All of you who own aluminum frame Sig Sauers...

[SCBaldr]

I was cleaning my P229 Elite in 9mm when I noticed two very rough patches of metal on the upper edge of the slide guide rail. They had been rubbed totally bare of the Nitron finish and were quite rough to the touch, like unfinished metal. See Pictures

Now, before you jump at conclusions, let me give a little background.
1.) I Shoot with a firm high thumbs or combat grip, good stance, locked elbows and good recoil control. So no, there is no possibility of limp-wristing being the culprit.
2.) The gun has been well maintained. It has been thoroughly cleaned after every use, the correct amount of good quality gun oil is always present, so its not running too wet or too dry.
3.) It has 400 rounds of PMC Bronze 115 gr. FMJ standard pressure ammunition through the barrel, so it is pretty new. It was purchased new from the Sig Sauer academy pro shop 06/20/2010.
4.) I emailed these pictures to a CSR at Sig Sauer who forwarded them to the Gunsmiths. The reply was that such wear was normal. If that is true, it certainly doesn't endear me to aluminum as a frame material.

My first question is this: Do your aluminum frame Sigs show this kind of wear?
Second: If yours do not, why does mine?
Third: What is the next step?

[XD45]

my p226 blackwater tactical(pretty sure its aluminum) doesn't have those marks, there arent a ton of rounds down the tube but i'd wager it's more than your 400.

Not being able to see it first hand I can't say for sure if it'd bother me or not, you may want to try calling sig and seeing if they'll pay postage to get it back to them and looked at.

[JoeyBones]

Since it's your frame, that is anodizing wearing off - The Nitron is the finish on the steel slide...

It's semi-normal for the newer stainless Sigs, from what I have read. The Nitron over stainless slide seems more rough on the anodized aluminum frames...

My newer P225 is my only Sig with Nitron on the slide (but it's an older style folded carbon steel slide)... And my frame rails are pristine...

That said, the wear looks mildly excessive to my eyes, for that round count...

Use a thicker lube (grease like TW25B or Slide Glide) and use it liberally before any longer range session session... The wear should even out and stop worsening once it hits a certain point, based on all I've read, seen, and been told...

Others will be along with more insight (BlindRef might see this thread), but I would say the wear (while not fun to see happening so soon) is really not outside the realm of others I have seen...

If it keeps worsening while using grease on your rails, then contact Sig... Also, look for "Flork's Guide" for used Sig inspection (info on how to tell how worn anodizing is), as well as Bruce Gray's lube recommendations... sigforum.com

HTH...

Regards,

Bones

ETA - I just re-read your OP - If it were my gun, after only 400rds (I glazed over that part) - I would be a bit upset. But grease the rails up well and see if the wear "plateaus" before proceeding (at least that's what I would do)

[ForwardAssist]

I would ask one of the armorers at Sigforum.

http://sigforum.com/ - http://sigforum.com/eve/forums/a/frm/f/150601935

Good luck with your resolution.

[mrnyman]

Use grease instead of Gun oil, maybe thats the reason SIG put that little tube of grease in the package. ?

Nyman

[Steve_NEPhila]

I have two aluminum framed Sigs, and neither have this problem. One has about 15,000 rounds through it and the other only has about 2000 rounds through it. Draw what conclusions you like.

[KAL101]

400 rounds. It isn't even broke in yet.

[Yentl Marmelstein]

I'm looking at a 229 Elite....after seeing this (thanks), I'll go with the stainless frame model.

My 229 standard model never had this issue.

[IronButt]

.........big snip....Use a thicker lube (grease like TW25B) - grease the rails up well

^This!

I have a P220 & a P229. Both have had grease applied to the rails at every cleaning since I've owned them. They each have over well 2000 rounds thru them & show no wear marks. TW25B is a good choice. My rule-of-thumb is: If it slides- I apply grease. If it rotates- I apply oil.

I wouldn't worry too much about the finish rubbing off unless it gets worse after using grease on the rails.

[SCBaldr]

400 rounds. It isn't even broke in yet.

I know, right. Kinda disappointed.