Sig P226
Sig P226
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The P226 was designed for entry into the XM9 Service Pistol Trials (see also Joint Service Small Arms Program), which were held by the US Army in 1984 on behalf of the US armed forces to find a replacement for the M1911A1. Only the Beretta 92F and the SIG P226 satisfactorily completed the trials. According to a GAO report, Beretta was awarded the M9 contract for the 92F due to better durability during endurance testing and a lower total package price. The P226 cost less per pistol than the 92F, but SIG's package price with magazines and spare parts was higher than Beretta's. The Navy SEALs, however, chose to adopt the P226 later after a repetition of failures with some issued Beretta M9s.[citation needed]
Schweizerische Industrie Gesellschaft is a Swiss company and Swiss law severely restricts the export of firearms. Consequently, SIG entered into an agreement with German gun manufacturer (and eventual owner) J.P. Sauer & Sohn to facilitate an export market for their products. For the U.S. military XM9 trials, the P226 was imported by SACO. Interarms took over importing when the pistol was introduced for civilian sales. SIG-Sauer eventually founded SIGARMS, Inc. in the United States, to handle importation of their products. In 2000 the SIG Holding AG sold J.P. Sauer & Sohn GmbH to two German businessmen. The brand name SIG Sauer remained at the J.P. Sauer & Sohn GmbH.
The P226, like the other members of the P220 family, operates by the locked breech short-recoil method pioneered by John Browning. On firing the slide and barrel are locked together until, after a few millimeters of rearward movement, the barrel is cammed down at the rear after the pressure has dropped enough when the bullet has departed the barrel, whereupon the slide completes the rearward stroke ejecting the spent cartridge. The recoil spring then propels the slide forwards, stripping a round from the magazine, and in the last few millimeters of forward movement, the barrel is cammed upwards at the rear, locking the slide and barrel together again.
Instead of the locking lugs and recesses milled into the barrel and slide of other Browning-type weapons as the Colt M1911A1, Browning Hi-Power and CZ 75, the P226 (and many other modern pistols) lock the barrel and slide together using an enlarged breech section of the barrel locking into the ejection port. This modified system, which was devised by SIG, has no functional disadvantages compared to the original system, and has since been copied by numerous firearm manufacturers.
The slide of the pre-1996 P226 was a heavy-gauge mill-finished sheet metal stamping with a welded-on nose section incorporating an internal barrel bushing. The welding was so well-executed it was almost impossible to detect. The breech block portion was a machined insert attached to the slide by means of brazing and a roll pin visible from either side. However, from 1996, production was shifted to CNC machining, and the slide is now milled from a single piece of stainless steel. Therefore the current standard P226 has a black-anodized stainless steel slide. This resulted in a stronger slide, which was necessary to chamber the more powerful .40 S&W and .357SIG cartridges. The frame of all models is made from hard-anodized aluminum alloy. While designed for ease of production, the SIG P226 is of the highest quality.
The SIG P226 incorporates a hammer-drop lever to the rear of the trigger on the left side, which first appeared on the Sauer 38H before World War II. After chambering a round, the hammer will be cocked, so for safe carriage the hammer drop is actuated with the thumb (of a right-handed shooter), dropping the hammer in a safe manner. The pistol may now be holstered, and can be fired without actuating any other controls. The first shot will be fired in double action mode, unless the firer chooses to manually cock the hammer. Double action trigger pressure is around 10 pounds, and subsequent shots will be fired in single action mode with a lighter trigger pressure of around 4.5 pounds. There is no separate safety lever to manipulate; the hammer drop is the only safety device. As with other double action pistols such as the Walther P38 and Beretta 92F, some training is required to minimize the difference in point of aim caused by the different trigger pressure between the first double action shot and subsequent single action shots when the hammer is cocked by the rearward movement of the slide, but this is easily overcome.
SIG firearms are manufactured both in Eckernförde, Germany, by J.P. Sauer und Sohn GmbH, and in Exeter, New Hampshire, United States by SIG Sauer Inc., formerly SIGARMS Inc.
The P226 Rail (or P226R) is the same as a P226, but it has a rail on the underside of the frame, just forward of the trigger guard. The P226R's rail has a more rounded contour than the military standard M1913 Picatinny rail and while most Picatinny-rail accessories will fit, not all will. This has now become the standard P226.
A P226R with an extended 5 in (13 cm) barrel and external threads to accept a suppressor.
Navy SEAL Teams started using the SIG P226 in the 1980s.
Schweizerische Industrie Gesellschaft is a Swiss company and Swiss law severely restricts the export of firearms. Consequently, SIG entered into an agreement with German gun manufacturer (and eventual owner) J.P. Sauer & Sohn to facilitate an export market for their products. For the U.S. military XM9 trials, the P226 was imported by SACO. Interarms took over importing when the pistol was introduced for civilian sales. SIG-Sauer eventually founded SIGARMS, Inc. in the United States, to handle importation of their products. In 2000 the SIG Holding AG sold J.P. Sauer & Sohn GmbH to two German businessmen. The brand name SIG Sauer remained at the J.P. Sauer & Sohn GmbH.
The P226, like the other members of the P220 family, operates by the locked breech short-recoil method pioneered by John Browning. On firing the slide and barrel are locked together until, after a few millimeters of rearward movement, the barrel is cammed down at the rear after the pressure has dropped enough when the bullet has departed the barrel, whereupon the slide completes the rearward stroke ejecting the spent cartridge. The recoil spring then propels the slide forwards, stripping a round from the magazine, and in the last few millimeters of forward movement, the barrel is cammed upwards at the rear, locking the slide and barrel together again.
Instead of the locking lugs and recesses milled into the barrel and slide of other Browning-type weapons as the Colt M1911A1, Browning Hi-Power and CZ 75, the P226 (and many other modern pistols) lock the barrel and slide together using an enlarged breech section of the barrel locking into the ejection port. This modified system, which was devised by SIG, has no functional disadvantages compared to the original system, and has since been copied by numerous firearm manufacturers.
The slide of the pre-1996 P226 was a heavy-gauge mill-finished sheet metal stamping with a welded-on nose section incorporating an internal barrel bushing. The welding was so well-executed it was almost impossible to detect. The breech block portion was a machined insert attached to the slide by means of brazing and a roll pin visible from either side. However, from 1996, production was shifted to CNC machining, and the slide is now milled from a single piece of stainless steel. Therefore the current standard P226 has a black-anodized stainless steel slide. This resulted in a stronger slide, which was necessary to chamber the more powerful .40 S&W and .357SIG cartridges. The frame of all models is made from hard-anodized aluminum alloy. While designed for ease of production, the SIG P226 is of the highest quality.
The SIG P226 incorporates a hammer-drop lever to the rear of the trigger on the left side, which first appeared on the Sauer 38H before World War II. After chambering a round, the hammer will be cocked, so for safe carriage the hammer drop is actuated with the thumb (of a right-handed shooter), dropping the hammer in a safe manner. The pistol may now be holstered, and can be fired without actuating any other controls. The first shot will be fired in double action mode, unless the firer chooses to manually cock the hammer. Double action trigger pressure is around 10 pounds, and subsequent shots will be fired in single action mode with a lighter trigger pressure of around 4.5 pounds. There is no separate safety lever to manipulate; the hammer drop is the only safety device. As with other double action pistols such as the Walther P38 and Beretta 92F, some training is required to minimize the difference in point of aim caused by the different trigger pressure between the first double action shot and subsequent single action shots when the hammer is cocked by the rearward movement of the slide, but this is easily overcome.
SIG firearms are manufactured both in Eckernförde, Germany, by J.P. Sauer und Sohn GmbH, and in Exeter, New Hampshire, United States by SIG Sauer Inc., formerly SIGARMS Inc.
The P226 Rail (or P226R) is the same as a P226, but it has a rail on the underside of the frame, just forward of the trigger guard. The P226R's rail has a more rounded contour than the military standard M1913 Picatinny rail and while most Picatinny-rail accessories will fit, not all will. This has now become the standard P226.
A P226R with an extended 5 in (13 cm) barrel and external threads to accept a suppressor.
Navy SEAL Teams started using the SIG P226 in the 1980s.
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