Why do I love Sig pistols? Reliability, ease of operation, great triggers

I've been asked a question about "My short history with Sig pistols" that I think deserves elevation from a comment to a new post.

Kansas Scout said... I keep reading all these enthusiastic comments from Sig owners. I have not shot one yet. Being a fellow lefty, I assume they work well for you in that way. Tell us why you like them so much. I would like to know specifically what it is that makes folks like them so much.

Short answer is the Sig Sauer motto: "To hell and back reliability!" I have owned to date five Sig pistols, a P226 and two P229s, one plain and one Custom Shop, all in .357 Sig; and two P220 .45 ACP Single-Action-Only models, one full-size and one compact. And to date with hundreds of rounds fired in each of them, I have yet to have a single malfunction. Zero. A record of 100% perfect performance is the ultimate in reliability.

I have had pistols that were 99.5% reliable that I either got fixed or I sold. I will not carry a pistol I cannot depend on 100% of the time. All of my carry pistols have to meet that standard or they are gone.

No. 2 reason, my Sig pistols are simple to operate, even for a lefty like me. In the case of the P229s which are traditional double-action/single-action, chamber a round, decock the hammer, then holster it until needed. Then draw and fire. If time and circumstance allow, I will cock the hammer upon drawing to make the first and all following shots single-action. But if not, that first double-action trigger pull is smooth enough to make an accurate shot. I practice drawing and firing two shots, one DA and one SA.

With my two P220 SAO .45s, they both have ambi safeties that allow me carry them safely cocked. Draw, flip safety down just as on a 1911 and shoot. And an added feature of the P220 SAO is the safety does not lock the slide like a 1911. When I want to check to see if there's a round in the chamber, I can press-check the slide with the safety still on.

Number three I've already covered, great triggers. The Sig DA triggers are great and my P220 SA triggers are not only the equal of my good 1911 triggers, they're actually superior. Don't ask me why but I can shoot either of P220s with factory 5-lb. triggers better than any of the custom triggers of 3 to 4 lbs. in the 1911s I own. Maybe it's the legendary inherent accuracy of P220s, I don't know. I just know it works for me.

Ease of operation, great triggers and 100% reliability. What more do you need in a carry pistol?

My short history with Sig pistols in .357 Sig and .45 ACP

I'm an old fart in my 60s and I made an incredibly dumb mistake when I bought my first Sig pistol in 2007. I had a Steyr MA1 .357 Sig pistol that I really loved and decided it was time to buy my first Sig Sauer .357 Sig. I went shopping and found a pair of used .357 Sigs in a gun store, a really nice P229 with what I later learned was a set of beautiful wood Elite grips. And they also had a plain Jane black P226 in .357 Sig. Both were good guns at about the same price, so I decided bigger was better and went for the P226.

Then a year of so later, I went to work at a gun store and starting carrying daily. I also got my instructor's license to teach N.C. Concealed Carry Handgun classes for the store.

And between carrying every day and teaching about concealed-carry handguns I finally got it through my thick skull that bigger is not always better. In fact it's almost never better when it comes to concealed carry. So I sold off my P226 at the store and ordered my first new Sig, a golly whomper. I bit the bullet and went for the P229 SAS Gen2 Two-Tone in .357 Sig with the Sig Anti Snag treatment, night sights and the Short Reset Trigger. And it was love at first double-tap with the quick handling and the SRT.

I liked it so much I later added a plain Jane CPO P229R in .357 Sig, got a pair of P229 Elite grips for the SAS Gen2, a set of Hogue Pau Ferro grips for the P229R and a .22 slide conversion kit for the P229R.

Later the gun shop took a trade-in of a Sig P220 Single-Action-Only Rimfire Classic. It has ambi safeties, so it was a natural for this left-hander. And after I bought it, why not get the caliber conversion kit for P220 SAO .45 ACP? When the conversion kit arrived, I learned why I've heard and read so many raves about the P220. I have three 1911s, two Paras, P12-45 and P-14-45, and a Llama IX-C, also a double-stack .45, and all three are the easiest to shoot pistols in my collection. That is until I shot the P220 SAO .45. First day at the range, I was monotonously ripping up the X-ring at 10 yards with never a flyer. The P220 SAO makes me a much better shooter than I was.

And why settle for the plain Jane black grips for the P220 when the price dropped below $200 for a set of Nill grips? So the P220 gets to dress up a bit, too.

Then later when I saw a CDNN special on a Sig P220 SAO Compact Elite for only $600, how could I resist? Guess what? I shoot it almost as well as the full-size P220.

And now I'm anxiously awaiting another special order from Sig, a P239 .357 Sig SAS Gen2 Two-Tone. My aching back is ready for some lighter, smaller concealed carry.

I've already got a beautiful set of Hogue checkered Rosewood grips and a pair of extra magazines that I ordered from Midway that arrived before the P239 gets here.

C'mon Sig Santa, hurry up with my P239 or you're gonna be too late for Christmas.