If he really puts up a fuss, maybe. My experience with SIG's willingness to pay for shipping is it very much depends on who you get on the phone. If according to SIG it's not a problem, as Constantine seems to say they indicated, then they may pay for shipping back but not pay for shipping to them.
SIG Sauer P226, unusual wear.. (pics)
- Thread starter Tactical Jackalope
- Start date
If he really puts up a fuss, maybe. My experience with SIG's willingness to pay for shipping is it very much depends on who you get on the phone. If according to SIG it's not a problem, as Constantine seems to say they indicated, then they may pay for shipping back but not pay for shipping to them.
Tactical Jackalope
New member
0_0 I hope it's just fixed. Honestly I wish they just sent me a call tag. Of all my SIG's, this one has had the most harsh looking wear. The P220 had more round through it and it was smooth gold. (Color indicates an estimated amount of rounds fired) but never chunky metal.
Okay, that sounds awesome. But what's an AEP?
Action Enhancment Package. The gun is worked over by the custom shop and its action and trigger pull will be lighter and smoooooth. Yet its still under warranty.
http://www.sigsauer.com/Customshop/SpecialCTU.aspx
http://www.sigsauer.com/Customshop/SpecialCTU.aspx
Ok let me take another shot at this one. The first pic is the one which I wonder about the most. It looks like there is metal missing from the lower part of rail just before the "A' in USA. It could just be the poor picture. It is really hard to tell. If no metal missing and you are only concerned about the silver color of the rails I would say it is fine.
This pic which is pic # 2has no issues with the rail that I can and the wear you are seeing near the locking block is a different issue. IMHO. It sounds like you use grease which is the correct lube for the slide and rails. You stated that the pistol has about 8,000 rounds through it. I would then ask at what round count did you replace the recoil spring. Sig suggests every 5,000. If you are shooting a fair about of +P rounds I would reduce that to 2,500 to 3,500 depending on how many +P rounds.
Is the gun extracting properly? Is it throwing the cases further than normal? Can you feel more recoil of the slide against the locking block? I believe that the wear at the locking block area is due to a weak recoil spring. The gun is recoiling hitting the locking block and bouncing into the frame. IMHO which is worth how much you are paying for it.
This pic which is pic #3 is 100% normal and nothing to be concerned about. I only have older German P series Sigs in the stable these days but all of them show wear in the exact same spot with varying degrees. If I took a pistol out the the safe and removed the slide and saw that wear I would not give it a second thought.
Of course that is what Sig said. They always say it is normal wear because even if it isn't then you will have to shoot another 10,000 to 20,000 rounds for the pistol to fail. At todays 9mm prices that is $2,500 to $5,000 worth of factory ammo. Most guns will never see that kind of round count. If you shoot it to failure they "might" fix it then but until that point why fix something that might be used to the point of "failure". That is how Sig works these days. They accept this wear as normal and kick the can down the road and fix issues which effect function "right now". If it might effect function later down the road they will address it then. As a business this makes sense. As a consumer it sucks.
Do not bother with the AEP. It is Ok but it really is just a fluff and buff detail stripping of the pistol with a set of night sites thrown in. When they run it for $99 with $25-$45 shipping it is a good deal because that is basically what night sites will cost you so the rest of the service is free so to speak.
If this was my gun and I am not experiencing function issues I would replace the recoil spring and keep shooting.
This pic which is pic # 2has no issues with the rail that I can and the wear you are seeing near the locking block is a different issue. IMHO. It sounds like you use grease which is the correct lube for the slide and rails. You stated that the pistol has about 8,000 rounds through it. I would then ask at what round count did you replace the recoil spring. Sig suggests every 5,000. If you are shooting a fair about of +P rounds I would reduce that to 2,500 to 3,500 depending on how many +P rounds.
Is the gun extracting properly? Is it throwing the cases further than normal? Can you feel more recoil of the slide against the locking block? I believe that the wear at the locking block area is due to a weak recoil spring. The gun is recoiling hitting the locking block and bouncing into the frame. IMHO which is worth how much you are paying for it.
This pic which is pic #3 is 100% normal and nothing to be concerned about. I only have older German P series Sigs in the stable these days but all of them show wear in the exact same spot with varying degrees. If I took a pistol out the the safe and removed the slide and saw that wear I would not give it a second thought.
Constantine said:
Of course that is what Sig said. They always say it is normal wear because even if it isn't then you will have to shoot another 10,000 to 20,000 rounds for the pistol to fail. At todays 9mm prices that is $2,500 to $5,000 worth of factory ammo. Most guns will never see that kind of round count. If you shoot it to failure they "might" fix it then but until that point why fix something that might be used to the point of "failure". That is how Sig works these days. They accept this wear as normal and kick the can down the road and fix issues which effect function "right now". If it might effect function later down the road they will address it then. As a business this makes sense. As a consumer it sucks.
Do not bother with the AEP. It is Ok but it really is just a fluff and buff detail stripping of the pistol with a set of night sites thrown in. When they run it for $99 with $25-$45 shipping it is a good deal because that is basically what night sites will cost you so the rest of the service is free so to speak.
If this was my gun and I am not experiencing function issues I would replace the recoil spring and keep shooting.
t4terrific
New member
Fe + Al?
Who said anything about Iron? The characteristics of iron are moot when discussing steel. The other elements added to iron, to make steel, change it's characteristics.
"Fe + Al" has nothing to do with the relationship of a Sig slide and frame.
AEP is often packaged with Sig Service Package which has the night sights. I got them confused. Either way the AEP is a basic trigger job and on a gun with 8,000 rounds through it at this point is worthless. Even on a new gun the service is questionable IMHO. When you compare it to work by someone like Gray Guns or other know Sig smiths. I have owned Sigs with the AEP and custom guns from gray guns and there is no comparison.
Plus it has nothing to do with the slide wear the OP is seeing.
Plus it has nothing to do with the slide wear the OP is seeing.
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A fried on mine has a P220 with the AEP. It's not at the level of GGI but it also wasn't as expensive ($189 vs $295) and his turn around was 3 weeks compared to GGI which I believe is currently running 6 month wait times last I called. Obviously there are trade offs, but the AEP is still quite nice IMO.
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Tactical Jackalope
New member
Oh that's pretty cool... I already have the SRT trigger though. It came that way from the factory when I first bought it. My Sig Sauer P 226 started off its life as an E2. As for the sight, I have Trijicon HD's on them already.
I want the frame to be silky smooth like the others. I may just send it in. Because this isn't just a safe queen. I shoot this one a lot and carry it even more.
I want the frame to be silky smooth like the others. I may just send it in. Because this isn't just a safe queen. I shoot this one a lot and carry it even more.
Constantine said:
They are not going to fix it. There is no fix beyond replacing the frame if the rails are damaged. They will not weld them up. They will not re-anodonize them. I firmly believe that if the gun is functioning you will be wasting your time and money sending the gun in. They are not going to lap the frame rails like you could on a steel frame.
The only thing that could happen short of the frame being replaced is a smoothing of the slide by hand but I doubt they will do that either.
Has the gun malfunctioned in any way? If not they will do nothing for you IMHO.
TunnelRat said:
There is a lot of variance in the end result in my experience with about 3 or 4 pistols that have had an AEP job. It really depends on who picks it up out of the que and does the work. IMHO It is not a bad value but it is not a high end trigger job. The AEP guns feel broken in. My P228 which has seen 10,000+ rounds with a 19lbs hammer spring feels as good or better than any AEP gun I have ever shot. It might be worth doing right out of the box but it is not worth it on a gun with a round count higher than 5,000 IMHO.
That's a P239 357 Sig. It did that in the first few hundred rounds and stopped getting worse. The same on both sides. It happens to alot of current Sigs. I think the slide kicks up at the end of its rearward travel and whacks the frame right there. If I ever buy another new one, I'm going to round off the ends of the rails in the slide and see if it prevents it.
As long as something doesn't fall off, I'm thinking Sig will tell you it's good to go. So, you're not going to get much sending it in.
Mine runs perfect. I don't like it, but I accept it.
Dragline45
New member
Anytime you have a harder steel slide rubbing on softer aluminum there will be wear and it's 100% normal, and like you mentioned it gets to a certain point then stops. Taking a file to a perfectly good slide sounds like a $500 mistake.