Do I need a Sig P226?

[cpoakes]

Betteridge's law* of headlines: "Any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered by the word no."

*exception for gun forums: "Any headline that reads 'Do I need a ...' can be answered by the word yes."

 

[sigarms228]

No rail, no forward serrations, nice grips (do you have a spare set you’d sell ), no “Tactical” or “Legion” or “Garden Maze SIG” markings - old school goodness.

I had to assemble mine from bottom - of - the - barrel Friday evening reject P226s.

Did the same for my P229, using an M11-A1 frame.

Thanks! I like the plain Jane classic series SIGs, though any P226 is awesome. The one in my picture is actually early US made with German frame and no MIM parts. Not too many P226s with the milled stainless steel slide were made without the rail. I believe it was made in the 1998 - 1999 time period. I bought it a few years back as a CPO that looked as new for $490.

Yeah those grips are in high demand. I bought them when SIG closed them out for $65 I believe. I should have bought a pair for my P229 too.

I also have the P226 22 Conversion kit which is also hard to find and in demand these days. I don't think any have been made for at least a few years now.

 

[Nature Boy]

Betteridge's law* of headlines: "Any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered by the word no."

*exception for gun forums: "Any headline that reads 'Do I need a ...' can be answered by the word yes."

this is exactly right!

 

[Rock185]

dh, I've been a 226 fan since the '80s. I carried a 226 every working day from about '86 or '87 to '93, was a firearms instructor, and later a SIG armorer. I've had several 226s and 229s since, and still have examples of both. Much as I like the 226s, if you have a 229, you already know most everything about what you'll experience with a 226. Fine, reliable pistols, even the American manufactured versions, but a must have for most, maybe not so much...

 

[Lo-Profile]

I have 2 P229's and a P226 .... Yes, they are definitely worth it.

Fime Group imports a gun called Arex Rex Zero which is a really nice P226 clone for about half the cost.

 

[SwampWolf]

SIG 226s are great pistols, as are most of their guns. I prefer the forged s/s receivers over the cult-like "folded" tops; each to their own.

 

[Tallball]

Just remember too that while people will tell you that there are a few better guns out there, there are a trainload of guns that are worse.

That's an excellent quote!

 

[Old Dog]

The newer American made examples are nowhere near as tight and high quality.

That's simply an opinion when stated like that with zero explanation or documentation.

I have several examples of each. Do I prefer the old West German 226s? Yes. But I've also got the Legion in both versions (I think the 226 Legion SAO is the best non-1911 SA pistol out there) and they're superb pistols in their own right. A couple police trade-ins from the 90s/early 00s are worthy as well. It's not as though SIG (even in its U.S. incarnation) stopped making really good pistols.

Any fan of duty-sized 9mm pistols should have at least one P-226 in their collection. Along with the Beretta M-92FS/M-9, CZ-75, HK P-7, P-30 (sorry, USP fans, I was issued one for a long time and hate 'em) and a few others (clearly the Europeans were really, really good at making 9mm pistols)...

 

[Master Blaster]

Yes you do.

 

[danner013]

I just picked up a used P226 Legion 40 S&W. I’ve got a 357 SIG barrel coming. Fits my medium sized hands very well. Trigger is outstanding. Reset is about 2mm which was a big surprise to me. I’ve got West German Sigs and American ones. I’ve not noticed any different in performance.

 

[Jimbo80]

Hard to beat the P series Sigs. If you are a fan of DA/SA you need at least one.

 

[bannockburn]

Riomouse911

I had an early P226, used a P228 a lot, and currently have a P229. I preferred the P226 to the Beretta M92 as the grip was much more comfortable and the reach to the trigger in DA mode wasn't quite as far, though it was still a bit of a stretch for me. Accuracy was great too, much like a Browning BDA .45 (a.k.a. P220), I had some years earlier.

My brother let me use his P228 while he was away on business and I had that gun doing everything from testing out new handloads, range practice, and home defense. That gun fed everything without the slightest bobble and was just as accurate as the other two SIGs were.

After my brother "reclaimed" his P228 I set out to find one very much like it but was having no luck in finding one. Happened into my favorite LGS as one of my old high school buddies worked there part time and steered me into some very nice deals on used guns on more than one occasion. That day I was checking out 9mm. Glocks, S&W M&Ps, and SA XDs for use as a replacement for the P228. When I told him none of those three did "it" for me he said: "follow me over to the Used Gun case as I think I have just what you're looking for". There he proceeded to take out two P229s, one a .40, the other a 9mm. Someone had just traded them in and both were like new!

The P229 9mm. had a rail (just as I wanted for home defense work), had night sights, E2 grips, the SRT, and came with three mags; all for a price that was half as much as what a new P229 would run me! I couldn't get my wallet out any faster! To me the three biggest improvements the P229 had over the older P226 were the rail, the ergonomics of the E2 grips (making it easier to reach the DA trigger), and the SRT.

 

[The Glockodile]

I like THAT P229 slide.

Could never warm up to the half - height serrations.

That's how I configured mine - no rails, E2 grip, fat trigger.

 

[SwampWolf]

Any fan of duty-sized 9mm pistols should have at least one P-226 in their collection. Along with the Beretta M-92FS/M-9, CZ-75, HK P-7, P-30 (sorry, USP fans, I was issued one for a long time and hate 'em) and a few others (clearly the Europeans were really, really good at making 9mm pistols)...

I would add the SIG Model 320 (M17/M18), the Smith & Wesson Model 5906 and the Browning Hi Power pistols to the "must have", duty-sized 9mm pistols to your list.

I have to take strong exception to your negative opinion about the HK USP pistol (I have read your less than empathetic posts about this pistol in the past but fully accept your opinions about it as being fact-based, truthful, and a real life account of your experience with it), but only in contrast to my own positive history with it. Though I never carried an HK USP pistol on duty during my 30 year le career (my agency transitioned from revolvers to Smith & Wesson "Third Generation" autos back in the late eighties), I did buy one of the first USP pistols (one with a conventionally rifled bore) in 1994 and have poured thousands of rounds down its throat over the intervening years and have found it to be a most obliging pistol in every meaningful respect (reliability, accuracy, durability, finish, workmanship and quality of material). As much as I liked the Smith auto pistols of the era, I would have preferred to have been armed with a USP.

Concerning SIG pistols, the "E2" grip configuration fits my largish-sized hand best. I gave my wife a Model 320 (M18) for Christmas and she loves how it feels in her hand and is looking forward to shooting it in the near future. My favorite SIG at the moment is the discontinued Model 227, chambered in .45 ACP.

 

[NWcityguy2]

If your plan is to load it with ammo and shoot bullets out of it then no, you do not. If you have the itch and want it scratched then yeah get one.

The real question is, do your have a habit of buying a gun, using it a few times and then letting it gather dust for years?

I think they're good guns, and a little more confortable for me to shoot than a P229. They aren't revolutionary in 2021. I would rate them equal or superior to an H&K USP in every single way, and better than a Block 17 if you aren't strapped for cash. Really their one big downside is price.

If its just going to gather dust, wait a year and the panic buyers will be flooding the market with their guns. That'll be a better time to buy.

 

[sevt_chevelle]

So I've got a P220 and P226, I prefer metal framed hammer fired pistols, the Sigs are not my favorite.

My 226 has both 40 and 9 upper ends, shot a 229 the other day for the first time and I think it handles the 40 better than my 226 did.
My biggest gripe would be lack of grips. Am a CZ guy and prefer a nice palm swell, I've yet to find such a creature.

 

[Old Dog]

I would add the SIG Model 320 (M17/M18), the Smith & Wesson Model 5906 and the Browning Hi Power pistols to the "must have", duty-sized 9mm pistols to your list.

I knew there were some I was forgetting (the 5906 an old favorite of mine); was just adding steel-framed, hammer-fired pistols to augment one's duty pistol collection.

Alas, the USP proved to be a bad choice for a department full of non-shooters and smaller females. Much like the 5906, heavy, blocky and large with flat grip at bad angle, strangely unergonomic with a cheese grater frontstrap, average accuracy, proprietary rail that fit nothing, not a natural pointer and pitiful support from the company for U.S. law enforcement. Qual scores skyrocketed across the board after the transition to a plastic striker-fired pistol.

 

[Otto]

Here's one of my safe queens...a German P226 never fired. Another is a early P226 in 357sig made in Exeter, new in box.
I currently shoot a Sig X5 Legion but Glocks and CZ's are the most rotated.

 

[Jackiesman]

If you like your P229, you probably won't like it as much after you get the
P226.

Ive had a number of both, and the 226 is still my favorite of the older P series. I never understood SIG's definition of "smaller" or "compact", as their smaller guns, really aren't, at least until you get into some of their newer "little" guns.

A P229 is fat and pudgy in comparison to the P226. The P226's grip is noticeably thinner and more comfortable, and the gun is only about a half inch or so longer than the P229, and more svelte.

The older W. German guns are nice, but their steel slides are rust prone and seem to be more prone to finish wear. I have and have had both, and they all shot and held up well to hard use.

 

[Ignition Override]

OP/dumbhunter:

Well…Do you need a 226 ?

If you don’t, then do you need a CZ PCR?

 

[JR24]

I just picked up a used P226 Legion 40 S&W. I’ve got a 357 SIG barrel coming. Fits my medium sized hands very well. Trigger is outstanding. Reset is about 2mm which was a big surprise to me. I’ve got West German Sigs and American ones. I’ve not noticed any different in performance.

Probably unpopular for “Sig purists” but I’ll take a Legion over a w. German Sig any day of the week and twice on Sundays. I’ve had a few w German, or German frame more modern ones and I much prefer everything about the Legion.

Especially, as you say, the reset. So sweet.

I just wish my 226 was about 6 ounces lighter so I could carry it without back pain.

 

[Sergei Mosin]

The 226 is the Government Model to the 229's Commander, or something like that. I have a 9mm 226 and a .40 229 and wouldn't kick either one out of the safe, but I'm glad I have them in different cartridges - unless you're a big SIG fan or collector, they aren't enough different to have in the same caliber.

 

[crestoncowboy]

I've never met a single officer that was issued the USP that liked it better than what replaced it. One local department went from USP to Glock 21 (which I also think is pretty bad ergos) 20 years ago and nobody was hurt by the switch. The USP has the most square 2x4 grip of any mainstream gun made. Rough checkered that somehow isn't great for actually holding the gun, and one of the worst triggers made. Great gun. Excellent finish impervious to everything unlike SIG which gets scratched if you talk to it real rough like. Never seen any issues with fiction either, yet nobody liked them for duty or shooting that I knew. They all bought theirs 20 years ago... All still look new to this day.

Every department that issued them no longer does around here. Same for federal guys. Hk makes some far better feeling guns now but still can't get any real duty market. Our state guys still issue the 229. A couple localish departments issue the 226 today. Most have went to Glock though.

I have 3 USP and several P series. Probably 100 people have come to my range to try out guns to see which they liked. Not a single person has ever picked a USP. Even before they heard the price. The few gamers that came with the preconceived notion they wanted the USP left wanting a sig or Beretta. Lol.

I carry a Glock, leaving all those others home.

 

[The Glockodile]

I have a bunch of USPs and Mark 23s.

While they probably make the best silencer hosts, have internals that appeal to my "design philosophy," HK could have done a far better job with the ergonomics...

[Enter cliched fanboi arguments about them being designed with combat in mind and different military criteria and whatnot here...]

...and due to that last point, while I really like them, I don't really play with them that much.

 

[The Glockodile]

Lugers, P38s, P220s, P226s, P230 and 232s...

In my mind, they just embody what a "Euro" pistol should be.