Sig Sauer P-229 .40 Caliber Handgun
Written: Jun 20 '05
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Smooth action, predictable, reliable, accurate, great hand feel
Cons: expensive
The Bottom Line: -
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| carnut2k4's Full Review: otdr/Other |
Choosing the right hand gun can be a daunting task. In today’s marketplace, so many options are available that it almost seems impossible to know what’s best suited for you. Before I purchased my Sig Sauer P-229 pistol I started with the most basic question. Why was I buying a new gun? The answer was self protection. This would be a gun which would reside in my nightstand drawer. I knew I would never use this as a ‘carry gun’ so size wasn’t much of a factor. I prefer a heavier, high caliber firearm over a small caliber for several reasons. Obviously stopping power is high on the list. Smaller caliber handguns are almost always lightweight and tend to sting a bit with the recoil. A heavier gun won’t sting half as much with a much larger round. I already had a few large caliber revolvers and decided it would be a semi-auto pistol. After going through a ton of research I settled on the Sig P-229. It’s available in 9 mm, .357 SIG and .40 S&W. I went for the .40.
The P-229 is a beautiful piece of machinery. The frame and slide are matte black steel and the plastic handle inserts match in color perfectly and offer a no slip grip. It’s a non-reflective, no nonsense firearm which has made an excellent reputation for itself in many police departments. This is a heavy gun weighing in at over 30 ounces empty. When holding it while empty you’ll note that the barrel is heavier than the handle causing stress on the wrist to keep the firearm horizontal. With the magazine loaded it’s a different story. Fully loaded, the 229 has the most perfect balance I’ve ever felt in a handgun.
Ready
Using the 229 is easy enough. Retract the slide with your left hand and use your right thumb to flick the slide lock up. Using you right thumb again, push the magazine release button on the left side of the handle. The magazine will drop. The model I have has a 12 round staggered magazine. I like to load it up and then, after inserting it into the handle, use my thumb to release the slide lock causing the slide to slam forward, feeding a round in the chamber en route. At this point the hammer will be cocked so very carefully use your right thumb to lower the hammer by pressing the decocking lever down and then allowing it to come back to its original position. Next I drop the mag again and load one more round into it giving me a total of 13 rounds in the gun. Keep in mind that this is a SA / DA (single action / double action) firearm and as such there is no external safety. I always (strongly) recommend against carrying in the ‘cocked and locked’ mode that many people seem to carry their SA firearms in, and in this case I doubly recommend against it. With no external safety that would be very dangerous.
Aim
Some of the characteristics of the 229 that make it a joy to shoot can be found in the design elements. The floating barrel and heavy construction make recoil almost irrelevant. The dimensions – 7.1 inches overall length, 5.4 inch height, 1.5 inch width – make it a meaty, substantial firearm. The sight radius of 5.7 inches is quite comfortable with its fixed (but dovetailed and you can swap them out if you like) white dot sights. Ejected shells fly directly to the right as opposed to my Glock which spits them directly at my nose.
Fire
Shooting the 229 inspires confidence in the worst marksman. The 3.9 inch barrel (1:16, 6 groove right twist) make the gun fairly accurate at ten yards no matter who is shooting it. In DA mode the trigger pull is a solid 12 pounds while in SA mode it is 4.5 pounds. At ten yards I can keep to six inch groupings with no effort at all and somewhat better if I really try.
Safety first
As I said earlier, there is no external safety on this one. It is safe to carry decocked with one in the pipe however. The firing pin has the standard transfer bar which is only engaged if the trigger is pulled. In other words the firing pin isn’t resting on the bullets primer at all. With a 12 pound pull, I consider it very safe even without the extra safety. Unless you cock the hammer manually the first shot you take will be that 12 pound DA and then the subsequent shots will all be 4.5 pound SA shots. It takes a little getting used to that transition.
Taking it all apart
Anyone who owns a firearm should learn how to field strip it for cleaning and maintenance. The 229 is simple to take down. Release the mag and pull the slide back to verify it’s unloaded. Lock the slide open using the slide lock. Now you’ll find the left side of the gun has one more lever on it towards the middle of the barrel. It is the take-down lever. With the slide locked open you can turn it down 90 degrees (from 3 o’clcok to 6 o’clock). Now carefully disengage the slide lock and manually move the slide forward all the way until it comes all the way off the slide rails. The slide assembly is now off the frame. The guide pin, recoil spring and barrel stay with the slide. They easily separate to allow cleaning. It is recommended that you clean every firearm after firing it. A dirty gun can be dangerous. After cleaning it simply put it back together, push the take-down lever back up and you’re done.
Extras
The one ‘upgrade’ I’ve made to this gun is I’ve swapped out the original guide pin with a replacement from Lasermax. The front of the guide pin protrudes directly under the barrel. This replacement is actually a built in laser sight and the pin in the take-down lever now acts as the on-off switch for the laser. Externally you can’t see the changes I’ve made unless you know what to look for (the end of the guide pin). I find the laser to be reasonably accurate from 0 to 10 yards, although the fixed sights are more accurate. At 75 yards when I can barely stay on the paper target using the fixed sights, the laser is a big help.
Stuff you should already know
Guns are nothing more than tools. Treat them with the same respect you would a band saw and you’ll do just fine. Don’t handle a firearm unless you’re 100 percent sure you know what you’re doing. Treat every gun as if it were loaded and don’t point it at anything you don’t intend to shoot. This is all just common sense...hopefully.
In the realm of semi automatic pistols the Sigs are among the most treasured. The quality and craftsmanship can not be denied. If a large caliber semi auto is what you’re in the market for and conceal-ability (or price) is not a factor then you would be wise to take a serious look at the 229.
www.sigarms.com
Origin......................Made in Germany
Caliber....................40 S&W
DA / SA / DAO..........DA / SA
Price........................$875
Recommended:
Yes
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