Value guide

What is my SIG Sauer worth?

SIG's service pistols are well made, widely issued, and mostly valued as excellent used guns. The exceptions are the early German-made examples and the Swiss target pistols, which are collected rather than carried.

No page can price your gun, and any page that offers to is guessing. What this one does is show you the things that decide the number, so you can look at what you have and know whether you’re holding something ordinary or something worth a proper look.

West German, German, or American

SIG pistols have been built in Switzerland, in West Germany, in Germany after reunification, and in New Hampshire. The earliest American-market P226 and P220 pistols carry West German markings on the slide, and collectors pay a premium for them over later American production. It is one line of small text, and it is the difference between an ordinary used pistol and one people specifically look for.

The models that turn up, and what they mean

Model	Made	What it means for value
P226	1984–present	The service pistol. West German-marked examples sit above later production.
P220	1975–present	The .45 that started the line. Early European production is the collectible end.
P210	1949–present	The Swiss target and service pistol. Expensive, precisely made, and in a market of its own.
P228 and P229	1989–present	Compact service pistols, widely issued and traded in by agencies.
P238 and P938	2009–present	Modern pocket pistols. Current used-gun money.
P320	2014–present	The modular service pistol. Very common and valued as a used working gun.

What to check before anybody makes you an offer

The slide text: W. Germany, Germany, or a US address changes the market.
Any agency or contract markings, and import stamps.
Whether the original box, papers and spare magazines are present.
Wear on the finish, which on carried service pistols is where the condition question sits.

And the two rules that apply to every gun on this page:don’t clean it, and keep the box and papers. Removing original finish is permanent, and on the right gun the packaging is a real fraction of the total.

"It is a modern pistol, there is nothing collectible here"

True of most of them. Not true of a West German-marked P226 or P220, nor of a P210, and those are exactly the ones that look like every other black service pistol in the safe. Read the slide before the whole lot goes out as used guns.

Is a police trade-in SIG worth buying?

Yes, and there is a steady market for them. They were maintained properly and carried constantly, so expect honest holster wear over a sound gun. Department markings are a plus to some buyers and a minus to others, which is why it pays to have one identified rather than assumed. <a href="/guides/police-trade-in-guns">More on trade-ins</a>.

Model by model

What is my SIG Sauer P226 worth? (1984–present)

Getting an actual number

Condition, originality and configuration decide it, and none of the three can be judged from a description. Send photos and we’ll make you an offer, wherever you are in the country. It comes itemized, showing what we’ll pay for each firearm, so you can see how the number is built instead of being handed one figure for the pile.

Worth reading alongside this

Police trade-in guns — department markings and what they do to the value. Engraved guns — factory grade or added later, and why the difference is most of the money. What determines value on any firearm.

Other makers

Winchester, Remington, Colt, Smith & Wesson, Marlin, Browning, Ruger, military surplus rifles, Glock, Beretta, Intratec, Savage, Mossberg, Ithaca and Walther.