SIG Sauer P226 X-Short Violine Mastershop

This is the kind of P226 that doesn't come out of the standard German production line. It's an X-Short Violine, built by SIG's Mastershop in Eckernförde, and the gold work is what stops you. The slide flats wear bright satin stainless, but the slide serrations, the chamfered top edges, the muzzle crown, the SIGSAUER rollmark, the takedown lever, the slide stop, the hammer, the trigger, and the magazine catch all carry a deep gold finish. Flip it muzzle-up and the underside of the slide glows like a bar of metal. That contrast is the whole point of the Violine treatment.

The X-Short platform is the compact end of SIG's X-Series competition lineup. You get the all-stainless frame with the integral accessory rail, the short slide and barrel for quick handling, and the heavy single-action trigger geometry that the X-guns are known for. It's chambered in 9mm and the slide is marked 9mm Para, P226, Made in Germany, with the CIP proof and DE origin stamps clearly struck on both slide and frame.

The grips earn the name. They're highly figured cocobolo, cut with deep reddish-brown grain that swirls like the back of a violin, and they sit against the satin frame with real warmth. Gold grip screws finish them off. The frontstrap and backstrap carry SIG's fine checkering, and the beavertail sweeps up into a gold-finished tang.

The gun shows as new. The bore is bright, the finishes are clean, and the gold has the even tone you'd expect from a Mastershop piece that hasn't seen range time.

This one comes cased with a spare magazine, the SIG grease tube, and the factory paperwork. For a collector who wants a P226 that reads as a presentation object rather than a duty gun, the Violine sits in a very small group. Most P226 pistols are tools. This one was built to be looked at.