Are P226s being phased out for on the Legions?

W

wild cat mccane

New member
Hey there,

Been looking on gun.deals to pick up a P226 Enhanced, but it's been a while and only Legions have pulled up.

I know demand is high, but anyone know of anything special going on with the P226?
 
I can share my own understanding. This is based on my discussions with a range buddy that is an engineer at SIG as well as discussions every other month or so with someone who works the production line.

At this point SIG has more products than they have production space. This is exacerbated by the MHS contract fulfillment. The end result of this is SIG is making certain products in runs. The products that sell well and are cheaper and faster to produce stay in production, such as the P320 and P365. Other products either don’t have as high margins or frankly don’t sell as well. The last time I was at SIG’s Pro Shop they had one P226 model that wasn’t a Legion on the wall. For clarification it’s a huge wall and the classic P series line used to have a big chunk of it. My guess is they’re not producing that many classic P series pistols at this point and the ones they are producing are Legions. The engineer I know says they have even more products in development, some they are very excited about, but management doesn’t want to take production lines that are known to sell off line to start something new.

This might get better. Over time the MHS contract won’t dominate production as much and SIG is building new facilities in NH for both R&D and production.


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Wouldn't surprise me, Sig did something similar with the 220 IIRC.

SIG just seems to love to switch, change and discontinue models so often that it's annoying.

In this case though the legion frames are my favorite for the hammer guns so I don't mind.
 
A have a W. German/Herndon VA. /JK date code 226 that I wouldn't trade for any railed model. All six of my Sig's are non railed, have hammers and four are W. German models.

Bill
 
good lesson here. remember why Germany lost the big war. they had too many ideas and it drained them of money and resources. looks to me like history may be repeating itself?
in other words, seems sig is biting off more than it can chew.
 
The products that sell well and are cheaper and faster to produce stay in production, such as the P320 and P365. Other products either don’t have as high margins or frankly don’t sell as well.
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Probably the reason one of my favorite SIG variants, the Model 227, is no longer in their lineup.
 
good lesson here. remember why Germany lost the big war. they had too many ideas and it drained them of money and resources. looks to me like history may be repeating itself?
in other words, seems sig is biting off more than it can chew.
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Except this version of SIG is a US company
 
dgludwig said:
Probably the reason one of my favorite SIG variants, the Model 227, is no longer in their lineup.
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That is too bad, I would really have liked a Legion 227. Especially in 10mm.

If Sig really is transitioning to Legions on all their DA/SA guns (since I think they did so already with the 220) then it seems they want their niche to be the spot between basic CZ and HK, and the more expensive CZs.

Can't say I think that's a great idea to put a niche gun already (DA/SA) completely in that $1000+ price bracket when you can get a nice CZ or HK for quite a bit less, but I wouldn't be surprised if Sig phases the hammer guns out completely for the 320 before long.

Sadly.
 
Right.

I'm ready to drop $600 on the Enhanced for the fun of it, but I'm not going to buy a Legion at $1,100. (current pricing)

The Legion just doesn't command the price for what you get given other options.
 
wild cat mccane said:
Right.

I'm ready to drop $600 on the Enhanced for the fun of it, but I'm not going to buy a Legion at $1,100. (current pricing)

The Legion just doesn't command the price for what you get given other options.
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Where were you finding Enhanceds for $600 new, even when in stock? Even a used SIG classic P series often costs $600. There’s absolutely a price premium for the Legion series, but it wasn’t roughly twice the cost of a new non-Legion SIG P series, as best as I can remember.

Edit: looks like about a year and a half ago on gun.deals there were a couple of vendors selling basic P226s with the E2 grips for around $570 and then some others in the low $700s a year ago. That $570 is well below the MSRP I can find of $785.50. I’m not sure you’re going to see those prices again soon. It would also suggest to me that those basic P226s weren’t selling well and the vendors cut prices to move stock. That would again to go to the point of if it doesn’t seem to be selling that well SIG isn’t prioritizing it for production.


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That is too bad, I would really have liked a Legion 227. Especially in 10mm.
If Sig really is transitioning to Legions on all their DA/SA guns (since I think they did so already with the 220) then it seems they want their niche to be the spot between basic CZ and HK, and the more expensive CZs.
Can't say I think that's a great idea to put a niche gun already (DA/SA) completely in that $1000+ price bracket when you can get a nice CZ or HK for quite a bit less, but I wouldn't be surprised if Sig phases the hammer guns out completely for the 320 before long.
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Probably the reason one of my favorite SIG variants, the Model 227, is no longer in their lineup.
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I have the 10mm P220, the DA/SA variant with the fixed Siglite night sights. It's a heavy rail gun but a great shooter with all manner of real, undiluted 10mm ammo.

But aside from its weight, the real problem with the 10mm P220s is the stingy 8-rd mag capacity. Sig should've offered a 10mm model with the 227's "sorta" double-stack frame.

Since the 227 was a 10-rd gun in 45acp, the same mag-well geometry in 10mm might have yielded an 11- or 12-rd capacity, while running the full 5" upper of the P220. It would be similar to the mag capacity relation between the .45 G21 (13-rds) and the 10mm G20 (15-rds), both guns having virtually identical frames in terms of mag-well dimensions.
 
Didnt they shutdown in Germany?

I just spent way too much dough on a P320 AXG Classic, its a damn nice pistol. I sold a used 229 (5 mags) for $800 to help finance it.

The only 229's and 226's I ever see on the shelves are Legions.
 
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I recall almost buying an Enhanced/R gripped P226 a year or two ago for 60-700, with one always in the price range somewhere online. It's like the perfect P226 for features and price.

I've looked at the AXG, but it kinda just doesn't do it for me without me really minding the weird front slide cut.

I might even swing 800 for giggles of it during high pricing, but I think you are probably right that Sig is focusing on other stuff. Hope they don't kill the Enhanced though.
 
I just checked gunbroker. Nothing but Legions for sale there.

That said, I paid $750 for my P226 E2 before the craziness started. Getting one now for $600 probably isn't going to happen unless you find a well used one.
 
good lesson here. remember why Germany lost the big war. they had too many ideas and it drained them of money and resources. looks to me like history may be repeating itself?
in other words, seems sig is biting off more than it can chew.
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Yes, in spite of the engineering brilliance of the Germans and what appeared to be the strict order of the Reich, it was actually a befuddled mess. So many great weapon concepts for shelved in favor of other ones that a certain Corporal thought were "obviously more important". Even Walther has been a whirlwind of new this/new that lately. At least HK has refreshing consistency, although it's high time they enter the .45 striker market.
 
FairWarning said:
At least HK has refreshing consistency, although it's high time they enter the .45 striker market.
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HK’s consistency was almost their downfall. Not that long ago, 2010-2014, HK had their credit rating downgraded by Moody’s multiple times because of cash flow problems. This led to $200 rebates on HK products just to move inventory. The VP9 and a number of military contracts came along to rectify that, but HK’s unwillingness to enter markets, specifically the modern striker fired market, was problematic for their financials.


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wild cat mccane said:
Sig just released and you can buy a P226 with the AXG slide cuts. $1,200-$1,300.

Still no Enhanced versions to be found.
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FWIW I just saw an Enhanced/Elite at the SIG Pro Shop this past weekend. That might indicate they’re coming back, so keep an eye out.


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