Sig P220 question

[WheelGunRealGun]

I want to buy a P220, but I've seen my friends buy new Sigs and they don't seem very well made and have less than stellar reliability.

I've always heard the older Sigs are better, but I also heard that the West German/early 200's had frame cracking issues.

What's the best year range for 220's?

ALSO, how many rounds can the aluminum 220 frame take? I want a gun that'll last my whole life (I'm 22)

[BarryLee]

I think the demise of the SIG Sauer Corporation is much exaggerated fueled by internet misinformation and some limited anecdotal evidence. I personally feel you would have as good, if not better, chance of getting a gun to last you a lifetime from SIG as any other major manufacture in the same price range. So, if you’re in the market I would simply buy a new gun and enjoy. As a matter of fact I have purchased two in the last few years and experienced zero issues.

[Water-Man]

I own a Sig P220R that's four years old and has been perfect from day one.

W-M

[TacticalDefense1911]

I have heard reports of people dealing with a large volume of Sigs, like Police armorers, that have seen an increase in breakages and malfunctions, with more guns needing to be sent back to the factory because they could not be fixed by the armorer.

Obviously with a large inventory you are inevitably going to end up with some bad guns. While failures may be up a couple of percentage points this poses a greater problem to someone with alot of inventory vs. someone buying a single gun. If you do have an issue Sig has a pretty good CS department to handle the problem and make it right. While I do think that things at Sig have slipped slightly and that they are starting to move away from their long standing history as a provider of weapons for the professional and are moving more towards the commercial end of things they still make a pretty decent gun for the most part.

As far as an aluminum frame holding up for your lifetime I guess it depends on how many rounds you plan on putting through it a year. If you are the type that will only put a couple hundred rounds through it a year then it could last indefinitely. If you plan on putting 5k+ rounds through it a year for the rest of your life then no gun will hold up that long without major repairs or replacement parts at some point.

[TunnelRat]

I want to buy a P220, but I've seen my friends buy new Sigs and they don't seem very well made and have less than stellar reliability.

Could you elaborate?

ALSO, how many rounds can the aluminum 220 frame take? I want a gun that'll last my whole life (I'm 22)

Should take quite a few, though the volume you shoot will come into play. If you're that worried about it you can always get a steel framed pistol.

[lamarw]

I am with TunnelRat and his comment. I am 65, and it seems everytime I hear negative comments about cars, vacuum cleaners, boats, guns and etc. it is from dealers/sellers who do not carry the product line I am inquiring about.

Next time you hear negative comments about a product, ask the person exactly what problems and ask for examples. Your posted comment is simply "hearsay" without even a vauge form of detail.

I have a Sig P220ST, and it is one of my favorite pistols. It is not perfect for all my needs since it is too heavy for a conceal carry in my opinion. It is still a great handgun. Like anything mechanical, there might me wear and tear problems over the lifetime. Most of those issues for a quality gun are fixable with simple repair parts. This is why replacement parts like springs and etc. are available for mechanical items. My wife wore out the drive gear in her big Kitchen Aid mixer. This was after thirty years of heavy use. I ordered a thirteen dollar part and had it fixed within fifteen minutes. Now it is ready for another thirty years. :rolleyes:

[WheelGunRealGun]

Could you elaborate?



Well, one of my friends at the range bought a 220 Combat. It had barrel fitting problems and would still have failure-to-return-to-battery's every box or so even after getting back from the factory with new mags.

Another friend bought a 226ST Nitron that would constantly stovepipe with any magazine and ammo.

[DasGuy]

I have a 220 compact that was made in 2010 (German frame, US slide). The fit and finish on it is superb, and it hasn't had a single malfunction on either ball or JHP.

[tomrkba]

The P-Series should be fine. If you encounter a problem, SIG's customer service department will take care of it.

[bamaranger]

I was issued a SIG P220 and will soon have carried it 20 years, on the job, as a duty pistol. It is W. German, stamped steel slide and alloy frame. I estimate at that point it will have about 5000 rds through it. Thats totaling qualifications, training, and casual practice now and again. That's not a whole lot of shooting, but not a little either.

The pistol has been well maintained with regular armorer field strip and clean. (me). I've replaced one recoil spring, two mags (original 7 rd blue steel numbers), and at least two trigger draw bar springs, (the pistols achilles heel) and a set of night sites. and one pair of factoy grips. The trig springs did not break, but were exhibiting pitting and delaminating when observed w/ magnificaiton. The grips were worn so bad at about 10 years from in and out of vehs and conveyance, and dry fire and presentations that they were polished slick,and I went to a set of Hogues.

The bore looks great and I detect no loss of accuracy. It is as reliable as ever. It looks pretty rough. The slide has worn to a silver patina.

Man, I hate to give it backl to them.

[chris in va]

I had a 1995 220.

The only malfunction after six years was a broken trigger return spring, all of $3. Unfortunately it disabled the gun until I could get it in the mail.

I started shooting it in our local matches and soon realized it hampered my scores due to being a single stack and having a hard DA first pull. I do much better witht my CZ.