Stephen A. Camp
Moderator In Memoriam
- Joined
- Dec 24, 2002
- Messages
- 2,430
Hello. I recently purchased a NIB SIG-Sauer P220 .45 ACP pistol. This one sports an accessory rail (something I could live without), and has the milled slide rather than the folded version with a pinned-in breech block. It also has the external extractor.
This P220 appears to be the "regular" version of this design. Several variations on the P220 theme are offered. This one came with textured grip panels which are thinner than in years past and I welcome the vertical serrations on the front grip strap. This P220 came with night sights as well as one extra stainless steel, 8-shot magazine. An older ('91-manufacture) P220 I have owned since '92 came with 7-shot magazines.
I have had a genuine fondness for these pistols since I bought my first one in 1991, after witnessing Texas Department of Public Safety Firearm Instructor, Lt. Reeves Jungkind (ret.) shoot some really tight groups off-hand at 50 yards with one using ammunition commercially-loaded with Speer's now discontinued 200-gr. JHP. It seemed to me that his out-of-the-box P220 was grouping as well as some accurized 1911's I'd seen and shot!
In any event, I bought one and have shot it off and on since that time. Before retiring from police service, one of my duties was that of a firearm instructor and as such, I saw quite a few of these pistols fired over the years. Texas DPS troopers were also using them at that time and cutting to the chase, I was hearing of few problems with the P220's. I personally witnessed none, but have seen other folks' reports to the contrary.
Admittedly, most of my shooting these past forty years has been with single-action automatics (1911's & Hi Powers) or double-action revolvers (usually S&W's), but I've also worked and taught with traditional DA/SA autoloaders. "The double-action automatic is an answer to a non-existant problem" sounds pretty good to me and I respect that statement's source quite a lot, but I respectfully disagree. Many (probably a distinct majority) in law enforcement simply are forbidden by policy to carry a single-action autoloader or are specifically mandated to tote a DA/SA autoloading handgun in a specific caliber. Restrictions may vary to some degree, but probably not on forbidding the single-action auto's use. That we may not agree with the idea is moot; some law enforcement personnel are still required to use DA/SA.
This Bladetech holster works fine with both my new P220 having the accessory rail and my older one which does not.
Other people simply are not comfortable with Condition One carry and will not be. I do not look "down" on them in any manner as appears to have been the case to varying degrees over the years, nor do I come close to accepting that an autopistol design other than single-action carried cocked-and-locked is "the badge of the incompetent". I have seen the unedited police videotape of a law enforcement officer effectively engaging his would-be murderer with a P220 and had "e-conversations" with a couple of other folks who've both seen and slain "the dragon" using the P220. Though my personal preference remains the single-action autoloader in general, I simply have not found the traditional DA/SA autoloader a monster to learn. I am speaking only for myself and other shooters may hold just the opposite view, but in any event, I was happy to try a new P220 and am in the process of comparing it to my older one. If interested, here is a fairly-detailed initial report:
http://www.hipowersandhandguns.com/LongTerm Observations and ShortTerm Hopes-SIGSauer P220.htm
Make no mistake; I am not trying to "convert" anyone to this design or manufacturer. My aim is simply to provide personal observations, statistically invalid as they may be, that might be of some use for folks interested in this area of handgun selection.
I have enjoyed shooting a P220 off and on for nearly 20 years now. I hope that this new gun serves at least as well as the older one has. We'll see.
Best.
This P220 appears to be the "regular" version of this design. Several variations on the P220 theme are offered. This one came with textured grip panels which are thinner than in years past and I welcome the vertical serrations on the front grip strap. This P220 came with night sights as well as one extra stainless steel, 8-shot magazine. An older ('91-manufacture) P220 I have owned since '92 came with 7-shot magazines.
I have had a genuine fondness for these pistols since I bought my first one in 1991, after witnessing Texas Department of Public Safety Firearm Instructor, Lt. Reeves Jungkind (ret.) shoot some really tight groups off-hand at 50 yards with one using ammunition commercially-loaded with Speer's now discontinued 200-gr. JHP. It seemed to me that his out-of-the-box P220 was grouping as well as some accurized 1911's I'd seen and shot!
In any event, I bought one and have shot it off and on since that time. Before retiring from police service, one of my duties was that of a firearm instructor and as such, I saw quite a few of these pistols fired over the years. Texas DPS troopers were also using them at that time and cutting to the chase, I was hearing of few problems with the P220's. I personally witnessed none, but have seen other folks' reports to the contrary.
Admittedly, most of my shooting these past forty years has been with single-action automatics (1911's & Hi Powers) or double-action revolvers (usually S&W's), but I've also worked and taught with traditional DA/SA autoloaders. "The double-action automatic is an answer to a non-existant problem" sounds pretty good to me and I respect that statement's source quite a lot, but I respectfully disagree. Many (probably a distinct majority) in law enforcement simply are forbidden by policy to carry a single-action autoloader or are specifically mandated to tote a DA/SA autoloading handgun in a specific caliber. Restrictions may vary to some degree, but probably not on forbidding the single-action auto's use. That we may not agree with the idea is moot; some law enforcement personnel are still required to use DA/SA.
This Bladetech holster works fine with both my new P220 having the accessory rail and my older one which does not.
Other people simply are not comfortable with Condition One carry and will not be. I do not look "down" on them in any manner as appears to have been the case to varying degrees over the years, nor do I come close to accepting that an autopistol design other than single-action carried cocked-and-locked is "the badge of the incompetent". I have seen the unedited police videotape of a law enforcement officer effectively engaging his would-be murderer with a P220 and had "e-conversations" with a couple of other folks who've both seen and slain "the dragon" using the P220. Though my personal preference remains the single-action autoloader in general, I simply have not found the traditional DA/SA autoloader a monster to learn. I am speaking only for myself and other shooters may hold just the opposite view, but in any event, I was happy to try a new P220 and am in the process of comparing it to my older one. If interested, here is a fairly-detailed initial report:
http://www.hipowersandhandguns.com/LongTerm Observations and ShortTerm Hopes-SIGSauer P220.htm
Make no mistake; I am not trying to "convert" anyone to this design or manufacturer. My aim is simply to provide personal observations, statistically invalid as they may be, that might be of some use for folks interested in this area of handgun selection.
I have enjoyed shooting a P220 off and on for nearly 20 years now. I hope that this new gun serves at least as well as the older one has. We'll see.
Best.
)...the trigger is different than the 1911s but is perfectly serviceable...pistol weight is light enough to match a lightweight Commander...is as accurate as any 1911 I have shot...
