SIG P226 chipped muzzle crown

[jck397]

I recently purchased a NIB SIG P226R 9mm stainless (2014 manufacture; NOT Elite, but the classic frame style). Last night I broke the gun down to clean it from the factory test fire and grease it. As I looked closer at the muzzle end, I noticed two chips in the muzzle crown; one at 12:00, and one at 3:30. The 12:00 chip impacts the rifling, and extends halfway across the muzzle crown itself. There are also some minor dings on the muzzle itself, but these are cosmetic only and don't really concern me. The factory finish was applied over the chips/dings. They are easily noticeable just by running your fingernail lightly around the muzzle crown.

I know these are very minor in the grand scheme of things, and if it were anywhere else I wouldn't really worry about it. However, I'm concerned with them being located on the muzzle crown itself, since my understanding is that an uneven or damaged muzzle crown can affect accuracy due to uneven gas pressure on the bullet. Although this seems to be a much bigger issue with precision rifles vs. handguns...Is this something that I even need to worry about? Or is it just a cosmetic issue that won't affect accuracy/barrel life? And if it does need to be fixed, would re-crowning the muzzle be enough, or would it require a new barrel?

I have already contacted SIG's customer service, and, while I was less then impressed with the rep's 1) apparent lack of knowledge about basic firearms knowledge, and 2) attitude in general, they have asked me to send pictures. I will keep the forum updated on what they have to say.

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[Coal Dragger]

That's going to have an affect on accuracy potential.

I'd send that back to SIG.

[Sensei]

I agree, send it back to Sig. There is no telling what other defects could be lurking in that barrel.

[jck397]

Thanks for the quick replies! On the subject of lurking defects, the barrel has an odd rainbow discoloration inside--looks like what you'd see on a part that was heat-treated [insert joke here about SIG marketing this as it's newest rainbow-dark-elite-scorpion-whatever model of the week ]. I wasn't too concerned since I assume that barrels are heat-treated for hardness, but I just found it interesting since I'd never seen anything like that in any other weapon. When I asked the rep about it he said that they "warm" the barrels, and that what I was seeing was the Nitron finish...

[dmb130]

You paid for a gun in perfect condition, expect one in perfect condition!

[ptmccain]

Yikes, if in fact it was truly NIB, SIG blew it on QC with this one.