The new P226s have a spiral roll pin instead of the solid firing pin positioning pin. FWIW, the guns with solid pins if dry fired a lot can have problems with galling(sp?) on the positioning pin and/or the firing pin, which happened to one of my P226s.
"You can't win a war with choirboys. " Mad Mike Hoare
John, I'd recommend the Mk25. The fire control group is not Indo-MIM parts from India...
In addition to the separate breach block, the top of the slide on a stamped gun will also have a flat surface running from the front sight that gradually increases in width up to the locking lug. On milled guns, there's a constant, rounded radius at the front of the slide.Originally Posted by YVK
Top: Forged Stainless Slide
Bottom: Stamped Slide
"You can't win a war with choirboys. " Mad Mike Hoare
Do you have a refernce for this comment? I'm not calling BS just interested in the source. Higher quality internals would certainly be a plus vs a regular current production 226.
Thanks for any info.
I'd suggest a stamped (2 piece) slide gun or a milled slide gun with a spiral roll pin. I'd avoid the milled slide guns with solid pins.
It may be confusing because it's basically is the opposite of what ToddG recommends, and he knows these guns well.
But, my opinion is that the 2 piece slide guns are excellent as far as real world durability. If the locking block loosens up (which can happen after a lot of shooting), simply replace the roll pins in the slide with new ones.
I'd avoid the solid pin guns (which only came with milled slides) because simple dry firing of the gun can (without decent snap caps) can damage/break the pin and cause big headaches and problems. This is why Sig no longer makes these with solid pins.
The spiral pin guns are recent manufacture, and recently, Sig quality has been inconsistent. But if you are picking one from the armory of an agency, I assume you can pick one that has been fired a little and confirmed for reliability. If you were buying a gun new, I probably would not feel the same way about a spiral pin gun.
Also, with both the spiral pin guns and the 2 piece slide guns, you can easily detail strip the slide if you want to or need to. But a lot of people have to send the solid pin guns back to the factory to have the slide pins removed.
All of this is simply my opinion.
Joe Mamma
The two piece cup pin punch set takes the hassle out of R&Ring the solid pin. About the only thing that makes the solid pin more complicated than the roll pins is that they are directional. That said, I like the feel of the stamped slide P226s as they seem less top heavy and better balanced than the 9mm stamped slide versions.
"You can't win a war with choirboys. " Mad Mike Hoare
I will disagree with you slightly, and I should clarify my comments above. One problem with the solid pin guns is that *someone else* who has handled the gun may have dry fired it a lot, and damaged the solid pin. Unfortunately, the damage is often not visible, but it will cause problems if you try to remove it.
Joe Mamma
I would submit that if you are worried a previous owner/user may have dry fired excessively without taking proper precautions (solid slide), you should be even more cautious about whether the gun was fired without regular replacement of the slide pins (stamped slide). It's much easier to replace some worn internal parts than a cracked frame.
What are the proper precautions for dry firing a slide with solid pins? Snap caps?
Nobody is impressed by what you can't do. -THJ
Reply With Quote
