Recently received a Sig Sauer P229 .40S&W 'Red Box' pistol. These are law enforcement trade-in guns that Sig sends through their shop for full inspection, replacement of any significantly worn parts, refinished, essentially 'as new' condition, shipped in the 'red box' with manual, lock, 2 magazines, and one-year factory warranty.

With the MSRP for a new P229 at $1087 and NIB pistols regularly selling at or about $900, this one for just over $400 seems like a bargain.

I have owned two other Sig pistols. One is a P232 .380, great shooter, very lightweight and easy to carry. Other is a P6 9mm, German police surplus piece, excellent shooter.

First range trip today with the P229. Everything just as expected. No failures of any kind. Shoots dead on point of aim at 25 feet. DA first shot, SA follow-up shots, with decocker that works perfectly every time with very little effort. Relatively lightweight pistol, but plenty of weight to soak up the recoil of the .40 S&W 180-grain ammo rated at 950-1000 FPS.

One issue to report: These magazines have probably the strongest springs I have ever experienced! My old arthritic hands are challenged in getting 12 rounds loaded! Never had such difficulties before, including several double-stack pistols such as the Browning Hi Power, S&W 59-69 series, etc.

I'm thinking that I will need a magazine loader to help with this. Never used one before. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Uplula. There was a loader thread on the M&P Pistol forum here and that seemed like the favorite. I’ve had mine for a few years and like it. If I could ask, where did you pick up the refurbished 229 at?

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I second the Uplula for loading. There is a dealer on EBay that sells them for $17, the real deal,not a copy. Money well spent and quick and easy loading. There is a dealer near me (Tru prep) that is selling the Sig P229 for $399, police trade-ins but factory refurbished.

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Thanks Ziggy. Found the P229 on GunBroker, several dealers offering them, just have to watch the bidding and be ready to jump in when the right deal is there. NOTE: Sig Sauer notes on their website that the 'Red Box' guns may be of several configurations, as we have seen over the years, with or without accessory rail, grips, etc. You have to make sure the pistol you are bidding on is the style you want. During my years in the holster business Sig Sauer was always a challenge, with frequent changes within a product line but no changes in basic model designations. Example: P229's have been made with slide of formed sheet metal with breech-blocks pinned in, or with machined slides (mine is the machined slide of stainless steel, Nitron finish).

You might be able to order direct from Sig Sauer's website with delivery to your local FFL, but I think they move most of these 'red box' guns through distributors. It seems that prices are all over the board.

Thanks for the information. $399 in a retail shop, plus sales tax, is just about the same as I paid via GB auction with shipping to my local FFL. Still a pretty good deal!

One of my other Sig pistols is a P6, German police surplus. I bought it about 12 or 13 years ago when they were under $200. Now you'll have a hard time finding one under $500. I suspect that these P229's will go the same way over the next several years.

Another one I did well on was the German police H&K P7-PSP. Purchased one for under $600 about 10 years ago, they are now running $1100-plus.

Opportunities still come along!

Definitely Uplula...have two of them.

Uplula!!!!! I have a P220 and the only thing wrong with it is I can't load the mag. all the way without the loader. Larry

Load it until your hands get tired & leave the mag's loaded, they ease up (like new shoes) with time. I have a W. German 226 9mm that had a loaded mag for at least 25 years, practically no resistance yet worked fine. I had the spring replaced anyway.

Just ordered the Maglula loader. Thanks for the suggestions.

Right now there are lots of former police dept .40 cals on the used market. Shop carefully and you can find a bargain.

It appears that I arrived at this party a little late. I only found out about Sig Certified Pre-Owned (Red Box) guns last month, but from the comments of others I understand that this program has been around for several years. For what it may be worth, I recommend these pistols highly. Fully factory-reconditioned, any worn or damaged parts replaced, shipped with manual, lock, and two new magazines. I purchased the Sig P229 decocker model .40 S&W for $400 and pocket change, which compares to Sig's MSRP for a new P229 Nitron at $1087. Sig Sauer's reputation for excellence is well represented in this pistol.

At the range:
All functions crisp and perfect.
No failures at all.
Sights dead on at 25 yards. No external mechanical safety, just the Sig decocker which is well located and functions with very little effort.
Trigger (DA) long, but smooth and crisp, (SA) moderate take-up, crisp release and reset. As expected for a pistol intended for military or police issue. Nothing a short learning curve won't acclimate to.
Recoil is sharp, as expected with a 29-oz. pistol launching 180-grain bullets at 950-1000FPS. Comparable to shooting the 1911 .45 with hardball ammo. Recovery is not difficult, transition from DA to SA is natural and easy, double-taps are quite doable.

Interestingly, I had a batch of .40 S&W ammo I loaded a couple of years ago, 180-TC cast lead .401" diameter. My other .40 (Kahr) did not like those at all, but the new Sig digested them without a problem. So I am starting out with 800 rounds to work with.

Purchased another two 12-round magazines, LE trade-in lightly used, for $30 ($15 each) delivered. So I have four 12-round magazines for this pistol. Every one worked perfectly through 3 cycles.

As reported earlier, loading these magazines is difficult and tedious. Based upon recommendations I have ordered the MagLula UpLula mag loader to give my arthritic hands some assistance.

I am pleased with this bargain pistol!

I got a red box P229 a couple of years back, and I like it quite a bit. They are very nice pistols, and mine had been reworked with the Short Reset Trigger which is dang nice.

That said, I recently got a P226 DAK for $315 shipped which has to be one of the better deals I have ever gotten. As a revolver guy, I love the DAK - it's like a super light DA trigger on a revolver. I've actually been thinking about selling my DA/SA P229 and getting a DAK version, but I figure there's not really much point.

Anyone not diving on the P series deals right now will regret it later. They are a whole lot of gun for the money.

Congrats on your purchase. Sig certainly can make some fine pistols. I prefer the mid 90's P228 and P220's tho I've owned many of the P series models and have had 0 problems.

My Red Box, CPO P228:

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You're thinking of P226s. P229s have always had machined slides.

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