The purpose of this post isn't to start a war or get anybody upset.

I've been really wanting to buy a P220 in 45ACP, but the more I read online, the more concerned I become about its reliability. Does a 220 manufactured in 2017 have any of the extractor issues I've been hearing of? What about long-term reliability? I've seen some reports from LEO armorers that they see more parts breakage on 220's compared to 226's. Is that a problem with more recently-manufactured guns?

The several I have owned in 3 calibers have all performed flawlessly. Not familiar with the problems you mentioned, but I tend to just concentrate on how well my guns do. Maybe this didn't help much.

I can't speak to the newer production P220's though I can say the earlier folded carbon steel slide models are generally considered to be nearly 100% reliable.

My sample size of one Sig 220 Dark Elite, purchased four years ago, has been nothing but flawless in every way.

I recently sold a 2015 P220R. While I had it, about 1500 rounds of various types of ammo went through it without malfunction.
I sold it because I prefer the non railed model.
My 2001 P220 has about 5K through it now. No problems.
Same for my P245.

Mine have been reliable (2010ish), but both are built off of German frames.

Over the past 5 or so years, at the shop we've had at least a couple of 45ACP P220s come in with extremely rough operating slides. They were standard Nitron guns (BSS), and I remember them coming in months apart from one another. I believe all were Carry sized. Biggest issue for us was that they didn't show well at all. Ultimately they sold, but only after some quiet discounts.

In general our shop stopped carrying 45ACP P220s as regular SKU'd items, in part because of these few mediocre Nitron guns (hard for our buyer to forget), but mostly due to the P227 stealing a lot of the P220's luster. And we had a significant dry spell of slow 45ACP gun sales, which didn't help the case for keeping the P220 on, not when there are a LOT of more affordable striker alternatives that DO sell, if only somewhat okay. Speaking of strikers, the popularity of SIG's own 320 in 45AUTO is a lot like piling more dirt on as well. Lots of interest in that.

Maybe the Legion version will revitalize interest in the P220 for us, but I suspect that it will be only with that specific model. When it comes to single-stack 45s, the bulk of our customer base thinks John Moses Browning, even those who don't know who he was. 1911s, Shields and Glocks are ruling the 45AUTO roost, at least for us.

We also had a couple of after-the-sale reports of P220s that we sold as being unreliable in cycling ball ammo. How much was on the shooters and how much of it was actually the guns I don't think any of us ever really figured out, or whether any of them were also one of the rough running ones described above.

As others have said......I can't speak to 2017 models, but my 2015 model has been 100% reliable with anything I feed it, regardless of bullet weight or nose style. Additionally, I have been using factory and Act Mag magazines with 100% success.
NOTE: NOT PRO MAG, but Act Mag magazines made in Italy.

My P220 Combat manufactured on February 29, 2017, yes Leap day has been flawless!

The P220 is more than likely the highest volume production gun (other than government contracts) that Sig manufactures. Using the laws of averages and the fact that people go to the Internet when they have issues with anything and post their issues and grievances your concern doesn't surprise me.

The Sig P220 has no more issues than any other gun Sig makes.

My thoughts...

I have never had an extractor problem (or any other problem) with any P220, including two with the often criticised internal extractor. Sometimes parts fail; that's why they sell spare parts.

 
I believe the extractor problems were all related to the generation of 220's that were first produced with a milled stainless slide. Folded slide models had the separate breech block, with a captive extractor (sort of like a 1911), that could be tensioned and held well. When they went to the milled slide, the extractor sort of free floated in a groove in the slide, and tensioning (or more so maintaining correct tensioning) was an issue. SIG finally wised up and went with the system they used in the 226 from the start with the milled slide, that is an external extractor.
 

I have a few P220s in more than one caliber. Honestly, I can't think of any time I had any issues other than not bringing enough ammo...

quote:

Originally posted by henryaz:
 
I believe the extractor problems were all related to the generation of 220's that were first produced with a milled stainless slide. Folded slide models had the separate breech block, with a captive extractor (sort of like a 1911), that could be tensioned and held well. When they went to the milled slide, the extractor sort of free floated in a groove in the slide, and tensioning (or more so maintaining correct tensioning) was an issue. SIG finally wised up and went with the system they used in the 226 from the start with the milled slide, that is an external extractor.
 

IIRC, this problem was amplified in the shorter slide of the P-220 Carry, which I was about to buy in 2008 when I joined this forum and saw some of the issues with extractors.

My P220 elite has been 100% for about 5000 rounds and is my every day carry gun. It was made in 2015.

I have never personally seen over thousands of rounds(I have quite a few 220's) nor witnessed in person an unreliable 220. Over the years I've seen posts on sigforum about some picky ammo issues for sure (OAL normally but also crap ammo) but I don't count those against the gun. I did a quick internet search on the phrase P220 reliability issues. I read the first couple of dozen hits and I didn't see one that I would consider relevant. Example person bought used gun, shot it with crap ammo had issues, cleaned it and all was well. Etc. Etc. Etc.
In the scheme of things a new 226 or 220 is likely to be extraordinarily reliable.

Reliability problem with the P220? That's news to me.

But, I suppose, when you're on the internet, you will find some reports from someone reporting some problems with some guns, actually, any guns.

Hello 4X5, I've owned several P220s over the last 25 years or so. My older folded slide German guns, with the original type internal extractor, were 100% reliable with any appropriate ammo. Later milled, one piece, stainless slides had a different internal extractor, not interchangeable with the original type internal extractors. I was a police armorer, and did personally see one officer's milled slide/internal extractor P220 that had chronic extraction issues. To the best of my knowledge, SIG never admitted any issues with the milled slide type internal extractors. But, SIG quietly changed to an external extractor that reportedly performs reliably. All this being said, within my experience the SIG P220s are very reliable pistols, and I would not hesitate to carry one. My two milled slide P220s with the,sometimes problematic, internal extractors were 100% reliable. Still, were I currently in the market for a P220, I would prefer one of the older folded slide SIGs, or one of the newer with the short external extractor. While my P220s with stainless milled slides and internal extractors were 100% reliable, I'd prefer not to tempt fate by buying another of those guns.

Any model gun can have problems and you need to shoot the one you carry a lot to be sure it's not going to give you trouble. My P220's have been absolutely dependable. I have been carrying a 2010 model Carry Elite since 2010. I have seen a couple shooter induced malfunctions in the hands of students but even that is rare. From what I have seen and read most malfunctions with these guns can be traced back to shooter induced malfunctions or underpowered ammo. If I were still working the street its the gun I would choose to take in harm's way.

As others have said I have never had any problems with any of my P220s, but the most recent model I have is 2010 I believe

The only problem I have with the P220 is, I always want another one. Hell of a pistol.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
Reliability problem with the P220? That's news to me.

But, I suppose, when you're on the internet, you will find some reports from someone reporting some problems with some guns, actually, any guns.

Reported right here in this forum, an early model milled slide P220 that I owned (bought new) had an extractor that was tensioned too tight. This caused about 1 in 5 rounds NOT to go behind the claw when coming up out of the magazine, and get the nose caught against the feed ramp. And I was not the only one reporting the issue. IIRC, I posted a picture of the "jam". I sent the gun back to SIG, who retensioned the extractor, after which it worked like it should. However, I sold the gun and for quite a while only bought and shot stamped slide models.
 
I don't recall there was ever a general reliability issue with the P220, but there were individual examples of the early milled slide models that had extractor issues, which SIG remedied by retensioning the extractor.
 
Once SIG went to the external extractor, I have lately returned to the P220 fold, with both .45 and 10mm Elites.