I am going to shoot my Legion 226 suppressed for the first time tonight, I shot it in a match with the stock non threaded barrel last weekend, and I really like this handgun. It just fits my hand great. I could care less about the coin or member club, but the trigger, sights and grips are a much better fit for me than a stock 226. Obviously plenty of people like the plain 226 just fine, I always lusted after an X5, so this checks a few of those boxes for me. YMMV.

I asked you guys about le/mil pricing legions and was told that they were exempt from the program?

After seeing the thread on here and a gun in person I am holding off until the finish qc is better. The gun I saw in person looked like it had its finish applied by a 9 year old. You could see the marks in the magwell which looked liked the fixture it was held in was just sprayed over and there were multiple spots of differing coverage on the frame.

I don't understand how these guns make it out the door. That being said if they get it figured out the sao 226 is calling my name.

I've handled 4 of them and agree with your observations.  I ended overpaying by a few hundred bucks from what I've seen online but managed to get one that looks really good finish wise.  The gun store manager was an asshole and I will likely never buy there again, but I'm happy with my new addition.

I took possession of my Legion P226 SAO today.  To answer the original question, if you asked me to design my ideal handgun, this is pretty much what it would be.  It has every feature I'd want.  I haven't shot it yet, but I'm thinking I won't be disappointed.  

If I were to buy a 226 and smart aftermarket modding it to end up here, I'd probably send as much if not more and probably encounter a lot of headaches along the way.  So forget the club or the whole "lifestyle" pitch, if this is what I want, why not buy it?




Really this is it in a nutshell.  I love 1911s.  I currently carry one (a SIG, shocker).  But let's face it, they do have baggage.  This gun is as if I summoned the gun genie and said "build me a 1911, without the baggage, make it 9mm and oh by the way, surprise me with a few features I didn't even think to ask for but will love, and last but not least, make it gorgeous" and the genie whipped this bad boy out.

Barring a terrible range experience or it falling apart in my hands, I may have happened upon the holy grail here.

And yeah, the trigger really is a revelation on a non-1911 gun like this.

Just curious...why did you go SAO over DA/SA ?

Finish (exterior) on mine is perfect...Interior magwell has some imperfections, but so what, I don't look in there often and it will eventually get buggered up by mag changes

Did you pull the grips? The light rail and under the grips were the worst parts on the gun I saw locally.

1) I have always hated the DA/SA setup since the first time I fired a handgun (trusty ole M9).  Well, hate is a strong word, I've always tolerated it on various pistols, but I in no way prefer it, and if you can eliminate a negative you tolerate, why not?
2) I love 1911s, and the function of the SAO is obvious along those lines.  
3) On the SAO the flat Master shop trigger has been lauded everywhere I've seen it reviewed, be it from professional reveiwers in magazines or flashy sponsored YouTube channels or dudes on ARFCOM or randoms with 50 view YouTube views.  High and low, there was love for this trigger.

But really, if this proves to be reliable and attitude free as one would expect from a modern SIG pistol, I for the life of me cannot comprehend why anyone would prefer to shoot a DA/SA variant over a SAO.

I've seen an awful lot of safeties get switched off accidentally by all skill levels of shooters under stress. I prefer no safety at all and if I could have that safely with a great single action trigger sign me up.

Obviously either works well when used correctly. As someone who grew up shooting revolvers and then moved on to da/sa autos I never understood the hate for them.

Everyone likes what they like

It pretty much boils down to that.  If one type of action were clearly superior to the others with no drawbacks, that's what all guns would have.  So on some level, you are always compromising something and it boils down to personal preference and comfort and plenty of training to make sure it works for you.

I did not start out on revolvers...I've owned and shot plenty, but I started off with DA/SA autos.  IMO, it's the worst sort of compromise.  I'd rather a DA only semiauto than a DA/SA.  Not to say I won't own a DA/SA, it's just my least favorite setup.  Honestly, I could probablyargue for and against every type of action and safety combo there is, and the bottom line is that each of them has at least one tick in the negative column.  Just boils down to preference.