New Guy, 226 or 229

I was looking at the P229 Elite in stainless steel when I bought my P239 SAS (love the DAK trigger, hammer sits halfway as if you had used a decocker on a DA/SA) and I called Sig because the website originally said it was CA compliant. Sig has not submitted the new Elite models for testing. I was told they have to submit several handguns of the same model for testing. The rep who handles CA told me it would be about a year before we saw them available for purchase in CA.

BTW, I purchased my P239 and my P232 for about $100 less than the listed retail price and the P239 SAS had to be special ordered (took only 2 days to come in). Where in CA are you? If you are in Southern CA I can recommend a couple of good dealers.

And yes, they are addicting!

I would go with the 229, smaller, easier to carry and feels good in your hand.

It's been a while, but I've been taking my time trying to rent all the alternatives before making a purchase.

So far I've rented a 226, which was dirty or had bad ammo because it had trouble ejecting casings properly which made for a frustrating experience.

Yesterday we went to a different range, rented a 229 and man was that a much better experience. LOVE the trigger on both of them. I was really happy with it and shot better with it than any other gun I've tried. (Beretta and S&W)

Then I talking to the Range Master and he let me try his personal 220. WOW what a nice gun that was, really really smooth.

I tried to rent the XD, they had two and said they were both broken. This from the good range with the clean maintained Sig's. They said they no longer recommend them for that reason.

So they have a factory refurb 226R for $599 down there. After shooting the broken in models I'm thinking that might be a good way to go since it would probably take years for me to get it broken in like the others were.

The good news is I took the wife down, first time she'd been and she liked it so much (shooting) she wants her own!! She's kind of competitive so I think she likes the fact that we are evenly matched when it comes to shooting..

Got lucky there!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by awmp

I would go with the 229, smaller, easier to carry and feels good in your hand.

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I can't carry it anyway, I'm in Northern California.

If anyone has a shop they recommend, fire away!

FINALLY!!

I went with the 226 two-tone in a .40.

Now I have the wait the 5 years or so to pick it up since I'm in California.

I rented it 3 times, liked it all three.

I was almost tempted by an XD-40 bi-tone because it's so much cheaper and seemed ok holding it in the shop but the fact they were broken both times I tried to rent them kind of steered me away.

waiting... waiting.... is it here yet?

One of the details that is often missed in the sig 226 vs 229 debate is the longer sight radius(6.3 vs. 5.7 inches) that comes with having the longer slide and barrel(4.4 vs. 3.9 inches). Longer is better in this instance if you are shooting for absolute accuracy once you have already locked in your choice for caliber. Target models for Sig 226 have a 5 or 5.6 inch barrel with or without compensator.
What caliber are you looking to acquire your Sig in? Is recoil a factor for you & your wife? 9mm is great for accuracy, light in recoil, & ammo is cost effective. 40S&W is more powerful but the recoil is snappier & ammo costs more. 357 Sig is the autoload equivalent of the .357 magnum, 1450 fps, 565 ft.-lbs. energy along with the increased recoil. Ammo costs for the 357 exceeds that of .45acp but you only need one round to basically stop any threat. If you have your heart set on the power of a 40S&W or 357Sig but you don't like the recoil characteristics, then you need to purchase the 226ST or 229ST (stainless slide & frame). The offsetting factors here are increased weight (10 ounces) and the cost of gun (approximately $200 more). I personally own a Sig 226 40S&W and i think that it shoots softer on recoil pulse than my 226Navy. If I was ever forced to a decision of owning just one handgun, the Sig226ST 40S&W would be it for me. Also, i can swap out 40S&W barrel for one in 357Sig. For those buyers interested in the 226Navy vs. a standard 226, keep in mind that you receive a Limited Lifetime Warranty with the Navy model & i think that Sig makes a donation up to $100,000 to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation from your purchase. I would recommend that you order night sights on either model you select so you can avoid hassle of extra gunsmithing work. Good Luck, have fun & be safe!

Pickup day is tomorrow....

So I picked it up yesterday, it looks great to me, even the sig night sights don't seem too bad.

The mags are covered in grease, do I take it all off, take most of it off, put something else on them or just leave them dry?

Also it says in the manual to clean it before shooting it, what is the best practice here? What are the more popular cleaners I went to the shop and there are only about 5000 to choose from.

Hope to take it down Friday afternoon for the first time to the range..

Good choice!!! The two tone is nice. I love my P226 .40 Elite...

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...utlaws/031.jpg

I REALLY wanted an Elite model... no go in CA... otherwise I would have bought one..

I think you should get both!!!!!!!! I have both the 226 and 220, Both are great guns. The 229 will be my next one. I carried a Sig as a duty weapon for 11 years. I have Kimbers and Colts, but when it comes down to it, I know my Sig will take care of business and not let me down. Good Luck!!!!!!!:smt1099

Well here it is after 575 rnds through it.

I've let several people shoot it, everyone has loved it so far. A friend of mine just bought a brand new Kimber 1911 and he thought the Sig was awesome as also.

I've finally got used to the thing and I'm really happy with it.

I'm considering sending it in to get the "action enhancement package", does it make a major difference? Anybody know if that includes the "Polish the Feed Ramp" service?

Here's a pic of my last trip out, 5rnds @ 15yrds.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...071024x768.jpg