Available Finishes for SIG P226

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ump45

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I just got back from my local gunshop and I'm getting ready to buy a SIG P226. It's been a long and expensive process of research and renting guns at the firing range, and this is the one that I have picked. It will be my first handgun, for home defense and target shooting. At the gun shop I took a 30 question test and got all the questions right, and now I have a basic safety certificate. All that is left is for me to plop down my credit card.

Before I do that I really need some information/advice on a few things about he SIG P226.

First I want to relay a conversation I had with the guy at the gunshop. I told him I heard some reports about SIG's rusting and I asked if the model in the display case had the K-KOTE finish. It didn't and he said that K-KOTE has a tendency to chip off which could cause problems with the gun. Well I don't want my gun to rust and I don't want the finish to chip off either! So what finish is the BEST to protect my brand new SIG with?

I looked on the sigarms.com website and they list 4 available finishes for the P226--Nitron, Two-Tone, Blued, and Stainless Steel. I don't see anything about K-KOTE there. So can someone put this all together for me? What is the difference between those 4 available finishes besides their color? Is K-KOTE something in addition to all that, or is it something that I would get instead of one of those?

Thanks in advance for the help, I'll post any follow up questions as I need to get more clarification.
 
"I'm getting ready to buy a SIG P226."

Are you negotiating for a brand new P226?

If so, it's more than likely one with a stainless-steel slide that has been "coated" to blacken it.

Your "guy" at the gunshop doesn't know what he's talking about, as K-kote isn't a surface that will "chip off".

I suspect he's either ignorant or intentionally misleading you.

Ask someone who knows and is honest if the slide on the P226 you are considering is blued steel or blackened stainless. If you're still skeptical, I can tell you an easy way to determine which is which.

At any rate, congratulations on whatever SIG you purchase...they are the best out-of-the-box combat pistols available on the market. ;)
 
Well I'm slowly piecing together alot of different replies that I've gotten on several different forums. On one forum, I heard that SIG is discontinuing K-KOTE due to problems with chipping, and they are looking into remaking the chemical formulation to fix those problems. So I think I'm going to get my sig without K-KOTE.

But I still have a basic question of what is the difference between the finishes that are listed on the sigarms.com website? Nitron, Two-Tone, Blued, Stainless Steel. What are each of those, and what makes them different from each other? Which one would you recommend or not recommend? Thanks.
 
Well I've gathered up some more info. On the sigarms.com website, here are the 4 available finishes that are listed:

Blued: I've heard alot of negatives on this one. People are saying it has a tendecy to wear off. So I'm going to scratch this off my list.

Two-Tone: I heard this one has a nickeled slide and controls, and a black anodized frame. I have heard some positive comments about this finish, that it offers pretty good resistance. But what is a nickeled finish, and what is a black anodized steel?

Nitron: I've never heard of the word "Nitron" before, this must be some marketing term for Sig. I've heard that this is some process where the stainless steel is imbued with a black Nitron finish. I've also heard some positive things about this one, saying it offers pretty good resistance

Stainless Steel: I am assuming that this one isn't actually a finish, its just the raw stainless steel with nothing added on it. Is that true? If so I'm gonna scratch that option off my list also.

And then there is the K-KOTE finish which I have heard SIG is discontinuing due to chipping problems, and they are gonna re-formulate it with a different chemical composition and then re-introduce it later on. Well that means I have to scratch that off my list also.

So what that leaves is Two-Tone vs. Nitron. I like both of these equally well as far as cosmetic appearance, but I really want to get more info about these two finishes and which one is better.
 
K-Kote, depends

K-Kote was never applied by SIG Sauer but by sub-contrators. Depending who did the work is the quality of the finsih. There was a spate of K-Kote SIG Sauers that were POS. The finish would come off just from handling. Maybe the shop owners was talking about those SIG Sauers. :o http://www.recguns.com/IIIC2q2.html
 
Ok I'm down to a choice between the Two-Tone with a nickeled slide, or the Nitron with the Nitron slide. Any comments on which of these two offeres better resistance? Cosmetically, they both look equally attractive to me so I'm just interested in which one functions better.
 
My understanding is that the Nitron finish has all of the rust preventative properties of the old K-Kote, without the tendency to chip. My P226 is K-Koted and there are a few chips around the muzzle, where it would hit a chair when holstered. A buddy sold it to me for cheap because he thought the K-Kote made it look like a toy guy (he owned another blued P226).
 
"My P226 is K-Koted and there are a few chips around the muzzle,..."

No kiddin'? I've never seen that, but I have seen K-Kote wear off in no time at all.

What does the finish look like where it has chipped...bare steel?
 
Zander, the chips occured at the front left and right corners of the slide, on either side of the sight. It exposed bare steel, though the edges now are pretty well blended with the rest from holster wear (in/out).
 
I don't know if they are still available, but I used to have a 226 that was factory electroless nickel(?). I had 3 stainless steel non-PC magazines for it too. With wood grips it was gorgeous & turned many a head, let me tell you.

I never had the hint of a rust problem with it & it cleaned up very easily.

I eventually sold it to a buddy of mine...still regret it now & then.
 
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