226R vs. 229R in 40 S&W

[ToddG]

I'd probably opt for the P229R if it fits your hand well. The P226R is actually slightly slimmer in the grip. I have small hands, but always found shooting a P229R with a short trigger easy enough. In repeated timed tests, I could shoot the P229R slightly faster than the P226R in 357 SIG and I would strongly assume that the same would be true in .40 (in 9mm it didn't make much difference).

Having said that, in my experience the P226 has an edge in reliability. By that I mean that out of every 100 guns, you'll have more problems among the P229s than the P226s. If your single instance of the gun runs well out of the box, though, it should continue to run well regardless of which size it is.

FWIW, the P226 in 40/357 is as "from the ground up" a .40 as the P229. Both use completely different types of slides, recoil springs, etc., compared to their 9mm predecessors (the P228 for the P229, and the old-style two piece slide for the P226).

[kmrtnsn]

"Mec-Gar (SIG OEM magazine manufacturer)"

When did that happen? All of my recent magazines are all stamped "made in Italy". Based on the welds and comparison to 92 and 96 mags I think Beretta made them.

[kaltblitz]

Mec-Gar is an Italian company and has been making Sig's mags for the past nine or ten years. They also make Mags for Browning and a few other companies.

[kmrtnsn]

See, that is why I love this site; you learn something new every day. Thank you, Kaltblitz!