RedBeard’s Curious Life

Prior to my shotgun acquisition, I was also looking at handguns, as they are far more compact and suitable to carry on the street or in a car. I visited the local indoor range and tried a variety of rentals: 3 different calibers (9mm, .40, and .45), 5 handguns in each caliber, firing 10 rounds per handgun. My experience was that there was a ton of variety in the feel & performance of the available options, so it was tough trying to decide what I liked best. While not exactly scientific, my investigative exercise helped me pare down the selection to examine more thoroughly.

I didn’t really notice a significant difference in recoil between the calibers, but the overall size of the gun had a major impact – sub-compact pistols actually hurt to shoot, while the large and heavy steel construction of the 1911 ate up most of the recoil. I tried several different manufacturers’ models to see how they varied the trigger feel: the Glock had a sharp safety device which hurt when combined with the poor recoil control of the mostly-plastic construction; the FNP-9 had a very long, heavy trigger pull that drove me off-target; the Sig P220 Elite had a very smooth and short trigger pull in both single and double action; the Springfield XD had a similar feel to the Glock although a bit less painful; the various 1911’s I tried felt good, but the screw in the trigger face bugged me a bit. Overall, I felt that the Sig P220 Elite was my favorite pick of the selection, but balked at spending $1200 on that particular model. I came back another day and tried the lower-end Sig models, in various calibers, and they all felt good, although not quite as smooth as the Elite.

What really sold me on the SIG Sauer P226 was the smooth trigger and safety mechanism. Glock uses an “automatic” safety built into the trigger which requires the trigger to be pressed rather than jarred, a requirement due to the possibility of injury and/or lawsuit if the gun were to discharge accidentally. The Springfield XD has a trigger safety like Glock, in addition to another automatic safety which is disengaged when you apply pressure to the rear of the frame by gripping the gun normally. That feature is borrowed from the ancient 1911 design, which also offers a manual safety. Most pistols offer single-action triggers, which require a manual cocking procedure that varies from one model to another, but typically involves racking the slide or pulling back an exposed hammer. The P226 offers a double-action/single-action trigger, with a de-cocker mechanism which allows you to transfer from the cocked/single-action state into the un-cocked/double-action state. When in an uncocked state, the P226’s trigger will resist at about 10 lbs through a long double-action pull which cocks the hammer and fires; when cocked, the trigger pull is a relatively light 4 lbs and will fire with a short, smooth pull. The 1911 typically offers a smooth trigger with little travel, but will fire only in single-action mode as the hammer must be manually cocked, but it can be carried in a “cocked and locked” position, meaning that the hammer is cocked and the manual safety is locked; when needing to draw and fire the 1911, the safety must be disengaged or the hammer must be cocked. With the Sig P226, you need only pull the double-action trigger; this simplicity and the smooth action are the primary features that sold me on the Sig design. In the case of a dud round, the semi-automatic action will not re-cock the firing mechanism; the double-action trigger gives you a second chance to try firing the round in the chamber. The 1911 can do the same if you manually re-cock the hammer, and the P226 hammer can also be manually cocked, but most Glock-alikes must discard the chambered round to re-cock the firing mechanism.

With my mind set on the Sig, I then perused their catalog of model variations and settled on the P226 9mm SCT model. In 9mm, this model comes from the factory with four 20-round magazines (which extend about 3/4 inch below the bottom of the grip, when standard 15-round magazines are flush with the bottom of the grip). It also sports a fiber-optic front sight, which will gather daylight and focus it towards the eye of the shooter, providing a bright sight picture in daylight. The front and rear sights are also illuminated by phosphorescent tritium vials in darkness, which should last 15 years before dimming significantly. Another feature common to pretty much all new pistols is a small 1913 picatinny rail just ahead of the trigger guard, which can be used to attach flashlights, lasers, or other accessories.

With this pistol, I have demonstrated quite good accuracy, typically keeping all my shots within 2 inches at 5 yards distance when slow-firing. I need to practice more with rapid-fire drills such as double taps and going quickly from holstered to firing, as I wouldn’t feel comfortable carrying a concealed pistol until I felt proficient with such actions to the point of muscle memory. I have accessorized my P226 a bit, adding a flashlight and occasionally a laser sight. I bought a 15-round magazine for the intent of better concealment, although the large grip still makes that difficult and I don’t have a concealable holster for the P226. Using Speer Gold Dot 9mm+P hollow-point ammunition against a pumpkin made short work of it, sending pieces flying in the air and generally making a mess; similar results were observed versus apples and potatoes.

My total expenditure on this pistol, ammunition, and accessories is on the order of $1500, but that includes over 1000 rounds of FMJ target ammunition and 500 rounds of Gold Dot. I feel that this pistol is highly reliable, as I have never experienced a malfunction of any kind while using it. It doesn’t hurt that the P226 was the only competition to the Beretta 92FS for the M9 contract, and lost only due to price; some special forces units still opted for the P226 instead of the M9. I don’t have much more to add, so I’ll finish up with an action shot.