Sig Sauer P226 .22 classic

[Guest Papabear]

Anyone have any experence with the Sig Sauer P226 .22 classic? I saw a post over on rimfire central that you can get this gun with the beavertail grip. So I am really thinking of picking one up and adding the 9mm conversion to go along with it. Just wanted to see if anyone had any trigger time with the gun.

[Guest tbone]

I've got a P220 .22 classic. It was great at first, then the mags began to sag in the frame and cause failure to feed. The bullet case would get pinched between the slide and the feed ramp. If I shoot with the bottom of the mag cupped in my support hand, (using upward pressure on the mag) it functions flawlessly with federal bulk pack. I am planning on sending it back to the factory to get this fixed. From what I can tell on the sig forum, this seems to occur only with the P220. If you get it, get a set of mag springs and replacement spring cap from Jeff at SigPower. These are awesome and allow you to turn the 10 rnd mag to a 15 rnd one. I also like the fact that you get a year to cash in the coupon for the 9mm upper, allowing you to spread costs.

[Guest BJEC1248]

I have a 229 in .22LR, & it has been terrific, provided that it does not like cheap bulk ammo, but it will run on mini-mags all day long, & provided also that the sigpower parts, especially the mag follower that locks back the slide, really make it better.

the BAD news is that I bought it with the understanding that I could get the 9mm kit for it & have 2 guns for the price of 1, but I cannot get Sig to sell me the 9mm upper kit. they claim they "can't get the parts", & when I point out that they are Sig, they can just make more, I get the email equivalent of a shrug of the shoulders. & did I mention that I have been waiting for A YEAR?

[Mark A]

Papabear, I have a 226 and my wife has a 229. We got them both in January of 09. I got really lucky and found a 9mm top end for the 226 almost immediately. The top end for the 229 was another issue. After e-mailing Sig weekly and being told it would be out "soon" I finally got the 9mm top end for the 229 about 2 weeks ago.

There were several vendors online that had the top ends last week but a quick search shows most are out right now. My guess is that there will be another batch out sooner than later.

I have at least 10k rounds through my 22 kit. I did a LOT of shooting to prepare to train last year and I had a really hard time finding 9mm that I could afford for a while and when I did find some I kept it for classes.

My wife actually shoots more through hers than I do through mine. In general she prefers to shoot 22 and not a bigger caliber when we go to the range. She shoots about 200 rounds of 22 once or twice a week and a box of 9mm every other week just to stay used to it.

So far we have had zero issues. The 229 seems to be a bit more finicky but if I keep it relatively clean it will eat just about anything. The 226 eats everything and laughs about it.

All in all we are very pleased with both pistols. I really like the economy of shooting 22.

BJEC, I feel your pain. This experience has pretty much turned me off completely to new Sigs. I was really upset that they had enough parts to keep selling new 229 9mm's but not the parts to sell top ends to those of us that bought into the 2 step program. I've been a loyal sig shooter for 20 years but now I am branching out. I might look at a decent used Sig though if I saw something I liked.

Mark

[Guest BJEC1248]

Yeah Mark, they are great guns, but it is a hassle dealing with them.