Found a p228. Nickel or SS?

[HamburgBoy84]

I'm working in NM right now and stopped in at a pawn shop. They have a p228 that appears to be SS or nickel. Not sure how to tell. Gun i obviously used but shows little to no wear at all. They're asking $750 with 2 mags and a holster (not sure on the holster details). Is there a way to tell whether it's stainless or nickel coated and is the price right? Hopefully 1BlindRef is around. Forgot to add it's non-railed and has night sites.

[mccula]

I would pay 750 for that, seems like a good deal to me. Mine is standard, with no night sights, no special finish, and I paid I think 550 or so.
I haven't seen any full nickel or stainless 228s in real life, only a few on the internet. I might be wrong, but I think they're pretty rare. Hope this helped!

[DBZ220]

The P228 was never made in stainless steel. Carbon slide only. Could have a nickel or NP3 slide/frame/controls finish. Most common would be a nickel slide and or controls. And there was also a full nickel P228 as well, which is on the rare side. I have one, but I'm the 3rd owner and it's less that 100% at this point, but I got a deal on it. The P228 is an ideal SIG and $750 for a mint factory 2-tone or factory full nickel would be a decent price IMO.

[HamburgBoy84]

Well I went back and bought it. It's a KB stamped (1991) West German p228. I'm guessing it's a nickel slide only. Here are some photos.

[CHEMICAL]

and Hogue grips too!....nice find for sure! The frame almost looks painted (maybe duracoat) or it could just be the pics, either way its a beauty!

[HamburgBoy84]

I'm happy. The night sites are pretty dim and the rear site is pushed so far right it's pretty much useless, so new sites are on the short list for sure. The holster it came with is worthless but both mags are stainless not blued 13 rounders. Plus since I had to ship it to my FFL, no sales tax. Overall a good pick up.

[1blindref]

Congrats!!

It looks like a factory nickel P228. There are two ways of telling if it's really a factory nickel. If it came with the original box, check the end label. It'll be stamped "NICKEL". If it didn't come with the box, call Sig with the serial number. You might get lucky and they'll tell you over the phone. If not, you might have to pay them a fee and send them the info.

The only thing that looks out of place to me is the barrel hood looks like it's polished. The barrels on the early nickel Sigs came all black from the factory. They were not nickel plated with the rest of the gun. The previous owner might have stripped the bluing of off the barrel so it would match the rest of the gun.

The frames on the factory nickel guns always look a little bit different than the slides because the frames are an aluminum alloy and the slides are steel.
All of the early nickel Sigs where plated by Klein Plating in Erie Pa. Klein no longer does or will do nickel plating on any guns. The nickel guns came with two nickel plated mags. It's rare to find an original nickel Sig with both nickel plated mags. You got the gun at a very good price. Nickel P228's are a highly sought after Sig. I've seen them sell for anywhere between $850 and $1100 depending on how clean and complete the gun is. Sig must have sent a lot of P228's for a nickel finish in 1991. Most of the ones I've seen are "KB"'s

IMHO, a nickel P228 is the Sig Holy Grail right behind a P210.

Here are a couple of pictures of my "KB" nickel P228 with the box. You can see how the word "NICKEL" is stamped on the box.





Here is a picture of what the barrel should look like.

[HamburgBoy84]

I've been looking at the nickels online. I'm interested as my barrel seems to be stainless. Is it more likely an aftermarket?

[1blindref]

The barrel should have the serial number of the gun on it. If it does, it's the original one.

[JoeyBones]

I dunno... It looks to me like a professionally done hard chrome job... Look at the slide and the rear serrations - The slide flats are polished, but the serration cuts are a matte finish... Plus the barrel and hood are silver-toned as well, in contrast to Ref's factory nickel P228... This looks like a Ford's or Tripp HC job to my eyes...

Which brings up the frame - If it was a factory nickel P228 (which, as Ref stated, are coveted amongst Sig aficionados), I don't think the original owner would want to have that nickel stripped off... And this pistol's frame has a matte hard chrome appearance (which does resemble factory nickel as well)... But due to the aluminum frame - perhpas it's a Duracoat or NP3 type of finish (can't HC aluminum, to the best of my knowledge)?

I would imagine that the slide is an after-market HC job (and a very nicely-done one, at that), with the frame being some other type of aftermarket finish...

Then again, I am not a Sig guru by any stretch of the imagination... Could very well be a factory nickel job!

Nice find, in any event... Love 228's...

Regards,

Bones