SIG P239 TAC 9mm - start the countdown! (NOW HERE!)

[ghostie]

My P239 TAC arrived today. I feel bad that I skinned Mark alive, but I will buy some more stuff from him soon to make up for the twist of fate (drop of the dollar). I really want the 229 .22LR conversion kit, and if I can't get that I will get a 226 kit and put it on a Norc or a beater 226 or something like that. Anybody know if the 226 kit will work on the new .40S&W Norc that CanAmmo is bringing in?

But... everyone is interested in the 239... here it is: Comes in the standard blue SIG box, pistol, 3 mags (YES THREE!), lock, manual, 2008 catalog, 2 stickers, and an advertisement for the 226 conversion kit:

The gun came in a plastic bag and was pretty much dripping with oil:

I wiped the oil off, but left some white fluff (I was using a cleaning patch to wipe it off... should use a silicone cloth or something to make it look good for the pics):

The good old 45 degree angle from the back shots that I like so much:

Looks very slim from this angle:

Surprisingly looks a lot like a 229 from the top:

In this shot you can see the size difference with a 229:

You can see the major family resemblence is these shots though:

Yes, it does come with three 8 round mags... the same capcity mags they have everywhere else in the world, military, police or civilian! With potent ammo like these Rangers, it would make a real nice slim carry gun for people who have a lot of trigger time on SIGs:

Probably the biggest most obvious difference between the 229 and the 239...

Some of you are going to wonder... how does it fit in the hand with the 8 round mags? My hands are fairly average size (despite being 6'3", 250lbs.). It actually feel pretty good in the hand. I haven't shot it yet though. I have some 10 round mags coming (hopefully by next week) as well... so I will let you know how that all goes.

I hope to try it out tomorrow. The Registration certificate came in the mail today as well, which is nice. The trigger feels fantastic. It feels light but crisp. It is also the SRT trigger system, which I have never actually shot before I'm looking forward to trying it.

I will have lots more to say about the 239 and other guns in the future. Feel free to PM me any questions you have about it and I will try and answer them with pics if possible.

Adding a couple more:

Note that the right-side rail is the entire length of the gun. Never seen a SIG like that before. The disconnector bump is under the rail.

 

[JEC18159]

Very nice I just got mine today! I got it one day after ordering it. I can't wait to clean her up later tonight!

 

[WolFF]

damn... now i want one.... too bad they are like 300 bux more now
if anyone gets one... and doesnt like it.... i will buy it

 

[nickorette]

Yup, it's definately a sig. I'm curious to see how she shoots in comparison to the P226, and the P229

 

[kxc223]

I Had mine to the range yesterday and I am very happy with it. I found it very accurate ;even with the reduced sight radius, at 25 meters. Of course the SRT trigger really helps too. The recoil is on par with my 229 and with the Hougue finger grips it fits my hand very well.
My only complaint is that I will have to buy more mags. You can zip through 8 rounds pretty quick. I'm used to being able to load all the mags I need before hitting the range as the 226 mags will fit the 229. I already have a couple of the 10 round mags and now it looks like I will need a couple more. Oh well no one claimed that this would be a cheap hobby.

 

[ghostie]

I had the gun out at the range today. I shot 300 rounds (time flies). Unfortunately my gf is in Taiwan until Wednesday, so no video to show you guys, but I will have some later.

Overall I was very impressed with the gun. The grip does feel different than other SIGs (of course), but it did not feel like I was losing control of the gun the way the HK P2000 felt before I had the extended baseplates for it. The gun actually works with the 8 round mags! Nice. I think a big part of that is the slim-ness of the grip. Easy to get a good grip on it. I will hopefully get a chance to try 10 round mags next week.

I really got the impression that the idea behind this gun was to make a smaller, flatter gun for people who have trained on larger SIGs (cops, federal agents in the U.S., etc.) which allows them to transfer most of their skills over to this smaller platform without reinventing the wheel. I know there are some VPD detectives that carry 239's. I have spent a lot of time building up my skills with the 229, and I felt I could pretty much just step right in with this gun and use all the skills I have worked on with the 229 over the past 18 months (I bought my first 229 in August 2007). The skills I am thinking of are, shooting the DA with quick SA follow-ups; switching from fast shooting to deliberate accurate shooting; strings of rapid double-taps, etc.

Here are some targets. I didn't shoot off a rest, because I find that boring. Off-hand shooting is a less objective form of test, but these guns are meant to be shot off-hand anyway. These were the first 8 rounds I fired out of the gun at 10 yards. (No, I didn't document all the rounds I fired. I'm not that OCD). I was pretty happy with this for a first try:

This next one is me trying to bang out a string of 4 double-taps as fast as possible. I am not talking about "bang, bang", "bang bang". This is more like "pa-pop/pa-pop/pa-pop/pa-pop" type of thing. The gun is pretty controllable during rapid fire. I kept them all on the page anyway.

This is two 8 round strings on each point of aim, using what I think of as the "bang-click-bang" technique - which is: shoot, as soon as you hear the reset... click pull the trigger again. This is where the SRT comes into play. These shots are not as rapid as the above ones, but the accuracy is a lot better. The SRT is really nice. It is noticably shorter than the reset on my 229s. I am actually thinking of re-fitting my other SIGs now. The gun was also very easy to keep the front sight on target. I actually had no problem keeping the point of aim and the front sight in my sight picture at all times... and seeing the rounds hit (or at least, where they hit), so the gun wasn't moving around much. Very controllable. The first shoot is DA on these (I'm doing that alot the last few months, even when not using a holster... because it is holster practice. I have no 239 holster yet, but I'll get something. The DA is very nice on the 239. Very much like the 229).

This one was just going for pure bullseye slowfire. The lower one is nice. I can probably improve a little bit at this range as I get more time on this gun. The one in the upper right is a stray shot from another piece of paper.

This one is, shoot DA on the centre, 3 quick follow-ups, and then pick of the 4 corners with deliberate aimed fire (another way of saying "slow" I guess, but I am not focusing on my breathing or anything like that). This is really nice shooting if I do say so myself. This is the most impressive (to me) shooting I was able to do with the gun today.

On these last two, I was just going around the wheel, shoot at one point of aim, move to the next, one shot, move to the next, in a circle. One is 16 shots and one is 18 shots (chamber, de-####, top up). There is one crappy "flier" in there, but generally the bullets were hitting where I wanted them to go. The P239 is a really nice gun! On this first page here, one is 6 hits (the left circle), the other two are 5 hits each, although with the lower one two of the hits are touching so it is hard to see all five without actually looking at the page.

One more thing... since I bought my first 229 in August 2007 I have always taken it (or the other one) to the range with me and always at least shot it a bit... even when I had other new guns. Today was the first weekend I didn't shoot the 229 at all, even though I had it with me. I guess that is partly becuase I didn't want to clean another gun tonight, but also because this 239 is lots of fun to shoot. Not the end of an era, but the 229 has some good competition now from the 239 and the P2000.

 

[BRS9]

Ghostie; I hope Questar is sending you royalty checks. Excellent post

Getting mine ASAFP

 

[sogetthis]

Mark, any plans to bring them in .357 Sig? I'd take one as long as the current price doesn't go up.

 

[ghostie]

Ghostie; I hope Questar is sending you royalty checks. Excellent post

Yah, maybe I'll earn the great pre-delivery price I paid after all ... if I can scare up some more interest in these and Mark can sell the rest of what he brought in... and the next batch.

 

[WolFF]

great write up, thanks ghostie. im really starting to hate you though.. all your write ups, make me want to spend money. your a bad influence. keep the posts coming though i will read them

 

[JEC18159]

I just got mine also. Gotta put in the kudos to Mark at Questar being a great guy to deal with. Three of my first four firearms purchases with him and I'm looking forward to doing more. Like a few of my other recent purchases, I haven't had a chance to take them to the range due to a busy work schedule. However, this little guy is everything you'd expect from a Sig. It feels fantastic and it's apparent the quality is top notch.

Here are some more pictures for anyone who may be curious about this little guy.

 

[Wendell]

That was a great review. Thanks ghostie.

 

[ian_in_vic]

Nice pistol and nice shooting! It's good to see real world shooting (standing unsupported, DA first shot, rapid fire, pistol ranges) rather than bench rested, SA only, sloooow fire at 25 yards. The machining quality of the 239 is also very evident, wow that's excellent quality, very clean work.

 

[BRS9]

Ghostie, JEC;

I know this is probably hard to answer, but if funds only allowed you to have one; the 229 or the 239, which would you own? What's your preference overall?

Thanks again for sharing!

 

[JEC18159]

Ghostie, JEC;

I know this is probably hard to answer, but if funds only allowed you to have one; the 229 or the 239, which would you own? What's your preference overall?

Thanks again for sharing!

I'm probably not qualified to say. Ghostie is the only one in this thread with actual firing experience. On gut alone I'd go with the 229 and thats only because it was the FIRST gun I ever fired five years ago... So really my decision is purely on emotion.

I will say this though. All of my firearms are locked up tight when not at the range, but if we had a CCW law in Canada the 239 would be my front runner for a daily carry piece out of the other options in my collection. While not a major size difference from the 229, the narrower width and lighter weight really make it a contender for the carry crowd if you ask me.

 

[ghostie]

...if funds only allowed you to have one; the 229 or the 239, which would you own? What's your preference overall?

I'd go with the 229 as a one-and-only pistol. To my mind, it is pretty much a perfect balance between all the relevant criteria people are looking at in a gun.

The 239 is something different and new (for Canadians anyway). The interesting thing.. based on one time out to the range, it appears I can shoot it either as well or really damn to close to the 229. So, you don't really seem to give up much (if anything, other than mag capacity... particularly if we are talking about a no 10-round limit environment) by going with a 239. Somone was saying on here, I believe, that the OPP will issue the 239 as a "girl gun" (hate to sound ###ist, but you know what I mean... officers with really small hands... who happen to be almost all members of one of the two ###es). I've also heard that some police agencies who issue 226 or 229 will have these available for plain clothes as well. One of the ROs at my range was telling me that the only one he had ever seen before mine was one that a VPD detective had. I don't believe there are any 12.6 239's (hell, I don't think there are any prohib 229's... or 232's... just the old ones... 225, 228 and 230).

If I, to try an put myself in another pair of shoes for a minute, were someone who carried a firearm but not openly in a duty rig.. yah definitely the 239 is very attrratice. It's sort of a small gun that "thinks" its a big gun. Or, to put it another way, it's small but you don't think of it that way becuase it doesn't look or feel like a little PPK-type thing. You feel like yopu've got a real SIG there, just flatter and more compact. And you can get it (at least in the U.S.) in the potent .40 and .357SIG calibres.

Someone was asking about .357SIG above. So far, as far as I know, the only 239's that have come into Canada (for sale to individuals) have been 9mm. The SIG website lists the 239 TAC as only available in 9mm. However, SIG Sauer is a business... and if Canada votes with its $$$ for the 239, anything can happen. SIG, HK, Walther, Steyr and others have all done runs of barrels for Canada.

But yah, if you only had one... the 229 is in that magical "perfect" balance of all things category, along with the 228, the GLOCK 19, etc.

 

[BRS9]

Beautiful, thanks for the response. A friend in the VPD was recently issued a 229 for plain clothes duty. They moved to the 226 from their 96Ds some time ago, and they all seem to love the Sigs

Always figured the 229 was in that 'perfect balance' category of doing all things, but I have a soft spot for single stack mags

I believe that the 239 in .40 cal will accept a .357 SIG barrel

I'm so grateful that there are companies in Canada bringing in these 'smaller' pistols that have almost become taboo due to our ridiculous laws

 

[JEC18159]

I'm so grateful that there are companies in Canada bringing in these 'smaller' pistols that have almost become taboo due to our ridiculous laws

I second that!

 

[ghostie]

I got two of the 10 round mags now. Wow! Are they ever... big... and strange??

Actually they are pretty cool. They are big, and weird and different, but they are definiately a "neat" accessory to have for any 239 owner. I should also mention that... these were only $20.95US from Numrich (plus whatever it takes to get them here). That is not a bad price for original SIG mags.

I've got 3 of the 8-rounders and 2 of the 10's. I haven't got any mag pouches that are going to work with any of these.... I'll have to look and see what is available for small single stack mags. The 8 round mags are really quite petite. Smaller than a P7 mag.

Look at the size of the baseplate on these! Sort of the like the SIG SCT mags, at least from the pictures on their website. I've never actially seen one, as SCT mags are obviously a no-go in Canada.

They give the gun a bit of a weird look. The proportions go out of wack with what we expect a gun to look like. It actually reminds me a bit of a cordless drill with the battery pack on the bottom of the grip.

You've got a ton of room on the grip now though:

And of course, the main thing with them is that they hold 10-rounds... so if anyone ever wanted to compete with a 239, this would remove the disadvantage of the 8-rounders (remove it totally in Canada).

 

[ghostie]

Here are a couple of partial disassembly shots of the 239:

The parts shown here are all either the same or very similar to the other SIGs (226, 229, etc.) with the exception of the slide stop lever.