Just thought I'd share a few pics of a 10+ year old P229 non-Rail in .357SIG that I just updated with a GrayGuns ELS flat trigger and e2 grips. What makes it an oddball is that there was machining done for a magazine disconnect. Said disconnect was never installed, and I honestly didn't want such a provision inside of the frame, but I really wanted this SIG without a rail and at the time, it was pretty much rail or nothing. This was purchased new, by the way.

Since I had to detail strip the frame, I thought I would share a few pics of the internals.

Before pic, with a short trigger.


Frame machining. At the time, I thought this was related to DAK compatibility. According to the GrayGuns website when I purchased the trigger, that is not the case.








After. I kept my old de-cocking lever in lieu of the shorter one that came with the e2 kit.




Nice flat break.


Also installed was a GrayGuns 19# mainspring. The grips make it almost feel like an entirely different gun. A huge improvement in gripability and pointability, for me. Plus, I never have to worry about rusty grip screws.

As far as the trigger and spring goes, Its great. All that and then some. I'll need a range session to really feel the improvement.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to another 10+ years with this old gal with new duds. Thanks for reading.

One more for the road. Something old and something new.
I like my triggers flat.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Stinky Bojangles,

Cool!

Let us know your thoughts after range time.

Nice "old" gun. Crazy - apparently I have an affinity for the shelf full myself. My 94 vintage 229 in .357sig is one of my favorites!

That trigger is really intriguing to me. I can’t wait to read your range report! Well done!

quote:

Originally posted by inspcalahan:
Nice "old" gun. Crazy - apparently I have an affinity for the shelf full myself. My 94 vintage 229 in .357sig is one of my favorites!

I say, "old" as a term of endearment.
Classic is what I meant to convey.
After looking again at my dead night sights, they're marked "AF" which probably dates this closer to 15 years old. I don't even remember.
BTW, a '94 in .357? Must have been one of the first off the assembly line?

After some more dry firing, I still can't get over the improvement of the grip.
In regard to the trigger though, it's quite hard to describe. It's still heavy, but smoother. The geometry makes the the entire length of the pull... not a chore to execute. I wish I could have compared this side by side with the old setup, but it's definitely an improvement and I no longer dread the DA pull.

I can only hope to get in some range time sooner than later.

Great looking 229! What grips are those, exactly? I have a P229 that I bought used. I think the owner sold it because it "double taps" under the right conditions. It's happened once to me! After knowing that, it's a great option for rapid firing...... LOL

quote:

Originally posted by odin:
Great looking 229! What grips are those, exactly? I have a P229 that I bought used. I think the owner sold it because it "double taps" under the right conditions. It's happened once to me! After knowing that, it's a great option for rapid firing...... LOL

https://www.sigsauer.com/store...-for-p229-da-sa.html

Yikes! Sounds fun though.

I put E2 grips onto all of my double-stack SIG 9mm pistols - three 226 and an M11-A1. The odd thing is they all had Hogue G10 grips before and I found I like the E2 much better on these pistols.

So do those grips have a slimmer profile than the factory 229 ones?
I have an old 229 I have had for over a decade and the grips are fairly worn. I like the original grips but they are tad big for my hand. Hogues are even worse.

https://www.bluesheepdog.com/s...s%20are%20not%20used.

One of the pictures in the link kind of gives you an idea of a grip comparison. They do indeed feel slimmer, but the largest improvement, for me, is the flatter backstrap.

For what it's worth, and I can't for the life of me remember why, but my old grips were marked P228. Also, disregard what I said earlier about the night sights dating the gun because I swapped slides. This originally was a .40 upper with the "New Roll Mark" stamping. It's all kind of coming back to me now. If you notice the checkered magazine release, I am under the impression those were only included on railed frames. I could be wrong about that though.

Thank you for sharing.

Question - was the trigger you replaced that is in the first picture, the original trigger? For some reason it looks a little thinner than normal to me.

WJR

I replaced the original with an OEM short trigger. It's been so long ago, but I'm sure I ordered a factory part. I took a picture, but my hosting site is down at the moment, so I'll edit later with a close up of the trigger.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Stinky Bojangles,

quote:

Originally posted by Stinky Bojangles:

BTW, a '94 in .357? Must have been one of the first off the assembly line?

Yes - I believe it's a 94. I think I bought it late in the year. S/N starts with AD. The 229's then didn't have the normal sig 2 letter date code I don't believe. Weird, since my 93 228 does with KD. Here's the 229.

None of the P229's from that era have the two digit (alpha) Date/Proof Code. They were assembled in the US w/ German made Frames, and hence NEVER Proofed, so to speak.

Nice "old" Sig.

quote:

Originally posted by nhracecraft:
None of the P229's from that era have the two digit (alpha) Date/Proof Code. They were assembled in the US w/ German made Frames, and hence NEVER Proofed, so to speak.

Good info.

For what it's worth, things didn't work out this weekend. Hoping to make it to Elite shooting sports next week. I need to feel this trigger and grip combo in action.

quote:

Originally posted by nhracecraft:
None of the P229's from that era have the two digit (alpha) Date/Proof Code. They were assembled in the US w/ German made Frames, and hence NEVER Proofed, so to speak.

Ah - good to confirm. Thanks.

quote:

Originally posted by Stinky Bojangles:
I replaced the original with an OEM short trigger. It's been so long ago, but I'm sure I ordered a factory part. I took a picture, but my hosting site is down at the moment, so I'll edit later with a close up of the trigger.

Thank you for confirming.

WJR

I was finally able to get some trigger time this morning. Only 150 rounds of Georgia Arms remanufactured ammo though.

I expended about 100 of said rounds in DA only. Without being able to compare it side by side with the original configuration, I can't say for certain that the trigger felt noticably lighter. I'm sure it has to be since I put the 19# mainspring, versus the stock 21#, though the stock spring did have over 3000 rounds through it.

The one thing that I can say for certain was the DA pull was beyond noticably smoother and broke at just the "right" angle, for me. My first shot landed pretty much true dead center. With subsequent DA pulls, either slow and steady to break, or fast and deliberate, I found the trigger to perform in a manner that I had never been able to achieve before.

True to the name of the trigger, this is an enhancement to the leverage of the DA pull. Words are difficult for me to come by in how to describe it. As I said in an earlier reply, I suspected the DA pull would no longer be a chore to execute. After some trigger time today, I would say that is still the best way for me to describe it.

Again, without a side by side comparison, I can't say I noticed an improvement in the actual break of the trigger. The flat break is right where it needs to be, for me. I didn't actually expect a "crisper" break.

Also, there was nothing to note in terms of the SA pull or with the reset. I do imagine the SA pull has to be lighter now though. Just not enough for me to rave about it.

There were no reliability issues in the 150 rounds either.

One thing I should have mentioned before when installing the ELS trigger was how tight the fit of the trigger to the trigger bar, bar was. The OEM trigger would freely spin around the trigger bar, bar. On the ELS, even with a drop of Slip2000 EWL, the trigger was tight to put on and would only rotate with effort. In dry firing and replicating reset, I thought I noticed a diminished reset, but after today's session, that was not the case.

For what it's worth, I am pleased with the GrayGuns ELS flat trigger and 19# mainspring just for what it was able to do with the DA pull. I may try the 17# spring, which came with the 19#, though I suspect reliability issues may arise. I wish I had the ammo to put these spring configurations to a better test.

In addition, I've been spoiled by the Zev trigger, everything comes second fiddle to that one. Especially a TDA. That's probably why I couldn't discern any noticable improvement in SA pull or reset. BTW, I shot the P229 first, though the OZ9 has had a lot more range time as of late.

The biggest takeaway though, for me, is the e2 grips. I'm not entirely sure if my thoughts mentioned above would have been the same with the original grips.

I hope this was somewhat informative and coherent. Thanks for reading.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Stinky Bojangles,