SIG SP2022 at the range...

SP2022

I hadn't fired a SIGPro in... well, probably since Marko had that one in .357SIG; Clinton must still have been president at the time. That was a 2340, and although I haven't taken a tape measure to them, I'd swear that the grip on this 2022 is smaller in diameter, despite wearing the larger of the two supplied grips.

The original SIGPros also gave a choice of two grips: a hard plastic unit with a notional "texture" to it that was more visible than tactile, and a larger hard plastic one with patches of a tacky rubber-like surface here and there. Both the newer 2022 grips have SIG's grippy texturing just like on the current metal-framed P-series, which is not only "grabbier" to the touch, but also provides brand continuity in a showcase. (Sorry, thinking like a retailer is a hard habit to kick.)

I ran the gun with the "large" grip on it, but I may try the small one next time, as the gun tended to nose low when I extended it; it took conscious effort to bring the front sight up into the rear notch as I was coming on target. The smaller grip has more area scooped out at the top of the backstrap area, which might correct that.

The other thing that took conscious effort for me was getting the slide to lock back on an empty mag. See, the gun has a nice metal ledge more or less right where years of 1911 shooting have conditioned me to park my thumb, except this isn't a thumb safety, but rather the slide stop. I need to keep my strong-side thumb lower on the gun to avoid depressing it and preventing it from activating.

The double-action pull stacks pretty heavily towards the end of the pull and feels incredibly long to me; I thought that surely the trigger was about to bottom out against the frame before it went off. Single action pull is good and has a nice short, tactile reset.

A lot of people talk about Glocks or other polymer pistols being "top heavy", which is something I've either never noticed or paid attention to, but with the SP2022, I was aware that I was holding a fairly light piece of plastic with a lot of heavy, reciprocating clickety-clack going on atop it.

Mags dropped free cleanly and the controls were easy to operate, albeit in their accustomed SIG-like places, which is to say bass ackwards from the rest of the pistol world with the decocker ahead of the slide stop. Even shooting rather fast (for me, at least), everything stayed easily inside the A-zone except for two low shots that clearly said "Oh, hey, that's a long double action pull!" one each, from me and Shootin' Buddy.

I'll be taking it to the range again this week. I want to try the smaller grip, and I want to see how well I can run the controls weak hand only. See, I'm actually a natural lefty who shoots right handed only because, well, everybody else shot that way and it never occurred to me that you could shoot any other way; by the time I realized you could, all the right-handed habits had been ingrained. Some day I'm going to make a serious attempt at shooting southpaw...