Flork's guide to Sig Pistol Inspection - Repost from Sigforum.com

[sprint]

Not my work. All credit goes to Flork at Sigforum for this post. I am a regular there and I was looking for a decent framework to describe the level of wear on a pistol I have listed on the EE here at CGN. I was quickly referred to this outstanding guide that should help you classify if you are getting a gun with years of life left on it or a malfunctioning lemon in the making.

It contains very good information on what to look for regarding conditions of wear on a Sig P series pistol.


Enjoy.

http://sigforum.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/430601935/m/3951014551/p/2

I've had a handful of recent emails asking how to tell if a used Sig is still in good shape or not, after writing the same email over and over for the last 4 1/2 years I figured it was time to post my thoughts on what to look at when you're gonna purchase a used Sig.

The first thing to look at is the Frame rails. These will tell you everything that you need to know about how well the gun has been taken care of. The Following is how the colors of the under side of the frame rails will change as your gun wears.

1) Dull Black - No Wear, perfect finish.
2) Shiny Black - Slight wearing in of the pigment in the Anodizing, this is normal after around 200 rounds
3) Dark Gold/Orange - The Pigment in the Anodizing is starting to wear, this is perfectly normal and not a problem, the metal is still protected and your frame is still perfectly viable. Most guns reach this phase between 2000 and 4000 rounds.
4) Bright Gold - The pigment in the anodizing is wearing in. Your frame is still protected and your gun is still perfectly viable. Most guns reach this phase and remain static from here on out as long as proper lubrication is used.
5)Light Gold - The pigment in your anodizing is wearing through, your frame is still protected, but you should keep an eye on it.
6) Shiny Silver - This is where you need to start to worry. The pigment in the Anodizing is worn through, your frame is still protected, but you need to monitor your frame rails very closely and make sure they remain greased thoroughly for the rest of your gun's life.
7) Dull Silver - You're screwed. Your Anodizing has worn completely through in the areas you see dull anodizing. From here on your frame is unprotected and it's time to buy a new gun. It may still shoot and function perfectly, but your frame rails will continue to wear at a much accelerated rate.

The next thing to look at is the disconnector tab on your trigger bar. That's the part of the trigger bar that sits up highest in the frame. A factory new trigger bar will have a nice radius across the top, a heavily used one will have a flat worn into it. The best way to check and make sure it's still functioning correctly is to pull the slide back by 1/4 of an inch and pull the trigger, if the hammer doesn't try to fall you're ok.

The Next place to look at is the barrel. You will notice the "smileys" on the barrel on the muzzle end. If you run your finger down the barrel and feel a dip, you may want to have the gun looked at by a professional, the slide should not be abrading the barrel enough to remove any metal at all. The presence of a dip in the metal would indicate that your slide has a burr in it.

If you look at the front of the chamber section at the top of the barrel you will see a ledge that steps down just before the tube part of the barrel starts. The ledge there should be at a clear 90 degree angle, any rolling of that sharp corner would indicate a soft barrel or one which hasn't been lubricated properly.

The slide should also be inspected. The slide lock lever detent on the slide should be looked at for burrs or any rounding on the rear or the notch. A burr sticking out can abrade your thumbs if you shoot a thumbs forward grip. A burr on the slide could indicate a slightly soft slide or that the previous shooter kept their thumb on the slide lock lever. A rounded off notch at the back would indicate an improper heat treat of the slide.

 

[sigarms226]

Thanks so much for the post! This allowed me to find some rather unfortunate issues with my older CPO P226.

 

[twyeh]

This really slaps the myth out that SIGs are indestructible, I am assuming this applies to the Beretta 9x as well. Steel will always eat Aluminum.

 

[sprint]

This really slaps the myth out that SIGs are indestructible, I am assuming this applies to the Beretta 9x as well. Steel will always eat Aluminum.

They are tough guns.


But like ANYTHING mechanical they benefit from proper care as easily as they can be abused by a retard. Here is a 5 year, 50,000 round P226. It has been reasonably taken care of to 50k.

All original post credit and photo credit to Whitecoyote@sigforum.

http://sigforum.com/eve/forums?s=674608412&a=tpc&m=681109261&f=430601935

Posted October 06, 2009 04:50 PM

Today I fired the 50,000th round from the Sig Sauer P226 Navy #NSW 14xx. It took five years, and 29 days.
The Sig P226 was puchased new on September 7th, 2004.

I kept a log on every round fired from the Navy P226. It was cleaned after almost every range session.
Here are some statistics:
*The recoil spring was replaced every 5,000 rounds.
*18,300 rds. the spring guide rod was replaced. It wore out from using Wolff springs (this is the only part replaced on the Sig).
*22,000-25,000, 3,000 between cleaning.
*28,000 rounds several failure to feed, due to faulty Remington ammo (these were the only failures).
*41,200 rounds hammer dropped three times (from single action). Continued to fire ok.
*126 trips to the range.
*Average 397 rounds fired per range trip.
*Cleaned with M-pro 7, and Gun Scrubber.
*Lubricants, Weapon Shield, and G96 oil.

Some ammunition statistics:
*Approximately 98% of the ammo fired was 115gr.
*Weight of fully loaded cartriges
1000rds.=26.36lbs.
10,000rds.=263.60lbs.
50,000rds.=1,318lbs.
*Total weight of bullets (based on 115gr. bullets)
60.87, 115gr bullets = 1 pound
50,000, 115gr bullets = 821.42lbs.

*50,000 rds. = 1,000, 50 round boxes
*1,000 boxes @ $10.00 each (approxmately)=$10,000

This message has been edited. Last edited by: WhiteCoyote, October 06, 2009 08:20 PM

Note this comment:

*41,200 rounds hammer dropped three times (from single action). Continued to fire ok.

Reference Flork's post quote about a worn flat on the disconnector tab on your trigger bar. This should connect the dots and give you an idea what a 50k round gun looks like versus what you are looking at buying.

Note that a new trigger bar that can fix this issue is approx $70 USD from TopGun supply.