SIG P220 Carry Elite
The firm of Schweizerische Industrie Gesellschaft, of Switzerland, was established in 1853 making railway cars. But as the years and the business evolved the SIG brand has come to stand for quality, reliability, and accurate firearms, most prominently handguns. During the 1970’s a merger of sorts took place with J.P. Sauer & Sohn which have allowed SIG to take advantage of Sauer’s manufacturing facilities in Germany.

SIG’s premier success came with the SP 47/8, later renamed and more commonly referred to as the P-210. This pistol was offered in a few different calibers but is revered as the one of the most accurate 9mm pistol ever made. The P-210 incorporated a design whereby the slide ran on rails inside the frame rather than the outside as is seen on most Browning designed semi-automatic pistols including the venerable Model 1911. It was thought that SIG’s design with interior rails provided better support for the slide, increasing both the strength and accuracy of the pistol. I don’t know if the prior statement has ever been scientifically proven but I will certainly not question either the strength or accuracy of their handguns.

In the 1960s SIG modified the design and produced the P220 which was offered in 7.65 Parabellum, 9mm, .38 Super, and .45 ACP. I first became aware of this design in 1978 when I received a phone call from a woman who ran a gun store out of her living room in Bloomington, Indiana where I was attending school. I realize as I write this that the practice of gun store owners calling me to tell me about something they have just received is no new phenomenon; it has been going on for 30 years. This woman knew that both myself and my apartment mate were fans of the .45 ACP; I had a Series 70 nickel plated Colt Government Model and Deane had a blued Colt Combat Commander. (I suppose I should accredit or blame Deane with my introduction to fine handguns in general, specifically the .45 ACP. When I first met Deane the year before he showed me his Colt Python .357 Magnum Revolver and his Combat Commander. These were premier handguns and I had never met someone who owned either, no less both. After firing the Colt Combat Commander I was hooked and there was no going back; the 45 caliber 1911 pistol was powerful, accurate, easy to shoot, and fun. My Smith & Wesson nickel plated Model 36 .38 Special just wasn’t going to cut it anymore. I should also accredit Deane with introducing me to Crown Royal. His father was an executive with Seagram’s so the fine amber liquor from Canada flowed freely.) Getting back to the story; the gun shop owner related that she had a new .45 caliber pistol and thought we should come in and see it. We rushed over and she presented us with a Browning BDA (Browning Double Action) service frame pistol in .45 ACP. The Browning BDA was only offered from 1977 to 1980 and although I am not sure of the connection, if the BDA was not made by SIG, it was certainly a line by line replica. Anyway, the pistol was imported, expensive, and double action…we scoffed. In our minds the Colt Model 1911 was a perfect design and there was no room for anything else, especially a double action for which we saw no practical use.

I will still contend that the 1911 is a classic and timeless design but I scoff no more at the SIG P220. The P220 has an enviable reputation for accuracy and this new iteration, the P220 Carry Elite continues to prove that the reputation is well deserved. The standard P220 is a full-sized service pistol. The Carry Elite trims the barrel slightly (half an inch) and adds a few very desirable upgrades to the standard package. The upgrades include beautifully stippled rosewood grips, night sights, and SIG’s relatively new Short Action Trigger. Below are the rest of the specifics on the P220 Carry Elite:

Caliber: .45ACP
Trigger Pull DA/SA: 10.0 lbs/ 4.5 lbs
Trigger Feature: SRT™ - Short Reset Trigger
Overall Length: 7.79"
Overall Height: 5.50"
Overall Width: 1.60"
Barrel Length: 3.90"
Sight Radius: 5.70"
Sights: SIGLITE® Night Sights
Weight w/ Mag: 30.4oz
Capacity: 8 Rounds
Grips: Custom Rosewood Grips
Finish: Nitron®

Shooting the P220

Cut to the chase; this is a great pistol. It is extremely comfortable and the recoil is nothing. I was firing this pistol along with a .40 S&W full-sized auto pistol and the felt recoil of the SIG .45 ACP was less than the .40 S&W. The grips are beautifully executed and the stippling on the rosewood allows for a firm and consistent hold shot after shot. The Short Reset Trigger is a wonderful development and I would urge everyone to find someone who has a SIG with the Short Reset Trigger and try it out. After firing the first round in the double action mode, the trigger resets itself in a very short distance (hence the name). This makes for faster and more accurate follow-up shots. The double action trigger pull is probably the best I have ever experienced. The pull is very smooth and while it is certainly longer than the single action trigger pull, the DA pull is consistent from the moment you put your finger on the trigger to the point where the hammer is released. This trigger does not have the annoying attribute of many DA pistols where the trigger has a fair amount of low-resistance take up before the trigger actually being to engage and cock the hammer. This abrupt change in trigger pull resistance is like hitting a brick wall and is responsible for many people throwing the first double-action shot off target. The DA pull on this pistol is so good that most of the DA shots hit dead center.

(Target fired at 25 feet from a two-handed standing hold. Target in center hit with 25 rounds of Magtech 230 grain FMJ ammunition. Target at lower left absorbed 8 rounds of the same ammunition and target on the right was fired at with 17 rounds of the same ammo.)

(Target fired on at 30 feet with Winchester 230 grain jacketed hollowpoint ammunition. 8 rounds were fired at each bullseye.)

Seven of the eight rounds fired at this target went into a group measuring .69 of an inch side by side from 30 feet. Somebody who really knows how to shoot could really make this pistol sing.

I am trying to work on my distance shooting so this target was placed at 50 feet (the limit of the Dakotah range) and fired on with 50 rounds of Remington 230 grain FMJ Ammunition. While I need to practice and perhaps get some instruction in longer range shooting, just over half of the shots landed in the ten ring.

There was one fly in the ointment. The pistol consistently fails to feed the last round in the magazine (with both mags supplied with the purchase of the pistol). I have an email in to SIG customer service and I will let you know what they say. I suppose from a practical standpoint that the accuracy of this pistol probably makes that 9th round rather moot, however I would like to have the pistol in a fully functional mode.

Smith & Wesson Model 22-1917

This year Smith & Wesson, in a move of near-brilliance, introduced their retro-line of revolvers. This is a reintroduction of some of their classic-discontinued handguns allowing the shooter to buy one that has benefited from the modern metallurgic processes, is safe to shoot with modern ammunition, and does not have the collector’s price tag that would be attached to an original specimen. Collectors can still hunt the gun shows and online auctions for an original to display, brag about, and keep locked in the safe. This reintroduction is a boon to those of us who want a shooting model that is true to the original and as long as we are willing to put up with that completely unnecessary internal lock that defaces the panel above the cylinder release latch. The only thing that puzzles me about their retro line offering is the lack of marketing behind this line. When I peruse the gun related magazines, and I subscribe to most of them, I see plenty of full page advertisements for their M&P line of polymer semi-automatic pistols and plenty of ad coverage for their light artillery hand-howitzers that launch the .500 caliber revolver cartridge. I cannot recall one instance of seeing an advertisement for the retro line. If you have not seen the complete line of retro revolvers, do yourself a favor and search them out on their website.

Two years ago Smith & Wesson brought out the Model 22 Thunder Ranch revolver in .45 ACP. 22 was the model designation for the model 1917 during its 1957 evolution. Thunder Ranch Firearms Instructor and gun scribe Clint Smith persuaded S&W to reintroduce the model 21 in .44 Special by convincing them that there was a market for a classic, large caliber fightin’ revolver. The model 21 hit dealer’s shelves in 2004. A year later, spurred on by Clint and the positive sales of the Model 21, Smith & Wesson reintroduced the Model 22. While this was a great move on their part there were many shooters, myself included, which wanted the revolver that went overseas with the doughboys of WWI.

The Model 1917
As many of you probably know, when Great War began General Blackjack Pershing, having studied the evolution of trench warfare from the American Civil War through the current stalemate in Europe, immediately realized the necessity of having his troops armed with a powerful, large caliber sidearm. Once you jumped into the enemy’s trench or he jumped into yours, the fighting got up close and personal real quickly and your four and a half foot long Springfield rifle with bayonet affixed became unwieldy and rather useless. Pershing made it known early on that he wanted every soldier to have the current military sidearm, the Colt Model 1911 in .45 ACP. The problem was that Colt did not have enough of the machinery tooled up to produce the semi-automatic pistol. Up to this point revolvers had been the bread and butter for both Colt and Smith & Wesson and they had the capability to produce revolvers in large quantities. The Colt New Service Revolver and the Smith & Wesson Hand Ejector were perfect solutions as they both were built on large frames and chambered for heaviest calibers available at the time. But there was one more hitch; the military knew from their experience in the Indian Wars that they could not logistically handle multiple calibers of ammunition.

During their frontier expeditions the Army was equipped with Colt single action revolvers chambered for the .45 Colt round (or .45 Long Colt as it is more commonly known) and the Smith & Wesson Schofield break-top revolver chambered for the shorter .45 Schofield cartridge. The Army found it nearly impossible to get the right round to the right troops so they finally decided that since the shorter .45 Schofield cartridge would fit in the Colt revolvers they would only procure the .45 Schofield ammunition. The Army did not buy the Schofield revolver in vast numbers, but purchased a lot of Schofield ammo. And that is why the Little Big Horn battle field is littered with Schofield casings even though the troops who fought and died there were equipped with the Colt Single Action Army revolver.

All of this lead the Army to specify that the supplemental revolvers be chambered in the .45 ACP round, the same round as their standard issue Model 1911 pistols. The problem was that revolvers required a pronounced rim at the base of the cartridge to keep the cartridge from falling through the chambers of the cylinder. The rim also was needed so that the extractor could eject the fired cartridges. Smith & Wesson found the answer to this problem by devising what became known as the half moon clip, a semi-circular arc of sheet metal stamped to hold three cartridges in place. It successfully kept the rounds snug in their chambers and eased the process of both loading and ejecting the cartridges. Therefore Colt and Smith & Wesson were able to chamber their New Service and Hand Ejector revolvers in .45 ACP and both became known as the Model 1917 with Smith & Wesson manufacturing 169,959 for the military which used the 1917 through WWII. The model 1917 was quickly accepted by the troops most of whom had extensive experience with revolvers but had never handled a new-fangled semi-automatic pistol.

Back in the mid 1980’s a number surplus model 1917s were located overseas, were imported back into the States and sold at fairly reasonable prices. I was smart enough to look at several of them and unknowledgeable enough to have passed on them.

Model 22-1917
Now S&W has brought the 1917 back to life and it is true to the original with a few exceptions; the internal safety lock has been added, a transfer bar and internal firing pin have replaced the hammer mounted firing pin on the originals, the grips are diamond checkered walnut as opposed to the smooth grips on the original military handgun, and in addition to the blued finish the new revolver is offered in nickel as well as with a case-color hardened frame.
Here are the technical specifications

Model: 22, Model of 1917

Caliber: .45ACP

Capacity: 6 Rounds

Barrel Length: 5 1/2"

Front Sight: Pinned Half Moon Service

Rear Sight: Service Grip: Altamont® Wood

Frame: Large

Finish: Nickel

Length: 10 7/8"

Material: Carbon Steel Frame and Cylinder

Weight Empty: 37.2 oz.

Prior to leaving Boise, Cliff (of Cliff’s Guns, Safes, and Reloading) was able to procure a Model 22-1917 for me that was nickel plated. I did not specify one in nickel, it was the only one he could get and, quite frankly, I have not seen another Model 22-1917 since then.

Upon first impression, the handgun was stunning. The grips were made of a lighter colored walnut, expertly checkered, and perfectly fitted to the frame and….they were extremely uncomfortable to shoot. Despite the size and weight of this revolver this handgun bucked pretty hard when fired driving the back of the grip frame painfully into the web of my hand. I thought a Tyler T-Grip adapter would give me more to hang onto thereby lessening the felt recoil. I was mistaken. The T-Grip adapter did nothing for the perceived recoil and it smashed my knuckles into the trigger guard. Fortunately, I found a set of Pachmayr Decellerator grips on the peg wall at Cliff’s and the Pachmayr grips not only made the revolver more shootable, it also improved my accuracy. The installation of the Pachmayr’s did require me to punch the lanyard retention pin out of the base of the grip frame so that the lanyard could be removed.

One of the features that surprised me was the sights. The rear sight is the standard S&W fixed sight milled into the top of the frame and the front sight was the standard half moon service sight. Nothing fancy at all however they provide an excellent sight picture, much better than I expected. It may have something to do with the contrast between the nickel plated rear sight and the front sight which is blued. As seen in the target below, which was shot at 21 feet from a standing two-handed hold, the revolver is capable of very decent accuracy.

I like this revolver quite a bit. It has a classic style, good accuracy, and a rather menacing appearance. What more could the soldiers of the Great War have wanted?

Vanity Project Completed
The Colt Model 1908 In .380 ACP Has Risen From The Waste Pile
Last September I bought myself a handgun as a birthday present since this was a tradition I started when I turned 21. Now, don’t get me wrong—while this is a tradition I have not been able to adhere to it every year. I think I started this tradition due to the fact that no family member or friend would likely buy me a handgun so I took it upon myself to do so the very day I was old enough.

Last year I purchased a Colt Model 1908 Pocket Hammerless pistol in pretty much junk condition. I already have three examples of Colt’s Pocket Hammerless; one in each caliber Colt offered (.25 ACP, .32 ACP, and .380 ACP). I love this design and the history associated with this pistol, but I do not shoot them often due to their collector status. My birthday present was certainly not in collect condition so there was no need to keep it in its original state. I have long wanted to correct one of the glaring defects common to pistols of this era which is their almost nonexistent sights. Now there could be several reasons for this phenomenon. First of all long range handgun shooting did not gain much popularity until after WWII; so at the turn of the century (the last one, not the current one) handgun shooting was seen as a close range defensive art. Secondly, small semi-automatic pistols were seen as pocket guns. Men’s trouser and coat pockets were larger and suits were baggier so these thin, flat pistols were a natural to be slipped into a pants pocket, suit jacket pocket, overcoat pocket, or, in the case of the Model 1908 in .25ACP, a vest pocket. Thus, large sights would snag on the pocket and become a liability. The condition of this junker would allow me make any modifications I desired to pay for.

History Refresher
The Colt Pocket Hammerless is another design by firearms genius John Moses Browning (one of these days I must pick up a biography on him). The story goes that he presented the design for this pistol to Colt Management in 1899 and they weren’t that interested as they were busy trying to produce a new larger caliber pistol which would win them another military contract. Short sighted American firearms manufacturers made the mistake of turning down Browning designs on several occasions. When they did, Fabrique Nationale d’Armes de Guerre of Belgium was always ready to welcome Browning. While Colt toiled away on a military sidearm Fabrique Nationale produced Browning’s self loading pocket pistol as the FN Model 100. In a relatively short period of time Colt found that their civilian sales in Europe were drying up as the market was in love with the FN-Browning pocket gun. Colt also realized that American retailers were beginning to import this pistol in fairly large quantities. Colt quickly brokered a deal with Browning and Fabrique Nationale to be able to produce the handgun for U.S. sales. On June 19, 1903 Colt began shipping out their new Model 1903 Pocket Hammerless in .32 ACP. Five years later they also released the Model 1908 in .380 ACP and a smaller (vest pocket) version in .25 ACP. The Pocket Hammerless was vastly popular and by the time production ceased after WWII Colt had manufactured over one million of these pistols. Unfortunately, quality became the demise of the Pocket Hammerless. By the end of WWII, Colt’s machinery was worn out and the staff made these pistols was retiring. The Pocket Hammerless was a “tight” pistol which required a fair amount of hand fitting. The reinvestment in the equipment and personnel required to make the model 1903 and 1908 would raise the cost of making the handgun beyond the reach of their customer base so it was discontinued.

The Pocket Hammerless has had a storied past in terms of who utilized the pistol. Many were privately purchased during WWI and slipped into the trench coats of the American Expeditionary Forces. By WWII they were standard issue to General Officers in all branches of the military and used in moderate numbers by the Office of Strategic Services, the fore runner to the CIA. Their issuance to General Officers continued through the Vietnam Conflict.

The Pocket Hammerless was also popular with the gangster contingent as well. Al Capone was said to have kept one in his night stand. John Dillinger owned several of them.

(Two of Dillinger's Pocket Hammerless pistols are represented in his stash of weaponary)

And while Clyde Barrow favored Colt’s Model 1911A1 in .45 ACP, he used a Pocket Hammerless in .32 to break out of jail after Bonnie Parker smuggled it to Clyde by taping it to her thigh.

(This is the pistol Bonnie smuggled to Clyde which allowed him to break out of jail)

The Pocket Hammerless also has figured prominently in the popular media. Raymond Chandler’s famed Private Detective, Phillip Marlowe, favored the Model 1903 in .32 ACP. Humphrey Bogart brandished one at Claude Rains in Casablanca and, in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, both Cartoon Mogul R.K. Maroon sported one (gold plated and engraved) and Jessica Rabbit took a shot at Judge Doom with one (although on closer inspection the barrel to slide fit is not good and it appears that she had the sights filed off—probably the reason she missed).

The Project Is Completed

Upon buying the “project” Model 1908 it was apparent that it needed more than new sights. The finish was completely worn off and the gun sported a sickly brown patina with spots of pitting in several areas. The grips were cracked and chipped. The Safety spun like a top and the recoil spring was more crooked than a Democratic presidential front-runner.

I had a tinge of buyer’s remorse as I wondered if this gun could be restored and improved upon. Luckily, Mike Dudley, the gunsmith at Impact Guns in Boise (who has trouble-shot many of my pistols) told me that the project would be “no problem at all”. The pistol had to be reblued and although I do not know who Mike sent it to, whoever it was did an outstanding job. Refinishing old guns like this can be a tricky prospect. I have dealt with many a gunsmith who would not reblue but merely Parkerize a gun with this much pitting on it. The first step in the process is to polish the metalwork prior to the bluing process. I have seen many an old handgun get over-polished which seriously detracts from the firearm’s value. This gun looks like it just left the factory in 1921 (the date of manufacture according to the serial number). All of the imprinting on the pistol is intact and crisp.

(Can you believe that this is the same pistol as shown above?)

After the gun was reblued, Mike went to work replacing the springs, replacing and repairing the safety and putting on the new sights. Mike had to first mill off the original sights and then cut, file, and fit the new ones. Mike was able to find a small and fairly low profile set of sight. I did not discuss a preference on the accoutrements of the sights but Mike must be somewhat psychic. He put a large white dot on the front sight so my 50 year old eyes could see it better and put a solid vertical bar on the rear. I very much prefer this set-up to the more popular 3-dot system. I find that the bar and dot system makes the sights much easier and faster to acquire and keep on target. When raising the pistol I just “dot the i” and I am ready to shoot; no lining up three dots and then having to re-level them after absorbing recoil or other movement.

The last step was to replace the cracked and chipped grips. This turned out to be the one of the most difficult prospects of the entire process. Mike had a set of original Jay Scott Mother of Pearl grips which looked fantastic against the deep blue of the pistol. But, when Mike test fired the pistol they cracked and broke off. No worry, I had a set of Ajax Ivory Polymer grips sitting idly by in my grip drawer so I put them on. During my first outing with the pistol they also cracked and broke off. This was somewhat alarming since I figured the Ivory Polymer to be nearly indestructible. Finally I ordered a set of Eagle’s American Elk stag grips which is a very handsome addition to the final product. All in all Mike Dudley did an outstanding job on this handgun and at a very reasonable price. I would do this again in a heartbeat.

And, as you can see below, she’s a shooter. The target below absorbed 22 rounds of Mag-Tech .380 FMJ ammunition at a distance of 21 feet.