Sig 226 Or Glock 17

[spd522]

I own both and have used both in competition and for on and off duty carry. My vote goes to the Sig by a wide margin.

Advantages to the SIG

Reliability

Accuracy

Reloading speed

Trigger

Points better

Ergonomics of grip and controls

Magazines actually drop free without shaking

You can load mags to capacity without special tools.

Advantages to the Glock

Price

Same trigger pull each shot

Bore sits lower

More aftermarket accessories

Simple disassembly

Glocks are good guns but I have had and witnessed many more problems with Glocks than Sigs. In competition, in training, and with Cops on the streets. Yes, the number of Glocks in use is greater than the number of Sigs. Still the Glock has issues that appear in less than perfect shooting situations that Sigs seem to handle without a bobble.

I have had one instance where one of my Sigs failed since 1989. A broken trigger reset spring. I have had several failures with Glocks over the years, varying from being finicky with certain factory ammo, to chipped extractors, broken ejectors, broken springs, and broken slide stop levers. Drop free mags often don't.

I prefer the Sig trigger, even with the heavier first shot, over the Glock trigger. It is smoother,crisper and reset isn't much different. Plus it is shaped and feels like a trigger. Even the highly touted Vanek trigger didn't impress me as being much better than stock. Still has that springy, flexible plastic feel with that stupid safety tab on the front.

My Sigs are my nightstand, RV, on/off duty, and Production/SSP guns. My Glock is my bang around on my ATV gun for snakes, coyotes, and other similar shooting.

As for the durability of the alloy frame, it seems to be holding up just fine after 16 years.

[Jasonub]

Thanks for the feedback. Im very competitive in our country in standard division, i usually end up near the top or at the top in major or club matches.

What i want is to be competitive with the the pistol i will choose. Most discourage me since in our country there is no such thing as a warranty. Thus i want a truly tough handgun.

I have a svi which i use in standard division and parts are easy to come by with.

What else do you recommend that i have extra should i get a sig aside from the trigger return spring?

How many rounds till you replace the recoil spring and what poundage should i use?

thanks again

[EricW]

Just shot the new 229 yesterday. First impression: I hate it. Mainly because it is so radically different than the Glock.

The only nice thing I have to say is that at least you don't have to worry about slide bite. I have a nice bloody, raw patch on the web of my hand from my G19. If I had 3 more mags, I'd shoot the 229 in L-10 this week just so my hand could heal up.

[spd522]

What else do you recommend that i have extra should i get a sig aside from the trigger return spring?

How many rounds till you replace the recoil spring and what poundage should i use? 

SIG made some changes back in the mid 90s to some of the guns. Just in case you get a used one. It included a different firing pin and spring and different mainspring and base insert. The old guns had a DA of about 12 lbs while the newer models are at 10 lbs. SA is the same at 4.5 although after some use, that will smooth out to around 4. With some expert smithing, the trigger can be improved even more.

As for replacement parts, these are probably the most common or most likely to wear. All the springs and pins are pretty cheap so you may as well have a few on hand.

There is a double roll pin in the slide (at least on my older non-milled slide) that need replacing every so often. Sorry I don't know the round count interval. But I just replace it when I take the firing pin and spring out for inspection and cleaning every 3000 rds or yearly. May as well change the firing pin spring at this time too.

The trigger reset spring is good to have and easily replaced as it is under the right grip. When mine broke, it had about 12K through it.

Replace the recoil spring with the factory spring every 5K. I ran one to about 15K before it broke in half. It still ran but just had a weird recoil impluse. There are aftermarket springs out there too but the stock one works just fine. Stock recoil spring weight is 16lb on the P226.

One of the best additions to a SIG is the short trigger if you have smaller hands or short fingers. It has a slightly shorter reach and more of a curve than the standard trigger. It is a drop in replacement and really helps with that first DA shot.

EricW:

I had a P229 in 40 cal and I didn't really care for it either. It was better with the 357 SIG barrel in it but I got rid of it anyway. Just really never warmed up to the feel/recoil of it. Maybe it was the 40 cal I didn't care for as I didn't like that caliber in other guns either. I really prefer the P226 9mm best with the P220 45ACP second when it comes to SIGS