Sig Sauer P229 357 Sig Deal Alert

[runco]

Due to the weather and being busy to survive, I meant to post this a couple of days ago.  This is a very good deal on Used Police Trade ins, BTW I know nothing of the retailer, order at your own risk:

 

http://www.sportsmansoutdoorsuperstore.com/products2.cfm/ID/152691

 

[URL=http://s963.photobucket.com/user/runco0318/media/Deal%20Sig%20P229_zpsykem8c7l.jpg.html][/URL]

[wileecoyote]

These just went down another $50 to $419 on sale, still free shipping. I just got my tax refund and couldn't resist, got a few on the way. Thanks for sharing.

[Pete123]

I recently purchased and Sig P229 and can share my experience.

 

I didn't know about the website referenced above.  While researching, I came across many police trade-ins.  I really wanted a 9mm, though couldn't find any.  My next choice was a .357 Sig.  The ones I came across had Sig's DAK trigger and I know I don't want that.  

 

Based on my sources, .40 S&W was the only choice.  I had one option that had that police trade-ins.  Those pistols had sig night sights, a picatinny rail or both,  The vendor rated them good to very good.

 

I have had another provider selling the Sig certified pre-owned guns.  Those guns go back to the Sig factory and one of their techs restores it to the specs of a new gun.  The downside with these is that you didn't know if you would get night sights or a picatinny.

 

With the selection I had, I went with the certified pre-owned.  It's really nice, shoots well and is very accurate. It has neither night sights or a picatinny.  I would expect that the police trade-ins would have been nice as well.  If the choice had been a used 9mm I would have gone with the used gun, especially if it had night sights and a picatinny.  I would have gone with a used .357 sig with night sights over the certified pre-owned if that had been a choice.

 

From a pricing perspective, the certified pre owned was $510 and the used guns were mainly around $500.

Edited March 4, 2015 by Pete123

[wileecoyote]

Good info Pete.

 

Sig is my favorite brand, so I have owned, shot, and worked on MANY of their pistols. A few comments:

 

You can get Barsto barrels for the P229 to convert it from 40 or 357 to 9mm (but not the reverse) without buying the new slide kit from Sig. Many people report using these barrels with the 40/357 slides and mags with no issues, so it is worth a try considering that the Sig conversion kits are very pricey. Beats the heck out of buying multiple guns, and allows flexibility to shoot what ammo you have on hand.

 

The DAK guns are actually pretty nice and allow consistent shot-to-shot experience, which is great for defense and some other scenarios, so the only thing I don't like about it is that it is not cheap to convert a DAK back to a standard DA/SA or DAO configuration. So I prefer to buy Sigs which are either DA/SA or DAO, as they can more easily and cheaply be switched back and forth, although my personal preference is DA/SA.

 

I totally dislike a railed pistol, at least the metal frames, as they almost always have sharp edges which can be uncomfortable and accelerate holster or clothing wear, and I generally don't use rails on my pistols anyway. For me a defensive pistol is almost always carried concealed and likely to be shot quickly at close quarters, so I want it to be as small and light as possible, and I don't really need or want the rail gadgets anyway. For home defense, where lights or lasers might be a bit more helpful, I would prefer to have those gadgets on my shotgun or defense rifle, and only use the pistol as a backup.

 

Now on the subject of CPO vs. police trades, I have seen MANY of both. My experience is that most police trades will have more finish wear but very little actual usage, so they typically function perfectly after a detailed dis-assembly and cleaning/lube. So the difference is mostly cosmetic, and even that can be very minimal if you are lucky to find some police trades that are in VG to EXC condition. The one exception here is usually the models with night sights, as most brands have a life expectancy of 10 years and the trades are typically 4-6+ years old when you get them, thus they are typically pretty dim. But in this case I tend to replace them with new night sights (usually $50-$80) or standard contrast sights ($20-$30) and they are just fine. If you buy trades in FAIR to GOOD condition then the other issue you see (besides more finish wear) is worn magazine springs and followers, but those too are easily and cheaply replaced. So in most cases the CPO guns are not worth the extra cost, at least to me since I can easily get the Sig parts and I have all the gunsmith tools and experience to do my own work. In fact that's one of the things I enjoy the most about the trades... the process of restoring them is pretty fun, although now it typically takes me quite a while due to an injury from a year ago.

 

And finally, I have read several books and scientific studies (well over 2,000 pages) regarding ballistic performance on human threats in defensive situations, and I am convinced that with modern ammo the .357 Sig is perhaps the single best caliber from a sheer performance / shootability perspective. The only downside is that it is less common ammo so it tends to cost a bit more, but reloading helps to solve that issue, and if ammo is in short supply you can just switch the barrel and shoot 9mm or 40 from the same gun.

 

Thus I have picked up a few of the Sigs above, and I am due to pick them up in the morning, I can hardly wait. I will share my results here later after I have inspected the goods.

[Pete123]

Wileecoyotee,

 

Your post is excellent.  Question:  Are night sights that big a deal in your experience?  Also, you referenced night sights in the $50-$80 range.  Can you share a couple of examples?

 

It sounds like you just purchased a couple of sigs, so you may be set.  Having said that, CDNN currently has a .357 Sig, DAK, $400-$420 range, though they have rails.

 

I cut my teeth on single action or DA / SA pistols.  I have an HK VP9 and am having a hard time getting used to the trigger.

Edited March 4, 2015 by Pete123

[wileecoyote]

Wileecoyotee,

 

Your post is excellent.  Question:  Are night sights that big a deal in your experience?  Also, you referenced night sights in the $50-$80 range.  Can you share a couple of examples?

 

It sounds like you just purchased a couple of sigs, so you may be set.  Having said that, CDNN currently has a .357 Sig, DAK, $400-$420 range, though they have rails.

 

I cut my teeth on single action or DA / SA pistols.  I have an HK VP9 and am having a hard time getting used to the trigger.

I personally dislike night sights on most of my guns. They are harder to see and acquire a target picture during daylight hours, and if it is dark enough at night to require night sights then you probably are not justified in shooting at a target when you can't see it well enough for a positive identification. They do help with general alignment of the gun in a dark bedroom or similar barricaded position, when you might want to align with the door or hall entrance, but in most of those scenarios the distances are likely to be short thus fine aiming is usually less important, and if a known threat busts down my locked safe room door then I am going to repel the threat with a defensive shotgun or rifle first anyway, so I feel that night sights are neat and I own a few but I view them as mostly a novelty, and I rarely carry them on my primary concealment gun.

 

CDNN has a great example of several Sig factory sight posts (regular and night sights) very reasonably priced, and they often have other models to choose from. I have also found sights from other vendors including Amazon, MidwayUSA, and a few others depending on the sales and coupons, and I have some connections in LEO and GOV that can sometimes get me them pretty cheap, but once again I don't buy them too often.

 

I have seen the cheap DAK trade-ins which you speak of, and have been watching them on the used and wholesale markets for a long while. I was really tempted to get one, and I might eventually do so, but after doing the research I found that it would cost nearly $200 or more to convert the DAK to DA/SA, in which case it is cheaper for me to just buy a DA/SA gun. And I don't really like shooting 40 at all, as it is less effective than the 357 for most defense needs IMHO, so if I purchased a Sig 40 then I have to buy at least one new barrel to convert it to 357 or 9mm, so the 40s don't have much appeal to me other than to add to the collection when I get a real bargain, or to add a 40 barrel to the 357 gun to make it more flexible.

 

I also found the DA/SA transition a bit odd when I first started shooting and collecting Sigs nearly 30 years ago, but I quickly grew to like and prefer it, especially on a Sig that I have tuned for my personal needs with the proper grips, short reach trigger, action job, etc. I still use plenty of DAO guns too, but my favorite is Sig DA/SA in most cases, although the Sig P250 is pretty hard to beat for a polymer DA.

[runco]

I recommend watching ebay for night sites if you are not in a hurry.  Here was a good post awhile back on a deal:

 

http://www.tngunowners.com/forums/topic/80895-deal-alert-sig-night-sights/?hl=%2Bsig+%2Bnight+%2Bdeal

[Patton]

Just a thought, but you can generally find people who will swap you a .40 barrel for their .357 barrel