BehindBlueI's
Grandmaster
- Oct 3, 2012
- 25,961
- 113
I recently purchased a Sig P220 from Bud's. It came with the night sights and Short Reset Trigger. They were briefly at $755 and I pounced, but are now back to $824. The Sig designation is 220R-45-BSS-SRT
The Finish:
The Nitron finish shows everything. If your finger brushes past the slide, it will look like you dipped your hand in Smuckers before grabbing the pistol. After a few shots, the slide will show signs of gunpowder residue. This picture is literally seconds after I cleaned it after coming back from shooting today and it still looks like I didn't wipe it down good. Unless you wear surgical gloves, expect some smudging on the finish. This doesn't bother me as this is a work gun, but if it bothers you just be aware. The finish seems to hold up well, though. I holstered and drew 100 times before I put the first magazine in it to build up some muscle memory before shooting, and there is no sign of holster wear yet.
The sights:
These are SigLight Night Sights.
Its tough to get a good photo of sight alignment, but the front blade is thin and allows plenty of daylight on either side. It seemed to be much more open than Glock factory night sights. I started out the day shooting a bit low, and figured out that you want to see just a bit of the top of the slide, which will line all three dots up. Its very fast and intuitive once you get used to it, I'm still just weaning myself from my Glock. I haven't had a chance to do night fire yet, but standing in my basement in the dark the dots all glow nicely.
The trigger
The first pull is heavy at 10lb advertised. I don't have a scale, but it feels about right. While heavy, its smooth and has ZERO stacking. Pull until it breaks, then sparks fly and a .45 sized flying ash tray ruins someone's day. Follow up shots in single action pull are like a superb 1911 or single action revolver. The Short Reset Trigger lives up to its name, take a tiny bit of pressure off, it barely eases forward, and you hear the positive click of the reset. The SA is advertised at 4.4 lbs, but it feels lighter due to the very short range of motion and lack of stacking. While in my mind, nothing beats a good SAO trigger, the Sig is top notch in the DA/SA arena, better than Beretta, HK, and CZ.
Reliability
I cleaned the pistol and lubed it up using a few drops of CLP on the barrel and Tetra gun grease on the slide. Then I ran 225 rounds through it, with zero failures of any kind. I used the two factory 8 round magazines that came with the gun. In order, I started with 50 rounds of Federal American Eagle, 50 rounds of Sellier and Bellot, 50 rounds of Armscor (all 230 gr ball). On a side note, while dirty the Phillipines produced Armscor is extremely accurate. This was my last box as I rotated ammo, but it was cheap ammo that's been hiding in my safe for about 10 years.
The good old days:
Then it was on to the high dollar hollow points. 25 Golden Sabers, 25 Hydrashocks, and 25 SXTs finished off the day. All 230 gr hollowpoints. Again, everything ran through it fine.
Accuracy
The gun is better than me, hands down. Shooting free handed I cannot take advantage of how accurate this gun is, but even with only 200 rounds down range I shoot it better than my Glock with thousands of rounds down range. The ONLY gun I believe I shoot better is my Springfield 1911, and I've got a decade behind that trigger.
All groups are 5 rounds from 12 yards, two handed, standing. First shot DA, then SA, fired as quickly as I could get a good sight picture. I believe the gun is capable of much better groups than I am, but in the woods I don't have a rest and my table rusted away, so you'll just have to take my word for it.
SXTs ("E" is the PAO):
Golden Sabers (Center of the sticker is POA):
I was very happy with that.
Hydrashocks (center of red rectangle is POA)
A good group, other than the flyer where I milked the grip. This is no reflection on Hydrashocks, they group great out of my 1911. I was just getting tired and sloppy and shot faster than my skills allow and jerked one.
Perceived Recoil
This is so subjective I hesitate to include it. The recoil is mostly barrel flip straight up, its very comfortable on the hand, and very controllable. I'd say slightly more flip than a 5" 1911, but not by much.
Social Use
Reloading is the one thing I can do faster and better with the Glock. The single stacks and lack of much funnel slow me down a touch. Of course, there's a difference of familiarity, too. The gun would benefit from a bit of a magazine well funnel, though. 8 and 10 round mags are standard, and while that probably sounds low in the days of 15-16 round duty weapons, it suits me fine.
The .45 is plenty of bullet, and with quality ammunition does as much damage as you can reasonably expect a handgun to do. You do your part, it will do its.
Its easier to conceal and carry than a full sized 1911, and I did that for years. Its just as easy to carry as the Glock, and feels a bit thinner. I only have a pancake holster right now, but will be getting an IWB soon, and am considering experimenting with a vertical shoulder holster.
I'll probably pretty it up a bit with rosewood grips at some point, just to be a bit more social. Other than that and some 10 round magazines, its going to be left factory and is just fine for it.
Final Thoughts
All in all, once I get another 300 rounds or so through it and build more muscle memory to decock before holstering, this is becoming my duty weapon, replacing the Glock 22. I'm very happy with it, and it feels nice to carry an all metal .45 instead of a plastic .40 again. The Sig will likely remain my duty weapon until a change of policy constricts me out of it OR expands to allow SAO.
The Finish:
The Nitron finish shows everything. If your finger brushes past the slide, it will look like you dipped your hand in Smuckers before grabbing the pistol. After a few shots, the slide will show signs of gunpowder residue. This picture is literally seconds after I cleaned it after coming back from shooting today and it still looks like I didn't wipe it down good. Unless you wear surgical gloves, expect some smudging on the finish. This doesn't bother me as this is a work gun, but if it bothers you just be aware. The finish seems to hold up well, though. I holstered and drew 100 times before I put the first magazine in it to build up some muscle memory before shooting, and there is no sign of holster wear yet.
The sights:
These are SigLight Night Sights.
Its tough to get a good photo of sight alignment, but the front blade is thin and allows plenty of daylight on either side. It seemed to be much more open than Glock factory night sights. I started out the day shooting a bit low, and figured out that you want to see just a bit of the top of the slide, which will line all three dots up. Its very fast and intuitive once you get used to it, I'm still just weaning myself from my Glock. I haven't had a chance to do night fire yet, but standing in my basement in the dark the dots all glow nicely.
The trigger
The first pull is heavy at 10lb advertised. I don't have a scale, but it feels about right. While heavy, its smooth and has ZERO stacking. Pull until it breaks, then sparks fly and a .45 sized flying ash tray ruins someone's day. Follow up shots in single action pull are like a superb 1911 or single action revolver. The Short Reset Trigger lives up to its name, take a tiny bit of pressure off, it barely eases forward, and you hear the positive click of the reset. The SA is advertised at 4.4 lbs, but it feels lighter due to the very short range of motion and lack of stacking. While in my mind, nothing beats a good SAO trigger, the Sig is top notch in the DA/SA arena, better than Beretta, HK, and CZ.
Reliability
I cleaned the pistol and lubed it up using a few drops of CLP on the barrel and Tetra gun grease on the slide. Then I ran 225 rounds through it, with zero failures of any kind. I used the two factory 8 round magazines that came with the gun. In order, I started with 50 rounds of Federal American Eagle, 50 rounds of Sellier and Bellot, 50 rounds of Armscor (all 230 gr ball). On a side note, while dirty the Phillipines produced Armscor is extremely accurate. This was my last box as I rotated ammo, but it was cheap ammo that's been hiding in my safe for about 10 years.
The good old days:
Then it was on to the high dollar hollow points. 25 Golden Sabers, 25 Hydrashocks, and 25 SXTs finished off the day. All 230 gr hollowpoints. Again, everything ran through it fine.
Accuracy
The gun is better than me, hands down. Shooting free handed I cannot take advantage of how accurate this gun is, but even with only 200 rounds down range I shoot it better than my Glock with thousands of rounds down range. The ONLY gun I believe I shoot better is my Springfield 1911, and I've got a decade behind that trigger.
All groups are 5 rounds from 12 yards, two handed, standing. First shot DA, then SA, fired as quickly as I could get a good sight picture. I believe the gun is capable of much better groups than I am, but in the woods I don't have a rest and my table rusted away, so you'll just have to take my word for it.
SXTs ("E" is the PAO):
Golden Sabers (Center of the sticker is POA):
I was very happy with that.
Hydrashocks (center of red rectangle is POA)
A good group, other than the flyer where I milked the grip. This is no reflection on Hydrashocks, they group great out of my 1911. I was just getting tired and sloppy and shot faster than my skills allow and jerked one.
Perceived Recoil
This is so subjective I hesitate to include it. The recoil is mostly barrel flip straight up, its very comfortable on the hand, and very controllable. I'd say slightly more flip than a 5" 1911, but not by much.
Social Use
Reloading is the one thing I can do faster and better with the Glock. The single stacks and lack of much funnel slow me down a touch. Of course, there's a difference of familiarity, too. The gun would benefit from a bit of a magazine well funnel, though. 8 and 10 round mags are standard, and while that probably sounds low in the days of 15-16 round duty weapons, it suits me fine.
The .45 is plenty of bullet, and with quality ammunition does as much damage as you can reasonably expect a handgun to do. You do your part, it will do its.
Its easier to conceal and carry than a full sized 1911, and I did that for years. Its just as easy to carry as the Glock, and feels a bit thinner. I only have a pancake holster right now, but will be getting an IWB soon, and am considering experimenting with a vertical shoulder holster.
I'll probably pretty it up a bit with rosewood grips at some point, just to be a bit more social. Other than that and some 10 round magazines, its going to be left factory and is just fine for it.
Final Thoughts
All in all, once I get another 300 rounds or so through it and build more muscle memory to decock before holstering, this is becoming my duty weapon, replacing the Glock 22. I'm very happy with it, and it feels nice to carry an all metal .45 instead of a plastic .40 again. The Sig will likely remain my duty weapon until a change of policy constricts me out of it OR expands to allow SAO.
Last edited:
