P226 Navy X300 Ultra weapon light mounted on the
Picatinny rail. U.S. Navy SEAL teams started using the SIG P226 in the 1980s, after German
Kampfschwimmer tested them successfully. In 1989, the P226 was adopted by the U.S. Navy SEALs and DEVGRU under the name
Mk25 Mod 0. The first
Naval Special Warfare inspired P226 pistols to be offered to the public were the NSW Commemoratives, issued in early 2004. The SIG P226-9-NAVY is a version of the SIG P226 produced that features a stainless steel slide engraved with an anchor to designate them as Naval Special Warfare pistols. SIGARMS raised $100,000 for the
Special Operations Warrior Foundation through the sale of these NSW serialized pistols. The pistol with the serial number NSW0001 was sold during a live auction on the US-wide syndicated
Laura Ingraham radio show for an additional $25,000. Later produced commercial versions added a universal rail for accessory attachments while retaining the anchor of previous models, but do not have the SIGLITE Night Sights.
P226 E2 Introduced at the 2010
SHOT Show, the
P226 E2 at the time was a significant update to the P226 line. 'E2' (pronounced 'E-squared'), or otherwise known as "Enhanced Ergonomics", is SIG Sauer's attempt to make the large frame gun more ergonomic for persons with small and medium-sized hands. A reduced grip size and reduced reach trigger bring the trigger face back more than , thus potentially allowing better trigger manipulation and control for a greater number of shooters. Other standard features include the Short Reset Trigger, aggressive grip finish texture, and a new wrap-around, one-piece grip panel configuration. The gun was discontinued from the P226 model lineup at the end of 2010 but the E2-style grip system has been adopted on and carried over to other P226 variants.
P228 (M11) A compact version of the P226, the
P228 was introduced in 1988. It is in use with various law enforcement agencies and also with the
United States Armed Forces, where it is designated as the
M11. On January 19, 2017, it was announced that the
SIG Sauer P320 Compact (M18) had been selected to replace the M11 as the U.S military service pistol. One factor in winning the Modular Handgun System competition was the ability to employ 9mm Parabellum, .357 Sig or .40 S&W cartridges within the same basic frame.
P229 Introduced in 1992, the
P229 is an upgrade to the P228 being an identical compact
firearm often used for duty or
concealed carry purposes. Developed specifically for the US market and assembled with both German and US-made parts, the P229 features a heavier slide to tolerate more powerful rounds than the P228 is capable of tolerating. The standard version features a DA/SA trigger. The pistol has also been made available in a
Double Action Kellerman (DAK) model, which is a DAO system with two trigger reset points, and a lighter, smoother pull than that of traditional DAO handguns. Most of the above-mentioned factory variants of the P226 are also available for the P229, including the Equinox option, Elite lineup, as well as a SAS GEN 2 model. The P229 differs from its cousin the P226 in several respects, and was originally introduced to supplement and then replace the P228 by adding the .357 SIG and .40 S&W as available chamberings. The P229 was the first production handgun introduced that could chamber the
.357 SIG round. The P226 and P228 were originally manufactured using a stamped-steel slide on an aluminum alloy frame. The P229 consists of a CNC-milled stainless steel slide, typically colored black with a
Nitron finish. The P229's milled steel slide was introduced to handle the higher slide velocities created by the .357 SIG and .40 S&W loads, which the stamped slide of the P228 could not handle without the use of a much stiffer recoil spring. This would have made operating the slide manually much more difficult, so the use of a milled stainless slide (coupled with the new milling and stainless production capabilities found in the U.S. factory) with a standard weight recoil spring was chosen instead. A standard weight recoil spring for the P229 is . A spring weight of or higher would have been required if a stamped slide was used for the .40 S&W or .357 SIG chamberings. The SAAMI maximum chamber pressures of 9mm, 9mm +P, .40 S&W, and .357 SIG are as follows: ; ; ; and . The slide on the P226 was redesigned in a similar fashion, and civilian sales of the P228 were discontinued in early 2005 due to declining sales and the advent of the P229 in 9mm. The P226 and P229 are both available with optional accessory rails and optional forged stainless steel frames. The P229 can be chambered in .22 LR,
9mm,
.40 S&W or
.357 SIG. Changing between
.40 S&W and
.357 SIG is as simple as switching out the barrel; both calibers use the same magazine. Conversion barrels also allow a P229 or P226 to change between a .40 S&W/.357 SIG to a 9mm caliber. The
9mm model (both railed and non-railed) can be converted to .22 LR, but in the past its receivers were not designed to provide the space needed for handling the larger rounds of .357 SIG and .40 S&W. As SIG Sauer has slowly begun adopting the E2-style grip system across the P229 model range in 2011—a move similar to what is also happening to the larger P226—they have also begun using the .357 SIG/.40 S&W spec frame dimensions for their factory 9mm P229s, presumably to streamline the number of variations in parts needed to be kept in inventory. Although the manufacturer has announced that older-configuration magazines will continue to operate in the new receiver configuration, SIG Sauer has nonetheless revised new P229 9mm factory magazines to a design that is specific to the resized magazine well of the newly reconfigured receiver/frame. As a consequence, the newer magazines are not back-compatible, due to their larger width.
P224 The
P224 is a subcompact variant of the series. It has a barrel length of and an unloaded weight of . The P224 was introduced in 2012 as double-action only (DAO); it was reintroduced in 2013 as double action / single action (DA/SA) with a
decocking lever. The P224 was discontinued in 2016. ==Users==