A quick look a my new-to-me P220 Legion

Earlier this year I sold my P226 Legion when I picked up my West German P226. I'm more of a breadth vs. depth guy when it comes to my collection—I usually don't have more than one of each model. I like the Legion line very much, and really, really wanted to get a Legion 10mm—it's all-steel plus has a longer 5" barrel. However, I saw this .45 version for sale online at about 60% of the cost of a new one (and less than half of what a 10mm model would cost) so it was a pretty easy choice. When it arrived it was in even better shape than I expected—it may even be unfired.

I've owned six P226s over the years but this is my first P220. The single-stack grip size is just about perfect for my small hands—it's a bit bigger around than a 1911 but significantly less than a P226 of course. The grip shape is also subtly different—angled a bit more. I really like it. Since we're limited to ten-round mags in Canada I'm only giving up two rounds, too (although the mags that came with the pistol have a very robust baseplate that I’m not crazy about).

I think my favourite Legion features are the sights, the grips and the trigger pull. They're night sights, but the front has a bright green dot while the rears only have the tritium vials. In daylight the front sight really pops! The grips have really nice texturing—three different patterns—and provide excellent grip without being too aggressive. The medium-reach trigger fits me better than SIG's short-reach trigger, which I find too short in SA mode, but the trigger's best feature is a super-short reset. My P226's reset was adjustable—I'll have to check to see if this one is.

Other things I like are the undercut at the rear of the trigger guard, allowing a higher grip, and the checkering on the frontstrap. It's not all improvements, though—for some reason SIG chose to install a noticeably smaller decocking lever and slide stop. On a full-size pistol this seems an odd choice. Some users have seen finish wear, too, although mine will see little holster use. I'm looking forward to getting it out!

Thanks for the kind comments, guys. I had the pistol apart this afternoon to lube it up (it was bone dry!) and adjusted the overtravel a bit, too. The SA trigger on the Legion series is absolutely fantastic.

I had a chance to take the Legion to the range last week—what a great pistol! It was so pleasant to shoot—more recoil than my previous P226 Legion of course, but still very manageable. The trigger and excellent sights made accurate shooting almost effortless—here's the results of the first eight rounds through the pistol at 10m (about 33'). I've only been out handgun shooting one other time this year so I was very happy with the results. It's always satisfying to take a pistol out to the range and see it perform as well as you'd hoped.