#B204 SIG P220 SERIAL NUMBERS CODE#
Note that a gun’s date code is different than its serial number. A true German / West German firearm isn’t technically “born” until it’s been proofed. Major German firearms companies such as Heckler and Koch, Walther, and SIG Sauer all used a similar date code format. Date Codes Looking back at our photo, the “JK” under the definitive proof mark is the date code. Date codes are two-letter indicators of the year that a firearm was proofed. The “nitro” proof mark is also referred to as the “definitive” (or final) mark of the proof house, as opposed to a “provisional” mark which would generally only apply to shotgun barrels in an early stage of manufacture, which are tested at proof houses to prevent the manufacturer from continuing work on defective tubes. The firearms is then returned to the manufacturer who can legally sell the firearm domestically or export it to another CIP country. Provided everything looks good, the pistol is re-assembled and receives the country’s CIP proof mark indicating what type of test it passed (the Eagle-N or “definitive” mark in the case of a German gun), the mark of the proof house, and marks indicating the date of the tests. Technicians then disassemble the pistol and examine it in a dark room using a fluoroscopic lamp, looking for magnetic flux leakage. For pistols, CIP standards require cartridges that generate pressure 30% higher than the standard ammunition for which the pistol is designed, so the two high pressure nitro rounds are fired through the pistol.
Pistols are delivered to the proof houses in their fully assembled form for proofing. As “bombardment,” “shelling,” or “firing” depending on context, and “nitro” is short for “,” a highly flammable compound used to creates pressures inside the firearm higher than standard gun powder. The same eagle design has continued its use in West Germany since 1945, but under a new name of Bundesadler, or “Union Eagle.” The Eagle-N mark signifies that the firearm was proofed in Germany (or West Germany, depending on when the firearm was proofed), while the “N” indicates that the firearm was proofed using a Nitro Beschuss load. In actuality, the German Reichsadler (literally “Eagle of the Realm”) dates back to the eagle on the standard of the Roman Empire, and was used as a symbol of the Second German Empire as early as 1871 long before the National Socialist German Workers’ Party. Some incorrectly believe that the eagle mark is a remnant of Nazi-era Germany, particularly since Germany’s firearms proof mark was a previously crown, and was changed to an eagle in 1939. I’ve also heard one report of the Ulm proof house’s stag antler mark appearing on a the frame and slide of a 1993 SIG P226 (in addition to the Kiel mark on the slide), which would imply that the firearm required repair and re-proofing and presumably the repair took place at a location that was closer to Ulm than Kiel. All true German and West German SIGs were test fired at the Kiel proof house, so the Nesselblatt proof mark is an indicator of a true German or West German SIG. Tradition held that the leaves of the nettle were symbolic of the nails used to crucify Christ, so the three larger leaves represent the nails of the crucifixion. Coat of arms of SchaumburgThe shape represents a Nesselblatt, or nettle leaf. Here’s another image showing the marks of German/West German proof houses, along with the approximate year they were first in use. The column marked (b) shows varios German/West German proof marks after 1945, while the column marked (c) shows German proof marks used from 1939-1945.
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