Sig P226/Mk25 differences

[Artemas]

Ok, stupid question time!

Does the Sig Mk25 have any practical/mechanical advantages over a standard P226? I get that the internal coatings are "better", but I don't do ocean Speedo carry...yet

And since were here, what about the M11 vs 229?

[Jeep]

I think that the hope is that it has better QC than other 226's these days, and of course it has a standard rail rather than a SIG one. Otherwise it appears to be the same.

[Paul]

The Mk25 will have a Picatinny rail, phosphated internals, short external extractor, old style two piece grips and regular trigger, a phosphated or chrome lined barrel, a bar code, and an anchor.
The P226 will have the rounded rail, long external extractor, E2 grips and short trigger.

I much prefer the shorter older style extractor, otherwise mechanically they are about the same.

The M11 is the old P228 and has a folded sheet metal slide and pinned breach block. The M11A1 has phsopahated internals but otherwise is comparable to the newer P229 SAS Gen II.

There are too many version of the P226 and P229 to come up with a list of differences between all the models.

[ssb]

I sought out a MK-25 with the expectation that it would have better QC, and because I'd read bad things about the newer long extractor. Other than that, I didn't care about any of the other differences. I could do without the anchor and the sticker. The third magazine is nice.

[Artemas]

Thank you, guys

I sought out a MK-25 with the expectation that it would have better QC, and because I'd read bad things about the newer long extractor. Other than that, I didn't care about any of the other differences. I could do without the anchor and the sticker. The third magazine is nice.

That mirrors my thoughts as well.

[DNW]

Why would it have any better QC than any other Sig? It's not actually a military contract with different specs/inspections, it's just a feature set and marketing.

Not bagging on Sig, I am issued, carry and own my own Sigs, just curious as to why this would be somehow "better". Pick the features you like and shoot it.

[Jeep]

Why would it have any better QC than any other Sig? It's not actually a military contract with different specs/inspections, it's just a feature set and marketing.

Not bagging on Sig, I am issued, carry and own my own Sigs, just curious as to why this would be somehow "better". Pick the features you like and shoot it.

There really is no way of knowing whether the QC is better. However, SIG says that the civilian MK-25's come from the same batches as the NSW contract ones; and given that losing NSW would be a huge marketing blow to SIG, it seems to be at least a semi-reasonable hope that the MK 25's don't have the same issues as many other newly manufactured SIG's have these days.

Based on a very small sample size, I'd say that perhaps that hope might even be correct. I know several people who have had problematic 226s in recent years, but know of none who have had issues with MK 25, and a LGS that sells a lot of SIGs thinks the 25's it has sold have had fewer problems than standard 226's.

Of course, if you can find a rebuilt German 226 (and Sig doesn't seem to do a bad job rehabbing and selling them) you might avoid both QC issues and the anchor (as well as the rail if you don't want it).

[John Hearne]

There was a fairly persistent rumor that Sig had different standards of QC based on the customer. These were alleged to be (from low to high):

1) Public Consumer Guns
2) LE Guns
3) Special contracts

The closest I could ever get to a confirmation of of this was the admonition to buy my duty guns through the LE purchase program and not to buy a Sig outf the gun store stock.

If the MK25's are coming out of 2 or 3, they they're probably better QC wise. My issues with the MK25 is that you need special holsters and that installation of the SRT parts negates the phosphate finishing of the internals which is the big advantage of the MK25.

[DNW]

I am no stranger to Sigs and their issues, I just don't see how that is possible from a production/logistics standpoint. I see how you could have better inspection coming out of production, but the guns are all made from the same parts.

If you have a gun and out of the box it has issues, that is a quality control/inspection issue. If it functions for a while, and then the something breaks, that is a manufacturing issue. The materials/manufacturing issues have to be the same across all lines.

I carry Sigs because I have to. I am happy to buy any Sig, inspect it, shoot the hell out of it, and replace parts as needed.

[dookie1481]

There was a fairly persistent rumor that Sig had different standards of QC based on the customer. These were alleged to be (from low to high):

1) Public Consumer Guns
2) LE Guns
3) Special contracts

The closest I could ever get to a confirmation of of this was the admonition to buy my duty guns through the LE purchase program and not to buy a Sig outf the gun store stock.

If the MK25's are coming out of 2 or 3, they they're probably better QC wise. My issues with the MK25 is that you need special holsters and that installation of the SRT parts negates the phosphate finishing of the internals which is the big advantage of the MK25.

According to a rep (whom I know, not just some random cat), the IOP guns got more test fire. Not sure about better QC or anything else.