Hello all,
I just took possession of a Tyson's Corner JH nickel P220. It came with matching nickel magazines, box (blue cardboard), target and manual. I own/have owned several older nickel Sigs, but none as old as this one. From all appearances, this looks to be a "factory" Klein plating job even though there is no "nickel" printed on the box label. The question I have is about the front sight. I was under the impression P220s of this vintage had a fixed front sight with no dovetail. Am I right about that? What year did the dovetailed front sight hit the market? Any insights would be greatly appreciated.
[IMG:left]

[IMG:left]url=https://flic.kr/p/23e42KR]

[IMG:left] IMG_0640 by Marc Bergman, on Flickr[/IMG]

Sorry, kinda screwed up the pics. First time posting pics.

Not sure about the JH P220, but my ex JH P226 factory Ni, also Tysons Corner, had the dovetailed front.

Oh its beautiful. Really has a blue card board box? I only had 1 P220 with a spur hammer. Well, my BDAs were all spur. Thats a fine pistol you have. OK, I recall the blue boxes from the thread in Gallery.

12131, nice looking 226. I don't recall ever seeing a 226 without a dovetail front sight. I see your label does have "nickel" on it.

Thanks David, I think I was pretty fortunate in finding this one.

Nice pistol.

It looks like someone buggered up the front dove tail though. Would be the only thing that would make me think non-OEM, but it sure looks nice!

I agree with you excam, but the finish screams Klein to me. It looks identical to all the other "factory" nickel Sigs I've been exposed to over the years. I'm wondering if maybe the original owner sent it to Sig for the front sight work and had it refinished. I don't know how religious Sig was at indicating the finish on the label, so I don't know how much weight to put on the non-nickel label on this one. Maybe I'll give Sig CS a call and see what they can tell me.

Not Nickel but this is my early P220 9mm with fixed front sight and heel release. Don't remember the exact date though.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: got2hav1,

beautiful guns

Not bad pics actually. Looks like you have a sweet P220 also.

I'm kinda thinking that the dovetail has been milled into the slide on this one. The early P220s have the front sight made on to the slide. These have the flat top of the slide extend all the way to the front sight. The P220s with the dovetail front sight have the flat top taper off about an inch or so before the sight. This is consistent even with P220s with adjustable sights.

The fixed front sight models had that dip in the front of the slide like the one pictured

Yeah, I compared the front of the slide to my other early-mid 90s P220s, and noticed that difference too. I know there's probably no way to confirm it, but what do you all think about the finish as far as how it compares to known "factory" nickel guns? It's a beautiful gun, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't just a little disappointed with the likelihood of the aftermarket work being done on it. Before I purchased it I saw the front sight, and the thought went through my mind it was too early of a gun for a dovetailed front sight. By then it was too late, the Signess had me .

If you're happy with it, that's what matters.

quote:

Originally posted by got2hav1:
Not Nickel but this is my early P220 9mm with fixed front sight and heel release. Don't remember the exact date though.

By its' serial #, HH were it marked.

quote:

Originally posted by tcop143:
Yeah, I compared the front of the slide to my other early-mid 90s P220s, and noticed that difference too. I know there's probably no way to confirm it, but what do you all think about the finish as far as how it compares to known "factory" nickel guns? It's a beautiful gun, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't just a little disappointed with the likelihood of the aftermarket work being done on it. Before I purchased it I saw the front sight, and the thought went through my mind it was too early of a gun for a dovetailed front sight. By then it was too late, the Signess had me .

Site dovetail is probably correct and they put newer night sight in. To me the finish looks correct as well.

Thanks David. Just got off the phone with customer service to see if they could enlighten me at all, but was told their records only go back to'05. Oh well, still pleased with the pickup. Thanks for all the replies.

Hey, Was able to make it back and take a picture of some P220s.
The smooth top of the middle P220s reaches the front sight on the models without the dovetail.
The newer dovetail front sight P220s have the smooth top taper off about 3/4 inch or so before the front sight.
The smooth area on the top of the slide is to provide a plane for the barrel to ride while out of battery.
The center ridge on the earlier rounded nose P220s serves the same purpose.


---------- Late Seventies --------- Mid Eighties ------------ Late Eighties ---------- Mid Nineties ----
---------- Rounded Nose ------ Adjustable Sights --------- Smooth Nose ------------ Dovetail ------



Guessing the dovetail was milled later based on this. I hope to get a Nickel P220 someday. Yours is a sweet looking Sig!

This is already a GREAT thread! Beautiful Sigs.

Great comparison .38, thanks for that and the compliment. I'd call Sig again, but I'd hate to wait like I did last time for the same result. It'd be great if someone here one the board had access to the archives.

quote:

Originally posted by tcop143:
Great comparison .38, thanks for that and the compliment. I'd call Sig again, but I'd hate to wait like I did last time for the same result.

Guarantee you will get the same spiel again. The last time I tried with their CS Supervisor, I got the same standard answer. Yeah, the Super.
There used to be a few SIG employees who could and were willing to get you the info, but they are long gone.

quote:

It'd be great if someone here one the board had access to the archives.

If a SIG CS guy can't give you the answer, what makes you think any of us outsiders will have access to their inside info?