P229 vs M9A1

[GardoneVT]

Being an RSO can be a tough job. Clueless customers, poor shooters seemingly dedicated to destroying your range one round at a time, and so forth.

As with most things however, there's a silver lining.

Like access to brand new rental guns.


So this week, I tested a P229 9mm against my trusty yet abused M9A1. The Sig is stock with factory night shifts, while the Beretta is equipped with Wilson Combat's delightful blackout rear sight and 14lb hammer spring.

I worked both pistols from the ready position at 5 yards, and shot five FAST drills apiece due to ammo limitations.

Here's the numbers.

Mean times: Beretta M9A1- 5.413 seconds.
Sig P229 -5.61 seconds

So I did perform 3.5% better with my Beretta .
It should be noted I've never fired a P229 of any sort before.

Subjectives.

Flubbed a reload on both guns. Couldn't get the magazine into the gun in the Beretta once, and I mistook the decocker for the slide release lever on the P229.

I really dislike 3 dot sights now. The Sig's factory three dot night sights look cluttered and busy compared to the blackout WC battlesights on the M9A1.
Thanks for spoiling my eyes, Wilson Combat.

Recoil is subjectively felt more with the P229 then the Beretta. Another case of feeling being a totally untrustworthy decision metric, as a 3.5% performance difference proves they shoot similar for me despite whatever my muscles tell me.
If I built a balanced level of experience with both guns it's likely they'd shoot identical .

Conclusion:

I won't be switching brands anytime soon, but I do grasp the appeal of these pistols. Marginally speaking, I can't personally justify a 23% retail price difference between Beretta vs Sig of similar features plus logistics changes only to achieve the same level of performance my existing equipment provides.

Now for pictures!

http://i1279.photobucket.com/albums/y528/GardoneVT/Mobile%20Uploads/D6216037-1F8D-4DFF-A2C3-92810A31EF54_zpsp4fpbbn1.jpg

http://i1279.photobucket.com/albums/y528/GardoneVT/Mobile%20Uploads/2F38A4B8-E047-4A56-B3CF-94C2C9DDB9F9_zpsxqhkhgba.jpg

http://i1279.photobucket.com/albums/y528/GardoneVT/Mobile%20Uploads/AE02C931-36FC-41E4-B262-F1F214411C3D_zps6kbbv9a2.jpg

[Nephrology]

I am a dyed-in-the-wool Glock shooter but I do like SIGs. They are the only TDA pistol that seems to reliably work with my small elfen hands.

[LockedBreech]

After loving my Sig P220 I purchased a P229 recently and found, much to my surprise, the platform just doesn't work for me at all. My hands are a bit too big and the grip is just a little wrong. Definitely put me in the Beretta camp here. Both very nice pistols though.


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[BehindBlueI's]

How much do you attribute to the sights vs any inherent differences in the two? Familiarity?

[GJM]

Beretta, except not with that fixed front sight is a better game gun, and 229 the better carry gun.

[Matt O]

After loving my Sig P220 I purchased a P229 recently and found, much to my surprise, the platform just doesn't work for me at all. My hands are a bit too big and the grip is just a little wrong. Definitely put me in the Beretta camp here. Both very nice pistols though.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Same here. For some reason my hands don't work with sig grips, particularly the placement of the decocker which is unfortunate, because they are very nice guns. It would be hard to go wrong with either, though my preference would be for one of the dovetail front sight 92 variants.

[ReverendMeat]

I think it's pretty impressive that you shot the SIG as well as you did given your lack of experience with the platform. I'd like to see you run through the FASTs again with a stock M9, for a better comparison against a stock 229.

Both guns have crap sights out of the box.

[Hauptmann]

Not sure if you have run a P226 9mm, but there is a big difference in felt recoil between the P228/P229 and the P226. The P226 is overbuilt, and it has a much longer sight radius than the P229. I find that I am much faster and more accurate with a P226 than a P229. That being said, I prefer a good P228/P229 outside of duty open carry as they make for a better jack of all trades carry gun.

So, I think a P226 would have been a better apples-to-apples comparison to your M9.

[Sero Sed Serio]

Not sure if you have run a P226 9mm, but there is a big difference in felt recoil between the P228/P229 and the P226. The P226 is overbuilt, and it has a much longer sight radius than the P229. I find that I am much faster and more accurate with a P226 than a P229. That being said, I prefer a good P228/P229 outside of duty open carry as they make for a better jack of all trades carry gun.

So, I think a P226 would have been a better apples-to-apples comparison to your M9.

That's interesting because my 226 seems to recoil as much as my 229, although my 226 is all steel (no beavertail) while my 229s are aluminum.

I have found that I shoot far better with a SIG than any other gun, even when I go long periods without shooting one and dedicating my time to other platforms.

[M2CattleCo]

I think an M9A1 Compact would be a better comparison to a P229.

I had a 229 and I never really warmed up to it. I actually traded it for a P2000 that I sold for the same reason I got rid of the 229. It has all the drawbacks of a fullsize and compact gun without the advantage of either. That and the decocker on the P2000 was lighter, smoother, and crisper than the trigger.

I HAVE an M9A1 Compact and 3 9mm P226s and I love every one of 'em. The Berettas have a grip that I can really get high up and tight, and it makes 'em really natural to shoot for me. I have a hard time getting that same grip with a Sig since the top of the grip is wider to clear the controls and the part where the web of your hand sits is lower. Not to mention that if I grip a Sig with the classic grips pretty aggressively, it flexes the grips at the seam and is really distracting.

[LockedBreech]

Not to mention that if I grip a Sig with the classic grips pretty aggressively, it flexes the grips at the seam and is really distracting.

Thank god. I thought I was alone but that was the #1 reason I couldn't acclimate to my 229R. Really threw me off.

[Sero Sed Serio]

Thank god. I thought I was alone but that was the #1 reason I couldn't acclimate to my 229R. Really threw me off.

The E2 grips resolve this issue, although they are pretty sandpapery when carried against bare skin. The G10 grips also do a pretty good job of mitigating it, although it doesn't go away completely.

[BehindBlueI's]

That's interesting because my 226 seems to recoil as much as my 229, although my 226 is all steel (no beavertail) while my 229s are aluminum.

I have found that I shoot far better with a SIG than any other gun, even when I go long periods without shooting one and dedicating my time to other platforms.

May want to change recoil spring. I found the P226 was much less tolerant of a well used spring than the P229 for some reason. My experience is with .40, though.

The grip flexing at the seam was an annoyance on my P226, and I swapped to VZ grips. None of my P229s, P245, or P220 do it.

[LockedBreech]

The E2 grips resolve this issue, although they are pretty sandpapery when carried against bare skin. The G10 grips also do a pretty good job of mitigating it, although it doesn't go away completely.

That checks out, my 220 wears the E2s and fits me like a glove. Though I really wouldn't want those without an undershirt, I agree.

[Sero Sed Serio]

May want to change recoil spring. I found the P226 was much less tolerant of a well used spring than the P229 for some reason. My experience is with .40, though

The gun has less than 1000 rounds through it--don't think it's the spring. Just surprised that it seems as flippy or more than my 229. The recoil is by no means harsh or uncontrollable, just not as soft as I would expect for such a heavy weapon.

[TGS]

I have found that I shoot far better with a SIG than any other gun, even when I go long periods without shooting one and dedicating my time to other platforms.

Yup. My P2000 takes very little to throw a shot.

My P229r, however, I feel as if I can mash the trigger and I still get good hits. I'm still in a transition phase between the P2000 and P229, and when I call shots as a wild miss due to mashing the trigger, I'm usually surprised that it's still a solid hit.

[Hauptmann]

Yup. My P2000 takes very little to throw a shot.

My P229r, however, I feel as if I can mash the trigger and I still get good hits. I'm still in a transition phase between the P2000 and P229, and when I call shots as a wild miss due to mashing the trigger, I'm usually surprised that it's still a solid hit.

Probably boils down to how secure the grip is as the trigger is pulled. I don't own a P30 anymore, but the grip on that pistol allowed me to make very accurate shots even with less than ideal trigger pulls. What I didn't like about the P30 9mm was how much muzzle jump it had in comparison to a Sig P228.

[M2CattleCo]

Yup. My P2000 takes very little to throw a shot.

My P229r, however, I feel as if I can mash the trigger and I still get good hits. I'm still in a transition phase between the P2000 and P229, and when I call shots as a wild miss due to mashing the trigger, I'm usually surprised that it's still a solid hit.

I've always shot Sigs well with relatively little effort, but my P2000V3 was, uh, challenging. A 2lb pistol with a stacky, 14lb trigger is just difficult to manage. I always thought that if the trigger was as nice as the decocker it would have been a good gun!

[TGS]

I've always shot Sigs well with relatively little effort, but my P2000V3 was, uh, challenging. A 2lb pistol with a stacky, 14lb trigger is just difficult to manage. I always thought that if the trigger was as nice as the decocker it would have been a good gun!

DA was never a a real problem....I usually threw shots on the SA.