gun review Sig P226 SAO feature
A single action-only pistol from Sig Sauer for cocked and locked carry By Scott Smith
Sig P226 SAO SUMMARY
Sig Sauer has modified their standard P226 pistol and created a single action-only version with a manual thumb safety instead of a de-cocking lever. This eliminates the transition from a long, double-action first-shot trigger pull to a lighter single-action pull. The factory version comes with excellent sights and plenty of accuracy. But, additional accessories can dress up this top-notch handgun even more.
MORE INFORMATION
www.sigsauer.com www.lasermax.com www.blackhawk.com
www.atlantaarmsandammo.com www.hornady.com www.hprammo.com www.black-hills.com www.hoguestore.com www.hivizsights.com www.mle-shootingsports.com
Scott Smith is a USAF Security Policeman and IDPA/USPSA competitor. He can he reached at
hpshooter@lycos.com.
Author’s dressed-up P226 SAO with the factory ammunition used for testing.
S
ig Sauer has been manufacturing fi rearms going all the way back to 1853 when it was awarded a contract for 30,000 muskets for the Swiss Federal Ministry of Defense. Sauer & Sohn developed their fi rst pistol, the P220, in 1970. In 1975 it became the basis for the Swiss Industrial Group’s handgun line. Sig has been importing the P220 and P230 to the U.S. market since 1985. In 1990 U.S. operations were set up in Exeter, N.H. and manufacturing for the U.S.
16 The Police Marksman May-Jun 2014
market was underway. The company has gone through a few name and location changes and is known today as Sig Sauer Inc. in Exeter, N.H. Sig has become one of the leading fi rearms manufacturers in the world. Names and locations are not all Sig has changed; their fi rearms have evolved to meet the U.S. market. T e fi rst Sig pistols for the U.S. market were sold as the Browning BDA- 45. T ese were P220s chambered in .45 ACP with European magazine releases (heel of the mag well). T ese pistols earned a following,
but the magazine release was not what Ameri- cans were used to. Relocating the magazine release to just behind the trigger American- ized the P220 with a traditional push but- ton. T is change would prove to be one of the moves to thrust Sig Sauer into the U.S. fi rearms market’s popularity.
Today Sig pistols are carried by local, state, federal and military units around the country and across the globe. T anks to the Ameri- can market’s guidance, Sig builds rifl es and handguns to meet the needs of the competi- tion shooter, the law enforcement and mili- tary professional, as well as the casual shooter. One of the latest of these pistols is the P226 Single Action Only (SAO). T e Sig P226 SAO is virtually identical to its older sibling, the P226. T e obvious dif- ference is the frame-mounted ambidextrous safety, which replaces the frame-mounted
www.policemarksman.com
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