I last had a 229 over 10 years ago in 40 and didn't like it that much and it was sold.

Decided last year I'd like one in 9mm so I bought a lightly used P229 Nitron. Proceeded to go a little (or a lot) overboard with the modifications.

- Pro Cut slide with Romeo1 Pro. Added the shroud. The optic has a notch in the back and I can just see the top of the front sight which is pretty nice though I won't carry this.
- Hogue G10 Piranha grips
- TJs grip screws I had laying around
- Matrix Precision extended magazine release (really nice part)
- And most every Grayguns part : Fat guide rod, SRT kit, custom strut system with #17 mainspring and ELS, enhanced leverage system

Of course, I didn't need any of these parts but I bought it to shoot so I put it in a JM Custom kydex OWB and started to shoot matches with it.

For the last year at least I've been shooting a full size Beretta 92 with an LTT modified slide and a Trijicon SRO. Moving to a much smaller and lighter gun has been a bit of a challenge. Really need to clean up my grip in particular.

The stock trigger was actually very good but now it's off the chart. I don't have any way to measure it but the DA trigger pull must be under 7lbs. I wasn't sure how much difference the GGI ELS would make but it's a lot.

I have been running the same trigger/hammer system for a few years. I run a 19# mainspring though.
6 pounds 11 ounces DA and 3 pounds 1 ounce SA.

The 229 9mm probably has the most friendly recoil impulse right out of the box of any of the Classic line pistols. The 226 series can be tuned by swapping springs around, but the 229 is flat right out of the box.

If you don’t mind jljones can you elaborate on your spring choices for a 226? I have a Mk25 and a Legion but I don’t shoot them much and I got rid of my 228’s. I would love to fine tune them and take them for a spin if you’ve got the time. Thank you.

Sure.

The standard 226 recoil spring is *usually* (or more likely supposed to be) 15 pounds. Running slightly over power factor ammo, as the slide is going into final lock up and battery you get a slight dip. As you increase power and increase recoil, the dip gets a little worse.

So, what I usually try to do is pick my ammo that I want to shoot and spring the gun to that ammo. I buy one of the Wolff Variable packs and start with the 13#. I’ll put five in a magazine and set my phone with the camera on SLO-Mo and shoot the 5 rounds at about a one second pace. I’ll watch the video and see if the dip disappears. Depending on what I see, I’ll adjust up or down until I just barely see the dip disappear.

The reduced power springs get replaced at about 2000 rounds. Springs are cheap.

The 229 for the most part has zero dip with moderate power factor ammo. When I get a new one that is one of the first things I check and it has been consistent for a while.

Thank you, that process makes sense.

Jones with the wisdom as always. There is so much capability in a smart phone that most people don't touch.

Apply the same process to your draws and reloads (especially with a cheap tripod), and you will find your inefficiencies. For extra juicy slow-mo-edness, record in your slowest setting, then upload to YouTube (private) and set playback speed lower on YouTube. May not matter so much in this scenario, but you may find it helps in isolating portions of the draw, for example.

The recoil spring is one thing on this 229 I haven't changed and I only ever shoot my ~130 PF reloads. It does have the older 'twisted strand' spring and I decided not to replace it since the gun had few rounds through it when I got it but I did buy a couple of spares and noted that the new 229 recoil springs are 'standard' single wire springs. Not sure why Sig made a change there. I assume the single wire spring is less expensive to produce or buy and performs just as well a the older design but I don't know.

Looks good.

I'm a believer in the ELS kit and the GGI strut.
I have that in my 226 with the 19# spring.
My 229's have the ELS and TSA Superstrut with 20# spring.

All three have a smooth 6.5# DA and 3.5 SA pull.