CZ SP-01 Shadow vs SIG P226 9mm for competition

Lojak

Lojak

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Hi all,

I am getting back into shooting, with an eye toward competition. I expect it will be a few years before I'm ready for my own race gun, but in the meantime I've narrowed down my preferences to the CZ SP-01 and SIG P226 9mm. While I'd love to go with both, I can only afford one. So, with my quandary evident, I'm looking for opinions from shooters between the two. I know the Shadow is in vogue right now, and I have not had a chance to shoot it. When I was a shooter in the late 80's and 90's, I owned a SIG P226, so I know how the gun handles. My feelings of the SIG were mixed at the time, but that was mainly because I did not know how to shoot properly (or learn to like the recoil of it's alloy frame). I'm older, wiser and a little bulkier now, and I've enjoyed shooting the SIG since. But since I want to get into competition, without spending a lot of money on post-purchase work to get the gun up to snuff, I'm really quite torn. Any advice is appreciated :)

EDIT: And yes, I've searched the forums already, but I did not find any answer.

-- Stephen
 
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There pretty equal but the SIG trigger is way better out of the box.
It comes down to do you want a manual safety or not?
 
Dsiwy said:
There pretty equal but the SIG trigger is way better out of the box.
It comes down to do you want a manual safety or not?
Click to expand...

I think the exact opposite actually. The shadow has a nice 7lb pull on the double action but then about a 2lb pull after the first shot. Very balanced gun with a very good stock trigger... Sigs to me are a duty pistol, as such, the trigger feels like a duty pistol...
 
Shadow has shorter reset as well.
For competition Shadow is a better gun overall, P226 was made for different reason.
 
Good point about the manual safety.. I owned a few pistols before, and IIRC the SIG was less worrisome when I was dealing with a misfire.

Yes, the SIG does seem more like a duty pistol to me, but it is comfortable in my hand and the weight is fine. On the flip side, the Shadow comes tuned (within reason) from the factory, and the extra weight will keep the recoil down.

I'm ready Brian Enos' Practical Shooting and I couldn't help but note that his pistol at the time was ~ 34oz, the same weight as the SIG. The Shadow is ~ 43oz out of the box. Now Enos' is an IPSC shooter, and I do want to get my black badge, but I also want to be able to use the same gun in other types of matches, and the Shadow's weight is a problem. Excuse the stream of consciousness.

-- Stephen
 
Well I was able to nock down 12" plates at 100m with my SIG. The only down side is its alittle snappy. As for reset there is the new short reset trigger model.
It all comes down to feel I guess
 
Dsiwy said:
Well I was able to nock down 12" plates at 100m with my SIG. The only down side is its alittle snappy. As for reset there is the new short reset trigger model.
Click to expand...

I'll agree about it being "snappy" -- that is one characteristic I never liked about my old SIG. I preferred my 1911 (at the time) because it did not recoil like the SIG did.

I'll look into the short reset.. that's interesting.

Thanks :)

-- Stephen
 
There is a reason why the Shadow is very popular for IPSC and to some extent IDPA, (If you put the gun on a diet), and that is it is the gun in the hands of the winners right now. LIke what has been said already, the SIG 226 was designed for a very different purpose and while it works as a competition gun, there are other choices out there that suit the sports competitions better IMHO.

Between the two, for competition purposes - the Shadow hands down.

Take Care

Bob
 
Colin said:
The Sig trigger is not kind to poor technique. Once they work in though they are very nice.
Click to expand...

That's an excellent point. If my technique is poor, then maybe that's exactly the pistol I should buy -- it will amplify my weaknesses and strengths.. hmm.
 
IM_Lugger said:
You don't have to get a alloy framed SIG. For competition go with steel framed Elite model, or ST if you can find one.
Click to expand...

The Elite is steel-framed? Or is steel-framed a separate variation of the Elite series? Looking at the specs available on the Sig Sauer website, it is 34oz, the same as the other, non-elite P226.
 
I guess it has to be the stainless model...I used to have a stainless P226 (ST model - now discontinued) it had very little muzzle flip.
 
IM_Lugger said:
I guess it has to be the stainless model...I used to have a stainless P226 (ST model - now discontinued) it had very little muzzle flip.
Click to expand...

After comparing the technical specifications on SIG's site, it appears that only the X-series are substantially heavier, up to 13 ounces. The rest vary only in tenths of an ounce. Perhaps not surprisingly, the price is substantially different too. The X-series starts ~ $2k.

-- Stephen
 
Dsiwy said:
Well I was able to nock down 12" plates at 100m with my SIG. The only down side is its alittle snappy. As for reset there is the new short reset trigger model.
It all comes down to feel I guess
Click to expand...

I have a new P226 and a new SP-01 Shadow. If you think that the trigger on the 226 is even close to the SP-01 Shadow then you need to try out the SP-01 Shadow.

Hands down the SP-01 is a better gun for competition, especially action type shoots. Aside from IDPA shooters in the States, you'll see that the SP-01 is absolutely dominating the action style games (where it doesn't compete against 1911's).
 
After comparing the technical specifications on SIG's site, it appears that only the X-series are substantially heavier, up to 13 ounces. The rest vary only in tenths of an ounce. Perhaps not surprisingly, the price is substantially different too. The X-series starts ~ $2k.
Click to expand...
I wasn't talking about the X series...Elite stainless P226 weighs ~42oz and IIRC goes for about $1350 or so.
 
"Aside from IDPA shooters in the States, you'll see that the SP-01 is absolutely dominating the action style games (where it doesn't compete against 1911's)."

The SP-01 Shadow is most effective in SSP in IDPA. Once it loses an ounce or two to make weight of 39oz for that division. In SSP it competes against Glocks, M&P's and other iterations of the CZ75/85 pistols. ESP is the division it comes up against 1911's and does well there as well. It is the shooter not the arrow that determines the winner.

In the US a lot of shooters who shoot IDPA, shoot what they carry, and I suspect that is why you don't see the Shadow dominating that sport. 1911's are still very popular carry pieces in the US and domination of events by pistols can come down to number of entries.

The top shooters in either sport shoot what their sponsors want them to shoot and from there you get the "folow the leader" effect.

For most of us in both sports we ought to shoot a gun we are comfortable with and realize our own physical and skill limitations. As was stated by others in another thread a good gun may allow a average shooter to shoot better but the gun by itself won't make an average shooter a Master.

Take Care

Bob
 
Shoot whatever shoots better for you. If your worried about trigger reset, than a Sig Elite has a shorter reset trigger. And don't just look to see what others are shooting as a point of reference. CZ's and glocks may be very popular in north america for competition, but Sig's are very popular in Europe for competition.

Shoot both, and whichever feels/shoots better is the one you should go with.
 
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