Which would you prefer? P220 or 1911??

P220 or 1911???

  • Get the SIG P220. It rocks.

    Votes: 55 31.3%
  • Get the GI style 1911. It rocks.

    Votes: 65 36.9%
  • Get both dummy. You wife won't mind! (yeah right)

    Votes: 56 31.8%

  • Total voters
    176
  • Poll closed .
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P220 hands down

If you just want SAO, they have it:
P220C_Left.jpg

Otherwise you can get CPO P220s for $500 or so.

As for the discussion of DA/SA vs SA I liken it to learning to drive manual vs automatic shift. Sure, you can just always buy automatic cars but if you know both you're never limited. Spending the time to learn DA/SA will make you a better all around shooter.
 
I know there is a SAO P220 which I drool over. I don't like the light rail on a CCW piece and I an find a used P220 for much less than a new SAO. I'm trying to keep it under 500 bucks. Both guns fit my hand well and I shoot both well. I'm trying to work out the pros and cons to see which one I should get first.
 
Both!
I have both as well. They are very nice pistols and enjoy shooting each of them. Personally, I prefer the P220 as I shoot it better than the 1911 (I'm one of those opposite folks). The 220 is also my daily carry. I have taken her through three defensive shooting classes with no failures.

I reload for both as well. The 1911 did have some FTE problems, but that was due to the light loads I was using. Once I increased the charge a little, she ran fine. Both will run ball and SWC's without any problems.
 
Really, they are both perfect in their own way. I prefer the p220 platform, so that's how I voted. But consider this: I am a horrible pistol shot, and the first time I picked up a stock Mil-Spec 1911, I fired several rapid-fire shots into a 3" group at 25 yards off-hand. The 1911 does (nearly) perfectly what JMB intended it to do.
Its just a matter of platform preference: do you like SA or DA?
-David
 
<puts on asbestos suit>
1911's would be great if I could get one to work reliably!

The P220 SAO (single action only) makes the 1911 obsolete.
</no asbestos>

But the Colt WW One Reproduction sure is sweet.
 
Interesting that, for an obsolete weapon, so many top notch tactical types insist on using them.
And I wonder which ones they are using and who's footing the bill for them? I'm sure theirs are not $500 Springfield Mil Specs. ;)
 
Really I'm trying to decide between the DA P220 and the Mil-spec 1911. The new SA P220 is out of my price range for now. I've shot both guns. I used to have a 1911 so I would say I have more experience with that but the few times I shot the P220 I loved it. Preference aside, is thier an advantage to one platform over the other? I don't see the DA trigger as much of a handicap for me. I carry a Keltec P11 often and if I can handle that trigger I can surely handle a P220! The ones I shot seemed to have a very manageable trigger anyways. I also like single actions too. I have a Hi-Power and a Star BM that are truly magic. But they don't satisfy the .45 bug do they!:rolleyes:
 
While the real answer is whichever you shoot the best but Ill give you a typical gunstore ( i worked at one for a year and half, it doesn't sound too far off) answer....


Back in '03 I was part of a three man recon team working for an agency so secretive to even mention its acronym sets off NSA computers and I would be sent to gitmo. We got a mission to a larger country east of Iraq if you know what I mean. Since we are so incredibly elite and tactically superior to any other acronymed agency we get our pick of weapons. I had always wanted to try out the SA mil spec so I picked it along with a G36K, two p3AT's and a buck 110 knife.

Once we got to the rendezvous point we were ambushed by ex taliban troops. to make a long story short after I had emptied all 9 of my G36's mags into the swarming troops and was wading balls deep in dead bodies and blood. I had to grab my sidearm to finish off the High Mullah and his guys.

I grabbed my 1911A1 and I could feel the hand of god on my shoulder. The gun was handed down to the prophet John Moses Browning as Americas providence in killing all non-christians, and the true sword of God. My first shot of 230 grains of Golden Sabre justice blew the mullahs head into two equal pieces. I turned to shoot his fleeing aides but I noticed the hollow point had jammed on the feed ramp.

Luckily on one of the dead bodies there was a Sig P220. I picked it up and fired three full mags with no failures into various taliban officials. Yep that gun saved my life, my teams life, and the lives of the villagers down below whom the Taliban was about to pour molten lava onto from high above the village. The Sig Sauer P220 DA/SA is the true tool of God, JMB was a false prophet sent by the devil to deceive man and give them inferior weaponry when his armies rise out of hell.
 
I don't see the DA trigger as much of a handicap for me. I carry a Keltec P11 often and if I can handle that trigger I can surely handle a P220! The ones I shot seemed to have a very manageable trigger anyways.
That's not the issue with traditional double action autos. The issue is the transition from the first double action trigger stroke to the second and subsequent single action trigger strokes. The transition requires an adjustment in your grip, which can cause accuracy issues for round number two. You P11, I would imagine, is a double action only, DOA, which doesn't have that problem, and can be mastered quite readily, just as a single action only, SAO, can be readily mastered.
 
Both or at a minimum get the Sig 220. I just got one a couple weeks ago and it rocks. If Han Solo didn't have a blaster he would carry a Sig 220.
 
With all due respect, the trigger on a SIG DA/SA or DAO is not even close to a good DA revolver, at least in my experience with both systems on a 220. About 25 years ago (geez--that long?) I deliberately settled on the DA wheelgun. Got a copy of McGivern's book, and then put in a *lot* of trigger time. Ammo was free and plentiful, and it was part of the job. I think you could say I got the hang of DA revolver shooting.

Skill with a handgun involves a lot of intangibles, some of which we can identify and tweak. Some of it is the knowledge that *this* is the right thing for me and *that* is not. It does matter. Otherwise we would have distilled all this down into one gun by now and there would be no differences of opinion any more.

Obi-Wan Kenobi could probably explain it better.
 
For me it's just the opposite. I had a 220ST and a 226. Sold them both to get my first 1911. It has been 1911 since then. Dont get me wrong, I liked my SIG's but I love my 1911's much better.

bigmike45
 
For me it's just the opposite. I had a 220ST and a 226. Sold them both to get my first 1911. It has been 1911 since then. Dont get me wrong, I liked my SIG's but I love my 1911's much better.
That's the way I feel too. When I first heard that the P220 was available in single action only, I decided to order one. Then it occurred to me that my carry 1911 has never failed to go bang, shoots real nice, carries better than any other powerful handgun out there, and I have lots of trigger time on the model. Why do I need a Sig P220? For a nube, it would be a good recommendation, I think, but not for me. I've already found perfection, which for me is a slightly modified Springfield Armory TRP. I just don't see how you improve on it.
 
The issue is the transition from the first double action trigger stroke to the second and subsequent single action trigger strokes. The transition requires an adjustment in your grip, which can cause accuracy issues for round number two.
My grip or accuracy doesnt change from the first to subsequent shots. My double taps with my SIG's look just like my double taps with my 1911's. The one thing that surprised me when I first made the switch was, my first, DA shot is usually more precise, and closer to exact POA, than my first shot with my 1911's. I've also noticed that I tend to be slightly more accurate with my DAO P245, than with either my P220's or 1911's. I'm attributing this to the same phenomenon with a DA revolver, and that you tend to concentrate on the front sight more while you stroke the trigger. My DA revolver groups are also usually tighter than my SA groups, especially with heavy recoiling rounds.

With all due respect, the trigger on a SIG DA/SA or DAO is not even close to a good DA revolver...
I find my SIG's DA triggers are pretty close to my stock S&W DA triggers. If your comparing them to triggers that have been worked, I'm sure its a different story.

I've always preferred box stock triggers as long as they are reasonably acceptable, and most are. Its a lot easier to shoot most anything if your accustomed to the stock triggers and have the conditioned muscle tone than the other way around. Sort of like learning to drive on an automatic with power steering and then having to drive an old standard shift and steering truck. Those who learned on the old truck can drive anything. A heavier trigger isnt a bad thing, as long as they are clean.
 
what i like about the 1911 is you can customize it just about any way you want it.mine started as an essex frame,new for $47 in the 70's.my gunny sarge brother in law built it for me and didnt want a dime.civilian slide and barrel plus new innards.pretty much mil-spec a1 configuration.always took it along when traveling.tried a 38 super conversion which was promptly discarded.colt made some scary chambers on their factory barrels back then.bulged cases bad on one side.just converted to 400 corbon and it has a completely different attitude.with some shopping around on e-bay the conversion cost $65.besides fitting my average hand,and shooting reasonably well it can be converted and customized without breaking the bank.it may not be as accurate as a lot of newer guns but it was designed to be reliable first.with good hardball ammo it has never malfunctioned in the 27 years i have had it.as far as the p220,dont know anything about it except i can pick it out of a rack full of colts.
 
I really like 1911's and would not have a problem with a 220, especially the DAK version. Look for Stephen A Camp's thread on a 220 with a DAK or very like a DA revolver.
 
As long as its the mil-spec, and not the GI,-45, I've got to pick the 1911.

I have lusted for a P220 for a while now though.
 
My reference to the P-11 referred to the fact that it has a long heavy trigger and a small grip which makes it a difficult gun to manage well (at first) The DA/SA pull of the p220 is no comparison. ONE double action pull and ALL supsequent shots are single action on a large well shaped grip. It is light years easier to shoot. You do not need to adjust your grip after the first shot. Are you seriously implying that after the first shot you would have to stop and readjust your grip to continue firing? I don't think so. The DA/SA trigger is NOT a factor to me. After its all said and dont though I think I will end up getting whichever one I find the better deal on. The P220 is generally in my opnion a better gun out of the box, and the 1911 is an awesome design that, when well executed, serves as an equally awesome platform for the 45acp. It is much more open to "personalization" and I know in the long run both will find a spot in my safe. Time will tell which one spends more time on my hip!
 
1911 fan here, but the answer to me is a no brainner. Get the Sig. With CC and IDPA as stated reasons for getting a 45 the 220 beats the GI model hands down. Move up to a Loaded 1911 and things may change.
 
1911, only because I like to tinker and there's a ton of aftermarket for it and I like C&L. Is there a C&L capable 220? I'd like to try one if there is, it might change my mind.
 
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