SIG P220R Carry SAO Review

**BionicMan** · August 8th, 2012, 04:10 PM

I recently picked this up after eying it for the last month or so, and I'm happy to say that I'm definitely a fan. I was initially surprised that it arrived with one of the grip screws and washer completely missing, but Mark at Summit was kind enough to ship me new ones so I didn't have to call SIG.

The pistol exhibits mild recoil and is quite accurate, particularly when feeding it Gold Dots. (see below) Reliability was typical SIG, and flawless through 150 rounds of mixed ammo. The trigger pull is decent for being bone stock, but the SA pull on my worked over DA/SA 226 is definitely crisper and lighter side by side. An action job and a slightly lighter hammer spring should fix this right up, however. The mags definitely need to be broken in, as they're a bear to load to capacity currently.

The only major thing I'm looking to change are the grips. I'm not a big fan of the texture on the stock ones or the vertical grooves on the front strap. I couldn't possibly explain why they're horizontal on some models and vertical on others. Anyway - I have a pair of Hogue finger groove grips on my P239 that I love, and considering the P220 and P239 have identical frame widths at the grip, I thought I'd have a $25 slam dunk - wrong! Hogue doesn't make them for the SAO model. Now I'm clueless what to go with. I'm considering even ordering the finger groove grips for the P220 DA/SA and modifying them as needed to fit if I can't find another option. My one other surprise was the weight. From SIG's info it looked like I'd be able to chop a few ounces off the weight of my fully loaded 15rd 9mm P226R, but much to my chagrin it weighed in at only 1.25 oz lighter.

SIG claimed empty P226R DA/SA weight: 34.0 oz
Actual empty P226R DA/SA weight: 32.25 oz
Loaded P226R DA/SA weight: 39.50 oz

SIG claimed empty P220R SAO weight: 30.4 oz
Actual empty P220R SAO weight: 32.0 oz
Loaded P220R SAO weight: 38.25 oz

All in all I really like the gun, and I know my groups will improve since my arm was somewhat fatigued by the time I got to testing the Gold Dots. So if you're a single stack .45 guy that likes to be different or you're a big SIG fan, there's a lot to like about the P220R Carry SAO. (it'll even fit nicely in your P226R holster if you already have one)

Brand new:

2.0" group shot at 7 yards one-handed and unsupported with Speer 200gr +P Gold Dots:

**DellRich89** · August 8th, 2012, 04:28 PM

Very nice shooting and congrats on your new gun

**IronButt** · August 9th, 2012, 09:25 AM

Nice! I've had a 220 Carry SA/DA for a few years. I only have maybe 2K rounds through it, but it's functioned flawlessly with all my 230gr ball & XTP reloads, & any factory ammo.

As for grips, I haven't seen any that I thought would be a significant improvement over the original grips, so I just left it as is. I also kinda' like the vertical grooves on the front strap. My 229 has the horizontal grooves & the vertical grooves seem to give a better grip; for me anyway.

**BionicMan** · August 10th, 2012, 02:50 PM

Originally Posted by IronButt

As for grips, I haven't seen any that I thought would be a significant improvement over the original grips, so I just left it as is. I also kinda' like the vertical grooves on the front strap. My 229 has the horizontal grooves & the vertical grooves seem to give a better grip; for me anyway.

I really just wish the grooves weren't cut so deep. My 226 has horizontal grooves, but they're much shallower and closer together. The deep vertical grooves give great grip, but were chewing up my hand up after 150 rounds.

**prospero1919** · August 13th, 2012, 02:56 PM

If you are set on getting new grips they won't be cheap - got a set of walnut nill grips for my first SAO and they set me back about $190 - my latest one (from CDNN) came with real nice aluminum grips. Hogue sells aluminum ones for ~$99 http://www.hoguestore.com/index.php?...oducts_id=6572

**BionicMan** · August 13th, 2012, 03:12 PM

Originally Posted by prospero1919

If you are set on getting new grips they won't be cheap - got a set of walnut nill grips for my first SAO and they set me back about $190 - my latest one (from CDNN) came with real nice aluminum grips. Hogue sells aluminum ones for ~$99 http://www.hoguestore.com/index.php?...oducts_id=6572

Yeah, the Nill grips are second to none, but prohibitively expensive. I'm also kinda considering the Hogue G10 grips currently.

**BionicMan** · August 23rd, 2012, 12:57 PM

Well, I ordered a set of DA/SA P220 grips and forged ahead with modifications to fit my SAO. It was a little time consuming at ~2 hours, but it was easy work with the right tools. (Olfa knife, Dremel, grinding wheel, sanding wheel) It was as simple as cutting out notches for the safety levers, and then removing some material from the insides of both panels to fit around the lower part of the levers. All in all it turned out quite well. While I had the gun apart, I gave the action a fluff and buff, swapped in an 18lb hammer spring, and installed a stainless guide rod. The trigger pull is noticeably lighter and crisper now.

Hogue finger-groove grips installed: