I opted to go with 147gr ammunition with this short barreled gun.
My first range session with the SIG P224 consisted of a vetting process to ensure it was reliable enough for carry. To me this normally means at least 1000 rounds of the carry ammo I intend to use, but I short stroked this one and did only 500 rounds and called good.
I’m using 147gr Federal Hydra-Shok ammunition in this shorter barreled gun because of some lessons learned with my M&P9C. I find the sub-sonic ammunition works very well in these guns and it has the added benefit of not beating the heck out of my hand. The 124gr +P stuff I ran through my M&P left a mark, so to speak, so I switched to the 147gr and have been happy ever since. Modern ballistic developments with the 147gr 9mm have made it a viable self defense cartridge and as long as we can get people to stop playing old tapes it might catch on again. It is an acceptable self defense cartridge to me.
I was able to follow up the first 500 rounds with another 200 rounds of 95gr frangible ammunition. It ran perfectly with this lighter ammunition, cycled completely and functioned flawlessly. I had one failure to feed issue while using the slide catch lever from a slide lock reload. I was using a P229-9 magazine without the extension and I am not completely convinced that it was not a PEBGAG issue. I made 5 attempts to duplicate it and was not successful so the problem exists between the grips and the ground and I accept full responsibility for it.
Accuracy is what is to be expected in a SIG. I ran several one-hole drills without issue and took it back to 15 yards holding everything to POA = POI. The gun comes with full size Sig-Lite Night Sights and it runs like any other Classic Line gun. It will make it back to at least 100 yards in the coming sessions. I doubt it will have any trouble back there either.
Overall, it is up to 700 rounds with one issue which is dubious at best. It will continue to be in my holster for now. Although I am not certain it will be remain a DAK. I see DA/SA parts in this guns future. And I did make one small addition to the gun…
A small addition to the gun just to see how it will run and carry.
Nice addition . I really like it.
Is that a stock texture on the grips.? It looks very grippy. The grip texture looks great.
That is the way the grip came from the factory. The texture is great. I do not find it to be too aggressive at all. It provides a solid grip surface without being overly aggressive. Although, I like blood donor checkering so I may not be the best standard from which to base things.
There are always going to be those people that make comments about your ammo selection. Whether it be caliber or bullet type/weight. I’ll tell you what my dad says about that ” There is no shortage of unqualified opinions”. The 147 gr is fine to me, if it pokes holes in what I am aiming at, then I’m good with it.
I’ve got a few different handguns that will only choke on 147 g, one of which is a SIG P239 so I’m kind of surprised to hear that the 224 works with it just fine.
This pistol is very intriguing. My department issues Sig 226’s and is thinking of going to a G26 which is nice and all but the ability to use full size mags in a backup gun would be more ideal. I’m excited to hear about some long term testing of this weapon.
Modern ballistic developments with the 147gr 9mm have indeed made it a viable self defense cartridge, however, Hydrashok is NOT one of those modern loads. It is a nearly 25 y/o design prone to plugging and poor barrier performance; there are FAR better designs now available.
Scott, I have been interested in adding a red dot to my Sig, how did you mount the Leupold on the slide?
The mount is done using the Leupold Delta Point sight that comes with the “ALL MOUNTS” kit. The kit includes mounting hardware and instructions for quite a few guns using the factory dovetail. http://www.leupold.com/tactical/scopes/deltapoint-reflex-sights/deltapoint-reflex-sight-all-mounts/
I used the mounting hardware they had in the kit for the P226 and it has been holding up very well. I am at the 5000 round mark now and it is still tight and has held zero.
If you plan to mount it to your gun, please understand that the mounting hardware in the kit is for Classic Line Guns. If you have a gun from another line (SigPro or P250 for example), or you have a carbon steel slide (Made in Germany), I can not say one way or another if it will fit.
I was going to do a longer bit o why the Hydrashock was not the 147gr load to choose but Doc beat me to it.
I will note that both the 124gr and 147gr Hydrashock loads proved to be very poor choices for duty ammo in the OISs we had at my job with those loads. We often had bullets fail to expand, and when they did they often fragmented badly and failed to penetrate deeply enough. Sometimes we saw these two disparate levels of performance in the very same OIS
Yup–Hydrashok pretty much sucks. Other ATK products like HST, Tactical, Gold Dot, are better; heck, even EFMJ is probably more consistent…
Without meaning to be rude, do you believe there to be a conflict of interest between your place of employment and the maker of this pistol? Perhaps at the least, worthy of a disclaimer?
What holster will you be using? I’m having a little…. well a lot of trouble finding an IWB for my P224.