Brand New SIG P229: Gaps in Slide Finish

[Servo]

The slide on my 2022 looks similar to the photos posted by TunnelRat. I do not consider it a serious quality control issue since the 2022 is not the most expensive Sig. The gun functions perfectly, and, this "defect" is on the inside so it is never seen unless it is apart.

Still, I can see where someone who spent a good bit of money would expect better. If corners were cut here, where else did they cut corners?

I suppose it is a sign of the times. No matter what industry, what product, someone is looking to reduce production costs. My other hobby is motorcycles and I have seen it here as well (e.g. BMW will never admit they have a problem with a vehicle and production of some components is outsourced to low labor rate countries).

 

[WVsig]

I suppose it is a sign of the times. No matter what industry, what product, someone is looking to reduce production costs. My other hobby is motorcycles and I have seen it here as well (e.g. BMW will never admit they have a problem with a vehicle and production of some components is outsourced to low labor rate countries).

I agree which is why I buy guns like this:

and cars like this:

 

[Evan-0-Matic]

Newer SIGs suck... Period.

Another prime of example of why i will not buy a SIG made in the last 5-10 years. A risky investment at best in my opinion.

I love Sigs... but it's too easy to find a close to mint W. German Sig for a lot less these days. And those guns are built like friggin' tanks... worthy of the name.

Sorry to hear about your troubles. Good luck resolving the issue!

 

[Sparks1957]

They don't all suck. I've had my P229 for about 6 months now, and have about 800-900 rounds through it without a single malfunction of any kind. Paying some attention to details like proper lubrication certainly helps. Maybe I'm just lucky?

It is disturbing that there are a growing number of dissatisfied Sig owners in recent years, however. A company takes those shortcuts to higher profit at a cost.

My 1989 W. German P220 is amazing piece of work, it will outlive me for sure.

 

[Merad]

My P226 was manufactured in 2009, and it's been superb in every way.

 

[Paul K]

How can a company, where one easily can spend close to 1k on one of their products, allow threads like this to even exist? It seems like they are cutting more than just their manufacturing process...

 

[Servo]

Paul K: I wonder about that myself. I suppose it is because there is no reason to worry.

Not to go off on a tangent, but let's look at it from what I said earlier about motorcycles. From what I read in the motorcycle press, BMW has the highest rate of warranty repair in the industry. I have no way to prove this and I doubt if BMW will volunteer this information. Their bikes are among the most expensive, if not the most expensive. I will admit that they usually make good on their warranties but problems can arise. If you get a good one (built properly) is goes forever, but the failure rate on some components can be alarmingly high and very expensive to repair. In fairness, everything, no matter what the product, is expensive to repair, but if we pay more for something in the beginning, should we not expect better service life and better attention to detail?

Some claim that it costs BMW next to nothing for warranty repair since the buyers of new bikes pay for possible warranty repair thru the high initial sales price. I never looked at it this way, but maybe it is true. And, as long as enough buyers choose BMW, why worry about the negative press?

This type of situation might be applicable to any industry, even guns like Sig.

 

[Eghad]

I am sure SIG still makes a decent firearm that shoots well just that the attention to detail has been farmed out to save money. This is done a lot these days. I am sure the SIG owners who have been buying for years have a valid complaint. I have been thinking about getting a SIG 229. I guess I might want to start looking at used firearms.

 

[WVsig]

It is not that you cannot get a good gun our of Sig these days. It is not that you could not get a bad one back in the day.

It is that depending on what time of day it was, who put it together, which contractor was sending mags this week or slide stops or springs... can alter the appearance and the quality of the pistol.

It is more about the details that functional failures but IMHO those numbers have gone up to. It is still statistically high you will get a good gun out of Sig but it sucks when you don't.

 

[Noreaster]

Sig has grown and gotten allot of Govt. contracts. They have been hiring many new people. Sig is a great name and worth it, but they need to pay more attention to QC and loose the chip off their shoulder when dealing with the public, both civilian and LEO.

 

[Merad]

It is not that you cannot get a good gun our of Sig these days. It is not that you could not get a bad one back in the day.

Sounds like nostalgia to be blunt. Every person or company who makes anything in significant volume make mistakes and have the occasional "lemon". Is there any real evidence that Sig makes a significantly lower quality product today than 10-20 years ago, as is claimed in this thread?

 

[trex1310]

Is there any real evidence that Sig makes a significantly lower quality product today than 10-20 years ago, as is claimed in this thread?

Is there any real evidence that they do?

 

[TunnelRat]

I never made any claim matching this:

Is there any real evidence that Sig makes a significantly lower quality product today than 10-20 years ago, as is claimed in this thread?

 

[Uncle Malice]

I don't think the quality... when you get one that works well... is any lower.

The issue seems to be that there are significantly more making it out of the shop that are less than perfect...

When a Sig works, it works very well. But it seems that over the last few years, they have had some issues weeding out the bad ones from the litter... and it's starting to ruin their once stellar reputation.

HK is similarly priced, and although they are polymer framed, they have excellent fit, finish and craftsmanship... not to mention excellent QUALITY CONTROL. Obviously, there will be some.. occasionally... but by and large... it's a safe assumption to pick up any HK and expect it to be 100% reliable. Much the same way as Glock. Sigs used to be the same way...

 

[Paul K]

Sig needs to embrace concepts like Six Sigma and Kaizen...

 

[sigarms228]

Yes the missing gap in finish INSIDE the slide on some SIG pistols has been acknoweledged by SIG and stated as to be normal. I have several SIGs new and old and some have complete finish (or was complete when new) and some have missing spots in various places inside the slide -while my GSR 1911 has none at all! I never gave it a second thought as that area is subject to wear anyhow, not visible when the pistol is assembled, and I cover the entire inside of the slide with light lube before reassembly.

The good news is that in no way does such missing finish inside the slide affect function, accuracy, or reliability. I would much rather have irregular finish INSIDE the slide of a SIG of mine than to have to see that BIG MIM mold line down the middle of an HK pistol hammer. Now that I find tacky along with rattling controls that HK owners also complain about. Add a less than ideal DA/SA trigger and I have been turned off to buying a couple HK pistols I have tried - the P2000 and the P30 in particular and will purchase a Walther P99 AS or PPQ over those some day soon to add another poly pistol to my collection.

One of the other forums had a recent poll on reliability of the classic line of SIG pistols, old and new, and the good news is that the members of that forum were almost unanimous in their praise for the reliability of their SIG pistols. As usual a couple of exceptions here and there tend to greatly exagerate perceived problems.

I would not hesitate to buy another new P220/P225/P226/P228/P229/P239/SP2022/SIG 1911 if I had the desire to.

 

[Paul K]

HK controls rattle? I've been collecting HK's for going on 11 years and this is the first I've heard of this.

 

[1goodshot]

They just dont make them like they use to. They want to put rails an tails on things instead of building them the old way, sad.

 

[Merad]

I never made any claim matching this:

Is there any real evidence that Sig makes a significantly lower quality product today than 10-20 years ago, as is claimed in this thread?

No, you didn't. But after your original post about 50% of the thread has been a discussion about how new Sigs are garbage.

 

[TunnelRat]

@Merad
People post what their own personal experiences tell them. If you want solid proof take a math course.

My SIG still functions great, but it does have some cosmetic blemishes that one might not expect on a $1000 firearm.

I have handled older SIGs. There is something about them that feels like it is higher quality. I am not sure how to measure something like that. To go along the lines of your argument though, if older SIGs had as many problems why aren't all those people appearing now and saying as much?