The very first pistol I bought was a .40 cal sig P229. I really liked this pistol. I bought an armorers cd and learned to completely strip the pistol. I loved the craftsmanship and the construction of the pistol. On the frame other the grip screws nothing is screwed or bolted on. Essentially each piece holds the previous piece in place. I eventually bought a glock 19. I also liked this pistol but still preferred the single action trigger on the sig. The glock’s trigger pull wasn’t as nice but you didn’t have the double action pull on the first shot either. I never had a problem with either of these pistols but eventually sold them.
I moved onto smith M&Ps. My first was a full size 9mm. I liked the way it shot and how it felt but it had all kinds of problems. This was an early model and I went through at least 4 broken strikers during dry fire. I also had lots of extraction issues.
Recently I began a search for my perfect pistol. I wanted a 9mm, excellent trigger, sao or striker fired, and excellent accuracy. I bought a recent production gen 3 Glock 19. It had to go back to the factory for extraction issues. It works now but still had a typical stapler like trigger pull. I have never cared for any of the aftermarket trigger mods for glocks. I still think the Glock 19 is one of the single best do it all pistols but I wanted a better trigger and better accuracy if possible.
I shoot a lot of smith M&Ps in competition so I looked at a full size 9mm again. I think the M&Ps with apex trigger parts have the best trigger you can get on a polymer pistol. Unfortunately the 9mm M&Ps are known for varying from decent accuracy (around 4‘’ at 25yds) all the way up to absolutely abysmal. As a side note the M&P .45 mid size is a great pistol. Approximately G19 sized with great accuracy, add apex trigger parts and it is a really good pistol. I don’t like the heavier recoil, lower capacity, and increased ammo cost of .45.
A couple years ago I bought a newer production sig P226. It was a nice pistol but I could see they were now using many more mim parts in the pistol. This isn’t a huge deal to me as long as the pistol works. Unfortunately the trigger pull was terrible. The double action pull is supposed to be around 10lbs. Mine was over 13lbs and stacked at the end of the pull. It went back to sig and the trigger pull is now in spec. It was easily the most accurate 9mm I have shot. I still wanted a sao over the DA/SA trigger system. I had read of other QC problems with recent production sig pistols.
At this point I had pretty much settled on using a .40 cal M&P in competition and a glock 19 for carry but I really wanted a pistol that could do everything. I want to shoot competition with the same pistol I carry or at least similar models.
I found that sig had released a P226 SAO a year ago. I was still a little hesitant but decided to take a look. I had figured that I would need to send the pistol off to smooth out the trigger. After getting the pistol I was pleasantly surprised.
After looking the pistol over for a few days I cant find any flaws in the fit and finish. The barrel crown and rifling is smooth. I have really looked the pistol over and cant find anything wrong. Even the inside of the dust cover and cut outs inside the slide are smooth and don’t have any gouges, roughness, or machining marks. The hammer doesn’t rub on the frame. There isn’t very much clearance in this area and I have had sigs in the past that had one side of the hammer rub. This doesn’t affect function but does show better fit.
The trigger pull blew me away. It measures at exactly 4lbs. There is a weightless take up and then you can feel the firing pin block being pushed up, this portion of the trigger pull is 1lb. This firing pin block being deactivated is smooth, there is no grit or roughness. After the takeup the trigger breaks with approximately 1/32 of roll. There is no perceptible overtravel. If you have ever had an older sig with a great single action pull this is what it is like.
The safety is interesting. I had read some complaints about the safeties on sao sigs. Either they were too heavy, too soft, or were mushy and with a little pressure the safety would be disengaged but would still appear to be in the on position. Either I got lucky or they have fixed the problems because mine is good. It snaps on and off with a distinct feel. But there is a problem and this is the only complaint I have with the pistol. It is nearly impossible to engage the safety with the side of my thumb like you would a 1911. I have to shift the pistol and use the tip of my thumb to get enough pressure to push the safety back up. The ergonomics of the safety work well. I have average sized hands. I am able to use a normal thumbs up type grip where I ride the safety with my thumb after pushing it down. This does not interfere with the slide release. At the same time I am still able to use the slide release after a reload without shifting my grip. For me the front of thumb safety ends at the joint on my thumb. I ride the safety with my thumb straight but when I bend it down I can push the slide release. When my thumb is straight I have a normal thumbs forward grip and it doesn’t interfere with the slide release. If you have stubby fingers you may not be able to do this. A nice feature of the safety is that it can be engaged with both the hammer down or cocked. This makes is possible to load the pistol with the safety on.
After working the safety around 300 times it is becoming a little easier to engage. Its not quite to the point that I can easily push it up with the side of my thumb but it may get there. The safety is not as ergonomic as a 1911 but it is very usable. I find it easier to get a good thumbs forward grip on this pistol than on a standard da/sa sig. The slide release lever would be usable with the left hand in the way a 1911 slide release is used if you cant reach it with your right hand thumb.
The grip is more round and fatter than a glock or M&P. It feels similar to an M&P with a large grip insert. The grip is a result of the way sigs are constructed. They have a metal frame and then the grips go on top of this so they cant be as thin as polymer frame pistol.
This pistol was made in 2013 and they have changed out the style of the firing pin positioning pin and extractor pin. They are a coil type as opposed to the solid pins they used for a while. It doesn’t really matter unless you want to disassemble the slide. The solid pins had a reputation for being very hard to remove. The coil type pins can easily be removed with a punch and hammer. It does require the use of a half circle punch. The pins can only be pushed from one direction. To reduce the chance of a pin walking out the bottom of the pin channels are a half circle. The pin cant come through but a half circle punch can push them out.
The pistol comes with plastic grip panels. I like the texture on these much better than the factory M&P inserts which are slippery. The panels are two pieces and have a seam in the back. When I grip the pistol hard there is flex in the seam on the back of the pistol. It doesn’t affect anything but is annoying. There are aftermarket G10 panels that can be put on the pistol.
One thing that is weird with the pistol is the mags. Sig mags are now manufactured by checkmate. In the past they were made by mecgar. The magazines included with the pistol are flush fit 15 round magazines. Aftermarket mecgar magazines are 18 rounds and extend less than a quarter inch. The aftermarket mecgar mags also have a nicer anti friction coating. The factory (checkmate) mags work fine but they hold less rounds and the finish looks like spray paint.
After getting to the range the pistol runs great. The pistol did fail to lock back on an empty mag several times. This is because I am bending my thumb and putting pressure on the slide lock lever. I have to practice keeping my thumb straight with this pistol. I tested the pistol over a dozen times where I made sure my thumb was up and the pistol locked back every time. I don’t yet shoot this pistol as well as my M&Ps but I do like it better. It doesn’t have to make senseAt the range I used the factory mag, a couple 18 round mecgar mags, and a 20 rd mecgar mags. No problems with any of them. I was going to do some accuracy testing and post pictures but I had a hard time getting a consistent point of aim. I was using the factory night sights on a black metal target. Next time I will get some better targets.
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Originally Posted by montanadave
