I think I'm about to buy a sig that my local store has. It is a p229 in .40. I just have 3 questions about it:

is it normal for the slide to be a different color from the frame? It says the frame is made in germany but the slide in NH.

the slide says stainless on the left side. What part of the gun is stainless? And are there non-stainless versions?

The gun comes with low-cap mags. Does this mean this is an older production gun?

Thanks.

Quoted: I think I'm about to buy a sig that my local store has. It is a p229 in .40. I just have 3 questions about it: is it normal for the slide to be a different color from the frame? It says the frame is made in germany but the slide in NH. the slide says stainless on the left side. What part of the gun is stainless? And are there non-stainless versions? The gun comes with low-cap mags. Does this mean this is an older production gun? Thanks.

The slide is a different color because it has the Nitron finish applied to the slide.  The Nitron finish is a more durable finish and is applied to the slide due to the high wear probability of this part of the gun.  The rest of the gun has the standard matte finish.  The slide it self and the sum of its parts are stainless steel.  The slide has been milled from a solid piece of stainless.  The gun comes with ten rounders because that is probably what is legal for your state.  If your state allows you to own high-cap mags, then this gun may have been aquired prior to the bills sunset.  NH is the state that the Sig factory is located, thus, your slide was produced here and the frame in Germany.  This is standard so don't worry about quality control it's an excellent gun.  For more info you can always go to SIGARMS.COM.  I hope this answers all of your questions.

All your questions have been annswered.  The P229 is an excellent weapon.  Just curious, how much is the guy asking?  A new gun with 10rd mags is one that shipped before the expiration of the AWB, so my guess is that its priced pretty high or it would have sold by now.  Or maybe the guy is snatching the mags the gun came with to sell seperatly, since 10rd mags can now be had for nothing.   I wouldn't spend new-in-box prices on a sig with neutered mags, you live in VA, which has no limits on such things.

I bought it already. It was a little over $700.

My only other question is what is the deal with the serial number markings? On mine they are yellow colored writing, but I've seen pics of other people's where the numbers were engraved. Is there any place I can look up my serial number to see when it was made?

does sigforums.com even allow people to join anymore? I couldn't find a link anywhere to register...

did you purchase it NIB

if so does your serial number have a bar code above it,  i know awhileback a few rumors where goin around about laser engraved serial numbers with bar codes and the pictures ive seen they were done in yellow, at least they looked yellow in the photos.

I don't see a barcode,  no.

I got a chance to shoot it, the thing is pretty schweet, smooth as silk like my beretta 92. The only problem was cleaning it afterwards was kind of a pain because of all the weird springs going every which-way in the frame.

Joining sigforum.com is easy as long as you don't use your yahoo or hotmail address.  If you try to do a search of the forums it will take you to the register page.