like the short trigger and swapped it out for a standard trigger I purchased from TGS. Also repaced the plastic guide rod with a GGI stainless steel guide rod. I absolutely love this handgun.

 

[sigarms228]

Wonderful pictures in this thread - so I an compelled to add a couple of my own.

I got my first 9MM P226 as a CPO for $500 a couple years ago and it was as new inside and out. Sadly it is fairly hard to find a CPO 9MM P226 these days though some have reported seeing some recently. I put the SIG aluminum grips on mine and it is perfect for me now.

There are usually some nice used SIG P226s in most local gun stores. Sadly it is a reflection of the bad economy I am told forcing reluctant sellers to sell for cash. I picked up a 1996 vintage 99% German proofed P226 last fall with original case, papers, and test target for $500.

I am ALWAYS on the lookout for a nice used/CPO P226 or P2228. I prefer my SIGs without rails if possible.

 

[thefamcnaj]

I sure hope the gun show tomorrow turns up a good use p226 because I'm going to jump on it. I don't really care how bad the finish is because The Shooters Roost in Texas that I send my guns to does real nice on firearms. I'm not being picky by any means but I never thought that my journey through Sig land would be so tough. They are just hard to come by in my area.

 

[sigarms228]

I sure hope the gun show tomorrow turns up a good use p226 because I'm going to jump on it. I don't really care how bad the finish is because The Shooters Roost in Texas that I send my guns to does real nice on firearms. I'm not being picky by any means but I never thought that my journey through Sig land would be so tough. They are just hard to come by in my area.

I hope you find what you are looking for. Below is a link to an excellent article on how to check a used SIG. You might want to check it out before you go shopping.

http://www.sigtalk.net/index.php?/topic/148-florks-sig-pistol-inspection-guide/

 

[Onmilo]

My Sigs are German made Exeter New Hampshire marked stamped slide guns but that is just because that is what I ended up with.
Contrary to all the B.S. one reads on the internet I haven't handled a bad U.S. made Sig.
Even the worst of these will be better than a Ruger or crapp assembled S&W autoloader immho.

 

[918v]

That may have been the case for the very early P226s with the mud rails which SIG recognized as a problem and have long since beefed up considerably. Since then though, particualry the stainless steel slide SIGs, a P series SIG is just getting warmed up at 30,000 rounds and might need a new barrel. Of course proper maintenance will be needed including proper lubrication of frame rails and changing of recoil springs at 5000 round intervals.

The conversation I had occurred in 2002, well into the new frame and milled slide era. FYI, the mud-railed Sigs won't make it to 10K.

If you wanna see 100K you'll need the stainless framed variant.

 

[sigarms228]

The conversation I had occurred in 2002, well into the new frame and milled slide era. FYI, the mud-railed Sigs won't make it to 10K.

If you wanna see 100K you'll need the stainless framed variant.

Not true. There are several forum members on the SIG forum that have had very high round count alloy frame SIGs and as Todd G. had witnessed and he spent a lot of time at SIG. I suggest that you post at the SIG forum also - there are a lot of SIG armorers over there also including Bruce Gray of Grayguns (who probably sees and works on more SIGs than most anyone other than SIG and shoots SIGs professionaly) who most likely will reply to such a post or email him. Your info on 30,000 round frame life is simply rediculous for a well maintaned alloy frame SIG.

FYI here is info from a SIG armorer on the SIG forum.

NOTE: reference to mainspring change comment and reference to SIGS working fine at 40,000 rounds with original mainspring.

Sure does NOT look like a maintenance schedule for a pistol that has a frame life of only 30,000 rounds!
***********************************************************************************************************************************
http://sigforum.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/150601935/m/6801056451


I believe this may still be of interest (original information from March 2008).

The following is SIG SAUER's current parts replacement schedule (numbers of rounds), with some comments of my own:

Barrel: If the pistol exhibits keyholing or unacceptable accuracy.
Decocking lever spring: 10,000
Extractor: 20,000
Extractor spring: 20,000
Firing pin: 20,000
Firing pin spring: 20,000
Magazine spring: When magazine fails to lock the slide open. *
Recoil spring: 5,000 †
Roll pins for breechblock retention (pins, HD): 5000
Safety lock spring: 20,000
Slide catch lever spring: 10,000
Takedown lever: 20,000
Trigger bar spring: 10,000

Mainspring (hammer spring): SIG SAUER evidently makes no formal recommendation about the mainspring, but lbj was told by customer service that guns with 40,000 rounds are still igniting their ammunition with the original spring. If ignition problems do develop and can't be determined to be due to other reasons, the obvious course would be to try a new

 

[cgp]

My Sigs are German made Exeter New Hampshire marked stamped slide guns but that is just because that is what I ended up with.
Contrary to all the B.S. one reads on the internet I haven't handled a bad U.S. made Sig.
Even the worst of these will be better than a Ruger or crapp assembled S&W autoloader immho.

I'm new here and I have a P226 stainless elite. It's my best gun and stays close to me at night. The only problem I had were the factory magazines that shipped with the gun. It had somehow weaker springs. I've since standardized on using Mecgar 18 rounds and it's been flawless and crazy accurate.

Some pics.

 

[918v]

Not true. There are several forum members on the SIG forum that have had very high round count alloy frame SIGs and as Todd G. had witnessed and he spent a lot of time at SIG.

I don't care if there are forum members with high round counts. I only care about what the man at Sigarms says because he is real. I spoke with him. He said that the frame typically lasts 30,000 rounds. You can continue to believe forum members, but I believe the man at Sigarms with whom I spoke.

 

[sigarms228]

Your P226 Stainless Elite is absolutley gorgeous!! I hear they are sometimes hard to come by and have not seen any in my LGS for over a year now. Thanks for those nice pictures.

I am planning for an X-5 P226 in 9MM for myself sometime soon - i just can't decide on which one to get.

 

[sigarms228]

I don't care if there are forum members with high round counts. I only care about what the man at Sigarms says because he is real. I spoke with him. He said that the frame typically lasts 30,000 rounds. You can continue to believe forum members, but I believe the man at Sigarms with whom I spoke.

Good for you but I will believe what hundreds of forum members have experienced, several SIG armorers forum members have posted, and the opinions of highly respected people with a wealth of experience such as Todd Green and Bruce Gray. Yes they are real people also. At least I have a couple "real" names to refer to instead of "someone" you talked to. Obviously opinions can vary even among SIG armorers. Not to mention the maintenance schedule simply does not jive with a pistol with a 30,000 round frame life nor the comments from SIG service personnel either.

 

[918v]

It does too jive with the maintenance schedule because frame failure has nothing to do with replacing worn parts. Further, there are not hundreds of Sigforum members with high mileage guns. There may be a handful of them and that is certainly NOT representative of the million guns out there.