For those that are knowledgeable of Sig Sauer I could use your expertise.

 

I purchased a 9mm P229 Dark Elite Handgun... beautiful looking pistol. Case dated 14-Jan-2013.

 

Magazines that came with it are 13-rounds each (sold as 15-rounds).

One side of the magazine is stamped Sig Sauer 9 mm; other side is Mec-Gar, made in Italy with three holes - last hole is marked 13, over an inch from the floorplate.

 

Question 1:

I assumed that the supplied magazines would hold 15 cartridges until I got home and tried to load the magazines. Now I know they are 13. Would these be OEM magazines made by Mec-Gar or Mec-Gar replacements?

 

Question 2:

I might assume that the seller intended to add Mec-Gar “plus-2 adapter” floorplates to make them 15 rounds. I will not know until they get back to me. Do you think the adapters would fit?

 

Question 3: While waiting for the three-week NICS clearance I purchased two additional magazines. Everything I read said that I need the P229-1 version magazines, so that is what I purchased. These are true 15-rounds each. Sig Sauer P229-1 is stamped on one side, made in Italy on the other. Nothing is stamped Mec-Gar but I assume they are. These magazines get just slightly wider on the half toward the floorplate so they will not insert any more then half-way. Any ideas why this P229-1 version will not fit?

kinda weird. the -1 9mm are actually on the 40/357sig frame. not sure why you seem to have the old 9mm frame with a -1 slide. not even sure if they would work. sounds to me like you got a 9mm that someone put a conversion slide on. post pics maybe. bry@n will be along soon to help

The newer 9mm P229 magazines (E2) are not the same as the older P228/P229 9mm magazines. The older ones were different dimensions compared to .40 ones. With the new ones, SIG standardized on the .40 magazine well, so that it would be easier to produce guns. The E2 magazines, which fit in the P229-1 and M11-A1, are 15 rounders... but they gain the two rounds due to the changes in the magazine body design. MecGar 15 rounders, which were designed for the older 9mm frames, use a different follower design to gain the extra two rounds.

 

It really was a stupid move for SIG, being there are SO many 9mm P228/P229 magazines out there. I am waiting on my P228, but I have no desire to look into any SIG with the newer magazine well. Unsure on how the 9mm P224 is designed, but if I cannot use the older magazines in that, I won't be picking one up.

The bottom magazine (above the Sig printing) is the P229-1 version.

Also it looks like your P229 is the older frame and slide. My P229-1 (the newer E2 version) has full rear serrations rather than yours, which is half-serrated. The frame is different as well. My frame doesn't have any screws. It is three separate plastic pieces that wrap around the entire grip.

The slide is puzzling.... it certainly does not match the photo on the Sig Sauer site.

 

http://www.sigsauer.com/CatalogProductDetails/p229-elite-dark.aspx

 

I can understand the grip change since these are not the E2 grips but the Elite Dark grips.

Yeah, it definitely looks like you have the old 9MM slide as opposed to the "new" slide with the full serrations. The case may be dated for this year but it looks like it was assembled with older model (but still new) parts. That would be my best guess.

If this is a legitimate factory produced gun, I'm OK with that. Would that be something that Sig would do?

You have the original 229 dark elite that uses the mec far 13 round mags. If you want 15 round mags, use the mec gar version.

 

The slide profile gives away the mags. 229-1 mags are used in 229's with full length serrations.

Told you bry@n would answer. In my opinion, you got the better gun. And that you can use mecgar 15s is a bonus since the mecgar mags are much better than the new sig mags.

Thank you all for responding. I am returning my -1 mags for the Mec-Gar 15s.

I hope I will not need to pin them for something else but at least I'll have two working, and two for changing if and when the time comes.

The seller now needs to make good on the sale of the gun as having 15s. I think this can be addressed by adding the plus 2 floor-plates.

I wouldn't add the +2 floor plates. I would just go with the Mecgar 15 rounders.

 

I would also just post the -1 mags for sale now people are always looking for mags and they are hard to come by right now.