I came across a nice P226 at a decent price recently and took it home.

It shows very little internal wear. It is tight and the rails show little to no wear.

Date code "KJ" and serial numbers indicate it is from 1998. It has a folded slide, internal extractor and the serial numbers on the frame and slide match. The barrel is from 1995 based on the non-matching serial number.

All three parts are proof marked with the "German Eagle and N" mark. The slide also has the "Kiel" proof mark and is stamped SIGARMS INC EXETER-NH. That being said, I assume it may have been test fired before it left Germany.

I'm wondering if this was imported as a "whole" or if it was possibly brought in and assembled in the US. Also, why would the barrel get separated from the other parts and why would there be a three year age gap between the frame/slide and the barrel?

I am happy with the purchase...just curious.

Any thoughts/knowledge would be appreciated.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: rebut10,

I have a P225 I bought used many years ago. The frame/slide had the same serial number, but the barrel did not match. I'm guessing the original owner had two and accidently swapped the barrels during cleaning.

Red box CPO?

No box or papers. I was buying it to be a shooter.

Could be anything. CPO, or aftermarket put together by the previous owner, or, although unlikely, German factory mistake putting wrong parts together.

I agree it could be anything and I agree that a factory mistake is unlikely, given that the barrel SN and slide/frame SNs are roughly 3 years apart.

I was thinking maybe there was some pattern in Sig's import history that could explain it. The proof marks, if my limited research is right, indicate that it was assembled, and test fired in Germany. Somewhere along the line the barrel (which is in great shape) got swapped in for some reason.

Let’s get creative…..a hit man stole it from the original, owner and did nefarious deeds with it, then tossed the barrel in the Hudson Bay. The barrel was bought so he could move it on down the line……

Yeah, well, maybe not. I vote for a PD gun that some armorer screwed up at some point and switched barrels. Would be really cool if you could find the frame and slide that match the barrel with your barrel.

Good luck!

PD trade in with an armour's error is the first thing that crossed my mind.
Thanks
I was looking for other possibilities that could explain it. Given that it has fresh night sights and new grips AND dead sights and older grips came with it as well, I guess that is the most likely answer.
Thanks again.

A few years ago I bought a couple guns from a forum member, including an early P226, advertised in .40 S&W.

We connected in the evening, went out for dinner, and by the time we got to his FFL's house to do the transfer, it was fairly late, and therefore dark. His FFL's basement office was a little on the dark side and with with a couple hours of conversation, a couple beers and a full belly, and as it was getting late, I didn't look the guns over as well as I normally would.

I get home late that night so the next morning I look them over again in better light, and the P226 turns out to have a 9mm barrel from an old West German gun, not the .40 S&W I was expecting. I double checked the ad and confirmed it was supposed to be .40 S&W.

I wasn't upset at all, I'm good with 9mm too, but I emailed the seller, at which point he had a 'face palm' moment, and realizes that he owned more than one P226, he frequently shot them suppressed, and somewhere along the way he had reassembled them with the wrong barrels installed. I own multiple P226s myself, along with multiple barrels, as well as other SIGs with multiple barrels, so I could see how barrels might get mixed up.

We live a couple hours apart and he travels a lot, so he sent me the correct barrel, along with a label and envelope and I shipped his 9mm barrel back to him...

... sometimes it's as simple as the easiest explanations are the correct ones.

Sounds like you found yourself a nice P226.

Good story. Ya, mix ups can happen when dealing with multiples of the same...anything.

It is a nice P226. Hardly any wear and tear save for some honest wear on the finish of the slide. The DA pull is particularly nice compared to my '88, '90 and '99 models. It seems somewhat lighter and smoother with considerably less stacking. I am happy with it. Thanks.

Like others have said, it could be anything-trade in,CPO-had one years ago with a different barrel serial number compared to frame and slide,etc.. As long as it works and functions ok, would be my main concern but I understand your predicament. Fortunately/unfortunately, this is one of the nice things about having a non-custom/fitted gun as any part can function with another and when you can find one at a good price, all the better. Let us know how it shoots.

Here is a factory mistake.

patw
In my mind, I have settled on LEO armorer mix up. I'll probably get it to the range next week. It seems to function as it should, including testing the firing pin with a carbon fiber dowel. It didn't pop out of the barrel, but close to it.

Q
Your factory mistake with consecutive serial numbers makes sense. My serial number spread is just shy of 56K and 3 or so years so factory error is highly unlikely.

Thanks

^^^^ I know. That's why I said your case is unlikely to be factory mistake.

Gotcha, thanks. Based on what you wrote I didn't know you had personal experience with factory screw ups and I thought, if it happened, it would be like yours not mine.

I appreciate your expert input. Thanks