Hey Folks...Been a while since I've posted. I got my hands on an early 228 DAO. The serial is B132xxx. It's beautiful. Slight holster wear..on one angle you can see it, turn it another and it disappears. The 228 has been my unicorn and I found the 'right' one. It's just DAO. My question is should I keep it DAO or convert to da/sa? By modern standards the DAO trigger on this ol'boy sucks I really want to shoot it though and carry it. Would you keep it DAO or convert it? Thanks.
Until the development of the DAK trigger (another double action only), the original DAO trigger was my preferred system in Classic line SIG pistols. But why would you put up with a system that you don’t like and could easily be converted to something else?
Welcome to the forum, BTW, even though you have evidently been a member for some time.
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“ Enlightenment is man’s emergence from his self-imposed nonage. Nonage is the inability to use one’s own understanding without another’s guidance. This nonage is self-imposed if its cause lies not in lack of understanding but in indecision and lack of courage to use one’s own mind without another’s guidance.” — Immanuel Kant
Posts: 48028 | Location: 10,150 Feet Above Sea Level in Colorado | Registered: April 04, 2002
Build it the way you want it, keep the original parts.
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Posts: 13075 | Location: Central Florida | Registered: November 02, 2008
I agree, make it what you want. Keep the original parts and it's completely reversible if you later change your mind. Assuming your grips are correct to accommodate the decocking lever, here's everything you need in one handy kit for $66. They ship cheap and fast, too:
I definitely plan on keeping the original parts but is there any extra value in this being a DAO? I also planned on either changing the sights or adding a Holosun EPS Carry. BTW GB has a full nickel 1993 228 for a starting bid at $1895...in case any one is interested. Not mine of course. It's just out of my reach.
You can't mill a stamped P228 slide for an optic. There's not enough material there.
As to whether there's any value in keeping the gun DAO...I'm not sure what you mean. It's totally up to you. You said you want to carry it, so if you prefer DAO leave it alone...if you want DA/SA it can be converted pretty easily. Personally I prefer the shorter reset and lighter single-action pull of a DA/SA gun.
Posts: 9672 | Location: In the Cornfields | Registered: May 25, 2006
I have no idea about actual comparative numbers, but I can attest that the original type double action only Classic line SIGs were rare. Even though it didn’t take me too long after I got my first P229 to send it back for conversion to DAO* and most of the pistols I purchased for several years thereafter were also converted, I never actually saw any for sale with the DAO trigger. Despite what I consider the advantages of a SIG DAO trigger over DA/SA to be, they were never popular. They and the DAK are dinosaurs now so I won’t get into my rant about the subject except to point out that Glock shooters still love their DAO pistols and many consider them to be much safer than something like the P320 as a consequence.
* At first I didn’t know how easy it would have been to do it myself.
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“ Enlightenment is man’s emergence from his self-imposed nonage. Nonage is the inability to use one’s own understanding without another’s guidance. This nonage is self-imposed if its cause lies not in lack of understanding but in indecision and lack of courage to use one’s own mind without another’s guidance.” — Immanuel Kant
Posts: 48028 | Location: 10,150 Feet Above Sea Level in Colorado | Registered: April 04, 2002
I own a West German marked 228 that was DAO when I purchased it back in the early 2000s. I was not enamored with the DAO pull and first tried the SIG short trigger and then had it converted to DA/SA. As Sigfreund mentioned it's actually an easy conversion. The frame was the same as the DA/SA, so the decocker assembly was inserted and retained with the spring, the grips changed and the hammer and sear replaced, though they may not have needed to replace the sear (they did).
You have a couple options, you could try the short trigger (not a srt), it made the pull feel lighter. You could also try a lighter mainspring, the stock mainspring is 20-24 pounds IIRC, a 19-pound spring will still get you reliable ignition.
Posts: 4848 | Location: Where ever Uncle Sam Sends Me | Registered: March 05, 2007
Yup I plan on going to a 19lb mainspring and I already have da/sa parts on order. I changed out the MS on my 225A1 and shot 500 rounds all in DAO just to burnish the parts and holy moly..you can't believe how smooth the DA part of the trigger had gotten. I feel i could press that trigger .001" at a time until it goes off with ZERO stuttering or stacking. In Da with that 225a1 my first shot is always the most accurate.
Originally posted by Boattail: Yup I plan on going to a 19lb mainspring and I already have da/sa parts on order. I changed out the MS on my 225A1 and shot 500 rounds all in DAO just to burnish the parts and holy moly..you can't believe how smooth the DA part of the trigger had gotten. I feel i could press that trigger .001" at a time until it goes off with ZERO stuttering or stacking. In Da with that 225a1 my first shot is always the most accurate.
If you want to get crazy with it, Grey Guns does a strut, spring and seat package. I don't know if it works with the older 228s, but I used one with my 229 and it makes a difference.
Posts: 4848 | Location: Where ever Uncle Sam Sends Me | Registered: March 05, 2007
As to parts needed, I once owned a factory DAO 228, and the left grip panel was not cut out on the INSIDE for the decocker. I said INSIDE in all caps because in discussing it years ago on this forum and posting pictures, people kept telling me incorrectly that it was cut out, because they were mistakenly looking at the outside of the grip. So check your left grip panel on the INSIDE to see if it will accommodate a decocker.
"While not every Democrat is a horse thief, every horse thief is a Democrat." HORACE GREELEY
Posts: 1899 | Location: Central NC | Registered: May 18, 2005
Originally posted by Boattail: Not gonna mill the slide. EGW has an adapter plate that slides in in place of the rear sight. Has anyone used these?
I had a guy from another department that put a dovetail plate like that (not that specific EGW one) on a P320. It was NOT a good solution. The optic sits very high, the dovetail mount isn't particularly secure, and you lose your rear sight. He ended up junking that whole setup and buying a factory milled P320RX gun.
Were I wanting to mount an optic on a P228 I'd shop around for a P229 slide...either one that's already cut from the factory or if I found a good deal on a non-optic-ready variant, send it out to get cut. The dovetail plates may work as a range-toy stopgap, but I definitely wouldn't put one on a gun that is going to be used for carry.
Posts: 9672 | Location: In the Cornfields | Registered: May 25, 2006
Originally posted by stiab: I once owned a factory DAO 228, and the left grip panel was not cut out on the INSIDE for the decocker.
Did your panel look like this?
If so, they were the DAO/DAK “slim” grip panels that reduced the trigger reach distance a little. As we see, from the side they look like they have the decocker cut, but not under and against the frame. Why that bizarre design is beyond me, but I suspect it had something to do with a poorly-specified order by SIG.
As far as I know, those grip plates were very rare and the plates that were most commonly used on double action only pistols do have the normal space for the decocker assembly.
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“ Enlightenment is man’s emergence from his self-imposed nonage. Nonage is the inability to use one’s own understanding without another’s guidance. This nonage is self-imposed if its cause lies not in lack of understanding but in indecision and lack of courage to use one’s own mind without another’s guidance.” — Immanuel Kant
Posts: 48028 | Location: 10,150 Feet Above Sea Level in Colorado | Registered: April 04, 2002
As to parts needed, I once owned a factory DAO 228, and the left grip panel was not cut out on the INSIDE for the decocker. I said INSIDE in all caps because in discussing it years ago on this forum and posting pictures, people kept telling me incorrectly that it was cut out, because they were mistakenly looking at the outside of the grip. So check your left grip panel on the INSIDE to see if it will accommodate a decocker.
I knew right away exactly what you were talking about. That was the first thing I looked for. It looks like it's already cut for it. Now I'm wondering if it was Da/Sa all along and the previous owner changed it to DAO at some point.
If so, they were the DAO/DAK “slim” grip panels that reduced the trigger reach distance a little. As we see, from the side they look like they have the decocker cut, but not under and against the frame. Why that bizarre design is beyond me, but I suspect it had something to do with a poorly-specified order by SIG.
As far as I know, those grip plates were very rare and the plates that were most commonly used on double action only pistols do have the normal space for the decocker assembly.
No they look like Da/Sa grips. As a matter fact I don't have a bobbed hammer either which makes me wonder.. I don't know if SiG put bobbed hammers on these old p228s.
I believe the “bobbed” DAO hammers were also somewhat rare. I wasn’t even aware of them until I ordered a DAO hammer from SIG and that was the version they sent me. Although there was no pressing reason to switch to that style for some of my guns, I thought they looked neat and were a clear demonstration that the pistol wasn’t DA/SA.
► 6.4/93.6
“ Enlightenment is man’s emergence from his self-imposed nonage. Nonage is the inability to use one’s own understanding without another’s guidance. This nonage is self-imposed if its cause lies not in lack of understanding but in indecision and lack of courage to use one’s own mind without another’s guidance.” — Immanuel Kant
Posts: 48028 | Location: 10,150 Feet Above Sea Level in Colorado | Registered: April 04, 2002
