Who says you can’t have it all? Not Sig Sauer. The company offers a variety of models in its exclusive TacPac system, which pro-vides a fully optioned pistol and all its accessories in a sturdy, molded carry case. I was recently able to test the P226 TacPac. As one of the most established self-defense handguns in use today, there are 21 different versions of the Sig Sauer P226, each designed for specific requirements ranging from military/tactical models with threaded barrels and Flat Dark Earth finishes, to deluxe stainless steel and engraved versions, both double-action-only (DAO) and single-action-only (SAO) trigger variations, and even a .22 LR model. The latest P226 versions also come standard with a Short-Reset Trigger. This used to be an armorer-installed option designed to reduce the length of travel required to reset the trigger by 60 percent. This provides almost instantaneous reset for quick follow-up shots. The exceptional ergo-nomics and balance of the P226 make this full-sized pistol easier to handle than many of its contemporaries. Since it is also designed to chamber hard-hitting .357 SIG and .40 S&W rounds, the gun’s size (7.7 inches in length) and weight (34.0 ounces unloaded), contribute to reducing felt recoil with 9mm ammunition. The pistol’s longer 4.4-inch barrel also factors in for improved ballistic performance and better accuracy. Among standard features that make the P226 desirable as a carry gun are a large, easy-to-operate slide release, an equally large and easy-to-manipulate decocking lever (so the P226 can be safely carried with the hammer down on a loaded chamber), and a deeply checkered magazine release that sends empty magazines smoothly out of the grip frame for effortless one-handed operation. The P226 is also very easy to fieldstrip. The aggregate of these features makes the gun intuitive to handle, providing conventional safety mechanisms and ease of use with a traditional hammer-fired, semi-auto de-sign. Additionally, there is no magazine disconnect, so the P226 will fire with the magazine removed, and by using a decocker there is no need for a manual safety, enabling the gun to be brought into use more efficiently.
In addition to three calibers, the P226 offers a choice of DA/SA, DAO or double-action Kellerman (DAK) operating systems. The DAK is designed to pro-
vide a light DA trigger pull similar to a finely tuned DA revolver. The P226, as with other Sig Sauer models, operates using a variation of the locked-breech, short-recoil method pioneered by John M. Browning. After firing a round, the slide and barrel are locked together for a short distance of rearward movement until the barrel cams downward and the slide disengages…
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