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Sig P226 9mm as my first handgun? **purchase made**

B

BlahBlahYouToo

Lifer
finally got my permit to purchase so i went to the shop near me and the guy was trying to sell me a p226 pretty hard.
i fired it a couple of years back and remember that i liked it but forgot the reasons. it felt pretty balanced in my hand, and i generally like it.
it's pricey ($800) but the guy said if you want a quality gun that will last, it'll cost you.

the other options there were a beretta 92F ($650) and glock 19 ($550).
i don't really like glocks and i figure if i'm going to pay beretta money, i might as well pony up a bit more for the sig.

my original intention was to see if he had a sig 2022, as i've read it's a good bang for the buck and can be bought online for $350-400 all day.
he didn't have any and called it "crap" compared to the p226.

so is the p226 "too much" gun for a first time owner?

also, who makes good cheap practice ammo? federal seems pretty popular.
 
Go fire more handguns. I don't like pushy gun salesmen, especially when you don't have decent experience. I'm a big fan of sig, but the gun has to feel right in your hands after you sample a large enough selection.

And it wouldn't be "too much" gun. I carry it daily at work.
 
FallenHero said:
Go fire more handguns. I don't like pushy gun salesmen, especially when you don't have decent experience. I'm a big fan of sig, but the gun has to feel right in your hands after you sample a large enough selection.
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This. I tried the .40S&W flavor of the P226 and I managed some of my best groupings at the range with it, so it's definitely on my buy list. The price makes it a later purchase though and I've been looking at the Sig Pro for my first handgun as well. I did get to feel the SP2022, it's a little more snug in my hand, probably from the grip, and the decocker is stiffer than the classic SIGs, but calling it crap is disingenuous. Really does sound like the guy is just pushing you into buying on a higher price.
 
BlahBlahYouToo said:
the guy was trying to sell me a p226 pretty hard. i fired it a couple of years back and remember that i liked it but forgot the reasons. it felt pretty balanced in my hand, and i generally like it.
it's pricey ($800) but the guy said if you want a quality gun that will last, it'll cost you.
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You could buy 2 rugers for $800.

The Sig is an outstanding pistol, but why dump so much money into a single purchase? I am looking at buying a $700 1911, but its not my first or only handgun.

Is the Sig a great handgun, yes. Is it worth $800, I have a difficult time saying yes. Or rather, I have a difficult time justifying $800 for a 9mm pistol where there are lots of other good options out there. Personally, I would go buy a Ruger P series first.


IGemini said:
This. I tried the .40S&W flavor of the P226 and I managed some of my best groupings at the range with it, so it's definitely on my buy list.
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The 40 S&W is not for everyone, I find the recoil excessive. Because of the recoil I find the 40 unpleasant to shoot.

I owned a 40 and have fired somewhere around 3 or 4 different pistols in 40, all of them had the same harsh "snap" recoil. That is why I have 9mm and looking at a 45acp.
 
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I have a P226 and really like it, but there are a couple of strikes against it IMO as a first gun:

-Sig sets their guns up for a different sight picture than most people use. If you look at this pic most people use sight pic #2. Sig sets their guns up for #3.
-Sig sights their pistols for 25 yards.

Both of these mean that most people have problems with their Sigs shooting low (seriously, "p226 shooting low" returns like 2 million hits on google). I ended up just buying replacement sights for mine and am going to try to set it up for the #2 sight picture at 10 yards, just haven't gotten around to changing them yet.

Anyway, of the choices you listed I'd get a G19 and spend the leftover money on a few thousand rounds of ammo. But if at all possible though go to the range and try before you buy.

For cheap ammo (I assume we mean 9mm) Walmart's cheap boxes of Federal or Winchester are usually the best deal. Otherwise you really just have to watch sales online. If you're able to buy 500-1000 rounds at once sometimes you'll find deals that beat Walmart.
 
Actually, let me revise my opinion to say-

If this is just for fun/practice, you should seriously consider getting a good .22 pistol like a Ruger MkIII.

-They can be had for fairly cheap (~$250-300).
-.22 LR ammo is about 5x cheaper than the cheapest 9mm.

Even if you buy cheap 9mm and take your time at the range, it's easy to go through $40 worth of ammo (200 rounds or so) in a couple hours. The .22 lets you practice a LOT without breaking the bank, so you can work on technique, etc. IOW, you need to put thousands of rounds downrange to really be a proficient pistol shooting. Even with 9mm that will cost you several hundred dollars. With .22, maybe $75-100 for the same number of rounds.
 
9mm/.40/.45 are not "too much" for any normal adult who can hold a handgun. I'd go with 9mm for the lower cost of ammo. I like Sig, especially P220 and 226, but you pay a premium for that name, and I shot better with a Springfield XD, so that's what I got last. I'm not opposed to buying a Sig in the future but the wife doesn't like that idea and the sad truth is that I don't want it that bad, knowing that I chose the XD(and Kimber and CZ which I also have) over all those other guns when I was seriously looking.

You might also look into what all you're getting for $800. IIRC Sigs have a number of options for sights and slide rails and every option adds to the base price.

I always buy Wal-mart's Winchester whitebox of 100rds.
 
I own a Beretta 92FS, for multiple reasons, (including it's the exact copy of my service weapon) but it's great for new shooters, being a 9mm large-frame, heavy, and very visible and clear safety. It also has DA/SA modes, (cock the hammer back for a light trigger weight) It's a great, easy weapon to shoot with. Also your prices are a bit high, I would look around, even at some used sidearms.

That said if you are completely new to shooting I'll second a good Ruger .22 pistol. .22 ammo is stupid cheap.
 
Actually, your FIRST handgun should be a tapered Mark III.

But thats just my opinion.

And the Beretta 92 is not for newbs. Its for experience shooters looking to challenge themselves with an overly complicated, twitchy, touchy, high-maintenance weapon. It was also a piss poor choice for the Army back in the 80's when they moved away from the 1911. The Sig was favored by troops up and down the line, but the DoD had to save money on guns so the contractors could milk the tax payers for 30 million dollars on a plane.
 
shortylickens said:
And the Beretta 92 is not for newbs. Its for experience shooters looking to challenge themselves with an overly complicated, twitchy, touchy, high-maintenance weapon.
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Wow, do you think your post could be anymore hateful towards the 92f?

I bought my Beretta 92f in January of 1989, in the past 22 years (23 years starting next month) my 92 has required zero maintenance except for cleaning after shooting.

With going on 23 years of owning a 92f, I have no idea what you mean by "overly complicated, twitchy, touchy, high-maintenance weapon".
 
Glock 19 is going to be super easy, cheap, and reliable. I think that's a good starting (ending?) point for most any gun.
 
Texashiker said:
The 40 S&W is not for everyone, I find the recoil excessive. Because of the recoil I find the 40 unpleasant to shoot.

I owned a 40 and have fired somewhere around 3 or 4 different pistols in 40, all of them had the same harsh "snap" recoil. That is why I have 9mm and looking at a 45acp.
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I've heard that argument a lot, and it does make sense. The very first pistol I tried was a .40 Walther P99. It was intimidating at first but I got the hang of it, and I've fired a different sampling of 9mm and .40. A SIG in 9mm tends to be remarkably accurate.

Merad said:
I have a P226 and really like it, but there are a couple of strikes against it IMO as a first gun:

-Sig sets their guns up for a different sight picture than most people use. If you look at this pic most people use sight pic #2. Sig sets their guns up for #3.
-Sig sights their pistols for 25 yards.
...
Anyway, of the choices you listed I'd get a G19 and spend the leftover money on a few thousand rounds of ammo. But if at all possible though go to the range and try before you buy.
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This is interesting to me since my natural sight pattern is actually #3, though I know most are #2.

Glocks are the Apple of the gun world, I think people swear by them a bit too much as the be-all end-all of pistols. The G19 didn't feel like anything special to me at the range. They may be priced okay to start but for the stuff I'd want to add, might as well buy SIG or H&K. I'd consider an XD first because at least then there's the option of stock physical safeties, but that's just me.

Ruger's pistols are nice budget buys but I'd go with the SR series, a P94 (if I can find one) or a P95 in that order.

I'm not a huge fan of the 92F either. The M9 may have saved the Army money but I think the P226 is better. If I'd go with Beretta it would be either the Cougar (now made by Stoeger with Beretta machinery) or the Px4 Storm.

.22LR is nice if you just want trigger time but it gets kinda dull, and not really helpful in recoil management when practicing. Since it wasn't on the list I'm assuming home defense is a consideration in this purchase.
 
If there was one "best" handgun, it would outsell the next 20 combined. There's a reason there are many options. It comes down to your personal preference.

I will say there are many, many quality handguns that cost half what the P226 does.
 
I have / carry a sig p229 (40s&w) on a daily basis. I love the gun, and got it for a pretty good deal ($700 shipped from buds gun shop for a dark elite model - which is well below what they generally are found for at your local fun shop). That being said, unless you get a "great" deal on a p226/p229/p220 I feel that they are a "tad" overpriced. Don't get me wrong, they are great guns - but they honestly don't do much that some of their cheaper polymer counterparts don't do as well (or better).

Some points to think of:
- The p226 is a heavy / large weapon. Remember that it is a full size service pistol... and a full metal one at that. This is great for soaking up recoil; however, it can make carry annoying. If this gun won't be carried on a daily basis, than weight is much less of an issue (more of an asset in many cases).
- Magazines are on the expensive side (not as bad as HK/Walther... but still pretty high for factory mags). The good news is that MecGar sells p226 mags under it's name at great prices (and they do / did make the factory sig mags too). I wouldn't use mags other than sig factory or mecgar.
- I was going to use this point to tell you to buy a buckmark or mark 3 22LR pistol... but honestly... for training purposes it would probably serve you better to just buy a conversion slide for the p226 so you can shoot 22lr and keep the same trigger mechanics.
- The p226 uses a DA/SA trigger system (also available in a DAO but most you'll see in the store are DA/SA). While this trigger system has some upsides, the major downside is that you will have to get used to the transition from DA to SA (if you plan to use it defensively... I suppose you could always shoot in SA at the range). It's not hard to do... but it does take a lot of dry firing and range time.

If you do want a centerfire semiautomatic pistol... other great options would include: glock (IE: glock 19... or whatever your desired flavor), walther PPQ, S&W M&P, Springfield XD/XDm, FNP, H&K P30/P30L/HK45... or you could go for a sub 1k 1911 (springer, kimber, smith, sig, colt....). There are lots of great choices... just pick your flavor (best thing to do is try to shoot as many as you can first)...
 
Buy what you want, not what the salesman is pushing. Generally, there is a reason they are pushing one thing over another, and it isn't usually your best interest they are looking out for.
 
JDMnAR1 said:
Buy what you want, not what the salesman is pushing. Generally, there is a reason they are pushing one thing over another, and it isn't usually your best interest they are looking out for.
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The guys at Northern Virginia Arms Company are very objective and helpful. They ask you what the gun will be used for and then make recommendations which are actually applicable.
 
Whatever you are planning to use it for would be the most important thing to consider. How well it fits your hand is second.
Hard to go wrong with a Ruger .22 for training and Glock 19 for an all-around gun, though.
 
Magazines are on the expensive side (not as bad as HK/Walther... but still pretty high for factory mags). The good news is that MecGar sells p226 mags under it's name at great prices (and they do / did make the factory sig mags too). I wouldn't use mags other than sig factory or mecgar.
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Unfortunately Sig switched their mag supplier recently... a lot of people have been reporting issues with them. My 226 came with MecGars, and they have been flawless.
 
FallenHero said:
Go fire more handguns. I don't like pushy gun salesmen, especially when you don't have decent experience. I'm a big fan of sig, but the gun has to feel right in your hands after you sample a large enough selection.

And it wouldn't be "too much" gun. I carry it daily at work.
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i've fired pretty much any 9mm i'd consider owning.
HK USP, glock 19, springfield xd, beretta 92f, sig p22x
 
Texashiker said:
You could buy 3 rugers for $800.

The Sig is an outstanding pistol, but why dump so much money into a single purchase?
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because it's a pita to get a firearms purchase permit around here, so i figure i would get a quality gun that would hold its value.

iow, i don't know if/when i will get my next purchase permit.
 
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Wuzup101 said:
I have / carry a sig p229 (40s&w) on a daily basis. I love the gun, and got it for a pretty good deal ($700 shipped from buds gun shop for a dark elite model - which is well below what they generally are found for at your local fun shop). That being said, unless you get a "great" deal on a p226/p229/p220 I feel that they are a "tad" overpriced. Don't get me wrong, they are great guns - but they honestly don't do much that some of their cheaper polymer counterparts don't do as well (or better).
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speaking of polymer, what's the pros/cons vs. metal?
 
The 226 is a great gun. I don't think it's too much gun for a first time owner. Hell, I taught my teenage daughter to shoot with a Beretta 92.
 
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