I sold my WG 228 to my old boss and now miss it. I'm considering a 229 instead. I'm an ex Sig police armorer. I understand most of the differences between them. I am a little confused about which magazines fit. I believe some mag sellers might be clueless on this issue.

Is there a definitive time or model change on which mag would fit either gun? If I purchased new Mec-gars do I have the same problem?

When Sig adopted the E2 grips is when the mags also changed. IIRC, there is a -1 added to the the model number (Example P229-1) to signify the new mag size. Again, fuzzy memory but the change was around 2010.

When the 9mm P229 was first introduced, its magazines were the same as the P228’s, and at full capacity held 13 rounds. The later 9mm P229-1 increased the width of the magazines to that of the earlier P229s chambered for 357 SIG and 40 S&W. Although I have no experience with the later 9mm P229-1, I believe its full capacity magazine holds 15 rounds.

An older 13-round P228/9mm P229 magazine will fit the P229-1 mag well, but loosely. The wider P229-1 magazine will not fit the older 9mm P229.

^^^ What they said.

The "new" P229, called the E2 when introduced, brought three major changes, the Enhanced Ergonomic (E2) grip, the long external extractor and the standardization of frame (all 3 calibers now had the same internal magwell dimensions). To accommodate the now larger magwell of the 9mm gun, SIG made the new 9mm mag with the wider body at the bottom half like its .40/.357 brother, and they designated it the 229-1 mag.

If you buy a factory original 9mm P229 that has the long external extractor, the proper mag for it is the 229-1 mag, although as mentioned above, the old P228/229(9) does work also.

If you buy a factory original 9mm P229 that has the short extractor slide (aka the Legacy slide), do not buy the 229-1 mag, as it won't fit. Only the old P228/229(9) mag works.

xfarfulldog might be simpler to get another P-228 and avoid any mag issues.

Or one could simply pay attention.
A hint: Buy the right magazines. Don’t get P220 or 1911 or HK PSP or MP44 or M14 or AICS magazines and expect them to work. M1 Garand clips won’t do, either.

Yeah, there are no "mag issues", once you learn what's what.

Paying attention is key. I would be curious if Sig still marks 229 mags with the -1, or decided to drop the distinction since it has been a few years since they made a gun with the pre-E2 magwell. MecGar I can see knowing the difference. But Sig the Marketing Company that sells guns might have forgotten there is a difference and 'streamlined' the catalogs.

Edit: Well call me Shirley and slap me silly. They still offer the different size 9mm mags, and mark the E2 ones with the -1.
https://www.sigsauer.com/magaz...tols.html?model=1603

^^^ Clearly, you didn't pay attention, until now.

Easy gentlemen LOL. I do strongly prefer the 228 and the zipper and dovetail mags. I am not seeing less excellent condition 228s at reasonable prices. I have HKs, Glocks, Shields, and even 3rd gen Smiths in 9 mm. But my heart belongs to the 228 (but willing to cheat with a P7). I have not been paying attention to the changes in Sigs as much. I appreciate being enlightened.

Edited to say not seeing...

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

I can’t speak for anyone else, but my comment about “paying attention” was directed at the notion that the way to avoid becoming confused about different magazines was to just own guns that all used the same magazines. It was if someone advised buying only AR style rifles and not own a Mini 14 because their magazines weren’t the same.

It was not to suggest that you couldn’t figure out which guns used which magazines.

To clarify, it wasn’t going to a smidge wider mags that made the capacity go from 13-15. I suspect SIG originally kept it to 13 to ensure reliability. But Mec-Gar makes 15 rounders that fit the P228 and are flush fit like the 13s and being Mec-Gar they work fantastically.

As for whether OP should get the P228 or P229, I suggest the P229. First, my personal opinion is it’s a better gun. I think if people were able to set aside their nostalgia, a fair number would agree with me. Additionally, parts for the P228 are pretty much gone now. So if you need an extractor or a breech block, you’re not going to find one easily.

Either way though, they’re both great pistols.

quote:

Originally posted by BuddyChryst:
To clarify, it wasn’t going to a smidge wider mags that made the capacity go from 13-15. I suspect SIG originally kept it to 13 to ensure reliability. But Mec-Gar makes 15 rounders that fit the P228 and are flush fit like the 13s and being Mec-Gar they work fantastically.

Yeah, the original German mag was 13-rounder. When they started using Mec-Gar, the gun also came with the SIG branded Mec-Gar 13-rounder. When Mec-Gar made the aftermarket 15-rounder for the P228 that is the same size as the 13-rounder, they accomplished this by chopping the original follower's legs and by reducing the number of spring coils by one.

As for the 229-1 mag, it's a combination of wider mag body and the reduction of coils that accomplishes 15 rounds. The follower remains unchopped. I suppose that, if they had chopped the follower a little, they could have given the flush fit 229-1 mag 17 rounds. Who knows, they might have tried, but reliability suffered?

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
^^^ Clearly, you didn't pay attention, until now.

Guilty. But when I bought my P229R in 2006, it came with a half dozen mags (plus the 20 rounder from my P226). And I take care of them. Some might even say baby them a bit.

As for me, I prefer to just keep my old, but fully healthy P.228 DA/SA & use either Factory Sig 228 / 13 rd Magazines, or I purchase the Mec-Gar 15 rd or 18 rd Magazines which function absolutely fine, at least in my 228. I personally like the Mec-Gar's as they offer me an additional few rds as opposed to the original 228 13 rd examples. Be advised though that I did just learn a lesson in that the 15 rd Mec-Gar's will not accept an X-Grip Extender unless you switch to a Factory Sig Baseplate. But, everything can be accomplished with a little forethought & of course a little help from the Sig Forum here, for which I'm most appreciative.

Best, Dom P.