Thoughts on Sig p228

T

Topher127

New member
Long story short, I now have a p228 in my possession. Doing a little research, I'm wondering if I shouldn't put this away as a possible collectors item? Anyone have any thoughts? I've had it out shooting once before and loved it! Was considering it for my CC weapon.
 
I carried one in 9mm for years and really liked it, but by about 2004 or so they were kinda shot out and my agency switched to 229s in .40 and I went to a P99 (they were talking about letting us buy them but ended up making the best ones into sim guns and junking the rest I think....what a waste). Sig doesn't make 228s anymore, the 229 has taken their place....but there's not much difference in the guns....229 slide is a little wider I think. Anyway, I would think that at some point and time in the future they would be collectable....but if it was me (and it is cause I have a couple) I wouldn't let that stop me from shooting it or using it a CCW......
 
The only real value it would have as a collector's item is the value you place on it. Once it's been fired, it is really no longer a collectible, and they aren't especially rare either.

So, you might as well take it out, use it, and enjoy it... I know I love my Sigs!
 
M11...

The older P228 9x19mm became the US armed forces M11 sidearm. It was in use by pilots, MP investigators, air crews, spec ops, etc.

It's a well made pistol & could do very well as a CC weapon.

ClydeFrog
 
Just a note: They are(sig) making them again with no rails. I see it in all my gun & shooting mag's. I have 3 sig 226(357/40s&w),220compbat(45acp) & the p6(9mm). Only the P6 (225) has no rail but I wish all of the did not. I hate having rails on my guns. I would love to see how the 228 fits in my hand. I have big hands that is on reason I went with the 226 not the 229 for my carry.
 
Just a note: They are(sig) making them again with no rails. I see it in all my gun & shooting mag's.
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If you are talking about the M11-A1, then those are not true P228 because They have a stainless steel slide. They are more like P229s with P228 grips on them. As a matter of fact the M11-A1 is listed in the P229 section of the 2013 Sig catalog.

If you are talking about the "actual" new P228s with carbon steel slides that you see listed on Gunbroker and being sold by Osage County Guns, then those are not "officially" being distributed and sold by SIG SAUER since they are not in their catalog or on their website.

BTW there are Sig pistols with no rails available. They are usually the SAS (Sig Anti-Snag) versions not available in every model. It wouldn't surprise me if the frame for the M11-A1 was actually a P229 SAS frame.

To the OP I am not a believer in "collecting" guns to gather dust in my safe. I collect, or maybe more accurately "accumulate", guns to shoot, which is what I do (and suggest you do likewise) with my '93 P228 which was in barely shot, excellent condition when I bought it 3 years ago.
 
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If I had one then I would carry it almost daily and shoot it a good bit. I love Sigs, and the P228 just calls to me for some reason.

Don't make it a safe queen, that isn't what it was made for. It is a working gun, and it shines in that role. Let it shoot! :D
 
I had one that I bought well used. I shot close to 6000 rds through it then my brother wanted it and he has shot 7 or 8 thousand rounds through it, sent it back to sig for a "refurbish" special. They said that the barrel was shot out, he has put 1000 rounds through it since it was returned. It still has the "shot out" barrel on it and shoots great. A collectors gun, I don't think so. Wearing it out? Good luck, but it is fun to try.
 
The P228s that go for a lot are those that are German/W German made and proofed, have never been fired since leaving the factory, and come with original case, manual, and test target.

Since yours has been fired shoot it a lot more and enjoy it.

I really like mine.

P228A.jpg
 
The P-229 started life with a P-228 frame and a slide machined from stainless barstock. First in .40 S&W, then .357 SIG and later in 9mm. Original P-228s have folded (By mandrel) and welded slides like the original P-226s that were made in W. Germany and then Germany after the wall fell. The first M-11s were the folded and welded slide pistols but now use slides machined from stainless barstock so these pistols are little different from the 9mm P-229s that were made and discontinued. Your pistol would probably sell for a premium but it's really not a "collectible". I say shoot and carry it. ;)
 
The P-229 started life with a P-228 frame and a slide machined from stainless barstock. First in .40 S&W, then .357 SIG and later in 9mm. Original P-228s have folded (By mandrel) and welded slides like the original P-226s that were made in W. Germany and then Germany after the wall fell. The first M-11s were the folded and welded slide pistols but now use slides machined from stainless barstock so these pistols are little different from the 9mm P-229s that were made and discontinued. Your pistol would probably sell for a premium but it's really not a "collectible". I say shoot and carry it.
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I believe there needs to be some clarification. The P229 was designed specifically for the .40 S&W round. The P229 may have started life with a P228 frame, but if it did, it was modified and the magazine well was widened to accommodate the new wider mags for the .40S&W and .357Sig rounds. The 9mm P229 which did come out last, almost as an afterthought, probably did actually use an unmodified P228 frame.

The M11, which is the military designation for the P228, began life with, and continues to use, a folded carbon steel slide. It is the M11-A1 that has a stainless steel slide, but it has not been adopted by any U.S. military organization yet, in spite of what the Sig marketing implies.

I apologize if I appear to picking some nits. :D
 
The P228/P229 9MM also use a different locking insert than the the P229 .40/.357 SIG or at least they used to. Not sure about the recently redesigned P229.
 
I believe there needs to be some clarification. The P229 was designed specifically for the .40 S&W round. The P229 may have started life with a P228 frame, but if it did, it was modified and the magazine well was widened to accommodate the new wider mags for the .40S&W and .357Sig rounds. The 9mm P229 which did come out last, almost as an afterthought, probably did actually use an unmodified P228 frame.
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You were correct and I should have pointed out that the P-228s with a solid bar-stock slides would be the M11-A1 and the P-229 was designed around the .40 S&W, but it simply used the frame of the P-228. The original P-229 did not have an enlarged grip/magwell for the larger diameter .40 S&W cartridge and that's what limited it's cartridge capacity and the .357 SIG is a .40 S&W case necked down to take a .355" bullet. The only real difference are that the magazines feed lips were widened for the larger diameter case of the .40 S&W. Neither has the P-226 been modified in the grip/magwell to take the .40/.357 SIG over the 9mm models where only the slides have changed vs. the original 226 in 9mm. ;)
 
The original P-229 did not have an enlarged grip/magwell for the larger diameter .40 S&W cartridge and that's what limited it's cartridge capacity and the .357 SIG is a .40 S&W case necked down to take a .355" bullet. The only real difference are that the magazines feed lips were widened for the larger diameter case of the .40 S&W.
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I am sorry, but that is just not true for the P229, but is for the P226. I think you are confusing the P229 with the P226. :) The .40/.357 P229 mags have not changed from the beginning. They were wider at the bottom than the P228/early 9mm P229 mags and taper in about 2/3s of the way up to the width of the 9mm mag. Without the added width, the standard .40 and .357 mags (which are the same) would not have a 12rd capacity, which is what they originally had and what they still have.

I have a 1994 .40S&W P229 which is rail-less and has triple matching serial numbers while not one of the first is still an early version P229. I also have a 1993 P228 and can compare the mags.

This is a picture I took a while ago. It is a 13rd P228 9mm mag on the left and unfortunately a 10rd .40 P229 mag on the right, but the mag profile is the same as the 12rd .40 P229 mags. The mag in the middle is the new P229-1 9mm mag (that has the same profile as a .40 P229 mag) for the new 9mm P229s that are based on the old/"new" .40/.357 P229 frame with the wider magazine well. It is difficult to tell from the photo, but the bottoms of the two mags on the right are the same width and wider than the P228 one on the left.

IMG_2494_zpsbc58b867.jpg
 
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I apologize for the hijack of your thread. My New Year's resolution to myself was to try to prevent any information that I knew to be incorrect from being dispensed on the internet forums I participate in. Sometimes I get carried away and actually do it, maybe coming across as a little pedantic.:rolleyes:

I think you could certainly put your P228 in a safe and preserve it hoping it will appreciate in value. You would probably be able to find a "collector" or two in 20 years willing to pay a "premium" for a nice P228, but just think of all the years of enjoyment you will miss shooting it.
 
What are some of the markings on it? Is it a W. German? Made in Germany?
Is is nickel? Is it marked M 11 B above the trigger on the right side of the frame?

Sure, a "regular" P228 might not command a high dollar. However, you won't find a better 9mm handgun for 5-6 hundred bucks right now for the quality that those guns are.
 
I am sorry, but that is just not true for the P229, but is for the P226. I think you are confusing the P229 with the P226. The .40/.357 P229 mags have not changed from the beginning. They were wider at the bottom than the P228/early 9mm P229 mags and taper in about 2/3s of the way up to the width of the 9mm mag. Without the added width, the standard .40 and .357 mags (which are the same) would not have a 12rd capacity, which is what they originally had and what they still have.

I have a 1994 .40S&W P229 which is rail-less and has triple matching serial numbers while not one of the first is still an early version P229. I also have a 1993 P228 and can compare the mags.

This is a picture I took a while ago. It is a 13rd P228 9mm mag on the left and unfortunately a 10rd .40 P229 mag on the right, but the mag profile is the same as the 12rd .40 P229 mags. The mag in the middle is the new P229-1 9mm mag (that has the same profile as a .40 P229 mag) for the new 9mm P229s that are based on the old/"new" .40/.357 P229 frame with the wider magazine well. It is difficult to tell from the photo, but the bottoms of the two mags on the right are the same width and wider than the P228 one on the left.
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I certainly don't mean to hi-jack the thread either. I have been watching the development of .40 S&W pistols since the inception of the cartridge in 1990. The whole premise was to shorten the 10mm so that it would fit 9mm platform pistols. Your picture is better than you gave it credit. I did oversimplify in saying that they just took a 9mm mag and widened the feedlips, but in comparing the 9mm magazine on the left to the .40 S&W magazine on the right, there is very little dimensional difference and what little, if any, difference in width could be accommodated by a larger opening of the magwell at the bottom of the grip. There is really very little difference in the mags at all except the slight difference to the taper you mentioned along with the .40 magazine having the plastic base to make it a 10 rounder.

You're saying I'm right about the P226 but wrong about the P229. No where did I ever read that SIG had to use a larger grip frame than the P228's. In fact, the P228 is nothing more than a shortened P226 slide/frame. I was around long before it was introduced as well. So if no modification to the grip was needed for the P226 to accept .40 S&W, why would there have been a need to enlarge the grip of the P228? If you took a cloth measuring tape and measured the area of the two pistols (228 & 229) in the grip I believe the only difference you'll find can be attributed to the grips if they are different. Take the grips off and you'll see that the two grip frames are dimensionally equal. I'm guessing you've already noticed that the P229 slide will go onto the P228 frame.

I appreciate you being a fellow Texan and your new year's resolution, but I just don't get how you'd think the whole grip would have changed just because of a magazine that at best might be 1mm wider. ;)
 
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