The Czar had the opportunity today to fire the Sig Sauer P226, a slick-looking 9mm pistol today. The weapon has become the flag ship of the venerable Sig Sauer line, and it is easy to see why.

The Sig Sauer P226. The one we fired was all black, though. Ridiculous amount of hardware is on the other side of the slide. Understandable that it looks better from this angle.

The weapon is absurdly easy to fire, and quickly puts holes in paper from a good distance away. With a smooth trigger pull and its ability to re-zero back onto the target, the P226 was a joy to shoot.

We have heard that early P226s had issues with long trigger pull, but we experienced nothing of the kind here. Squeezing off two rapid was quite simple, and to our knowledge this test weapon had no work done to correct any such issue. But perhaps our imagination worked us up that the issue was going to be way worse than it was. Who knows? Fire it and tell us what you think.

Of course, there is one drawback to the weapon: this baby is expensive. Sure there are more expensive pistols out there, but those are generally highly customized and geared for competition shooting. The reality is that you can spend a lot less on a pistol and get one that performs as well. The Czar has joked that Sig weapons have three times as many parts inside, but that of course is partially true: if you are used to modern pistols, the array of levers, buttons, and catches on the P226—all perfectly understandable—makes this weapon look like it might even have a working multitool pop some pliers out of some crevice.

This weapon has been around since the 1980s, and very little has changed about it since then (hence the gadgetry on its slide); one can understand why: you can load, fire, and reload this critter in short order. Reliable as heck, and easy to shoot. So while you can pay a lot less for a great gun, the Czar will never criticize anyone who drops a chunk of bucks on this joy-boy.

The Czar of Muscovy

Божію Поспѣшествующею Милостію Мы, Дима Грозный Императоръ и Самодержецъ Всероссiйскiй, цѣсарь Московскiй. The Czar was born in the steppes of Russia in 1267, and was cheated out of total control of all Russia upon the death of Boris Mikhailovich, who replaced Alexander Yaroslav Nevsky in 1263. However, in 1283, our Czar was passed over due to a clerical error and the rule of all Russia went to his second cousin Daniil (Даниил Александрович), whom Czar still resents. As a half-hearted apology, the Czar was awarded control over Muscovy, inconveniently located 5,000 miles away just outside Chicago. He now spends his time seething about this and writing about other stuff that bothers him.