P220 Carry-I just don't get it.

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Elkins45

Elkins45

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I remember when Sig offered the P245, which was a shorter P220 with a shorter grip and a six round magazine. It looks like they don't make them anymore but they do now offer a P220 Carry which is essentially a P220 with a shorter slide but with the same size grip with the normal 7/8 round magazine length.

Why? It's not the slide that is hard to conceal. Why do so many gun makers get this backward? It's the butt that sticks out when you try to hide it, not the slide.

I really wish I hadn't traded my P245. I don't even remember what I traded it for now, but I would love to find another one on the used market again. It's a shame such a great design still isn't available.
 
It is all about choices.

In the event you weren't aware, the P245 is essentially now called the P220 Compact if that is the size you want. http://www.sigsauer.com/CatalogProductDetails/p220r-compact.aspx

If you want the full size gun you can get the regular P220 http://www.sigsauer.com/CatalogProductDetails/p220.aspx

If you want something with a shorter barrel, the P220 Carry is available http://www.sigsauer.com/CatalogProductDetails/p220-carry.aspx

It is kind of like the 1911 line-up, Government, Commander, and Officer sized guns. Of course just about everybody else does the same thing giving you full size, mid size, and compact versions of the same gun.
 
Yeah, the Compact is what I want. I haven't seen one on the market but I will certainly be on the lookout for one now. Thanks!

Wow- not exactly cheap, are they? I don't remember my P245 being quite so spendy.
 
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I bought my 220 Carry Elite Dark a couple years ago, with the intention of using it as a primary home defense pistol, and perhaps occasionally carrying it. Having never carried it though, if I were going to do it all over again, I'd get the full size 220. If I suddenly decided one day to carry this gun, it would probably be in an outside-the-waistband custom kydex holster made by me, under a long coat. In this case, the extra 1/2" of barrel and slide chopped off on the Carry could make just a little bit of difference in concealment. But for IWB, I agree that the Carry doesn't really offer much of an advantage in concealment.

If I could trade my 220 Carry Elite Dark straight up for a 220 Scorpion, I would. But I would almost certainly have to add a few hundred dollars into the trade, so I'll live with my Carry at this point.
 
Why? It's not the slide that is hard to conceal. Why do so many gun makers get this backward? It's the butt that sticks out when you try to hide it, not the slide.
Click to expand...

Yes but its the short grip that makes shooting the compacts more difficult as the recoil impulse goes up in the larger calibers. Its a trade off many people will make: harder to conceal, but easier to shoot well.

Its nice to have options.
 
I totally disagree, I think the slide is the difficult part to conceal as it makes bending, sitting and plain comfort, less comfortable.

In addition, a more proper grip makes it easier to access the weapon properly and keep it indexed throughout the drawstroke and aim.

If anything, I think the Carry and Compact are too close in size. The compact should have had a 3.5" barrel and E2 style grips.

Dave
 
Sox wrote,
I totally disagree, I think the slide is the difficult part to conceal as it makes bending, sitting and plain comfort, less comfortable.
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This is not the norm. What gun/holster combo are you using that gives you this difficulty?
 
P245 never sold well that is why it went away. The P220 Carry has not really sold well either. In the Cohen Sig world you get both because they have the P220 Compact.

In the end there is something for everyone from todays Sig. :eek:
 
I think the OP makes a very valid point. It's the grip length that's the greatest impediment to concealing a gun IMO. I can see why gun makers have longer grips though- the gun is much easier to shoot. With knives I've often commented that a knife with a 2" blade and a 5" handle is lot more useful than a 5" blade on a 2" handle! Sad thing is the super compacts cut the grip down to where it's hard to get a good firing grip and exacerbate the issue by chopping the slide and barrel down to where you have no sight radius- the worst of both worlds.

It's 5 degrees F right now where I live; while I don't like the cold the one good thing is I can carry anything short of a bazooka under all the clothes I wore today!:D
 
I'm with SOX on this. I have no trouble concealing a normal P220 grip, but a full size slide is uncomfortable for me in an IWB holster, makes a sore spot on my hip at the muzzle very quickly. A P220 carry is not uncomfortable. A 5" 1911 is the same in an IWB, a 4" 1911 is OK. I see NO, that's ZERO advantage to a shorter grip.
 
I'm sorta with Broker and Sox as well. The shorter slide of the carry and compact models make for a slightly more comfortable IWB carry over the standard p220. Not a huge difference, but some. Kind of like the comparison between the 1911 full size and commander.

I prefer the shorter slide of the p220 carry (as I prefer the p228/229 over the P226). Among other things, I find target acquisition to be faster (for me) with the shorter slide, as well as re-acquisition for followup.

On the other hand, the shorter grip of the p245/p220 compact might provide a tad more concealability (arguably), at the cost of 1 or 2 round capacity vs. the 220 carry.

I'm still kicking myself for not grabbing a p245 compact a few years ago, LNIB prices at $475. I hesitated to look at something else, and when I turned around someone else was already starting the paperwork.
 
That's why you see guys do a Franken-Glock where they cut down a G17 to take G19 mags (or shorter ones yet!). That kind of gun would have a lot of advantages; shorter through the grip to print less but more mass in the slide to absorb recoil and longer sight radius to make it easier to shoot. I'd be a little leery about having that done myself. It's one thing if it came that way from the factory, but I'd hate to have to explain it to a prosecutor if it ever came to that. Kind of like the Punisher skulls and stuff, kind of makes it look like you are a Call of Duty-wannabee.
 
Before long, Sig will be offering their P320 in .45 acp.. In case you're not familar with that model, it's striker-fired and is one of the best IMO.
 
I have both a P220 carry and a P245.

I prefer the P220 Carry with the 3.9 inch barrel over the standard length P220 with the 4.4 inch barrel as I feel it has a better balance for me when I shooting. I only carry it OWB.

The short grip is just Ok on my P245. However I prefer use standard 8 round P220 magazines with the X-Grip extenders. The grip is much more comfortable and like that I have 2 more rounds per magazine. I rarely carry the P245 but when I do it is OWB.

DSCN2559_zpsc64f1805.jpg
 
Phaedrus/69 said:
That's why you see guys do a Franken-Glock where they cut down a G17 to take G19 mags (or shorter ones yet!). That kind of gun would have a lot of advantages; shorter through the grip to print less but more mass in the slide to absorb recoil and longer sight radius to make it easier to shoot. I'd be a little leery about having that done myself. It's one thing if it came that way from the factory, but I'd hate to have to explain it to a prosecutor if it ever came to that. Kind of like the Punisher skulls and stuff, kind of makes it look like you are a Call of Duty-wannabee.
Click to expand...
Nah. In this case you are making the gun hold fewer of those icky old nasty bullet thingies. That makes it safer! Yeah, that's it: it was a safety modification!

This is a lot easier to do with a Glock than with a Sig because of the mainspring being located under the backstop of the grips. All you need for a Glock is an x-acto knife and some sandpaper.
 
I think the P220 Carry came out 10+ years ago. Remember there weren't that many small carry auto pistols then, especially in .45.
I have one and love it. Admittedly I've never carried it though!
 
P220 Compact has a beaver tail which annoys me. Why add more length and pokey bits to a carry pistol?

Sig Sauer had it right with the original P245 but the market wasn't ready for it at the time. Now with capacity restrictions popping up in more states the P245 is making more and more sense.

The best thing about the P220 Compact is the magazine. It has a little longer pinky-finger hook to it that was lacking on the original P245 mags. These mags are perfect in the P245 if you have big hands.
 
Google P220 Compact and you will see that a myriad of them came with Beaver tails. I'm glad to see the current catalog offering to be without it.

Unfortunately it also comes with a rail. I do not want a rail on a compact carry pistol. If I'm looking to add a flashlight to a pistol, size and conceal-ability have already gone out the window and I would opt for a full sized platform.
 
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