Gents,
In relation to the other thread discussing whether the P226's days are done, I again say 'No' because in the last few weeks my lovely wife has graciously 'allowed' me to add to my brood by two. In the "I Married Better Than I Deserve" category, I'm a big winner.

Here's what I came home with:

A P226 Scorpion Elite 9mm and a P226 Elite Dark in .357 Sig with adjustable sights.



Both have the older style 'Legacy' slide with the stubby extractor, something I very much prefer over the oversized surfboard extractor they use nowadays.


So no, the Mighty P226 has never rated higher, at least in Mi Casa. But I do have a question. Upon disassembly and cleaning of the Scorpion, I noted the clearly obvious cuts in the inner part of the slide on the port side. I have several P226's, but I've never seen these type of relief cuts before...



Can the more experienced Sig gurus lurking around here tell me what the purpose is in cutting this metal out?

I put 500 hard rounds through it on its first range day out (a very long training day scheduled by my agency), which included rolling in dirt and grass, about 105 degrees with nearly 80% humidity and no time for cleaning or lube, causing the weapon to become drenched in my own sweat, making mud of the dirt and powder residue. Results? The Scorpion never blinked, bucked or belched, it ran perfect. So whatever those cuts are, they didn't effect it. Just wanted to know the reason behind 'em.

Thanks!

Assuming I understand what you’re getting at and why the 9mm slide has the cuts and the 357/40 slide doesn’t, it’s to make the 9mm slide lighter. That may seem obvious, but with the P226 and P320 that are offered in both 9mm and 357/40, the exterior shape/dimensions of both types of slides are the same. The 9mm slide is made lighter with the interior cuts (and the recoil spring is less powerful), though, to keep slide velocity up for reliable functioning.

That was my first thought, but the other stainless P226's I have in 9mm don't have those cuts.

I assumed it must be something else....

quote:

Originally posted by TexasRaider:
That was my first thought, but the other stainless P226's I have in 9mm don't have those cuts.

All I know are the ones I have which are similar to the one that’s pictured. Can you post photos of the 9mm slides without them?

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:
All I know are the ones I have which are similar to the one that’s pictured. Can you post photos of the 9mm slides without them?

When I get back to them, right now the only ones I have in town are those two and my daily carry pistol, a P239. But I'll look closer again when I get my mitts on them, I could be wrong but I don't remember them being there.

I guess it could be that since Sig went to all stainless slides, the 9mm versions of the P226 all have them due to, as you say, weight reduction. If so, I seriously doubt any .357 or .40 ever had such cut outs....

It would have been helpful if you had used an arrow or circled the relief cut portion that you are referencing but if I understand the area you are referring to as being the two relieved areas on the port side of the breech block cartridge ramp, then I agree with Sigfreund and have always assumed that they were either likely added to reduce the slide mass in an attempt to regulate the slide cycle speed OR perhaps for some manufacturing efficiency/ cost saving reason.

I've noticed these relief cuts on various vintages of SIG P226 stainless steel slides since their inception. These relief cuts have varied in size and shape at different points in time, some with a rectangular open-ended channel, another with a thinner rectangular channel, some with an open-ended V channel, to one long spherocylinder-like shape, eventually evolving into two separate chambers which has also evolved in shape and size. I've observed these relief cuts on 9mm, .40 S&W, and .357 SIG slides. Many years ago I posted several pics detailing some of the several changes the P226 has gone through including some of the different milled portions of the slide.

I understand the necessity of evolving design changes, but I've always been curious as to why SIG felt the need to change these cuts as often as they have, as I would have thought that after one or two attempts after the original design they would have settled on the appropriate one. My best wild-assed guess on this is that the engineers are trying to find the
"sweet spot" between trying to remove enough material to properly regulate the slide cycle speed while still leaving enough material for slide strength.

Over the years I've tried to use the type of P226 slide relief cuts to narrow down the vintage of certain guns when that info wasn't available.

I haven't bought a new mfr. SIG in a few years now and hadn't seen this particular set of slide relief cuts so I appreciate the pics in the O.P.