I'm sure everyone knows the feeling. At least, I hope you do. You decide that you will take a quick run through the used gun case at Bass Pro Shops just to see what they have. If history is any indicator, then you may find something nice. But the price is not worth looking any closer. Well for me, that all changed last Friday. I had just left the showroom at AIM Surplus. I resisted temptation there as they had just added some nice imports that were certainly worth looking at. This included a real P225 in very nice shape, and a German proofed two-tone P229 in .40 S&W. Price on both was reasonable, but not enough to sway me to take them home. So before lunch, I ran into the relatively new Bass Pro Shops to swing by the used case. At first, I didn't see anything exciting. A month ago, they had a used P230SL. No box and only one mag for $650. It was nice, but I didn't need another one. But this day, I found something hidden in that case. There sat a P229 in 9mm. You usually don't see 9mm P229s in my opinion. Most of the time they are in .40. It was listed at $449. Well, at that price you of course need to look at it. And look at it I did.

The associate handed me the pistol from the case. It turned out to be a more recent P229 with E2 grips and slide serrations that more resemble my P228 than classic 229 lines. The hang tag said it came with factory box and 3 mags! Upon further conversation, the sales guy said this was the last of 5 police trade-ins they had received. Now I'm very interested as I am looking at a P229, in 9mm, with 3 mags and original case for $449! It also has the Sig X-Ray sites. Physical appearance is very clean. Not a scratch on it other than some markings on the rails where it appears a light was mounted at one time. Long story short, someone like me who has been a Sigforum member now for over 21 years will not be leaving a steal like this behind. Here she is in all her glory.





Once I got her home I started to research this model more. Most of the examples I could find on Gunbroker are the Elite model. That is not this pistol. The other examples I find are the CA compliant model. Again, not this one as it does not have the horrible loaded chamber indicator on the top. The box provided is a real Sig box that is time period correct. But the label is not a full Sig label with model number even though the serial number listed matches. My searching over the weekend tells me the model should fall in the E29R-9-BSS listings. But I am not finding anything current, or selling on Gunbroker matching exactly what I have. Any thoughts out there to my collective friends here? If it really is a police trade in, would Sig provide where it was initially sent?

While the outside looks unfired, the inside told a different story. It was dirty! But it cleaned up easily and now looks like a brand new pistol. One can never turn down a quality Sig like this for under $500 out the door. My only complaint would be the amount of time it took to complete the sale at Bass Pro. I swear it took 30 minutes to complete the 4473 as it required 4 additional associates to come and re-check the paperwork! I totally get the CYA attitude, but this seemed excessive. I guess that is the price you pay for stealing a deal.

If anyone can help shed some light on the actual model number here I would appreciate it. Or perhaps it is a special model only offered to Law Enforcement orders. Either way, I just like to keep track of what I have in my collection. Thanks for any input.

That was a great buy, and honestly exactly what I've been looking for lately. I wonder if Bass Pro has any more in the pipeline? The nearest one is over an hour away, but it would be well worth the drive for that price!

Congratulations on that most excellent find! I’ve recently rediscovered the goodness of a P229 in 9mm - wonderful pistols!

No idea on the pipeline or distribution across all the Bass Pro locations. When speaking with the sale associate, he told me this is the last of the 5 they received. He also said he was only putting one out at a time because he has seen other vendors come in and buy out the entire stock only to re-list as their own offerings later at a higher price. Not sure if that was a sales story or just hyperbole but it didn't matter here. That wasn't going to sway my buying decision. I have been lucky enough to score several deals/steals over the years. I'm adding this one to my score list. I do think I will replace the E2 grips at some point. They feel okay in the hand. But I still value the old classic look.

Sigh. Congrats on a fortuitous stumble. That is an excellent find. I've got a P225 from 3x years ago, the real 225, and would love to have a 229 like that to join it. Guess I should go window shopping more often.

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My only complaint would be the amount of time it took to complete the sale at Bass Pro.

Blame the game, not the player.

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Originally posted by egregore:

quote:

My only complaint would be the amount of time it took to complete the sale at Bass Pro.

Blame the game, not the player.

Agree 100%. At no time did I get upset with that team. Just kept thinking "are we done yet?"

Congrats! You've got yourself a very soft shooting/compact 9mm and even if this wasn't specially made for an LE contract, it's still a great pistol at a great price.

High five my man!
I would have been all over that deal too, but I'm not jealous. Last Friday, I came across a deal on a P226 that was too hard to pass up, so we both have cause to celebrate our great finds on legacy Sigs.

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Originally posted by dwp10mm:
My only complaint would be the amount of time it took to complete the sale at Bass Pro. I swear it took 30 minutes to complete the 4473 as it required 4 additional associates to come and re-check the paperwork! I totally get the CYA attitude, but this seemed excessive.

I bought a gun at a Range USA last year. I was prepared for 30 min or so, but no exaggeration - it took nearly an hour for them to complete my purchase. It wasn't busy either. It was around lunchtime on a weekday, and there were more staff on the sales floor than customers present. The long time they took caused me to be late for an appointment.

quote:

I guess that is the price you pay for stealing a deal.

It's more a matter of a business not trusting their employees. There's a LGS I frequent where as long as there's at least 10 min before closing, they'll close the sale and jump through all the ATF hoops w/o worrying about failing to CYA. In fact, it's the one I bought the P226 I mentioned above. I didn't wait until near closing time to purchase, but I've been in that situation before, and they gladly served me.

I have a 9mm 229 that I bought at FJ Vollmer many years ago. I think it had belonged to an officer. It only came with one 10 round magazine. I have shot it a lot and it is accurate and reliable.

Well, I got lucky today myself! Scored a 9mm P229 Elite on GunBroker for what should come to just over $600 after fees, shipping, and transfer. Not as good a deal as yours, OP, but not bad for GunBroker. Plus it should come with night sights and an SRT already installed, which will save me buying those.

I'm excited about this one as it's going to be the basis for a optic-equipped DA/SA carry gun build. I wanted an optic-equipped counterpart to my P229 SAS, because cutting that one up and adding a dot would detract from the svelte-ness of its melt job. I tried a couple weeks ago to do something similar by buying a used slide off eBay and that turned into a disaster, so hopefully this purchase goes a little smoother.

Sounds like you got a great deal as well 92fstech. Please share your pics of that buy once you have it in hand.