Dropped into my LGS this afternoon and noticed a pristine W German P226 (Herndon, VA rollmark) w/ night sights in the original yellow box, and with manual for $699.00. Since I was looking to trade for one, I put it on layaway immediately!

Should be able to pick it up Tuesday and will post pics when I get it home...

Congrats on the find! If it's truly in pristine condition w/ matching box, manual, & test target, I think they're going for twice as much on GB.

Awesome deal, great find! I'd have jumped on that as well.

Very nice. What is the date code?

I lived in Herndon from 1998 to 2009.

Nice town.

congratulations on a nice addition.

quote:

Originally posted by iron chef:
Congrats on the find! If it's truly in pristine condition w/ matching box, manual, & test target, I think they're going for twice as much on GB.

I didn't see a test target, but there may have been included in the paperwork in the box. I'm not buying it to resell, so not really concerned about resale values.

I also think it is what what some folks call a "mud rail" model as there were 3 shallow semicircular machined into each side rail... though not as deep as the mud rail cutouts on the Tyson's Corner 226 that I used to have. That one was rather pronounced; this one is very shallow and barely noticeable.

quote:

Originally posted by Sig M11:
Very nice. What is the date code?
<<snip>>

The store was in the process of closing for the day, so I didn't take the time to look at the date code, just the overall condition of the gun. Seeing as it bears the "Herndon, VA" rollmark, that would place it in the 1987-90 timeframe. However, I don't see any Herndon 226's with scalloped rails listed, only Tyson's Corner, so will have to wait until Tuesday when I pick it up to confirm.

I love this story. We all hope to have the same luck. Congratulations!!

Cool!

Congrats on your P226!

Congratulations on a great find! Once you take delivery, please update us re: the rail scallops on your pistol. Per my limited research on the P226, the so called mud rails are observed in the U135xxx - U157xxx serial number range which concluded near the end of the Tyson era. I believe the scalloped rails superseded the mud rails and began around the time SIG moved to Herndon. Of course, there was likely some overlap during the transitional period. I'd be curious to learn when the scallops were completely eliminated. Any clarification or additional information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

quote:

Originally posted by hjs157:
Congratulations on a great find! Once you take delivery, please update us re: the rail scallops on your pistol. Per my limited research on the P226, the so called mud rails are observed in the U135xxx - U157xxx serial number range which concluded near the end of the Tyson era. I believe the scalloped rails superseded the mud rails and began around the time SIG moved to Herndon. Of course, there was likely some overlap during the transitional period. I'd be curious to learn when the scallops were completely eliminated. Any clarification or additional information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

The cutouts are definitely much more shallow than the Tyson's Corner P226 that I used to have and was forced to sell, so in conjunction with the Herndon rollmark, I'm gonna call them scalloped rails until I can post pics next Tuesday and get confirmation from someone more knowledgeable than I.

Stay tuned!

Oh, and by the way, they also had a W German P225 in really nice condition for $529.00 if anyone is looking for one. I'm 90% sure you can call them up and buy it, and they will ship to your FFL. E-mail me for the store name (not sure if I can post it here, so do it privately) if you're interested!

^^^ Congrats on the P226 and that sounds like quite a fine deal on the P225!

If I didn't already have a really nice P225 I would have grabbed that one also!

Nice find classic P-226 along with the P-225, would have trouble finding beaters at those prices

Congratulations, Bill! Yeah, let us know what kind of rail it has. I have read claims of a JH Herndon P226 with mudrails, but folks have never shown with actual pics. So, I continue to say that true mud rails on the JH Herndon P226 do not exist. On a JH Tysons Corner, definitely yes, however. For those folks who might not know what a true mud rail looks like (vs just a single scallop), see the pics below.

The first two are from a JH Tysons Corner P226 I used to own. You see there are 3 separate locations, with each location having 3 distinct areas of scallop (indentation), not just on the top part of the rail, but also in the recess and on the top of the main part of the frame itself.

The bottom two are from a couple of my KB Exeter P226s. You see there are a couple of scallop areas, but they are only on top part of the rail. So, not true mud rails.

The Tyson's Corner 226 that I used to have had what you demonstrate as "true mud rails", therefore I never shot anything stronger than standard pressure 9mm Luger in it.

Your second example looks a little more like what my new 226 has, only mine still has 3 distinct cuts in the upper part of the rail, and they're almost rectangular in shape!

Can hardly wait to get it home and post photos!!!

I believe the rectangular cutouts also replaced the mud rails. I'm not sure which was first, the scallops or the rectangular ones.

quote:

Originally posted by wgsigs:
I believe the rectangular cutouts also replaced the mud rails. I'm not sure which was first, the scallops or the rectangular ones.

Considering the Herndon rollmark came after Tyson's Corner, I'm gonna hazard a guess that the scallops (associated with Tyson's Corner) came first. Will confirm Tuesday when I pick it up!

Refresh my memory about the purpose of the mud rails please! Do they weaken the frame?

The original purpose of “mud rails” was to provide a place for dirt/dust to accumulate without jamming slide operation. Unfortunately the original modification by SIG-Sauer did weaken the aluminum frame rails to the point that a frequent diet of NATO or +P ammo was strongly discouraged due to the likelihood of stress cracks in the frame rails.

Later iterations of the mod; i.e., “scalloped” rails added most of the lost strength back in, but with questionable effect. Therefore the mod was eventually dropped.

That is why you will not see such frame rail cuts in modern SIGs!