Sig P220 Legion SAO Review

[Sensei]

My P220 Legion SAO arrived today. This is my third Legion and will complement my P229 and P226 SAO Legions (both in 9mm) which have been flawless after about 1500 rounds each.

The gun ships with 3 Mec-Gar magazines and sports Sig’s X-ray sights, a beaver tail grip, PVD finish, and a SRT-equipped flat trigger. Fit and finish were perfect out of the box. In fact, none of my Legions had the finish issues that others have suffered.

The trigger is just a hair heavier at 5lbs on the P220 than the 4.5lbs on my P226. Reset is about 3mm.

The grips and checkering a aggressive compared to the classic P-series or the E2.

I shot 50 rounds of 230 grain AE without malfunction. I then moved on the 230 grain HST. After 16 rounds I stopped as the groups started to open up due to a loose front sight in the dovetail. A quick phone call to Sig CS and an RMA was issued for the slide to be returned. Turn around is estimated at 4 weeks.

Here are the pics:

[Balisong]

My P220 Legion SAO arrived today. This is my third Legion and will complement my P229 and P226 SAO Legions (both in 9mm) which have been flawless after about 1500 rounds each.

The gun ships with 3 Mec-Gar magazines and sports Sig’s X-ray sights, a beaver tail grip, PVD finish, and a SRT-equipped flat trigger. Fit and finish were perfect out of the box. In fact, none of my Legions had the finish issues that others have suffered.

The trigger is just a hair heavier at 5lbs on the P220 than the 4.5lbs on my P226. Reset is about 3mm.

The grips and checkering a aggressive compared to the classic P-series or the E2.

I shot 50 rounds of 230 grain AE without malfunction. I then moved on the 230 grain HST. After 16 rounds I stopped as the groups started to open up due to a loose front sight in the dovetail. A quick phone call to Sig CS and an RMA was issued for the slide to be returned. Turn around is estimated at 4 weeks.

Here are the pics:

*sigh* modern day Sig QC at work. Damn shame, cuz that's a sweet looking piece. Love my 226 SAO Legion and was looking forward to the 220 SAO legion until I swore off Sig.

Definitely interested in reading more of your experience after getting it back. Should be pretty damn accurate when the sights don't do a break dancing routine.

[HCM]

SIG’s current QC is so inconsistent I would never buy one of their guns without examining it in person.

I just picked up. 320 X carry. Very nice. The same LGS which sold me the X carry just got three Legions, a 226 SAO, a 226 RX and 229 RX.

Both 226’s have gritty heavy triggers, not only inferior to prior Legions but worse than other P series I’ve tried. The 229 RX was even worse, I think it is the worst P series trigger I ve ever felt. DA pull was heavy and gritty - felt like 30lbs. It was greater than the 20lb limit on the shop’s trigger pull gauge.

[LSP552]

Sucks. For me, nothing worse than a new gun that I have to send back to the factory. The last 226 I bought (4 -5 years or so) had the rear sight installed in the dovetail at a 45 degree angle and was missing some front strap serrations. They skipped some lines. SIG sent me a return label and correctly installed the rear sight correctly. They refused to do anything about the frame serrations.

Wish I had kept the pics. Sold the gun for a loss and swore to never buy another SIG that I couldn’t hand inspect first. Now that I think about it, that was the last SIG I bought.

[Jared]

SIG’s current QC is so inconsistent I would never buy one of their guns without examining it in person.

I just picked up. 320 X carry. Very nice. The same LGS which sold me the X carry just got three Legions, a 226 SAO, a 226 RX and 229 RX.

Both 226’s have gritty heavy triggers, not only inferior to prior Legions but worse than other P series I’ve tried. The 229 RX was even worse, I think it is the worst P series trigger I ve ever felt. DA pull was heavy and gritty - felt like 30lbs. It was greater than the 20lb limit on the shop’s trigger pull gauge.

I have a friend with a pair of 226 Legions, a SAO and a TDA, that he let me shoot. I actually really, really like the Legion features in spite of the stupid marketing that SiG used with the gun. So I went on the hunt for a 229 Legion and found one. Holeee shit that DA was awful. That was the end of my Legion hunting, and then the 320 "event" made me swear off Sig until Cohen is gone.

[HCM]

I have a friend with a pair of 226 Legions, a SAO and a TDA, that he let me shoot. I actually really, really like the Legion features in spite of the stupid marketing that SiG used with the gun. So I went on the hunt for a 229 Legion and found one. Holeee shit that DA was awful. That was the end of my Legion hunting, and then the 320 "event" made me swear off Sig until Cohen is gone.

The earlier Legion 229s had awesome triggers. I'm kinda kicking my self for not picking one up at the time. The LGS I mentioned just has a used Legion 226 SAO with an Awesome trigger.

Bruce gray was involved with the early Legion guns, I'm wondering if SIG changed something to cut costs or if it's just a bad batch. The whole idea of the Legion is a premium gun to compete with things like the Brig Tac, though in fairness, as mentioned elsewhere on PF I have seen one bad brigtac at another LGS which they had to send back.

[vcdgrips]

The concept of an uber reliable .45 acp SAO pistol under 1500.00 all day long is extremely intriguing. It is a shame that the QC at Sig makes their SAOs unsat. It seems to me that the SW M&P with the FMS and FSS Apex parts is the intersection of trigger/price/reliability.

[Jared]

The earlier Legion 229s had awesome triggers. I'm kinda kicking my self for not picking one up at the time. The LGS I mentioned just has a used Legion 226 SAO with an Awesome trigger.

Bruce gray was involved with the early Legion guns, I'm wondering if SIG changed something to cut costs or if it's just a bad batch. The whole idea of the Legion is a premium gun to compete with things like the Brig Tac, though in fairness, as mentioned elsewhere on PF I have seen one bad brigtac at another LGS which they had to send back.

True BrigTac story. I got mine used at the same shop I handled that Legion 229 in. I couldn't believe they had a used BrigTac. And the DA in it was Awful! I actually handed it back to them, it stacked so bad at the end I could not make a clean DA press with it. Then I went home, did some reading, ordered a new trigger bar for like 8 bucks, and ended up buying the BrigTac praying the trigger bar would do the trick. It did. Actually, that gun has an awesome enough DA that I wonder if the previous owner didn't have Wilson do an action tune on it.

My friends Legions both have very very nice DA and SA triggers, and he did jump on them early in the Legion series availability. So maybe Sig did change something in a cost cutting move.

[AJD21]

I have a recent(2017)Legion P226 DA/SA. Trigger is 4lbs SA, 9lb DA after break-in. Very smooth. Both Legions I’ve downed dropped 1-1.5 lbs in DA after shooting and dry firing them a bunch. To be honest unless your using a lighter hammer spring most stock 92 DA triggers are mediocre. Comparing stock to stock I would take a Legion over a 92 and it wouldn’t even be close.

[Sensei]

I have a recent(2017)Legion P226 DA/SA. Trigger is 4lbs SA, 9lb DA after break-in. Very smooth. Both Legions I’ve downed dropped 1-1.5 lbs in DA after shooting and dry firing them a bunch. To be honest unless your using a lighter hammer spring most stock 92 DA triggers are mediocre. Comparing stock to stock I would take a Legion over a 92 and it wouldn’t even be close.

That was my experience with my P229 Legion - 10/5 lb that became 9/4.5 lb after 500-1000 rounds and dry fire.

I’m keeping this sight issue in perspective. It’s not a fatal flaw with the design or mechanical operation.