SIG P226 + Off Topic Colt SAA

["DoubleAction"]

TMan said:

Speaking of which, I didn't get the "colored" whatever of the Stampede. I got a Colt instead, but the weird thing is: the hammer, which is the only thing on my Rodeo that is colored, isn't colored on the Colt. Go figure! Oh, the Colt cost me twice as much (don't worry DA, my wife doesn't know how to shoot a gun. ;D), and has a 4lb trigger - I'll work on that.

From the Beginning; Before things got sidetracked with our Off Topic

TMan; If you gave twice as much for the Colt as you would have for the Stampede, You made a very good deal with the Colt. Once you have the Colt's trigger action honed, you will enjoy it even more.

["DoubleAction"]

TBT; A little slide slop will not hurt a Combat Pistol like the 226, just as long as the slide rails do not exhibit excessive wear. Always lubricate the rails on the frame and slide before shooting.
Trigger pulls on the Single Actions vary, but TMan has dedicated alot of time and effort in measuring each and every revolver he has with the single action triggers; more so than myself because I shoot mostly double action in revolvers.

[TBT]

I think from the proof marks I have come up with the pistol being made in 1989 so it's probably been through it paces. Frankly, this pistol is in d**n good shape if it is 16 years old.

My only real concerns were that I could hurt the pistol by firing it with a lose slide and that the accuracy would be subpar. The accuracy seems to be very good, so if the pistol isn't going to get damaged I'm not real worried about it.

My initial impressions with this gun is that I really like it. I was never really able to warm up to the popular combat handguns like Glock. The SiG really seems like it's in a class of it's own.

I doubt this will be the last SiG I own. Right now it's really the only non-1911 maker that has my full attention.

[TMan]

What a day. Well DA, I hijacked this thread. My roof is leaking and I just got a quote of $36,000 to replace it. If there is anything less expensive than a Hi-Point, it will be my next gun.

Back to the Colt. After reading the manual - who ever does that with all the crap they have to put in to warn people if they ever touch the gun - to protect themselfs from the lawyers... On page one at the top it says: "This is a collector's firearm"

"Warning: This revolver has been recreated from a historic design and is extremely dangerous to handle when loaded"... "Firing this revolver will cause immediate extreme loss of collector's value". Screw that , my kids will inherit enough - I'll shoot the crap out of this thing.

I found the receipt. The Colt comes in a lovely blue cardboard box, like my P210 did, but they put it in an outer white box that has the markings on it. (I like the Sig plastic cases). The receipt was inside the outer box. I guess I need to keep the latter for posterity. I paid $1149 for it, and the Stampede Deluxe is $484 (www.sportingarms.com). Looking at the pictures I still like the looks of the Beretta.

Someone asked about the trigger pull: my Stampede (in nickle) is 3.0lbs. The Colt is 4.0lbs. However, the trigger on the Colt is very narrow, so it feels heavier than it would with a wider trigger.

DA, in the manual they do mention "color case hardened frame", but the hammer is not colored, which made me think it was the "Cowboy" series.

Oh, again I violated my never buy on the spur of the moment without doing research, but they had a Colt Gold Cup once, and by the time I made up my mind that I wanted it (2 days), it had been sold. I do like the looks of it, it has the black plastic grips, but the "blued" barrel and cylinder are more of a black than blue. So, its looks are growing on me. (My wife's black car took awhile for its looks to grow on me, but finally did).

Oh, the real selling point was that it was .38 Special vs. .357 Mangum for the Stampede. So, I can shoot .38 Specials without having the headache of cleaning the .357 cylinders after shooting .38 Specials in it.

Good thing I didn't go to the range today - I'm sure I would have shot myself. I'm almost afraid to go look in the liquor cabinet - bet I'm out of bourbon.

[TMan]

TBT, I apologize for getting off the subject. I strongly recommend Wilson't grease for your slides. Since I've started using it on the slides of my P90, I haven't seen any additional wear. Shoot it and enjoy it.

After a long wait, she got me two more 9mm magazines for the Kimber, so I'll be shooting it more in the future. I hate shooting a semi-automatic when I only have one magazine. I know, I know, with a revolver you have to reload each time (unless you have the speed loaders), but I guess it is just another of those weird-a** quirks that I have.

[TBT]

I've got no issue with going off topic here ... I enjoy hearing about all guns, you won't bother me with anything like that.

But 36K for you r roof leak?

Jesus man ... do they have to replace everything up there?

[TMan]

TBT, that is what they are saying. These are Hardie shakes, which are a fiber-cement product that are supposed to last 50 years. Unfortunately, they didn't factor rain, and the errosion it causes, into the equation. So, they are saying the whole thing needs replacing. Guess I'm going to be shooting .22LR's this year to save on money.

[TBT]

That is the suck that all other suck reports to. Lol ... my daughter said that to me the other day.

[MLB]

TMan said:

... My roof is leaking and I just got a quote of $36,000 to replace it. ...

For $36k, you could just as easily:
- hire enough people to stand on the roof with buckets when it rains.
- Perhaps construct a prefabricated building over your existing house?
- Pick up a few used DC-10 jet engines to blow the rain away.
- sod your roof and let the grass use up the water.

Sorrry TMan, couldn't help myself. ;D

I hope the original SIG thing was addressed well enough, as this thread has taken such a hard left that it could cause whiplash...

["DoubleAction"]

This thread reminds me of many conversations I've had.

TBT; I second the motion on the Wilson Ultimalube Grease.

TMan; I've read the Colt manuel where it mentions turning the cylinder, cocking the hammer, and loading the chambers will affect the gun's collectable value. This is truly a heirloom piece.

Attention

One important note on Colt's Single Action Army: Because the Colt is manufactured in the U.S.; The Trigger, Hammer, and internal lockwork is not required to meet with certain safety features as found on similar imported revolvers. This means with the hammer resting on a loaded chamber, the firing pin will be in contact with the cartridge's primer cap. That is what Colt means in regards to "Dangerous" and historical detail. Only five chambers should be loaded for carry, with the hammer resting on the empty chamber. There is a method for loading the Single Action Army where the hammer will rest on the empty chamber after loading.

["DoubleAction"]

TMan; Sorry to hear about your roof; I've been using fiberglass shingles with good results. My last roof lasted 20 years and the only reason I replaced it was to install new shingles to match up with a new carport addition I had built.

The Hammers on the Colts will not be color case hardened; The others are just being different. You did get a very good price on your's.

TBT; Go through the 226 and look for shiny areas of wear on the rails, cam, and barrel surface; This will tell you how much the pistol has been fired. Also check the extractor hook to make sure it is not rounded.

[TBT]

The barrel is missing some bluing up at the business end.

The rear slide rail on the left if you looking down on it is shiny and actually looks like it might have had a small amount of metal shaved off at that point. It looks like it, but you can't feel any difference with your fingers.

The extractor still has it's edge.

I'm an idiot and don't know what the cam is. I can't even find a "cam" in my exploded diagram in my manual.

["DoubleAction"]

TBT; Looking at the barrel, removed, the cam will be the lower portion of the barrel, which locks the barrel in position. It is called a cam because it channels the barrel in and out of battery, with a camming action, as the barrel's chamber drops to load during feeding, and rises as it locks into battery.
On the 1911, the links serve the same purpose but not quite the same method. With the Sigs, the recoil of the slide comes to rest on the compressed spring; On the 1911 the recoil of the slide comes to rest on the guide rod head to the frame while the spring becomes fully compressed within the recoil spring plug.
Just one logic of reasoning behind the strong stranded recoil springs on the Sigs, and another reason for shok buffers for the 1911s.

[TBT]

Thanks DA.

The cam shows a little wear on the blueing but nothing major. No "scuff" marks or anything.

[TMan]

DoubleAction said:

...There is a method for loading the Single Action Army where the hammer will rest on the empty chamber after loading.

Yes, I use the method of load one, skip one, load four, pull hammer back and lower on the empty cylinder. I do this with all my single action revolvers even if they have the transfer bar. My fear is that if I load 6 because there is a transfer bar, like on the Ruger or Stampede, I'll screw up and load 6 on the USFirearms or the Colt. Like I've said before - I've lived with me a long time and I know: I'm a screw-up!!!

MLB, thanks for all your advice. Remember I have a lot of guns!!!! Lucky for you I don't shoot worth a crap. ;D

DA, it is hard to believe that in order to import there are higher standards than there are for products produced in the U.S. I would expect it to be just the opposite. I really thought that the reason the Colt (and copies) don't have the transfer bar is that they are "collector items" and it is justified that way.

this thread has taken such a hard left that it could cause whiplash

Hey, hey, hey, on this forum we go to the right, not the left. ;D

And finally getting back to the topic of this thread. TBT, I think you P226 is just fine. Certain 1911 people might freak out at this, but I think the Sig design for locking the barrel is a much better design that the 1911, and you can put more rounds through it, and abuse it more than a 1911. Of course I'm a moron, so take it for what it is worth. My wife was always big on taking peoples advice. I finally convinced her that peoples free advice is often worth what you pay for it.

["DoubleAction"]

TMan said:

DA, it is hard to believe that in order to import there are higher standards than there are for products produced in the U.S. I would expect it to be just the opposite. I really thought that the reason the Colt (and copies) don't have the transfer bar is that they are "collector items" and it is justified that way.

TMan; I know what you mean, and I felt the same way until I saw the evidence in my face. Firearms that are allowed to enter this country, through importation, are ruled by those laws which they must conform by. Uberti still had their 4 notch hammer, no safety bar, and hammer mounted firing pin, but because of the importation laws ruling firearms, the Uberti had a device mounted on the lower portion of the hammer which blocked the hammer from dropping when the hammer was placed in the first hammer notch ( Safety Notch).
Importation laws gives alot of logical reasoning behind why most firearm manufacturers have set up shop within this country. Just to name a few of those manufacturers; Uberti ( Now part of Beretta ), Walther USA ( Now in with S&W ), Sigarms, H&K, Glock, Taurus ( Who also brought in Rossi ), Beretta; These are a few. I'm sure there are economic and trade reasoning behind manufacturers setting up shop in this country, but there are those laws which determine certain safety requirements and compliances.
At any given time new laws can be created to ban or limit the importation of certain firearms, for any reason. I know it's hard to believe, but think about liability issues of a manufacturer from another part of the world.

[TBT]

One more P226 question for now ...

The triger return spring. I have the older version whereas it looks like a wire. I bought hogue wrap around grips for the gun and it came with a note that suggested that I replace the spring with the newer version. Should I?

["DoubleAction"]

TBT; I saw the same thing somewhere. It would not hurt to replace it. How do you like the Hogue wrap arounds ? I ordered some for my 226 and with the wide body grip, the wrap arounds fill my hand up so much, I have to avoid getting the bore out of alignment with the axis of my forearm in order to have a normal trigger reach with my index finger.

[TBT]

I haven't shot the gun with the wraps yet, but i love the feel of it. I really feel like I have a good handle on the weapon. They look pretty mean too, though not as nice as say a pair of the Nill wood grips.

["DoubleAction"]

Yea; Those Nill Grips really look good; Best ones to come around since Hogues.