SIG DA/SA PISTOLS

The history and relevance of Sig DA/SA pistols.

[Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] the first successful double action single action pistols were the Walter PP and the Walter PPK the problem was that those pistols were chambered in smaller weaker cartridges with everyone using 9×19 45 ACP 38 and 357 Magnum the Walther pistols fell out of favor relatively fast unless you were 007 in 1975 Sig releas the P220 CZ released the cz75 and Beretta released the model 92 at all of this happened at the exact same time so at the exact same time we had three double-action single action pistols produced in the potent 9×19 cartridge also at the same time Walther tried to catch up by releasing the pp super and then the the P5 after that did all of these companies do this at the same time because there were police or military contracts asking for double action single action pistols chambered 9mm well it seems that that’s what the evidence points to the only one of those guns that turned into a diverse product line of pistols was the Sig basically arguably the Sig also turned out to be the best of them in this video I’ll discuss the Sig line of double-action single-action pistols the first successful Sig double-action single-action pistol was the P220 initially it had a Tang mounted magazine release which police and military liked for some odd reason but the civilian Market absolutely hated it eventually Sig the magazine release to the trigger guard area where it belongs the best feature of the P220 was the decocking lever that they stole from the sour 38h pistol the decocking lever made the pistol very safe to carry and eliminated the need for manual safety rumor has it that this feature alone won contracts with police departments all over Europe you know people were still very uncomfortable about about carrying a pistol in that cocked and locked position the P220 initially made its way to America through Browning as the BDA 45 it was very well received in the US civilian Market because they chambered it in the Beloved 45 ACP cartridge soon after a more compact version of the P220 called the P6 or p225 was produced by Sig the P220 is known for its versatility in handling a wide range of cartridges basically everything from 9 mm up to the mighty 10 mm and for having a very comfortable slim grip that fits the hand just like an old 1911 the P220 was made in many different configurations and various special runs over the years and this is my uh P22 20 combat the P220 combat is easily my most accurate Sig double action single action pistol and it just freaking looks cool in 1977 Sig released a double-action single action concealed carry pistol the p230 was made for basically undercover work but since it was chambered in smaller cartridges it really didn’t do anything that the wal or PPK didn’t already do and most police and military departments wanted something chambered in 9×19 although a few police departments in the US UK and Switzerland adopted the p230 it was never a very popular gun in 1996 the the p230 was upgraded to the p232 before it was finally discontinued around 2015 or 2016 as the cz75 and Beretta 92 became more established internationally some people started to look down on the limited magazine capacity of the single stack SIG P P220 but Sig really didn’t seem to care and kept selling P220 is in 1984 the US military was awarding the biggest pistol contract in world history in their xm9 trials Sig quickly changed their ways and produced a pistol with a double stack magazine to compete for the contract although the P226 easily qualified for the xm9 trials the Brea 92 two package was cheaper and Brett ended up getting that contract you know there may or may not have been some foul play involved with that contract being awarded you know uh lots of rumors surrounded those xm9 trials but out of those trials the P226 was born and would become six hour’s greatest success almost instantly militaries and countless police departments all over the world adopted the P2 26 you know as their official sidearm at the time the P226 was considered to be the most the world’s most reliable and safest pistol and this is my genuine West German Police Issue P226 and this is over 35 years old and has probably fired countless rounds in its lifetime and it’s probably dealt with a lot of abuse in its lifetime you know if this gun had a mouth I’m sure it have some interesting stories to tell us about West Germany in the 1980s but uh it still runs like a Swiss watch it never malfunctions with any ammo and it’s pretty much more accurate that I’m capable of being and I don’t think I’ll ever part with this gun and remember how the Brea 92F won the US military pistol contract well the Navy Seals liked the P226 better and decided that they were going with the Sig regardless of what the rest of the military did the Navy SEAL version of the P226 had uh increased corrosion resistance night sights and an accessory rail on it it became became known as the MK25 often called The Mark 25 in 2004 six sour released a version of the MK25 to the civilian market and used proceeds to donate to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation which provides College scholarships to the surviving children of Special Operations Personnel killed in the line of duty a compact version of this was created called the P2 28 or M11 pistol many people ernestly think that the P229 is just a p228 chambered in something else besides 9mm in reality the history of the P229 is a lot more complicated than that in 19 1990 at the request of the FBI the 40 Smith and Wesson cartridge was born it was an instant hit with law enforcement and the civilian market and Glock was actually the first to release pistols chambered in 40 Smith and Wesson yep you guessed it Glock released two pistols for the cartridge before Smith and Wesson was able to release their own pistol for their own cartridge this along with a better price point than the Smith and Wesson 4006 made the Glock an instant hit but as usual Sig was late to the party when it became painfully obvious that the 40 Smith and Wesson was quickly becoming the most popular law enforcement cartridge in America Sig went back to the drawing board and designed a double-action single action pistol around the hard-hitting 40 Smith and Wesson round in 1992 they released the P229 the P229 was not a p228 chambered in 40 Smith and Wesson it was a completely redesigned gun all Sig pistols before this had a stamp steel slide on it but the 229 has a heavyduty machine stainless steel slide and this was to mitigate the wear from the slide moving so quickly and violently while cycling 40 Smith and Wesson rounds the uh added weight of this beefy slide also mitigated muzzle rise due to the high Bora axis of Sig’s double-action single action pistols the P229 is almost the exact same size as the Glock 23 which is what most federal agencies wanted they wanted a pistol around this size but uh like the P226 the P229 was an instant hit with law enforcement and with the civilian Market especially those who didn’t trust carrying a Striker Fired pistol with no safety the P229 gained a reputation for great accuracy and reliability then in 1994 Sig released the 357 Sig cartridge because the P229 had a beefed up slide on it it was the only SIG pistol chambered in the powerful 357 Sig Sig also sold conversion barrels that allowed owed any 229 to shoot both 40 Smith and Wesson and 357 Sig which further increased the popularity of this pistol the P229 and 357 Sig combo became legendary when both the federal Air Marshals and the Secret Service adopted it both of which were well known for their extremely high standards for accuracy but uh a couple years ago the uh both the Air Marshals and the Secret Service went back to the Glock 19 but uh the materials and design features on the P229 were so successful that Sig added machine machine stainless steel slides to the P220 P226 and the p224 the nitron coating on the p P229 also found its way on other Sig models by the late 1990s Glock pistols were dominating law enforcement sales because they were light cheap and very reliable Sig decided that the future of double-action single-action pistols was with a polymer frame so in 1999 they created the Sig Pro Series and that kept the traditional Sig action but integrated a polymer frame and Sig sold them at a lower price point like the Glock at first the Sig Pros were reliable But as time went on and round counts got higher problems did start to ur with to occur with those pistols the biggest issue was that the plastic guide rod would wear out and cause reliability issues soon enough everyone was throwing stainless steel guide rods on their guns to fix that issue but Di hard Sig fans absolutely hated that Sig went with a plastic frame so most of them rejected the Sig Pro you know Sig fans absolutely hated glock’s plastic frame and they were appalled when Sig tried to copy the Glock unfortunately law en forcement agencies at the time kind of wanted to get away from the double-action single action trigger system in favor of a Striker Fired pistol so law enforcement also rejected the Sig Pro only one police department in the USA adopted it but only for a short time before they switched over to the Glock in the end the Sig Pro never became a popular model a second generation of the Sig Pro came out that had better ergonomics and an accessory rail on it but every other pistol manufacturer had already been doing that for years and the Sig Pro was just too late to the party but uh Sig ended up discontinuing the Sig Pro for a while due to lack of sales but they they ended up bringing it back and you have to wonder why they did that Sig was always a buy what you get company you know they didn’t offer a lot of aftermarket options like revolvers 1911s Glocks and other pistols had but the first real aftermarket accessory for the Sig was the introduction of the E2 upgrade kit and the E2 ergonomics package included a grip with a thinner profile on it you can see that right there and it had a much grippier texture on it which in my opinion really really stepped up the game on this and uh it also came with parts so you can uh shorten the trigger and lighten the double action pull on it the E2 package was just a huge success in is still Sig’s bestselling aftermarket accessory for these pistols and you could see that many of my sigs have the uh E2 upgrade kit installed and then uh after that Sig started selling uh aftermarket parts and uh accessories for their double action single action pistols on a high level you know basically on the same level as uh Glock and other manufacturers were Distributing Parts if you go to their website today you can upgrade or purchase almost any part for your Sig double-action single action pistol Sig’s double-action single-action pistols have earned a top spot in the history of firearms at one time they were the most prolific pistols in Military and law enforcement use in the world and you didn’t achieve that by accident Sig went through kind of a rough patch in the early 2000s where they almost went out of business more than once and you know they released several failed products you know it was rumored that Sig had barely 100 employees by 2005 and some of the guns made in that era were known for quality issues which further enhanced Glocks position in the market it became clear in the 2000s that Striker Fired pistols were the future and as usual Sig is always the last company to adapt to the market but Sig eventually dug themselves out of a rut and developed a couple of successful Striker Fired pistols and now Sig has a US military contract for their pistols but those pistols are becoming very controversial due to several safety concerns and Sig’s poor reaction to the safety and design issues but Sig’s double-action single-action pistols were known for nothing short of high reliability there are millions of people around the world that carried sigs from the deserts of the Middle East and Northern Africa to the mountains of Pakistan to the frozen tundra of Northern Canada to the jungles of South America America and Asia and the concrete jungles like New York City they would never trade their old Sig pistols for anything the Sig double-action single-action pistols will go down in history as being one of the most accurate reliable and safe handguns ever manufactured you know you never heard of safety recalls and spontaneous discharges with the old P226 you know you never heard a police officer complain about having to carry a Sig back in the day in fact you were happy when you were issued a 226 or a 229 you know perhaps the The Glory Days of an allmetal double-action single action pistol are well behind us but that doesn’t mean that your old Sig needs to be relegated to the back of your safe these things loved being used so get your P226 out of the safe go to the the range and have some alone time with one of the best pistols ever [Music] 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