226 SAO compared to Staccato P

[Archer1440]

I tried a GGI CPO P226 DA/SA in SSP. I had the opposite problem of Archer, the size and location of the slide release is foreign to my 1911 habits for slide lock reloads, So it got relegated to home defense and I shoot mostly ESP with Colt or SA.

I have a ca 2012 STI Eagle that is trouble free. I would sure expect better than what Archer was seeing with newer guns.

To be fair, MY 1911- and all other- slide lock reload habits involve a brisk over-the-top slingshot after an equally brisk slam of a fresh mag. My main issue with the 226 is that I tend to defeat the lock function with the tip of my thumb when riding the safety (I always ride the safety on any pistol so equipped).

[Jim Watson]

That worked, but I was not readily able to "program my brain"* for a different manual of arms.

* M. Ayoob

[1911Nut]

I tried a GGI CPO P226 DA/SA in SSP. I had the opposite problem of Archer, the size and location of the slide release is foreign to my 1911 habits for slide lock reloads, So it got relegated to home defense and I shoot mostly ESP with Colt or SA.

I have a ca 2012 STI Eagle that is trouble free. I would sure expect better than what Archer was seeing with newer guns.

My STI Eagle is also from 2012. It has seen pretty heavy use in steel and IDPA matches, and also has been (almost) trouble free.

A few years ago, the hammer began to follow and actually resulted in some unplanned "doubles". There had never been any work done to the gun, by either an amateur or a professional. It was fairly easy to correct and has been fine for the past 5-6 years.

I actually had eleven (11) of the original, Gen 1 17-round magazines, and over the years, only one has given up the ghost and the remainder remain reliable. That's after a LOT of being dropped in the dirt and gravel. I am told I am blessed and lucky to have had such fortune with the magazines. I've since added a few Gen 2 magazines, and they too have been trouble free.

[1More]

We've covered this numerous times on this forum. The facts as summed up:

1) Since 2013, an observed 20-25% deadline rate on legacy P-series (P226, P229, etc) by various LE agencies across the country, many times involving cracked frames that cannot be predicted (i.e. sometimes crack within the first box of ammunition). Besides the 180-man department I detailed in prior threads, both @AMC and @Lon can detail this at their departments as well.

2) High profile incidents of problems since 2013:

2a) the FAMS had to return three successive batches of P229s since 2013 due to non-functional guns, prompting their switch to buying guns off the CBP contract.

2b) NJSP getting an entire batch of P229s that were non-functional, prompting their return to manufacture, purchase of commercial-off-the-shelf Glocks, and subsequent lawsuit against SIG for failing to fulfill the contract terms when SIG tried blaming NJSP for using substandard ammunition (note: NJSP uses Speer Gold Dot for duty and Speer Lawman for training, so, bullpucky).

Any examples involving 2016 or newer P226s in 9mm (and especially 2020 and newer)? I was involved with a 2012 P226 in .40 that was the epitome of 'siG qUalite', and I'm aware of the widespread problems various agencies were having prior. I agree with you about the guns from the early 2010's... Thanks.

[TGS]

Any examples involving 2016 or newer P226s in 9mm (and especially 2020 and newer)? I was involved with a 2012 P226 in .40 that was the epitome of 'siG qUalite', and I'm aware of the widespread problems various agencies were having prior. I agree with you about the guns from the early 2010's... Thanks.

I don't have an example to those specifics, keep in mind that was about the time everyone started dropping them and buying Glocks or P320s instead when replacement came up. NJSP had their 9mm P229 incident happen in 2014, and we had 9mm SIG P229s until 2018 when we started replacing them with Glocks, but they were all 2005 and 2010 production guns, if I recall correctly. Similarly, almost every agency of any notable size that purchases large batches that are still running legacy SIGs are using older guns which haven't made it through their service life yet...they're generally not using 2016 or newer guns (at least, I don't know of anywhere...the LE market is utterly dominated by Glocks and P320s now).

I can't remember what calibers were used by the agencies that @Lon and @AMC worked at, but I believe they were P226s.

[Lon]

I don't have an example to those specifics, keep in mind that was about the time everyone started dropping them and buying Glocks or P320s instead when replacement came up. NJSP had their 9mm P229 incident happen in 2014, and we had 9mm SIG P229s until 2018 when we started replacing them with Glocks, but they were all 2005 and 2010 production guns, if I recall correctly. Similarly, almost every agency of any notable size that purchases large batches that are still running legacy SIGs are using older guns which haven't made it through their service life yet...they're generally not using 2016 or newer guns (at least, I don't know of anywhere...the LE market is utterly dominated by Glocks and P320s now).

I can't remember what calibers were used by the agencies that @Lon and @AMC worked at, but I believe they were P226s.

Ours were 226 9’s.

[AMC]

@TGS....ours were 226 .40s, with a small number of 229 .40s as well. Don't recall any of the frame crack issues showing up in the 229s, but those were early purchase, so original frame design.