My West German, three number 228 is turning plum colored at the front of the slide. I have seen this in HK squeeze cockers but never before in a Sig. Reassure me that this is okay. I especially want to hear from our 228 expert, 12131.
SN is B202731, Thanks, John.

A little unusual if it's the slide, but controls turning plum certainly isn't rare.

The slide on my KD P220 turned plum shortly after I got it, the whole damn slide. Very normal, very ok.

My p220s and p226s dated KC and before have the same plum color on the hammer and the part of the slide where the Kx or Jx date resides. It is a really nice patina not to be complained of.

^^^ Agreed. Nothing says "golden era of European pistols" in quite the same way.

The plum coloring has been discussed before, but I haven't seen any recent discussion of it.

In my experience with the classic SIG stamped folded carbon steel guns the hammer tends to turn plum first. None of mine have the plum anywhere on the slide (as of now) but I have seen some that do.

Correction. In taking my own advice, I just checked and found that, while viewed in natural lighting I can detect a subtle plum color in one of my slides.

In cases of subtle plum coloration the lighting the gun is viewed in can affect whether the color is detected. Sunlight or camera flash seems to show it moreso than
indirect or artificial lighting.

Nothing to be concerned about. Some of us go grey when we age...some of our classic guns go plum.

The front of my hk usp slide is plumb collored 1995 date code.

In my expert opinion, it's rust. I'll be glad to take it off your hand, free of charge.

My 91 P228 has little or no bluing left, it's mostly shiny metal. But it was a purplish color in 96. Chris

But, seriously, as everyone else has said, it's normal.

Thanks, guys.
12131, you don't have anyplace to store another 228.

It just means your P228 has reached its prime ripeness.

In some collector circles of some brands, plumb is actually a desired thing. Also sort of proves the finish is original.

And it also means you own one of the good ones. Mine from that generation had done everything from just the controls to pretty much the whole gun.

It’s normal. The P228 slide is a two piece construction with a folded rear and a milled muzzle section welded to each other. A discoloration to plumish shade happens when the two parts have different, not exactly the same technological specs, from the welding process or later tempering. This is something that can be observed on all SIGSauer pistols with cold drawn slides and nothing to worry about.

Nothing at all wrong with Plum...

Talk about cognitive dissonance.

If this discoloration were to happen on a new American made Sig,would everyone be this accepting?

quote:

Originally posted by 4521pop:
Talk about cognitive dissonance.

If this discoloration were to happen on a new American made Sig,would everyone be this accepting?

Silly question. Discoloration because of a natural process in un-blamable. But, if a discoloration is due to poor quality control, then it's not acceptable, whether it's German or US made.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:

quote:

Originally posted by 4521pop:
Talk about cognitive dissonance.

If this discoloration were to happen on a new American made Sig,would everyone be this accepting?

Silly question. Discoloration because of a natural process in un-blamable. But, if a discoloration is due to poor quality control, then it's not acceptable, whether it's German or US made.

Winner winner chicken dinner.