People often ask me what do i carry. So here i go.

[bignaz]

Spending some years in the Army  "8 of them as a Ranger" I haven spent some time on that two way firing range.  The one thing that is the most important factor for a deff.  pistol is reliability bottom line.  Caliber means nothing if it fails at the moment of truth . Magazine capacity means nothing.

When you pick your pistol for deff. you are trusting your life to that pistol.  I have shot pretty much everything under the sun. Hi points, Glocks, Wilson Combats etc. Everything from a cheap $120 hipoint .380 to a $5500 Wilson Combat. My personal carry both open and concealed is a Sig P229. I have seen more then a few Glocks fail. I have seen chambers on them blow up. However i also used them and they worked flawless. I had my fair share of time with Beretta's in the military and why they are a fine pistol they have problems. I have never seen a Sig P226/229 fail...ever. I have shot thousands of rounds some of the cheapest ammo you can find as well as some of the hottest loads. I have some some of the most questionable reloads out of them and they preformed every time and never gave me a problem.

My caliber of choice is the .357 Sig. Its fast, accurate, Has great penetration and hits pretty hard.  It is a great round. However its hard to find and pretty expensive. Its basically a higher pressure round then the .40, It is a .40 case necked down to a 9mm. Think super powered 9mm. It has more muzzle flip them a .40 but in a good pistol its pretty smooth. Now in the P229 you get 12 + 1 rounds of .357 sig or .40 S&W why 9mm is 13 +1. So you lose 1 round but you gain more stopping power.


Now people will say the P229 is big and heavy. It is heavy but big not really. Its slightly bigger then most .40 call carry guns when you start to look at the mags with extensions so your not 2 fingering it. Yes it is bigger but not by that much. But it is heavy. This is a pos. and neg. the weight helps tame that .40 and .357 sig and makes the recoil feel better then the lighter 9mm carry's. With a good holster the size and weight don't really matter.

SA to DA trans can be a bit of a change for most people. You can carry it with the hammer back the but P229 has a pretty light trigger and with nothing keeping that hammer from the firing pin you will want to drop the hammer on this.  SA the trigger is shot, light and crisp and you can get on it pretty fast. Fallow up shots are also fast due to the weight of the pistol and how it handles recoil.


Holsters. Now if you have a $1,100+ pistol you don't want a $20 holster. Don Hume makes some nice holsters. If you want something thats pretty common at shops the Galco Combat master carry's the pistol pretty good. This is a pistol you want to carry outside the waistband because it is pretty thick.  You will want a Leather holster as they have very nice draws that synthetic can not match.

P229 vs P229R. why the rail is nice 9/10 people will never use it. Its some more points to get caught on your holster and effect your draw. Get the normal non railed.

New Vs Old. With the Newer P229's they went with a longer extractor and extended the cocking serrations. Either is fine i have both never had any problems with either.

If you buy a used Sig i highly recamend that you buy a certified pre owned. These are from LEO's who trade them in. They are checked parts are replaced cleaned and all that. It is a pretty much new pistol. The one that i bought never gave me any issues. also if you call up Sig and give them the serial number they can tell you what agency originally bought it.  My P229 was originally sold to the U.S. Secret Service.


I'm not trying to start a Sig Vs this brand war. This is my opinion. I know people never seen Glocks fail but i seen a few fail and a few chambers blow up. When i carry i don't want to worry about it failing i want to know 100% that it will preform. Theres other brands that are great but there is a reason why a lot of FED's have switched to Sig P226's and P229's. If i carry a pistol it will be a combat pistol.



Now if anyone has any questions about the P226,P229 just post away i'll answer them for you. Wither its from what grips i prefer for big hands or smaller hands to holster and mag questions.

[wardog6t]

Good info. I'd like to point out that a sig is just another tool. Although you may not have personally witnessed it. All tools fail! As you stated you didn't want to get into a sig vs. whatever debate. That being said Sig is a good choice for your personal preference. There are many tools in toolbox. Personally when I choose a weapon I always look at the torture test. Personally I feel the Sig is a bit over rated in comparison to other firearms costing half as much and running just as good and in some cases, better. As with most firearms used by LEO's most of the hype in regards to sig comes from the FBI. Which we saw when the 10mm round was adopted way back when. I also know many people who love Glocks. I personally wouldn't own one if it was given to me. Being from a law enforcement family I tend to go the opposite of the recommended. Shooting thousands of rounds IMO is the only way to prove to yourself you have a reliable firearm. My daily carry weapon is approaching 5000 rounds and 4 years of daily carry. Its beat up, worn down and has failed on two occasions. One of which was a deliberate attempt to force it to fail in the toughest Michigan weather conditions. The other was neglect and a known issue that has since been fixed. As with you being prior military hi-speed low drag. I have shot my fair share during and after service of various firearms. Personal choice is awesome. I choose to carry the Springfield XD in .40 cal compact.(Not M) The only mods are a wolf spring and polished feed ramp.. No bells no whistles. The thing is like the energizer bunny. It eats anything I feed it and  keeps going and going... I would tell anyone looking for a firearm I am more then satisfied with the XD and recommend it. Non M version. Not that I have issue with the M version but I know my XD and whats its been put through and beyond the finish, shoots better today then the day I bought it. Hmmm or maybe I shoot better since the the day I bought it?. In either case, I love it.

[TheQ]

I've had a similar experience with my EDC XDm 9mm. It's never failed (except for when a round I bought was out of spec and wouldn't feed -- but I chamber check every round I carry).

[JSteinmetz]

My tool is a Beretta PX4 in 9mm.  I've put countless thousands of rounds through it - cheap, expensive, hot, handloads, lead, fmj (well, you get the idea).  I have yet to see a FTF or anything remotely like a malfunction in any way.  The only thing I saw was when teaching a friend's girlfriend to shoot, and she limp-wristed it.  I got two stovepipes ejecting while she was shooting, but it worked flawlessly both before and after those two (and that was not a gun malfunction, but her not holding tight enough.

That said, I've never shot a Sig, but know plenty of people who love theirs...

[bignaz]

My tool is a Beretta PX4 in 9mm.  I've put countless thousands of rounds through it - cheap, expensive, hot, handloads, lead, fmj (well, you get the idea).  I have yet to see a FTF or anything remotely like a malfunction in any way.  The only thing I saw was when teaching a friend's girlfriend to shoot, and she limp-wristed it.  I got two stovepipes ejecting while she was shooting, but it worked flawlessly both before and after those two (and that was not a gun malfunction, but her not holding tight enough.

That said, I've never shot a Sig, but know plenty of people who love theirs...

Don't shoot a Sig if you like your gun. I let a few people who had XD's and Glocks try my P226 and after they no longer liked their pistols and wanted to get a Sig. They are damn fine pistols but you pay for them but the Sig's have the Cadillac of recoils and the more you shoot them the nicer they get. There like a nice old pair of pants that you never wanna get rid of.

[CV67PAT]

Don't shoot a Sig if you like your gun. I let a few people who had XD's and Glocks try my P226 and after they no longer liked their pistols and wanted to get a Sig. They are damn fine pistols but you pay for them but the Sig's have the Cadillac of recoils and the more you shoot them the nicer they get. There like a nice old pair of pants that you never wanna get rid of.

I got an "old pair of pants" I'd love to get rid of here:
http://forums.michiganopencarry.org/index.php/topic,2149.0.html

[bagz013]

I got an "old pair of pants" I'd love to get rid of here:
http://forums.michiganopencarry.org/index.php/topic,2149.0.html

Shame on you Pat!!

Shamlessly plugging your ad in a post clearly marked "General Discussion."

Your minions will be upset if you get a jeer....wait...no jeers.....

Annnndddd now I've hijacked the thread just like Pat........ 

[bignaz]

That P220 would be mine if i had the extra cash for it. I just picked up another NFA reg. rifle so im pretty low on cash right now. That is a sweet deal on a sweet blaster.