Should I Snag W. German P228?

L

LouisianaAviator

New member
I have the opportunity to purchase a very good condition West German P228 for $530 out the door. It's a two-tone with a stainless slide and blue frame. But aren't P228's carbon slide? Is anyone familiar with sig putting out two tone 228's? Is this a good deal?
 
Are you sure it's a stainless slide and not finished in something like chrome? Did the slide have a W. German marking too?
 
Yes, the slide is marked West German and it doesn't appear to be an aftermarket finish. I'm not sure it's a stainless slide, but it's definitely one of the folded steel ones with the attached bolt face
 
I'm not sure it's a stainless slide, but it's definitely one of the folded steel ones with the attached bolt face
Click to expand...

Then it's not stainless. That's carbon steel. The stainless slides are milled without the separate breech block. It has to be some type of finish unless for some reason someone stripped it to bare carbon steel. There were two-tones that were bought that way and some that were re-done after the fact.
 
The slide definitely has handling marks, like I've seen on nickel plating, but I'm fairly confident that this is a factory finish. Does anyone know if Sig made two-tone 228's?
 
There are a lot of resources out there. WVsig is a person here with a lot of experience with SIGs that would be good to message, or I'm sure he'll be along shortly.

Sorry if I was overly blunt, had surgery this week and my local wore off and these stitches are driving me nuts. :mad:
 
I've had 2 P228 pistols, I'm sorry I let go of the 1st, but I still have the 2nd, that's a great gun at a decent price, I wouldn't hesitate to bring that one home.
 
The P228 is a great gun. For me personally maybe the best gun Sig ever made. The "real" P228 is a non-railed gun with an aluminum frame and a carbon steel slide. There are no stainless steel slides are real P228s. There were a few different runs of P228 tutone guns. The thread on the Sig Forum jsbethel linked to will tell you everything you need to know.

The older version circa 1994 had an electroless nickel side with black or nickel controls. It would have originally come in a cardboard box. It would have date code of KE under the front of the slide.

ERsigP228WGNT04.jpg


The other version I am aware of was a GOTM, gun of the month, IIRC this gun had nickel controls.

Any factory tutone P228 had its slide finished in electroless nickel. These shipped in a blue box and was the last of the GOTM guns. The date should be on the box. These guns only came with nickeled controls again IIRC. It will look like this:

12107868223_9ffa0e5e7d_b.jpg


SigP228GOTMNew03_zpscaecf54f.jpg


Many people have recreated these pistols by refinishing standard P228s. Check the date code on the gun. If it is other than KE I would be willing to bet the finish is after market. This does not make it a bad buy at $530 just not as good as if it was a factory gun. If it comes with a box that would help identify it. Honestly $530 for a VG to to excellent P228 is a good deal. I rarely see them under $600 these days unless they are beat to hell. Even surplus Israeli P228s which looked like they were dragged behind a truck on a gravel road fetched $400 earlier this year.

I would look closely at the finish for signs or wear, peeling or signs that it is not nickel. Many people used spray coatings to simulate this pistol but like I said if the finish looks good and the gun is in good condition I would go for it.
 
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