O. Special / Limited models:

1. Gun Of The Month(GOTM) P228s: SIG's GOTM program ran from Apr 2003 to Dec 2005. The P228 was honored with 3 models.

a. 2003 (July): Desert camouflage finish. Production number = 352. Part Number: 228-9-CAMO.

b. 2004 (April): HiViz front sight. One 15 round P226 magazine with Freed Designs grip adapter. Production number = 535. Part Number: 228-9-HV

c. 2005 (November): Two-tone satin nickel, with nickel controls. Production number = 162. Part Number: 228-9-NOV05



2. Stainless slide P228: Only 2 examples are known, from a production run of two, in Sept 2007. The slide is machined stainless legacy slide of the P229 style. The guns were officially rollmarked P228s and released as such. They were supposed to have been evaluated by the NJ State Police for possible adoption at the time. More on why and how this gun was born can be found in this thread, posts #16 & #13, P228 How to know if it is real?



3. SAS frame P228: released in Oct. 2009. Frame is from the P229 SAS. This is the only year that the P228 has this SAS frame.
Side note: Some of these “B” serial frames were also used back to make the P229 SAS guns, as discussed in this thread, A factory made P229 with "B" prefix serial number. I call them “B” serial P229s.



4. P228R: released in 2009 and 2011. Frame is P229 with rail and hooked trigger guard. I was told (by SIG) that they had an excess of a little over a thousand of these frames at the time, so they used them to make the P228R. There are 3 variants.

a. Most of these 2009 guns are just plain Jane P228Rs, with single serial number on the frame and nowhere else. The major parts were made in Germany, but final assembly was done here. Hence, no German proof marks.

b. Some 2009 guns had the “US" "M11” on the frame’s right side etched out. These “US" "M11” guns were never officially adopted by any US military outfits, despite unverifiable claims (mostly by sellers) on the internet that they were military contract overrun. The fact that they don't have corrosion resistant phosphate small parts and no "MP" on slide, breech block, barrel and locking insert lends support to the no official military adoption theory. See the M11B below for "MP" explanation. The real story of the "US" "M11" P228R remains a mystery.

c. Some 2010 guns, date code BA, were made, assembled and proofed in Germany. These were imported by SIG NH and sold in 2011.

NOTE: If you run across a P228R with the Army CID Agent shield engraved on top of the slide, it was not originally released from factory as such but was done aftermarket by the SIG Commemorative Engraving Program, according to the CID agent I bought it from who had it done as a graduation gift to himself. It was his personal gun and was not issued by the military. A pic can be found in the Gun Pics section.



5. M11B: 2011 (BB) and 2012 (BC). Supposedly un-issued military M11s that SIG stamped the “B” on, so to be able to release onto the commercial market. About 50 of these guns are rumored to be floating around. For such a small group, these M11Bs is a strange mixture of oddities. Some guns have all the markings of a German made and proofed firearm (triple serial numbers and triple proof marks on frame, slide, and barrel). Others have either barrel or slide that is lacking serial number and proof mark, although they were all made in Germany.

These guns all have corrosion resistant phosphate coated small parts. Note that the "MP" on the barrel, slide, breech block and locking insert on these guns denotes they have been magnetically particle inspected, per military specifications, to detect micro defects/cracks that are not detectable by visual inspection. A little more info/history about the M11B can be found in this TTAG article, Obscure Object of Desire: SIG SAUER M11-B Pistol - The Truth About Guns

An extra 12 M11Bs that were not part of the original 50 Air Force M11Bs were discussed in this thread, A bona fide factory M11B that is not part of the...



6. Stainless frame P228: As its name suggests, this one was built on a stainless steel frame, not the typical aluminum alloy frame of the regular P228. It was first made by the German Mastershop in very small quantity (about 10) just for SIG DE employees and their friends. The first US appearance of this gun is a single sample that was ordered by SF member 220parts, and it made it to the US from across the pond in 2011. SF member Gabby, whose real name is Jaymie Smolens, the owner of Afton Arms and a specialist in bringing the German Mastershop SIGs to the US, supposedly ordered 20 of these P228s in 2012 for the SIGforum group buy subsequently. They sold out quickly. He then placed a second order for 10 more pistols. But he unexpectedly passed in late December 2012, before he could fulfill this last task. His wife Lynn took over and completed the sale and distribution of these remaining pistols, after they arrived from Germany in March 2013, and Afton Arms eventually ceased operations.

There is some discrepancy between the number that Jaymie said he ordered for the first batch (20) and the actual number that SIG SAUER in NH said they have in their records (10). Although Jaymie ordered the guns, SIG NH was the actual importer. So, I’ll go with what they say as the actual number (10). There is no number discrepancy related to the second order. Both Jaymie and SIG NH said 10. Member 220parts was working hard to order a few more of these pistols to be made by SIG DE, but everything came to a halt as SIG SAUER in Germany permanently shut its doors in late 2020. So, in total, there are 31 of these stainless frame P228s ever made. Ten remained in Germany. Twenty one are here in the US.

One peculiar aspect of these guns is that they were built on two distinct frames in terms of mag well internal dimensions, although externally, the frames are identical. Some frames have the widened mag well internally that can accommodate the 229-1 magazine. Others are true P228 dimensioned frames. That is, they can only take the P228 magazine (or the older P229 (9)), not the 229-1 magazine.

 

@12131 This is a great write-up! I am learning a lot about the M11B. I have read about every post you have written on the serial number variations on the slide, frame and barrel, but have you seen one of the M11B's with a barrel marked DE, but with no serial number, date code or MP markings?

 

P. Is the P228 DAK compatible?

Almost all P228s are not DAK compatible.

However, there are 3 variants that are DAK compatible, because their frames already have the DAK cut out.

• The P228R
• The SAS frame P228
• The stainless frame P228

 

GUN PICTURES (All are/were from my collection, except where noted)



1989 (JK) gun, in red cardboard box:

1990 (KA) gun, in red cardboard box (Before SIG moved from Herndon, VA to Exeter, NH):

1991 (KB) factory all nickel gun, in gray cardboard box:

1991 (KB) factory 2-toner, with all black controls:

1994 (KE) factory 2-toner, all black controls:

1994 (KE) factory 2-toner, nickel controls, gray plastic case:

1995 (KF) Made In W. Germany. This is the very last year of the West German guns:

1995 (KF) Made In Germany, factory 2-toner complete package (including the soft outer cardboard sleeve):

July 2003 GOTM - Desert Camo:

April 2004 GOTM - HiViz front sight, 15-rd P226 mag with X-grip adaptor:

2005 factory 2-toner (Nov. 2005 GOTM), nickel controls, large blue plastic case. Original grips replaced with Nill grips:

 

Stainless slide P228 (NJSP), 2007:

SAS frame P228 (2009). Original grips replaced with Hogue made SIG logo aluminum grips:

P228R (2009) with "US M11" etched out:

P228R (2009) Department Of The Army CID Agent

P228R (2009), plain. Original grips replaced with Hogue G10 Piranha:

P228R 2010 (BA), all German made and proofed:

 

M11B, 2011 (BB), all German made, with proof marks on frame and barrel, but not on slide:

M11B, 2012 (BC), all German made and proofed:

Stainless frame P228, 2012 (BC), with 229-1 magwell dimensions:

Stainless frame P228, 2013 (BD), identical to one above except with true P228 magwell dimensions:

Last batch of "regular" P228s (late 2012 to early 2013), with 3-letter serial prefixes, small black plastic box:

This one made no mentions of "MADE IN GERMANY" on the slide on either side, but the folded slide is always German made, since SIG USA does not have the folded slide making machinery:

And last, the M11-A1, the excellent P228/M11 wannabe. It debuted in 2012 and is still in production. It’s really a P229, with the P229 slide, 229-1 frame, but wearing the P228 logo grip, when SIG originally released it. Some years later, SIG finally decided that it is officially a P229, so all current M11-A1s now wear the P229 logo grip. Pic here shows original P228 logo grips replaced with SIG SAUER logo Hogue made aluminum grips:

 

I'm incorporating the story of the “P226C”, the P226 Compact prototype that SIG USA (not Germany) were working on back in the mid-80s, since, imo, this is so important to think about what might have been regarding the P228.



The original story of the prototype "P226C", which would have become the compact version of the P226, but never did, is found here, thanks to the Wayback Machine. Possible 228 prototype - Topic

Its original auction is found here, again, thanks to the Wayback Machine, Auction One of a Kind Prototype SIG-Sauer pistol - Topic

Brief summary is, SF member waynewash inherited this prototype from Lee Salter, Manager of Technical Services at SIGARMS in the 1980s. Three samples were made. Two were destroyed. Only this present sample is left. It is prototype #1 (as seen in pics below).

There were questions about the "prototype" nature of this SIG. What we know pretty sure is that this gun did not come from West Germany in that form, although the major parts did. This gun was modified/reconstructed into its form by SIG USA Tysons Corner's Lee Salter's team. Factory prototype? Worker prototype? We may never know, but it doesn’t matter. What's pretty clear is that the technical folks at SIG USA at the time were planning on the compact version of the P226. Hence, the "P226C". Obviously, the project never came to fruition. And the eventual compact little brother of the P226, namely, the P228, came from West Germany.


The first few pics are just overall appearance of the gun. It's pretty clear that the slide assembly originally belonged to a JE (1984) P225, with the P225-type serial number. The "5" was converted to a "6", and the "C" was added. The frame obviously is not full size P226, but it clearly wears the P226-type serial number.

Now to the frame itself. It's obvious that it was originally a full size P226 frame from Germany (serial number and proof mark). Close inspection shows that there is evidence that they chopped down/shortened the grip and reworked it. You can see and feel the slight uneveness of the front strap. You can also see evidence inside the magwell, also. Also, the hooked contour of the trigger guard has been rounded (Sorry, you won't be able to see it on pics, but I can tell you that work was done in that area.)

The grip panels are dated 1983 (no surprises, there). They are full size P226 grips chopped down and reworked to fit the new compact grip frame. You can see the faint outlines of the plugs they improvised to seal up the bottom.

Typical old time SIG:

 

P226C / PROTO-1 (cont.)


BARREL: Unproofed, unserialized. Some grayish finish, and definitely not the typical blued. And it looks like they did dome mods to the lug.

Here we go, "PROTO-1" engraved on the frame, indicating it the prototype #1.

And, it would appear that they had MGW did the frame modifications. So, who is MGW? It is Maryland Gun Works (not Midwest Gun Works), originally from MD, but now located in GA. I was able to track them down, and they did confirm that SIG had them do a lot of frame works in the 80s to prove that SIG USA could make frames themselves.

MAGAZINE:
They chopped down the full size P226 mag and shaved the bottom of the follower a little to accommodate 13 rounds. Contrast that with the original longer P228 13-rounder. Also, since the new bottom of the mag is right where the indentations are, they had to reshape the bottom metal liner.

WEIGHT w/ empty mag = 29.2 oz, which is just a hair lighter than the stock P228 (29.3 oz).

And, this review would not be complete without a comparison to the P228.

Here it is, against the P228. I'll tell you, imo, this is what the P228 should have been. Man, the shorter grip, still holding 13 rounds, feels just about perfect, especially with the old style checkered grips.

A quick 100-round shooting evaluation was done on 10/21/2016. There were no malfunctions.

 

Cool stuff

 

This is amazing. Love the additional info about the P226C as well.

Sincere thanks for sharing this, and it needs to be pinned!

 

This is amazing. Love the additional info about the P226C as well.

Sincere thanks for for sharing this, and it needs to be pinned!

It is

Thanks Q - a masterful job!

 

Fantastic presentation.👏

 

Thanks 12131! This is amazing information and so well presented.

Would love to see versions for the rest of the P Sigs! 😉

 

This write up was obviously a labor of love, extremely well thought and laid out, and of course fascinating. I'm sure it'll become a well deserved sticky. (edit: it is)
Thank you!

 

Thanks for taking the time to put this together - it should be "pinned".

 

Fantastic data and info.

 

You should change your user name to "the man"

 

This is a great write up. Thank you for the time and effort put forth to educate everyone, myself included.

 

Thank you for sharing. We all really appreciate the time you put in. That really is fascinating.

You should write a book. I’ve tried to compile this type of phenomenal information on 1911’s in my head but I just forget it all and end up not remembering. Wish I wrote down all I learned over the years.

Thank you for the great information, and in addition wording is interesting to read, and enjoyable.

🍻

 

Thanks for taking the time to gather and present this great trove of information. If you're an amateur, I hate to think what I am.

 

Thanks for posting, We all appreciate it very much. I have Your older article that You published on the Sig Forum site. Someone on Sigtalk sent it to Me in an email as a pdf file a few yearsb ago.

 

Thank you for the great information. I keep documents on all of the different models of guns I own. This information has already been added into my library, with your credits of course.

 

Wow! It was like a fast crash course on the P228. Outstanding presentation @12131.

 

Congratulations for finally getting your own well-deserved sticky!!!

 

And a new title "P228 Sherpa"

 

Excellent Job! Something long needed, for at least as a reference, something Sig should have really done.

 

Very interesting! Good work!

 

Absolutely incredible effort! A huge thank you! The more I try to tune, improve, customize, and accessorize my P320s, the more I love my old P228s and my old .40 P229s. I will be rereading this over and over.