Another month, another Sig. I hadn’t planned on playing up the Buddy System for reviews but in this situation I was dealt an interesting hand. The P229’s been around for a while and has one heck of a solid reputation backing it up, yet I’ve always overlooked it. In this age it’s almost twice the gun of comparable 15 round handguns for carry use and for the range the slightly larger P226 does everything just as well, if not better. But there have been some changes going on which led me down this path of ultimately completing the “Sig Trifecta” of the P220, P226, and now the P229.
Out of the entire gamut of hammer fired Sig pistols I think the P229 has the most wild backstory of them all. There’s so many twists that it’s been a challenge for me to make complete sense of it all, so consider this a rough guide which may or may not be correct. At some point in 1989 the P226 was given a smaller sibling called the P228. At this point these Swiss/German made semi-automatics had folded and welded steel slides with a milled insert for the breech face, a design which many Sig Purists continue to collect for claimed better build quality and balance. The P228 was only available in 9mm and had a standard capacity of 13 rounds. P226 magazines apparently worked fine.
Then came the introduction of a little something known as the .40 Smith and Wesson cartridge. With the P228 being a very popular carry option from Sig and this new caliber coming in as the new hotness, it seemed a given to put the two together and have a .40 caliber P228. I think it was one of the first three purpose-built .40 cal pistols in fact, right next to the third generation Smith & Wesson and some manner of Glock.
There was a slight problem, however. The old style methods of making those 9mm slides couldn’t handle the increased demand of the .40. The slide needed some serious beefing up for this role. From here the P229 was born, along with the first iteration of a new milled stainless steel slide which is collectively referred to as the “Legacy” slide. The magazines were changed slightly to hold more of these larger cartridges, the capacity of a .40 now sitting at 12. From here Sig was also able to make .357 Sig versions of the P229 which only needed a barrel swap.
Later on the P229 became the standard version and the P228 was discontinued. But wait, they changed the magazine dimensions! The new 9mm versions of the P229 are now designed to take 9mm magazines marked “P229-1.” If this isn’t confusing enough, it gets worse. There are earlier models of 9mm P229s which still use the P228’s magazine dimensions, as well! Within the community these are often called the P229/9. Besides the magazine confusion there’s also the issue of different calibers requiring different locking blocks. 9mm P229’s using the Legacy slide were still using the P228 locking block and a different barrel profile, making the 9mm P229’s not directly compatible with the .40 and .357 versions.
From what I can tell the older P228 mags and P226 mags will still work in a P229-1 with a small amount of wobble.
Oh, but there’s more. Back with the P228 there was a version called the M11 which was used by the U.S. Armed Forces. When the guns were shifted to the P229 platform we got the M11-A1, a dedicated 9mm P229…with factory grip panels openly stating “P228.” Despite the “M11” badge in the A1 I don’t think these models ever saw active service, they’re just going for the same feeling of the no longer produced P228 style of M11.
Let’s also not forget the models which have a frame rail but not the extended beavertail of the Elites known as the P229R.
This poor gun has so many identity crises… Get a refill on your drink, there’s still more. (Don’t ask me how many times I went back to make edits on this article, it was a bunch. Maybe as many times as there are variations of these guns!)
At some point the Legacy slides were phased out with newer ones which, ironically, looked more like the old P228 overall. If I were to guess this probably came about with the M11-A1 since with those P228 marked grips they were aiming for a more traditional P228 appearance, then to aid in manufacturing this new slide became the standard across the board. Considering this slide is also identical to the new P220 and P226 models… Well, one of them had to have come first. Your guess is as good as mine as to which one did it first.
At some OTHER point we also got the “Elite” version of the P229 with a redesigned frame featuring Sig’s customary non-standard Picatinny frame rail and an extended beavertail. The brand new “E2” single piece grip panel with reduced dimensions and Sig’s new Short Reset Trigger, or SRT, also became standard. They’ve made versions of the Elite with the P228 locking block and Legacy slide. They’ve made versions of the Elite with .357 Sig and .40 caliber slides. They’ve released special limited edition versions of probably every model of P229 out there with the Elite also getting the Legion treatment with its own version(s) of the Elite frame and single action only variants, and both of these at once. Whew!
Never content to leave things as they are, the Elite series saw a couple of very sneaky updates from here. With the Legions the addition of a small patch of serrations beneath the trigger guard and a slightly less curved beavertail became standard (which then apparently made it back into the Elite series.) Then at another point a newly designed trigger which I think is either made or inspired by the P-Series Dual Adjustable Curved Trigger by Gray Guns came out. Formerly hollowed out metal guide rods had been swapped out for solid steel versions. These changes had also made it onto my recently reviewed P220 as well, but all of them are absent from my …let’s call it a “first generation Elite” P226.
Among the last changes with the P229 is a new third style of locking block which as I am led to believe is now fully compatible with P228 slides and barrels, Legacy P229’s in all three calibers, and the newest P229-1 style. Then there’s the magazine release which apparently out of nowhere went from the old long-standing version to a new two piece one more akin to modern guns like the P320 and P365, allowing for the mag release to be reversed. Good luck finding spare parts for these new mag catches. At the time of this writing it can’t be done. I’ve tried! This new mag release along with the different trigger and trigger guard lower serrations has also been seen on one of the most recent P226 Elites. A recent P220 Elite also featured the new trigger, solid guide rod and lower serrated guard.
After all of this, what finally lit a fire under my behind to pick up one of these guns? I have a P226 Elite, the same thing but bigger. I have a Sig Pro 2009, essentially the same profile as the M11-A1 with a polymer frame. Truth is, I didn’t need a P229 (or P228) as that branch of the family tree was already represented pretty well.
It started with laying eyes on a former Lipsey’s exclusive from around 2017, an M11-A1 with an Army Green anodized frame. It’s one hell of a nice looking gun, I’ll say that much. But in truth, if I was really going to get a P229 I needed that tail of the Elite frame. It had to provide something which the 2009 couldn’t. In this instance I could not have both. That earlier style of Elite with a more pronounced tail always looked a little off to me on the stubbier P229, as well.
After a week or two of mulling over this dilemma of features versus fancy limited edition color palette I came to an unsettling discovery: The P229 Elite seems to be disappearing. These all black P229’s were on closeout through distributors. They’re missing from retail shelves. The legacy of these fantastic little guns wasn’t just disappearing, it was already gone. Well…partly? In the span of less than a month I remember not finding the P229 Elite listed anywhere on Sig’s website but right now I see that it’s back only as an optics ready model. There they go changing things up on us again. Looking at the pictures there’s even more differences with this variant which I’ll do a deeper dive on later.
As for the one we had in stock, very likely the same non-optics cut one which had sat there for months getting eyed up by me behind the glass and held in my hands during the quiet hours? It was the last one I could find in the area, maybe forever.
So I took it home. What’s a lady to do, right?
Much to my dismay the magazine catch had already been changed to the new style so my lovely collection of spare nickel components wouldn’t all work. Curse you, Sig!
Now. Finally. Here’s the gun I was planning to review. It’s a good thing there was a lot to talk about because recent hand surgery means my shooting is nowhere near what it used to be. Only going off-hand without support I was happy to see that, limited proficiency aside, at thirty feet I was able to land most of thirty rounds into one ragged hole about the size of a tennis ball. (No idea how I managed this, I have been unable to replicate it.) I do so adore how these hammer-fired Sigs shoot and the P229 is no exception, everything about it felt like coming home to my P226.
The E2 grips are nice but I have an issue with the side profiles on all of them: They aren’t uniform. There are subtle grooves found on either side. What feels fine in the palm ends up feeling a bit awkward to the fingers. The texture is nice, albeit a bit abrasive for carry use, though I hear with time these E2 grips can get a bit loose and wobbly. As with all of my other metal framed Sigs this one will be getting some Hogue G2’s in its immediate future.
The new styled trigger is good and it sure looks great but in an unfortunate twist I think these newest versions are a bit TOO curved. The front surface is great! But the sides have been radiused deeply enough that the end result is less surface area where I want it and a higher likelihood of my trigger finger brushing against the frame when it’s fully depressed. As with all of my others I’ll be swapping this out with the older style “fat” curved factory trigger, which…are also becoming far more difficult to find in stock. Sig, don’t tell me you’re also killing off my favorite trigger?!
Sigh. It’s becoming more and more difficult to enjoy these fantastic guns. Unannounced changes, unannounced cancellations, before you know it the stuff you may want has already disappeared. Good luck to anyone who wants a full set of factory nickel controls these days with parts like the takedown lever and original magazine catch being completely impossible to locate. Even if you want different grips for a P229 or M11-A1 Sig barely has anything on their site, you’ll have to go with something directly from Hogue or a small number of other third party offerings.
As of this moment there are only four models of the P229 family listed: The M11-A1 Compact, the Nitron Compact in California compliance mode, the Legion Compact, and the (temporary?) return of the Elite Compact. Compare this to 22 versions of the P365 currently listed or the 27 versions of the P320, it’s no question what Sig’s focus is these days. At least the P226 still has nine variants. Word is that Sig can make and sell four striker-fired guns for the same price of a single metal-framed model with less of a profit being made.
Back to that Elite currently listed on the website, I’m confused. I don’t remember seeing it there a few weeks ago, but going by the pictures posted on Sig’s website it becomes more confusing. The Legion Elite beavertails have a distinct shape compared to the “first generation Elites” and the stainless framed models which have a slightly more pronounced upward curve. The Elite which I found on the shelf looks like it was made off of the Legion frame while the currently pictured Elite, like my old P226 Elite, has a more pronounced beavertail…as well as the old style of magazine catch. Also lacking are the additional serrations under the trigger guard. The picture also shows an older hollowed out metal tube guide rod. Bwuh?
For reference the picture in this article is of the currently listed Elite. Historians take note.
It’s completely within Sig’s M.O. to piece together a run of guns based off of what spare parts they have lying around. This could be another departing note for the Nitron Elite utilizing an older frame with a newer slide. Even the trigger appears to be the older chunkier style which they seem to have moved away from! OR, maybe there had been an over-run of 226 and 229 Legion frames which made it into the Nitro Elite line. Who the hell knows anymore. Sig, I don’t know what you’re doing over there but it’s driving me crazy. I’d say we need a scorecard but it really is more like diving into a giant parts bin.
Don’t even get me started on the P226. A quick look through Sig’s website throws even more confusion into the air.
As a market we’ve largely moved away from these chunkier carry guns as well as hammer-fired models overall, leaving guns like the P229 more for collectors and enthusiasts. The thing is, nothing else feels anything like a classic Sig and I will never stop adoring these guns in all of their many and varied configurations. If you like one or want one then by all means, get one while you can. They will easily last a lifetime and will continue their legacy for far longer, which is really good as Sig isn’t making a lot of them anymore. Regardless of which version, model, variant, configuration, vintage, caliber, or whatever you might end up with, it will serve you well with the entire family tree having already sent millions of rounds downrange.
