SIG P229 – .357 SIG


SIG builds pistols that are renowned for their reliability and accuracy. They have become widely adopted by State, County, and Municipal law enforcement departments and probably split the majority of that market fairly evenly with Glock. In terms of Federal Agencies SIG clearly dominates. The full sized service pistol, the model 226, in 9mm was adopted by the Navy Seals after they encountered too many problems with their Beretta pistols and the more compact 229, in .40 S&W, was selected by the United States Coast Guard and the Department of Homeland Security and from all reports everyone who has put the SIG into service has been very happy with them. Several agencies have opted for the .357 SIG caliber which can be found in the holsters of the Air Marshals, FBI, and Secret Service.


As mentioned above, the 229 is shorter in length than the 226 (7.1” versus 7.7 inches), is shorter in terms of height and carries 13 + 1 rounds. The shorter length and height makes the 229 a bit more concealable underneath the jackets of the FBI and Secret Service agents.
The SIG P229 was introduced at the SHOT Show in 1990. It is basically a Model 228 that has been beefed up to handle the .40 S&W cartridge that Smith & Wesson debuted in 1990 as a compromise between the 9mm and 10mm. After the devastating 1986 FBI shootout in Miami the Feds felt that their 9mm pistols, loaded with Winchester Silvertip 115 grain Hollow-Point ammunition failed them. While they toyed with the idea of switching to the time and battle tested .45 ACP, they eventually settled on the Smith & Wesson Model 1076 in 10mm. The 10mm was a pretty hot cartridge and the S&W 1076 was a fairly large pistol so this was not a fit with female and smaller male agents. Smith & Wesson convinced the Federal Cartridge company to make the .40 ammunition and Smith & Wesson began making a pistol to shoot it, although Glock beat them to the marketplace with their own pistol chambered in the new .40 Caliber.


With SIG’s outstanding reputation for reliability quickly rushing a problem pistol to market would not do, so even though it was introduced in 1990 it was did not hit the dealer’s shelves until 1992 and it was only chambered in .40 S&W at that time. It would be two more years before they brought it out in 9mm and then .357 SIG.


The .357 SIG Cartridge


The .357 SIG answered the call by law enforcement agencies that liked the capacity of semi-automatic pistols but were not completely pleased with the performance either the 9mm or .40 S&W round. They wanted a semi-auto pistol coupled with their .357 Magnum revolver round. As I wrote when preparing the review of the Glock 32C in .357 SIG (my apologies for repeating this to the liberal blogger who was offended by the upcoming description of the .357 SIG’s performance):


“SIG partnered with the Federal Cartridge company to provide police officers with a semi-auto pistol round that gave them the same performance as their magnum revolvers by putting a 9mm bullet in similar weights to the revolver cartridge into a necked down .40 caliber casing so that they could give it some more power. With a 125 grain bullet the .357 SIG zips along at a rate between 1350 and 1375 feet per second with a muzzle energy between 500 and 525 foot pounds. If you want a little more sizzle you can slip in a 100 grain CorBon Powerball which smokes out of the barrel at 1600 feet per second with 568 foot pounds of energy. But first, a word of caution; the .357 SIG pistol only fires the .357 SIG or .357 semi-auto Cartridge; unlike the .357 Magnum revolver you cannot put a .38 caliber round into the .357 semi-auto pistol, not even a .38 Super cartridge.”


The Delaware State Police were probably the first to employ the SIG P229 in .357 SIG followed by the Virginia State Police. Since then I think it was been approved by the Texas Department of Public Safety and the federal agencies mentioned in the first paragraph.


Shooting and Handling Impressions


The .357 SIG is a snappy little cartridge but not impossible to handle. You definitely know that you are firing a hot round, especially in the 125 grain JHP Remington load. SIG pistols tend to sit very high in the hand, meaning that the top of the slide is higher above the web of your hand than a CZ or Glock which causes more muzzle flip. This is not a pistol for someone who is sensitive to recoil.


The 229 is a classic SIG design with this pistol having the traditional DA/SA action. This pistol was also topped off with night sights which I feel is a must for any pistol which will be employed as a defensive tool. As would be expected with a SIG there were no failures to feed and the pistol operated very smoothly.


My only complaint with the 229 is grip width. Although the stated width is 1.5 inches I would swear that it feels more like 1.75. Swap the plastic with SIG wood grips and you will increase the girth even further. If you want to slim this pistol down you will have to go aluminum either through SIG or Hogue and neither is inexpensive; the SIG aluminum will set you back $180.00 and Hogue will siphon $140.00 out of your bank account. And…don’t forget to order the slim grip screws because the standard ones that came on you plastic grips will be too long.
The SIG 229 .357 has a reputation for accuracy that is on par with its revolver cartridge brethren and you can easily see that in the targets below:


Two targets at 21 feet both fired on with Sellier & Belloit FMJ ammo.






























Target at 31 feet with the same ammunition:


Target at 50 feet with the same ammunition:


Target at 75 feet with the same ammunition:


Two Defensive Loads; target on the left was shot with Speer 125 grain Gold Dot Hollow Point ammunition at 21 feet and the target on the right was shot with Remington 125 grain Jacketed Hollow Point ammo.

There are those who have discounted the .357 SIG stating that it is still just a 9mm bullet. True but it basically has the same diameter, weight, velocity output, and energy displacement as the .357 Magnum so the argument has only the slightest of merit. Similarly, in one book I was reading, someone further discounted it saying it was really only a 9mm +P++. To which I would ask “is that a bad thing”?

Kahr MK9 9mm Pocket Pistol

The MK9 is somewhat of an odd duck in the current state of pocket pistols in that it is a completely Stainless Steel pocket pistol. No Scandium, Aluminum, or Polymer here. To get a complete understanding of this pistol, let’s look at the specifications:

Model: MK9
Caliber: 9mm
Capacity: 6+1, 7+1 (magazine with grip extension)
Operation: Trigger cocking DAO; lock breech; "Browning - type" recoil lug; passive striker block; no magazine disconnect
Barrel: 3.0", polygonal rifling; 1 - 10 right-hand twist
Length: O/A 5.3"
Height: 4.0"
Slide Width: .90"
Weight: Pistol 22.1 ounces,Magazine 1.9 ounces
Grips: Wraparound, textured hard nylon
Sights: Drift adjustable, white bar-dot combat sights(tritium night sights optional)
Finish: Matte stainless steel (M9093), Polished stainless steel (M9098)
Magazines: 1 each: 6 rd flush baseplate and 7 rd with extended grip

At 22.1 ounces (without loaded magazine) this is a little heavy for a pocket pistol. One would think that the MK9’s svelte sister, the 14 ounce PM 9, would be a better choice but…not necessarily. Like most handgun purchases, deciding on the features you want is a compromise since there aren’t too many “perfect” handguns out there. I found the PM 9 to be too thin to shoot comfortably and if you can't shoot a pistol comfortably it is difficult to shoot it accurately. The stats from Kahr put both pistols with a slide width of .90. This maybe so, but the MK 9’s stainless steel grip is surrounded by the wraparound nylon grips that fill my hand better than the skinny, bare polymer frame of the PM 9. The extra weight of the stainless steel also lessens the recoil, but the 9mm recoil is not really an issue to me in the realm of pocket pistols.

And being a pocket pistol the MK 9 rides well in either an inside-the-waistband rig or a pocket holster. If you want to get an MK 9 for pocket carry you must make sure that the pocket is strong enough to hold it and that your pants are properly supported by your belt. The heavier weight of this pistol can cause the pocket and pants to sag if they are not help up properly. My only other complaint is that the grip is a little too vertical and I would appreciate a just a bit more angle (say, oh…11 degrees). That being said, the pistol is still pretty easy to hold onto during shooting and for me, the Pearce finger extension paid dividends during the handling of the handgun. My hands are small enough that the finger extension allows me get all three fingers on the grip.

The trigger pull is somewhat long but very smooth and not too heavy. Many feel that Kahr pistols have the best double action of any pistol on the market. They might be right, however due to the length of the pull it is important to be on guard against muscling the pistol and pulling or pushing the shots to the left or right.

Unlike many small pocket pistols the MK 9 has actual and useable 3 dot sights and I applaud Kahr for realizing that many people still want to be able to get a proper sight picture on target (However, I do wish there were night sights on the pistol).
As you will see in the targets included below the accuracy of the MK 9 is more than sufficient at reasonable distances.

24 rounds at 21 feet:

18 rounds at 31 feet:
24 rounds at 40 feet:
15 rounds at 50 feet:
20 rounds at 75 feet (16 hits and 4 misses):
Out to 40 feet I don’t think you could ask for greater accuracy that the MK 9 provides. So, if you’re looking for a small, but non-polymer pistol the Kahr has a lot to offer you.

The Taking of Pelham 123
Who was in Charge of Continuity?

Good movie. Great performances by Denzel Washington and John Travolta but they dropped the ball on scene continuity with firearms.

Late in the movie a police lieutenant plants a pistol in the false bottom of a bag containing the ransom money. Before he puts it in the bag he shows Denzel Washington's character how to remove the safety. The pistol shown is clearly a blue steel Walther PPK or PPKs (all you see is the part of the slide that shows the saftey an the word "Walther" on the grip). In a later scene Denzel's character reaches into the false bottom and somehow the Walther had magically turned into a Kahr K9 which, of course, does not contain a safety. Now the Kahr would make sense as the NYPD has authorized the Kahr K9 for off-duty and back-up carry but that was not the pistol that was put in the bag in the earlier scene.

Travolta's character is packing a SIG 229. In a scene toward the end of the film it is a two tone with a Stainless Steel type slide on a blued frame. I think in earlier scenes it was all blue. If anyone sees and can confirm this one way or the other, please let me know.