German Made SIG 226 In-Stock...
- Thread starter Questar
- Start date
The internetz says this but I have yet to see it. Friend of a friend maybe..
Material Quality is the issue. German made Sigs are far superior to U.S. made Sigs. No internet myth. Questar is offering a great service by bringing them in.
Don't misunderstand, we are not importing these guns from Germany... they are actually being imported from Germany to the US by SIG USA and we buy them from SIG USA and export them to Canada from there.
A few years back we did do some importations directly from SIG in Germany but to be honest the wait times were nuts (9 + months as I remember it) and the costs were ridiculous. Just not enough volume to spread the high shipping, brokerage, etc. so cost per gun was nuts. Also, the paperwork to export guns from Germany was insane... actually more of a pain-in-the-ass than for us to import/export from USA.
As for the "quality" questions, I would have to say that I also feel that the German made guns tend to be better than the US made product but not sure that it's as noticeable as many people make it out to be. In many cases, customers are actually comparing German SIGs that were built a number of years ago to US guns being built now and assuming German guns being built now are the same as German guns that were built years ago... all things change.
I do believe that the German built/assembled guns we see the past couple years are "smoother" and better detailed than the US made guns we see... but we have seen German guns arrive with mistakes and problems so don't think the German built stuff is perfection... there's no such thing.
Also, people don't realize that on many models of US "built" guns many of the components and sub-assemblies are actually made in or come from Germany. So many of the US guns are to a certain degree partially German built. This has been a big issue the past few years because in many cases the long delays for many US made models was in fact because the US plant was waiting for delivery of German made parts and assemblies (frames, etc.)... the German production could not keep pace with the US factorys' needs and so for a couple years we were constantly waiting 6 months or more for shipments of many US models (I remember Elites as a specific example that caused us huge headaches because of wait times from Germany... even now the Stainless Elite series has a longer wait time than many other models).
I believe this was a major reason behind SIG USA's expansion the past year or two, as they tried to build US production capabilities to meet the demand which Germany was unable to feed for them. Doing this obviously results in growing pains.
They are... totally German Made guns... but from Germany they ship with regular sights and grips... the US changes those to SIGLite Night Sights and the E2 Grips.
Mark
Cpt.Flan
CGN frequent flyer
I owned both sigs. A few years ago I had a German made sig and I got this nice P226 Elite from Questar lately that is "US made".
To be very honest... Barrel is the same. US slide finish and work is better. No tool marks inside the slide as well.
On my German frame Sig P226 the anodizing finish is a little smoother. Internal parts are the same quality. Grip is way better on the US made one. They add the new Aluminum Hogue ones to it.
Accuracy is the same or better with the US models IMHO. Function as good as any Sig's I have got in the past. I did not noticed any differences.
So seriously, I would not hesitate buying another US made Sig. I think they are as good as the "German" ones...
Cheers.
bollox
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Calgary, AB
I agree.
Has anyone actually, physically experienced the ''lack of quality'' in US SIGs?
Reminds me of the Beretta "made in Italy" debacle. People still use that as a ''selling'' point.
Has anyone actually, physically experienced the ''lack of quality'' in US SIGs?
Reminds me of the Beretta "made in Italy" debacle. People still use that as a ''selling'' point.
Sargeant Slaughter
Regular
I recently puchased a 229 mag from Questar and got an Italian made mag with an inferior shiny black finish .....not like the flat coloured mag I got with my pistol (original prohib. 229 ) By the way Questar can you bring in a Sig 239 with a Canadian barrel in 357 Sig ?
Thanks Mark. Providing the slide and frame are German Proof marked, buyers are getting gems.
vickers vanguard
CGN Regular
- Location
- Laval, Quebec
I had a US made 226.......no problem at all, never had any issue of any kind with the Gun.
highspeedlowdrag
Regular
- Location
- British Columbia
Would that Italian made mag be a MecGar one? From what I've heard, they are arguably one of the better (current production) ones available for Sigs these days...
hsld.
Sargeant Slaughter
Regular
I threw the package out 'cuz I was stuck with it . It had , I believe , Sig all over it (I would cosider that misleading 'cuz it didn't MecGar on it )
Canadian eh!
Regular
Mec Gar and Sig factory mags are the exact same thing. One is 50$ and the other is missing the Sig Sauer engraving...
The only difference is the finish. One can be matte and the other is lacked.
Cheers.
No, they are not anymore....on the American sigs the mags are now made by checkmate in the us and have a flat finish and a metal floor plate. They have had a number of reported reliability issues, check out sig forum for more details. My stainless elite 226 was a stove piping jam o matic with them....switched to mecgars(which used to be the supplied factory mag) and not one problem since.....so you want the mecgars which in the ten round version have a plastic base and follower and are made in Italy. They are better, period, IMHO. Not sure which mags are shipping with these, either German zipper back mags(which are also great) if the mags came through from germany with the guns or American checkmates most likely, if these were packaged in Exeter, But they will not be the Mecgars.
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Cpt.Flan
CGN frequent flyer
Read the thread carefully. I was obviously talking about the aftermarket mags form the reply above mine saying that MecGar mags suck. Not the mags that comes with the pistols.
I am aware that the US made Sigs comes with a 15 rounders pinned to 10 with the flat metal base. I will also say that they are inferior compare to the old ones.
Cheers.
Miltiades
Regular
- Location
- Ontario (:
I have Sig mags (made in Germany with matte finish) that are reliable but are nine round mags. I guess the factory was too afraid to make them 10.5 rounds to function with the full ten rounds capacity. I also have MecGar mags with the plastic bottom that are superior because they are just as reliable but can be loaded to full capacity and still can be seated in the pistol with the slide forward. In all my years of shooting, I never recall any problem with MecGar mags.
Canadian eh!
Regular
Sorry, I was trying to clarify not confuse things
Regardless of what mags come with these, a German made sig is an awesome choice! These should not last long long in stock!
Regardless of what mags come with these, a German made sig is an awesome choice! These should not last long long in stock!
Miltiades
Regular
- Location
- Ontario (:
I have had German made P226's (the whole gun made in Germany), I have P226's with the frames made in Germany and the slides in the States and I have one that is U.S. made, frame and slide. Frankly, I have not noticed any difference in quality or reliability. I know that the RCMP selected the P226 for their ERT members BUT they found that after around 3000 rounds fired the barrels were toast. Sig claims their supplier of the forgings had a bad batch. So, sh*t does happen.
juliet lima
CGN Regular
Yes, although it is more of a new vs. old issue.
Sig has farmed out the manufacture of a lot of small parts to the Israelis.
The Israelis are sub contracting the work to South Asia.
Their MIM parts are not holding up.
Granted I probably shoot more than average but when my old W. German 228 which has literally 10's of thousands of rounds still has no parts breakage and my 'recent' 229 has broken a couple ejectors, an extractor and a trigger bar in less than 12,000 rounds I call that a clue.
One of the companies I work for has switched to gen 3 glocks because they got tired of replacing parts on the sigs.
I like Sigs and this seems like a sweet deal. I just don't use them for work anymore.
That said, I would never hesitate to buy anything from Questar.
In my experience if you have a problem they have excellent after sales service .
As ever, this is my $0.02 and YMMV
