Sig Sauer

I attended a Carry a Concealed Weapon (CCW) course this weekend taught by Matt Burns. CCW is a mandatory 12 hour course for those wishing to carry a concealed weapon. Ten hours are lecture on gun laws and two hours are range time. Matt, who is a certified range officer, uses the two hours to teach tactical shooting moving the students through various stations designed to teach the students what it is like to shoot their weapon in a typical self-defense situation. I am not a gun blogger and do not aspire to be one. There are a boat load of gun writers and wannabes to cause me to keep pursuing my chosen niche. However, I do believe part of preparedness is weapons knowledge and training, I wanted to share my observations.

There were ten students, including myself, shooting on the range. Each student carried a different make and caliber. Most were shooting some type of 9mm, one student shot a revolver, and I shot my Sig Sauer P220 in 45ACP. This was the first training I've ever attended where every student was firing a different weapon. All of my previous training had been in the military where everyone was firing the same weapon at the same time.

My unscientific observations after two hours and about 100 rounds a piece; go with a Sig Sauer. Well yes of course I would say that because that's what I was shooting. But my recommendation comes from observation. There was one Beretta, one Glock, one Taurus, two Hi Points, one S&W revolver, two Sig Sauers, two others I was unable to identify. One Hi Point repeatedly jammed (based on the shooter and not the weapon), the rest operated well but there were stoppages in all but the revolver and the Sig Sauers.

I would not have felt compelled to write about this except each Sig Sauer was in a different caliber (9mm, .40 S&W, and .45ACP). Each Sig Sauer and wielded by different shooters of varying experience (the instructor used a P226 in 9mm, one student used a P226 in .40 S&W and mine was a P220 in .45ACP). Each of us are different heights (instructor 5'7", myself at 6'3" and the other student at 6'7"). The Sigs all fired without any stoppages and given the various models being used in different calibers this is a rather extraordinary thing.

Matt had us fired from a variety of positions while moving. The Sigs had no problems with this while some of the other pistols would experience a stoppage of the gun was canted. I was firing Blazer ammunition which uses and aluminum case. Not the most reliable ammunition but cheap and my Sig functioned flawlessly. Matt was using Americn Eagle ammunition. Another inexpensive brand and his Sig shot twice as many rounds without a hitch.

Gun geeks and gun bloggers reading this will of course have their counter-arguments and that's fine. I'm not here to say anything definitive, I am merely sharing my observation of various weapons being fired by various shooters on the same course of fire. The Sig was the most prevalent and none of the three Sigs let their operators down. You have to remember, each gun was firing different calibers, weight bullets and brand of ammunition and there wasn't a failure amongst any of the SIgs. If you are using something else and are satisfied, great! Don't change! However, if you are looking for a self-defensive handgun or if you are not satisfied with your choice you do need to check out the Sig Sauer. You won't be disappointed.