This level of drop, or fluctuation, in quality does not compare badly to handgun brands I would purposely attempt to steer people away from, like Taurus, but it is there nonetheless.
 
Now you want to talk personal experience? OK - I've only ever had 3 problems with my SIGs. None of them can be attributed to poor quality control or inferior parts.
1) Slide fails to lock back due to my thumb being in the wrong place or my magazine being dirty/ old spring.
2) Rust - I failed to keep my SIG properly lubed, and it developed some rust on the slide and barrel. My fault, not SIG's fault. (The K-kote helped prevent rust.)
3) Unknown round count (probably the original one made in the 90's) recoil spring fails on SG 551 near the piston head. I should've replaced a spring so old in service with an unknown round count, but I was anxious to go shoot the thing and ran it until the bolt got sticky due to the spring binding. It may have even had cracked spring strands when I received it (used) LE issued.

So see, none of those point negatively to SIG and I wouldn't expect less similar issues from any other brand. All those things happen if a person shoots guns often (and doesn't perform excellent maintenance, replacing springs at intervals, etc.) I love all my SIG Sauer products. They were all manufactured before 2005. That may not be why they're so good, but I believe it has something to do with it.

From 2006 to present I've worked in and around gun stores, gunsmith shops, and law enforcement armories/ranges. I've seen lots of problems. I've seen a few caused by poor production quality. I've seen broken parts that broke just because their little MIM selves decided to snap in half. I've seen a few of those which were SIG's. I think all but one was produced after 2005.


It is very difficult to quantify statistics without a large quantity of valid data. I don't have that. I only have my limited personal experience and hearsay from others (with various levels of credibility). I'm not a fan of regurgitating stuff just because I heard it and it sounds relevant. I like to validate things.

Of the MIM parts failures I've personally seen (and even to include those I've ever just heard of) SIGs have the fewest. The older investment cast parts lasted longer though, and their service lives were more predictable. I know this is a fact.

Mostly due to my own personal choices and bias, the only SIG I own produced after 2005 is a P226-FOF for Simunitions. I don't care that it's loaded with MIM parts because, if it ever fails on me, it will be during a training exercise. That's the best time to experience failures, because it results in safe quality training for real-world scenarios and consequences.

Any other time, it could potentially be my life on the line, so I don't wish to deal with the consequences of anything less than the best quality control.

I can buy old SIGs, and they're cheaper, so I buy old SIGs. That's the best choice for me.