Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Sig P220 Compact SAO .45 ACP followed me home: Can I keep it?

I'm a sucker for a good deal and I just got one. CDNN had been sending me emails for about a month offering a Sig Sauer P220 Compact Tactical Elite Single-Action-Only .45 ACP, so I took the credit card plunge even though I hate to do that. Good deals wait for no man.

I finally got my hands on it today and brought it home. CDNN calls it a "Tactical Elite" model that's a limited edition with the Elite-style beavertail frame and aluminum grips. I'd trade both the Elite beavertail and the aluminum grips for Sig's SRT short-reset trigger like my P229 SAS, but that's not part of the package. It is a Sig P220 Compact SAO with SigLite Night Sights, so that's more than good enough for me.

I'm a lefty so the P220 SAO models with ambi safeties work well for me, not to mention carrying the P220 like you're supposed to carry a .45, cocked and locked. If the single-action trigger on this compact is a good as my full-size P220 SAO, I'm in deep clover. I can shoot that big P220 better than any of the three 1911 .45s I own so I'm hopeful this compact will be somewhere close to as good.

You can't expect a compact pistol to shoot as well as a full-size one, but if it's anywhere close, I'll be a very happy camper. Now if I can just hold my breath until Saturday when I can take her to the range and see how she runs.

I never have liked that gunwriter's worn-out phrase, "put it through its paces." It ain't a horse, it's a pistol and I don't expect it to pace, but I do expect it to run. Very well as a matter of fact.

Anything less than very well would be a big surprise as I've never shot a Sig yet that didn't.

Chapter Two:
Over at the Sigforum there's a couple of threads going on the CDNN "Tactical Elite" P220 Compact sale under way and one guy who just got one says the list of features includes:
- Sig P220 Compact "Elite" as they call it
- Beavertail frame
- SRT trigger
- SAO kit
- Ambidextrous thumb safety
- Sig aluminum grips
- Sig night sights
- Metal guide rod
I can say "Amen!" to all of the above, including the steel guide rod that I didn't discover until this morning when I took a magnet to it, but for the life of me I can't be sure about the SRT until I actually shoot it.

I tried cycling the slide by hand while "riding the trigger" to check the reset. It seems to be the same short reset as the SRT on my P229 SAS Gen2, but I won't know for sure 'til I shoot it.

This deal just keeps getting better all the time. I also read on the Sigforum that Sig assembled this batch of a couple hundred or so P220 compacts on the last of the P245 frames, so it's sort of a catchall of their top features loaded onto some older frames. The Sigforum guys seem to think this is a great idea as they appear to like the P245s better than the P220s.

I'm still a newby about Sigs, but if that's what the "experts" say it's fine with me. I really can't wait to shoot it now. And God help me the wife has already made plans for yard work Saturday.

I shall have to call on the Good Lord to deliver me from the yard work and part the Red Sea so I can cross over to DeWitt's Range on Saturday. Or failing that, I'll just have to work like hell Saturday morning so I can go shooting Saturday afternoon. Better the former than the latter, but either way if the Good Lord's willing and the creek don't rise, I'll be shooting Saturday.

And if you're a Sig nut, or wanta be one, CDNN is still selling them for $650. That's a great deal!

5 comments:

cocked and loaded said...

Nice!

Brokerexecutives said...

I just bought one of these on Gunbroker.com. I'm clueless because one other auction says, "elite like beaver tail, but no mention of the SRT. Does if have the SRT? I won't be getting mine until next week, so please let me know. Thanks

netfotoj said...

I read a comment at the Sig Forum on a thread on the pistol and it said SRT, which is the list of features I quoted in my post. But a later poster said the SRT only works on the Double-Action/Single-Action pistols for a quicker reset. It's not necessary for the SAO because the trigger reset is already as short as it gets, being always single action. I have a Sig P229 with the SRT and comparing shooting it and the P220 SAO is quite similar, with the 220 shooting very quickly with the reset, just like the 229. You're gonna love it. It's my favorite carry pistol now and I wear is most of the time.

Josh H. said...

Do you have a holster recommendation for it?

LitClyde said...

For my Sig P220C SAO I use a milt Sparks Versa Max 2 for a M&P 45C pistol it works great.