Is there a cheap 9mm P229 or M11a1?????
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I do not care for the expensive siglite sights, in fact I hate them. I much prefer a bright front sight and dim back sights. With that said is there a cheap version of 9mm in either pistols? I've seen a P229 @ $550 or so but of course it has to be 40S&W.
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A LEO trade in IS your best bet. But you won't likely find one in 9mm, as the reason they are trading them in is to switch to 9mm.
Note that a 40 can be switched to SIG 357 with a barrel swap, and to 9mm with a conversion barrel (like BarSto makes) or by sourcing one of the P228 parts kits that were selling for $128 from CDNN awhile back (they are out of them now). Or by a more expensive 9 conversion slide from SIG.
Or just keep the ex-LEO in 40, it's a great cartridge and I actually prefer it for carry over a 9 in the P229.
If you do get a LEO dumped P229, ($400 to $550 or so) be sure to get a DA/SA if that's what you prefer. DAKs are about $100 cheaper as they are less in demand.
The LEO's, for the most part, come from a period when SIG was at the top of their game (90's to mid 00's), these excellent used guns will not be available in such quantity forever, nor is it likely their intrinsic "goodness" will ever be for sale new again.
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Build one! I built mine for about $450
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Great! Building is good. Did you start with an 80% frame of build from finished parts?? Building is probably not doable for most, and may not pencil when there is still a relatively abundant supply of good used ones on the market in the 4 to 6 hundred range. The supply has dwindled some over the last 2 or 3 years while the price has crept up about $100 for low use, excellent quality examples.
This one cost me $449 shipped. A '99 with almost no wear - must have spent it's life in a drawer with a desk officer who never bothered to do re-quals (I paid $50 more to get the best of half a dozen a guy was selling on another, greenish forum. Now I did sink another $120 in for Trijicon HD's. Did some engine turning on the barrel hood, added some used laser grips, put in a SRT kit, and spent more than a few hours on the action and a couple of mods I make parts for (most not for sale).
To arrive at a hair under 8 lbs DA, an ounce or two under 3 lbs SA (crisp, no creep, no SA overtravel), removed all DA pre-travel (no staging and a little smoother than slicker'n snake snot on a flat rock).
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Very nice! Yeah I built mine off an 80% from Matrix and the parts kit was from a government pistol. Came with trijicon night sight (expired) but sent them in and had all three viles re-lamped for $57 total. How do I add pics?!!! If I figure it out I'll post a couple pics of my 2 builds. I dropped the srt kit in mine too, love it, incredible difference in failure to stop drills. Prob put close to 2 thousand rounds through it in the 3 months I've had, it's also my daily carry.Great! Building is good. Did you start with an 80% frame of build from finished parts?? Building is probably not doable for most, and may not pencil when there is still a relatively abundant supply of good used ones on the market in the 4 to 6 hundred range. The supply has dwindled some over the last 2 or 3 years while the price has crept up about $100 for low use, excellent quality examples.
This one cost me $449 shipped. A '99 with almost no wear - must have spent it's life in a drawer with a desk officer who never bothered to do re-quals (I paid $50 more to get the best of half a dozen a guy was selling on another, greenish forum. Now I did sink another $120 in for Trijicon HD's. Did some engine turning on the barrel hood, added some used laser grips, put in a SRT kit, and spent more than a few hours on the action and a couple of mods I make parts for (most not for sale).
To arrive at a hair under 8 lbs DA, an ounce or two under 3 lbs SA (crisp, no creep, no SA overtravel), removed all DA pre-travel (no staging and a little smoother than slicker'n snake snot on a flat rock).
I don't think I have ever heard more accurate words.
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That info is good to reflect on for a data point on what the SIG used market is doing. The Matrix 80% is listed on their site at $275. The "used, great condition P228 parts kits (includes the whole gun minus the frame and will work nicely with the Matrix P229 frame) *was* being sold by CDNN for $128 - I bought two of them and am kicking myself for not buying all they had!! Those kits are now on Matrix for $300, and on ebay one guy is asking $400! Unless my math is flawed, by the time you add incidentals, finishing etc. on an 80 build, that makes the ex-LEO's look pretty good. That doesn't acknowledge or attribute value to the considerable satisfaction one may get by going the build route.
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I'm actually thinking about doing one of these, but I'm in a unique situation here in CA. The P229 is not on our roster, so unless I buy it used from someone here in CA, I can't buy it. A used P229 would likely cost $1500+. Thus, an 80% frame would be a great candidate for my extra parts and P228 slide. I've already got 2 P229's so this would just be a fun project.
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I think they have the larger magwell.
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Man I've been looking for more parts kits but I'm not spending that much on a kit lol...especially when I plan to cerakote. I actually have 2 P226 kits on the way!
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