This is odd to me, as it's not a stamped slide, and aren't the milled ones stainless? What sort of finish did the milled slides have on them back in the mid-90s? Since Black Ice did the slide I may send the frame off to them for a refinish, since it's only $45. This is one of the ex-police Sigs that either the importer or wholesaler had sent off to Black Ice for a slide refinish. A previous owner got a little happy with the aluminum black on the frame, but that's not a concern to me.
Did the milled slides come from Germany or were they an American product first? The date on the underside of the grips say 5/98 so I can get a ballpark-figure on when it was made.ĮDIT: I found the original ad for this gun on GunsAmerica today while looking at other P226s! The ad states that the serial number range puts the manufacture date at 1996, so the grips could be later add-ons. The frame has the German "cockroach" proof-mark on it, as well as the serial #. The left side of the slide has the company and model stamp, as well as the Gendarmerie Vaud crest. It's got the big milled stainless slide, too. The right side of the slide has the import " Germany PW Arms Redmond WA" slide and the serial number, but nothing else. I have one of the PW Imports ex-Swiss police P226s, and it doesn't have any date marking anywhere other than under the grips. You have a rare gun from back when Sig make great pistols––congrats! The "P" with a circle on the barrel is the barrel proof. If they did, you would find it on the slide, under the barrel, on the "dust cover."Īccording to the SigForum link, the prefix AD does make it a 94 gun. IIRC, the P229s did not have proof marks––only 100% German guns did. AD would actually be 03 (also in Growler's post). There is a pic of the proof stamping on page 1 of this thread by Growler67. The serial prefix and proof stamping are two totally different things. The P229 wasn't released until 1992 and only in. Going back means AC is '93, AB is '92 so AA would be '91 (just as. The pattern is lost by "AM." My serial number starts "AD" which appears to be standard for the 1994 year. Was that the first year the P229 was out or was it released in '93?ĮDIT: based on the link on the sigforum () it appears the two letters that start the serial number do, in fact, indicate the year.or at least closely correspond. I did check the mags the pistol shipped with and they were stamped '94.
The P229 is a scaled down version of the P226 in that it has a shorter grip frame and 3.9 barrel.
P229: The P229 began life as the P228, but with the advent of the.40S&W Sig needed to beef up the slide mass which is why it is wider than the P226. So I guess the letter codes do not apply? The only mark other than the serial # on the barrel I found was a small "P" (no circle) on the side of the protrusion that the guide rod and recoil spring rest. It is available in 9mm.40S&W and.357 Sig. Found the owners manual.would've thought they'd be right there with it.Īnyway, as best as I researched quickly, the P229 sold in the US was not assembled in Germany. I changed the grips out to Hogue wrap-around rubberized grips, and can't at the moment find the originals. There are no marking on the underside of the slide. I was unable to find any of the markings mentioned on my P229.