I'm somewhat familiar with the P220 though I have very little experience with the P245 or factory SIG nickel finishes. This one had been lingering for a few weeks in the used case of my LGS so I took a chance and brought it home. Sadly, it has been separated from it's original box and is missing the spare magazine and documentation. The date code wheel inside of the grip panels is 1/99. I do however have a few questions re: the originality of the pistol.

1. Does the finish appear to be consistent with original SIG nickel? All external components with the exception of the breech block and night sights are are nickel. All internal pins and components are the more familiar black oxide.

2. Did this model ship with a flat wire recoil spring (vs. braided) & solid recoil spring guide (vs. hollow)?

3. Internally, the pistol does not appear to have been fired excessively. Based upon my experience with the P220 however, the finish wear on the exterior of the barrel is more consistent with a higher round count pistol. Is it possible the recoil impulse of the compact barrel & slide leads to accelerated wear patterns on the barrel? (This is my nerdy, geek side on full display.)

Thank you for your input.

Here are some photos:

1999 SIG Sauer P245 C00742x


Flat coil spring w/ solid recoil spring guide


Barrel finish

If all the components were original from 1999, I’d expect two things:

A multistrand recoil spring and the old style takedown lever. I’m not sure, though, about the recoil spring. The blue flat wire spring is correct for the P245 as well as the 357/40 P239, but I don’t know if it dates back to 1999. It seems to me that I first saw springs like that much later.

You could contact Sig and give them the serial number for verification on the finish, as it is hard to tell from the pics.

The spring looks right and should, I believe, be BLUE coated/marked.

If the barrel has some peening, that could be a sign of heavy use but even just hand cycling the slide can cause wear on the barrel. Not to that extent but I have had some barrels that had some of the finish missing just by doing that. Check the breech face for excessive wear. How's the rifling? Any excessive wear on the frame rails?

As I have learned recently, you can also swap in a 239 357sig recoil spring to get it back factory fresh. Email me and I might be able to spare a 245 mag so you would at least have two. Good looking gun.

Here is my 1999 'KK' SIG Sauer P245 S/N C005-5xx



It features the following:

- Blue marked Flat Wire Recoil Spring
- Solid Recoil Spring Guide Rod
- New Style Takedown Lever
- Proof Marks and a 'KK' Date Code on the left side of the Barrel Hood

I purchased this P245 used...It was LNIB and was shot very little prior to my acquiring it. I believe it to be all original.

I cannot speak to the Nickel Finish on yours, but mine features an MIM Hammer if that means anything to your nerdy, geek side full on calculus/analysis!

Frank, I don't own a Ni P245. In fact, I've never owned any P245. But, the following are what my internet research tells me.

1- The factory Ni P245 appears to have been offered at two separate times, one in 1999 and the other in 2004. There might be others, but I only am aware of these.

Yours falls in 1999. Production number is unknown. Unfortunately, there is no way to tell with certainty if yours is factory finish, since the original case is gone. And calling SIG will be like chasing rainbow, because they will tell you their records don't go back earlier than 2005 . But it falls in with the other 1999 Ni P245s I've seen. There are two in > THIS < thread, one owned by Blue Dog and the other by sigmonkey. The only difference I see between yours and theirs are the sights. Yours look like night sights, and their are contrast. Previous owner might have swapped sights on yours? Factory Ni SIGs at this time were still being plated by Klein. They stopped doing firearms at the end of the decade.

2- The 2004 guns are NH Custom Shop offering and limited to 75 total. These guns has the Custom Shop logo on it, plus their assigned numbers out of the 75 made laser engraved on the slide. You see that, in the linked thread above, sigmonkey has two, and pulicords has one. I also saved the info on this one below that was sold on GB in early 2022. It is #45 of 75. The gun is NOS, complete with everything, COA, big metal case, outer cardboard box with all factory labels.

Part Number: 245-45-CS-1
Serial #: C 015845

The auction description is what I found interesting. It says, "Introduced in 2004. This .45 ACP pistol limited to 75 guns. Features Teflon-impregnated nickel slide, frame, trigger, hammer, etc. Hand-tuned action. Target crowned barrel. Novak low-carry sights, limited edition markings. Weight about 27 oz.". We know that Klein was no longer doing firearms by this time. So, who did the plating on these P245s? My guess is ROBAR. Teflon-impregnated nickel would be NP3. ROBAR invented NP3, and his firearm division was in full swing at the time.

Another peculiar detail I noted is that the GB gun has "MADE IN GERMANY" marking on he slide, but the other guns from the same batch of 75 do not. Very odd.

quote:

Originally posted by nhracecraft:

It features the following:

- Blue marked Flat Wire Recoil Spring
- Solid Recoil Spring Guide Rod
- New Style Takedown Lever
- Proof Marks and a 'KK' Date Code on the left side of the Barrel Hood

I purchased this P245 used...It was LNIB and was shot very little prior to my acquiring it. I believe it to be all original.

I cannot speak to the Nickel Finish on yours, but mine features an MIM Hammer if that means anything to your nerdy, geek side full on calculus/analysis!

Thanks for the information nhracecraft!

Other than finish my pistol appears nearly identical to yours, i.e.:

• Blue flat wire recoil spring
• Solid recoil spring guide
• New style take-down lever
• MIM hammer

It does not however display a date code or German proof marks but rather a simple "P" within a circle stamped on the barrel lug.

I called SIG Customer Service this morning hoping to confirm the original finish. Unfortunately, they do not have any production information re: my pistol, indicating it was manufactured in Germany. Given the lack of German markings, I suspect while it may have been manufactured in German it was assembled in USA.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
…

2- The 2004 guns are NH Custom Shop offering and limited to 75 total. These guns has the Custom Shop logo on it, plus their assigned numbers out of the 75 made laser engraved on the slide. You see that, in the linked thread above, sigmonkey has two, and pulicords has one. I also saved the info on this one below that was sold on GB in early 2022. It is #45 of 75. The gun is NOS, complete with everything, COA, big metal case, outer cardboard box with all factory labels.

Part Number: 245-45-CS-1
Serial #: C 015845

The auction description is what I found interesting. It says, "Introduced in 2004. This .45 ACP pistol limited to 75 guns. Features Teflon-impregnated nickel slide, frame, trigger, hammer, etc. Hand-tuned action. Target crowned barrel. Novak low-carry sights, limited edition markings. Weight about 27 oz.". We know that Klein was no longer doing firearms by this time. So, who did the plating on these P245s? My guess is ROBAR. Teflon-impregnated nickel would be NP3. ROBAR invented NP3, and his firearm division was in full swing at the time.

Another peculiar detail I noted is that the GB gun has "MADE IN GERMANY" marking on he slide, but the other guns from the same batch of 75 do not. Very odd. …

I have three of these.
They are nice.

Based on the SF thread linked in '12131's post, it appears that one of 'Sigmonkey's Nickel P245s also bears a C007-xxx Serial # as well...Possibly within 200 or so of the S/N on 'hjs157's P245.

Side note - I'd be interested in knowing when (based on S/Ns) SIG started producing/assembling the P245 in the US and when they stopped making the German Proofed P245...And if mine was the last one into the country!

quote:

Originally posted by nhracecraft:
...I'd be interested in knowing when (based on S/Ns) SIG started producing/assembling the P245 in the US and when they stopped making the German Proofed P245...And if mine was the last one into the country!

The P245 started life in 1998. Based on the serial number thread, it appears that they never stopped making and proofing the German guns. Only that they (SIG NH) might have stopped importing them after 1999, because the guns were imported again in 2008, that time by PW Arms. So, yours was not "the last one into the country".

quote:

Sig Sauer P245

C 001-19X-KJ-1998 = SigSauerP228
C 001-395-KJ-1998 = 44RUGER
C 001-44X-KJ-1998 = scuttlebutt
C 001-64X-KJ-1998 = Udo
C 002-3XX----1998 = C-Dubs
C 003 122-KJ-1998-45acp-Imported by SigArms Inc. Exeter NH-Stamped "Made in Germany" = Kaihuang
C 005-5XX-KK-1999 = nhracecraft
C 007-572----1998 = yooper35
C 007-647----1999-Oct/09-Satin nickel finish = sigmonkey
C 008-012----1999 = Hillbilly Dan
C 008-541----1999 = Tattooed Brad
C 010-758----1999-Two Tone = Tooky13
C 011-10X----1999 = Expert308
C 011-4XX----1999 = SiGagain
C 012-XXX----1999 = Thanks to wildflush
C 012-910----1999?-Grips 98/99 = evergreen 1916
C 014-059----2008 = billpocz
C 016-07X----2008 = Bacon
C 016-2XX----2008 = dvdeick
C 016-6XX----2008 = dvdeick
C 016-843-AJ-2008-PW Arms import
C 016-886-AJ-2008-PW Arms import = kgray01
C 016-9XX-AJ-2008-PW Arms import = 7DC
C 016-914-AJ-2008-PW Arms import = elmer

quote:

Originally posted by sigmonkey:

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
…

2- The 2004 guns are NH Custom Shop offering and limited to 75 total. These guns has the Custom Shop logo on it, plus their assigned numbers out of the 75 made laser engraved on the slide. You see that, in the linked thread above, sigmonkey has two, and pulicords has one. I also saved the info on this one below that was sold on GB in early 2022. It is #45 of 75. The gun is NOS, complete with everything, COA, big metal case, outer cardboard box with all factory labels.

Part Number: 245-45-CS-1
Serial #: C 015845

The auction description is what I found interesting. It says, "Introduced in 2004. This .45 ACP pistol limited to 75 guns. Features Teflon-impregnated nickel slide, frame, trigger, hammer, etc. Hand-tuned action. Target crowned barrel. Novak low-carry sights, limited edition markings. Weight about 27 oz.". We know that Klein was no longer doing firearms by this time. So, who did the plating on these P245s? My guess is ROBAR. Teflon-impregnated nickel would be NP3. ROBAR invented NP3, and his firearm division was in full swing at the time.

Another peculiar detail I noted is that the GB gun has "MADE IN GERMANY" marking on he slide, but the other guns from the same batch of 75 do not. Very odd. …

I have three of these.
They are nice.

THREE???? lol. I remember trying to snag one when they came out. Later was at the NRA annual convention that was in Pittsburgh that year. SIG rep said they had been all sold to one distributor. I told him, not all of them and pointed to the one they had there in a case.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
The only difference I see between yours and theirs are the sights. Yours look like night sights, and their are contrast. Previous owner might have swapped sights on yours?

Q - Hi. Thank you for the excellent information. I have attached a few close-up photos of the night sights. Perhaps you or another member can ID the manufacturer. The remaining white paint on the front sight showed a faint "99" though it wiped away when I was cleaning the pistol. The front sight height is "6" as evidenced by the stamp on the left side of the blade. The rear sight is unmarked though I'm assuming it is a standard "8". (I have not removed it for measurement.) Both of course are well beyond their life expectancy.

Those would be Trijicon.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:

quote:

Originally posted by nhracecraft:
...I'd be interested in knowing when (based on S/Ns) SIG started producing/assembling the P245 in the US and when they stopped making the German Proofed P245...And if mine was the last one into the country!

The P245 started life in 1998. Based on the serial number thread, it appears that they never stopped making and proofing the German guns. Only that they (SIG NH) might have stopped importing them after 1999, because the guns were imported again in 2008, that time by PW Arms. So, yours was not "the last one into the country".
[QUOTE]

OK, so basically you're sayin' it's possible mine was the last German proofed P245 'officially imported by SIG - Exeter, NH' that came into the country!

Always a possibility. Basically. But,

quote:

Originally posted by nhracecraft:
Based on the SF thread linked in '12131's post, it appears that one of 'Sigmonkey's Nickel P245s also bears a C007-xxx Serial # as well...Possibly within 200 or so of the S/N on 'hjs157's P245.

Side note - I'd be interested in knowing when (based on S/Ns) SIG started producing/assembling the P245 in the US and when they stopped making the German Proofed P245...And if mine was the last one into the country!

My pistol is 220 numbers earlier than Sigmonkey's Oct/99 pistol. While my grip panels are dated Jan/99, I would be surprised to learn SIG NH only assembled 220 units between January and October of that year. Given this, one may conclude my pistol was assembled closer to the Oct/99 time frame. Of course, without my original box this is only conjecture.

nhracecraft - I find it interesting your KK coded pistol is ~2000 units earlier than my 1999 pistol. Given the timeline and the absence of any C006xxx serial numbers on our list, I'm beginning to wonder if serialization of the US assembled guns began at C007xxx. While it would be most difficult to confirm whether or not your's was the last German proofed pistol to be imported, it would certainly appear to be one of the last examples imported prior to the 2008 PW Arms offerings. It's unfortunate SIG NH can't be more helpful with pre-2005 production records. Attached are a few photos of my US assembled pistol highlighting the absence of any German proofs. Note the "P" in a circle on the barrel lug.

The circled P stamp on the barrel lug is a typical happening on those US assembled SIGs of the era. No one knows for sure what it means, but the often heard theory is, it's US made barrel. It is certainly not German proofed anything, from what we know about German proof marks of the time.

OP,

I have a P245 (C00833x) that is all black finish.

It has the same slide parts that you pictured from yours. My barrel also has the P with circle around it. My barrel has that PLUM color finish and the black finish on bottom of barrel is very worn away with no detectable metal wear.

Just as you pictured, mine also has solid guide rod, Blue flat coil spring.

It came in a factory matching black box with all labels attached. Specificly "245-45-B-G" followed by "P245-45 B, 3 MAGS 6RD".

Mine has the #6 white contrast and #8 rear "bar" contrast.

The mags do not have the dimples and have base plates having a date dial 9/98.

Good luck with you P245, looks nice!

I have another question since some folks educated on classic P series guns are reading this thread.

Will a P220 parts kit from Sig have any parts that can be used in the P245?
https://www.sigsauer.com/parts-kit-p220-45acp.html

I’m trying to assemble some small parts for my newly acquired P245. I picked up some P239 (in .357Sig) recoil springs so I’m good there.

Thanks guys

quote:

Originally posted by dry-fly:
Will a P220 parts kit from Sig have any parts that can be used in the P245?

The grip screws, grip screw washers, decocking lever spring, slide catch lever spring & trigger bar spring are compatible between the two models. The various firing pin positioning pins (slide pins) and the recoil springs are not compatible.

Edit to add: Upon further examination, the photo shows the old school inner & outer slide roll pins. Of course, it is an older stock photo as evidenced by the old style trigger bar spring and the braided recoil springs. The last P220 parts kit I purchased came with the current spiral FPP pin as well as the solid FPP pin (neither of which are compatible with the folded, carbon slide.) If in fact the old school inner & outer pins are included in this kit, they are also compatible with the P245.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: hjs157,