What spare parts to stock up on for my P228

[mkmckinley]

I just got my hands on a German P228. What parts should I have on hand for it and where should I get them? This pistol is one of my "grail guns" and I plan to keep it for a long time. What am I going to wish I had bought in twenty years? Maybe we can get a good list of parts here. Also, any tips for keeping it in good shape? I've read that one should use a grease on the rails. I've been using slide glide on my P229 and it hasn't worn through the anodizing in a few hundred rounds.

[S-1]

Pick up a couple of parts kits at top gun supply. Here's a link.... http://www.topgunsupply.com/sig_p228-9mm_parts-kit.html
I would also get the SIG P-Series "armorers" dvd at the same place.

I do recommend using grease on the frame/slide rails. Tetra grease or TW25B has worked well for me.

[Entropy]

I just got my hands on a German P228. What parts should I have on hand for it and where should I get them? This pistol is one of my "grail guns" and I plan to keep it for a long time. What am I going to wish I had bought in twenty years? Maybe we can get a good list of parts here. Also, any tips for keeping it in good shape? I've read that one should use a grease on the rails. I've been using slide glide on my P229 and it hasn't worn through the anodizing in a few hundred rounds.

As S-1 mentioned, get an armorer's DVD or take a class. Don't start taking the Sig apart until you get some knowledge.

For my old Sigs, I have replacement parts for everything except the carbon slides and frames. I even have a couple of breech blocks which are discontinued parts and are almost impossible to find. All you realistically need though, are springs, roll pins, and an extra set of grips.

If your P228 is going to be a hard use pistol(lots of +P ammo), I recommend getting the new style P228 grips and the new trigger bar spring. The old style trigger bar spring in your P228 is not as durable as the new style. However the new style spring will not fit in the old style grips, so you'll need the new style grips for this modification.

I prefer the old style hammer strut and mainspring assembly that you have in your P228. It allows for a consistent trigger pull throughout the the double action pull, allowing for a clean and more accurate break in DA mode. H&K currently uses this style of hammer strut and mainspring assembly. The new style shorter hammer strut and mainspring assembly, has increase stiffness in DA mode as you get close to the trigger break. This is so that the user can "predict" when they are getting close to the trigger break, however I've found that this decreases shooter accuracy.

Anyway, as S-1 pointed out the P228 parts kits are a good place to start. After you've gotten a feel for working on the pistol, I recommend keeping extra slide roll pins(firing pin position pins), trigger bar springs, decocker springs, recoil springs, and slide release lever springs. These parts will be included in the P228 parts kit. You want to change these parts out every 5,000 rounds, or every 3 years if the pistol is in constant use. Other springs such as the main spring, sear spring, firing pin spring, magazine release springs, extractor, and hammer reset spring you want to change out about every 20,000 rounds. If the P228 that you bought is beat up and you have no history on it, it won't hurt to change out ALL of the pistols springs if you are comfortable performing the work.