How to tell if a Sig is German made or not?

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Dumantepe

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What are some ways to tell if a Sig is German made or not?

I bought a Sig Sauer P226 that was advertised as being made in Germany. I called the retailer asking if the the pistol said "made in Germany" anywhere on it, the person I spoke to on the phone said no, but he said it had German proof marks on it.

Anyways I bought the pistol and today it finally arrived. However no where on the pistol is their any German proof marks, the frame says made in Germany like all other Sigs (With a Sig Arms Exeter mark above it), and has a Sauer sign to the left of the writing. The slide as far as I can find says Sig P226 and has a code inside that says AK, from a Google search this is the date code for 09. The slide also has a very large and long extractor, which I have never seen on a P226 before.

Is this really a German made Sig, or was I fooled?
 
If the slide has markings saying that it was made in Exeter, NH, then it wasn't made in Germany. If the slide has markings saying it was made in W. Germany, then it was made in Germany. :p
 
rollie100 said:
good point. can you post pics?. and crosshair has an excellent point as well!.
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Yeap here you go:

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Some sort of stamp on barrel.
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Inside the slide
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Dumantepe said:
As you can see their are no other markings on the slide except for the one with AK (and the Sig P226).
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i'd say the slide is american made, and i havnt seen that ejector before either. definetly an oddball thats for sure, unlike any i've seen before.

at least your frame is german, and non rail too even better!!!. but that slide is questionable.
 
Your Sig P226 has a German made frame and the rest is made and assembled in their US plant in Exeter.

As mentioned above the "U" prefix in the serial number is a good indicator a Sig was completely made and assembled in Germany.

I had two older Sigs, that both had a "U" prefix, both were marked "Made in W Germany". As Sig USA was just an office before "the wall" came down and they had no manufacturing facility in the US, it was easy to tell they were completely made in Germany.

Sig USA began making some models just after 1990 in the Exeter plant and now make the majority of Sigs available in NA.

The external extractor on your P226 is a give away that the slide was made in the US. The frame would have been made in Germany, the slide, barrel, etc. were made in the US. The older P226's and other models had formed carbon steel slides as well, the US slides are S.S. CNC machined. Sig claimed they went to CNC process to beef up the slide for larger calibers. My old W German P220 in .45 had no issues, so I don't swallow that one! They went to external extractors and said it was to improve the design. I think they did both to cheapen up production.

As expected, the tolerances on a German made gun are much tighter, and the hand fitting makes them better gun in my opinion.

Here is a photo of my older (1984) W German P226. Notice the lack of an external extractor, you can also see the German proof marks. This gun was made in W Germany and marked Tysons Corner, VA. This was Sig USA's first office. The second office was Herndon VA. Exeter is their production plant now.

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Here is the underside of the slide showing the build date and German proof marks.

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Here is the side of the barrel showing the German proof mark on the side.

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Here is the underside of the formed slide, compare it to yours, you will see the difference.

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Now here's a real twist!!!
This was a recent aquisition, it is a NOS 2009 Sig P226 that was completely made in German! Yes, they are still available to us. The X-Five and X-Six guns are completely made in German as well.
However, compare the price of a US made Sig to a German made Sig and you will notice a fair premium.

Notice there is a "U" prefix, also no external extractor and you will also see that the frame, slide and barrel all have the serial number on them. German Sigs are matched at the very beginning of production. The guns are hand fitted and QA controlled very closely. Something that the US can't claim!
You will also see that Exeter is not seen anywhere on the gun.

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If you look in the serial code of mine it begins with a U, but a quick google search reveals that this does not necessarily mean a Whole German gun. Anyways on my receipt it says P226R as well, and clearly not a railed model as well. I am hoping that they just sold the wrong model. I am going to contact the dealer and see what they say.

The best way to tell a German made Sig is if it says Made In Germany on the slide not the frame. All of the ones I have seen after Google searching like yours black acre have it written on the slide and not the frame. I.E the frame does not say "Frame made in Germany".
 
blackacres said:
This gun was made in W Germany and marked Tysons Corner, VA. This was Sig USA's first office. The second office was Herndon VA. Exeter is their production plant now.
Click to expand...

Don't forget Lyson's Corner! Everyone always forgets L.C...
 
HaHaHa....................yeah try to find Lysons Corner, VA on Google Maps, etc.! LMAO

Although, if I could find a nice one those misprinted ones for sale, I'd be pulling my wallet out faster than you can say "I'll buy it"!
 
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