Seeking advice on that first handgun or next weapon purchase? Ask AW!

[gaijin6423]

I'm here for YOU. Would you like me to post my recent scores with the pistol, too? Nothing like beating 2/3 of the field of $4k race gun wielding, 28 round magazine using, 30 years of experience having, bitter old guys with a factory pistol.

I just pulled the 229 out of the safe, and I can see what you mean. I just never really noticed it before. The 229 is indeed the successor to the 228, with more than insignificant changes that allowed for additional calibers than 9mm. The 229 has a beefier, CNC machined slide, which allowed for the increased pressures of .40 and .357Sig. There are bunch of threads over on thefiringline.com and thehighroad.org dealing with it. I've never compared the two in person, but pictures of the two slides side by side let you see the difference. I think that the 228 slide was also multiple pieces of metal, welded together, but I can't remember offhand.

 

[ryan1234]

Would putting a Hogue on a 229 move the trigger finger out "just enough" do you think?

I put a Hogue on my HK USP Compact and it feels a lot more natural for me, particularly on the Single Action pulls. Either I've gotten better (which is probably not the case) recently or the grip helped my groups. Just feels like my finger is on the right spot (so to speak).

My Sig 239 (for carry) is a great little, heavy pistol... but my groups are consistenly better on the double action rather than the single action (which is the opposite of the HK) - my only guess is because of the ergonomics. Not sure exactly, still getting used to it.

 

[Lawman]

I put a Hogue on my HK USP Compact and it feels a lot more natural for me, particularly on the Single Action pulls. Either I've gotten better (which is probably not the case) recently or the grip helped my groups. Just feels like my finger is on the right spot (so to speak).

Point to bring up you may not have thought about, that rubber moves a bit. With the way the USP's mag release is designed its actually possible to bind up in between it and the grip and prevent it from operating. This happened to me with my USP fullsize once at a range doing shoot-reload-shoot drills. After that the Hogue went off permanently. Not a big deal for a target pistol but if you carry it for defense, Id call that a huge issue.

 

[gaijin6423]

Lawman brings up a good point about...heh...slippage. A friend and I are constantly trying to outdo one another in attempts to make our respective Glocks more user friendly. (Not trying to go down the Glock hating road, but I personally have trouble using them, thanks to my afore-mentioned carnie hands.) For a while, we had been using grip tape to increase the overall tack on them, but that changed the first hot day of shooting last year. Sun, residual heat, and buckets of sweat peeled that stuff off faster than teenage underpants on prom night. In his search for something better, he took a soldering iron to the grips of his for a stippling effect. It works so incredibly well that I'm considering it myself.

 

[ryan1234]

Point to bring up you may not have thought about, that rubber moves a bit. With the way the USP's mag release is designed its actually possible to bind up in between it and the grip and prevent it from operating. This happened to me with my USP fullsize once at a range doing shoot-reload-shoot drills. After that the Hogue went off permanently. Not a big deal for a target pistol but if you carry it for defense, Id call that a huge issue.

That's a good point - and I can see where you're coming from. I actually cut a notch for the mag release... just so it would be more fluid, because I found myself pressing harder on the mag release at times. However, it could still creep up anytime.. .especially as the grip gets older and more used. May just take it off completely.

Would say that in a carry defense situation, if I had to change mags... it would be a pretty gnarly situation - but who knows nowadays...

 

[gaijin6423]

Gatordev, if your hands are as grotesquely large as you've implied, you might be better seeking out the 28 gauge pistol that BATF squashed at the Shot Show. Looked like the gun from 'Hellboy'.

 

[Gatordev]

Gatordev, if your hands are as grotesquely large as you've implied, you might be better seeking out the 28 gauge pistol that BATF squashed at the Shot Show. Looked like the gun from 'Hellboy'.

The ladies don't complain about my hands...

Yeah, like I said, I need to go play with guns at a store for a bit just to make sure. I get just enough time to dry fire a few times, swap hands, and then qualify. I shot Expert the other day, so it's not like it's making the gun unusable. I do like shooting them. I don't like loading them (or the XD9, though it got better over time).

 

[gaijin6423]

Luckily for me, I had a friend who was all about Sigs that let me take a couple to the range before I bought. I was familiar enough with the controls, even if I was somewhat deluded about the 220 and my tiny little hands--curse you tiny hands! What's odd is that my XD is larger overall than my 220, and I can index and manipulate it quite well.

I've been shooting for years, recreationally, competitively, and professionally for the Big Green Gun Club, and it's only in the last couple of years that I've really become aware of what fits my hands and how/if my skill will affect the overall design of the pistol. Maybe it took so long because I was mostly limited by time at USNA (no personal firearms there), time overseas, and mostly shooting the M9 as my pistol experience. Now that I've acquired and shot many different designs, though, I know just how the placement of a decocking lever here, or a slide release there will affect my use of the pistol. It's a level of proficiency/awareness that I've had with long guns for a much longer, but I think that's probably just based on a heap of early exposure to them.

Whoa. That was almost philosophical. My brain hurts.

 

[Rocketman]

Luckily for me, I had a friend who was all about Sigs that let me take a couple to the range before I bought. I was familiar enough with the controls, even if I was somewhat deluded about the 220 and my tiny little hands--curse you tiny hands! What's odd is that my XD is larger overall than my 220, and I can index and manipulate it quite well.

I'm pretty sure you know this but Sig makes a trigger for people with smaller hands (or at least they used to). It has a different "angle" that effectively shortens the length of pull. Never used one though. The P220 is too big for me to manipulate the controls correctly but what bothers me the most is the "bore angle". In my hands (and everyone is different) the P220 has a natural point of aim that is low. When I shoot it fast or under pressure it shoots low for me. I'm sure with enough rounds down the tube I could get used to it but for me it was easier just to find a pistol that fit my hand. My TO weapon in the Corps was a 1911. It hurts the old school in me but the fact is I can shoot a Glock 19/17/21SF better that any other auto I've ever picked up. They just fit may hand better, especially the G19 and G17.

 

[gaijin6423]

It's less the trigger, and more the slide release and decocking lever for me, but they're related.

I can shoot my 1911s much better than most of my other pistols. Of course, my SA Loaded is a stainless framed beast, which helps. Maybe I should just stick to shooting single stack in USPSA. My scores and classification would definitely go up.

I'm considering an M&P, too. I've read quite a few good things about them, and the ergonomics seem to be there more so than my Glock. I do think the .45 version is a bit largish for me, but I haven't had a chance to mess with the adjustable backstraps they come with.

Didn't Sig change their grips recently? Is it just the actual grip surface, or did they modify the frame to slim it down, as well? My wife is dragging me to Target (damn it), so I'll have to look into it later. Maybe I'll stop by the gun shop and see if they'll sell me something on the cheap before the gun show this weekend.

Edit: On another note, what's with the guiderod/anti-guiderod argument with the 1911? I mean, I understand the basic argument on both sides, but does it make a difference either way?

 

[Gatordev]

I believe the new E2 (I think they're called) of the Sigs do have a different grip profile. And yes, the grip itself is different. It's integrated like the XD, Glock, etc and not screw-on. I'm not a huge fan of that type of grip because I can't customize it if I want. I really like my Hogue on my standard Colt 5".

Buds has a Two Tone SAS 2 for $700 bones on their police site. Damn you Gaijin. I was really hoping to hold off a few months and get it this spring.

 

[gaijin6423]

Yeah, I'm basically that guy who enables other people to do bad stuff, and I feel no remorse. I'm sure there's probably at least a few people on here who I've worked with/nearby who would attest to my evil nature. And at least two USAF LtCols. If it makes you feel any better, I'm probably going to get stabbed in the face tomorrow night, when my wife comes home from work to find what I bought at the gun show. I'd try to hide it, but that would only delay the inevitable. At least the tiny pink rifle I'm planning on buying for my daughter will mitigate the pain a bit.

The E2, that's right. I didn't realize that it was integrated like that, though.

 

[OSUbeaver]

I have a full size XDm in .40 and it has been an absolute joy to shoot. I don't have the expertise of the other gentlemen on this forum but for what its worth it is easy to clean, holds a ton of ammo (16+1), and I've never had a failure or issue of any kind with it.

 

[ryan1234]

I'm probably going to get stabbed in the face tomorrow night, when my wife comes home from work to find what I bought at the gun show. I'd try to hide it, but that would only delay the inevitable.

Have you used the "Look at what I won in a raffle!" line yet?

Wouldn't call it a lie... more along the lines of pre-emptive self preservation.

 

[Rocketman]

Have you used the "Look at what I won in a raffle!" line yet?

Wouldn't call it a lie... more along the lines of pre-emptive self preservation.

Thank god my wife was into horses (hunter/jumper eventing etc) She had had no room to bitch. She spent her money on horses and I spent mine on guns. Truth be told I think her damned horses would kill you faster than my guns would. I KNOW they were more expensive.