It seems that it takes special versions of pistols for me to be interested in new models.  I didn't get into Beretta's until their partnership with Wilson Combat.  My Beretta fits my hand like it was built just for me and since I don't really prefer a double action/single action (DA/SA) trigger I only needed one to stay in practice.  When it came*to SIG Sauer it wasn't until their Legion line that they caught my eye, specifically their Single Action Only (SAO) model.

Up this point I had been considering buying a double action only (DAO) Beretta and having it converted to a SAO but I'm one of those weird people who don't like owning multiples of the same gun.  I understand having a back-up of a duty weapon or competition pistol but I've never understood the people who proudly proclaim "I have 7 (stock) Glock 19s!"  I just scratch my head and wonder why.  So ultimately purchasing another fullsize Beretta just didn't excite me but I really wanted an all metal double stack SAO 9mm.

A good friend of mine, George, purchased a P226 SAO Legion and knowing I was interested in them shot me an email with his review.  Everything he said about it made me salivate for one even more.  The problem was I would need to sell a pistol to buy one.  Selling a gun I know for one I don't is a tricky proposition.  I emailed my friend back explaining the situation and asked if he would be willing to lend me his to try out.  He immediately agreed and asked for my local FFL info.

Upon receipt I immediately fell in love with it.  It didn't fit my hands quite as well as my Beretta but was certainly nothing to complain about, plus the 3# 9oz stock trigger was wonderful.  I put 200 rounds through it and was amazed at how easy it was to shoot, especially during rapid fire.  Lending to this is the undercut trigger guard, reduced profile beavertail, high visibility front sight, front strap checkering and the surprisingly grippy G10 grips.  Every pistol I've ever purchased has ended up modified.  I usually start with the sights, improving the grip of the pistol in hand and usually a trigger job.  This was the first pistol I had ever shot that I didn't want to change something on.  I knew I had to have one and listed a pistol for sale.  I priced it to sell and it did that same day.  I sold it for just enough to cover the cost of the Legion and FFL fees.  I tracked down a good deal on GunBroker and anxiously ordered it up.



Unfortunately my excitement waned significantly when I picked up my Legion.  While George's had a nice crisp break mine had a ton of creep, well over 1/16th of an inch.  It's actually the most creep I've ever felt in a single action trigger.  This was completely unacceptable so I started looking around for options.  In the meantime I put 200 flawless and very accurate rounds through it.  Everything was great, except that horrible trigger!



Above is the case and challenge coin you get after registering your Legion with SIG.  I thought it was going to be the standard "You'll receive your free gift in 6 to 10 to 18 weeks." To my surprise it arrived within a matter of days.  Registering also gets you access to a 'Legion owner's only' store where I decided to pick-up an interesting looking holster.



Made for SIG by BlackPoint Tactical it's a kydex holster with leather wings.  The wings make the holster much more comfortable than traditional kydex I've used.  My leather carry dress belt is relatively thick and has a kydex core so it doesn't handle sharp bends well.  This always kept me from being able to use it with other kydex holsters but with the leather wings it finally fits.



Made specifically for the SAO the thumb safety is accounted for.



I love weapon mounted lights.  They not only provide light but add several ounces in weight to reduce muzzle flip.  My chosen light for this SIG is a Surefire X300U I had floating around.  I was really enjoying the BlackPoint Tactical holster and decided to pick up their light accommodating version.  This was ordered directly through BlackPoint as the Legion store only had the standard P226-X300U combo and I needed the SAO thumb safety notches.  On their website they project 3-4 weeks to receive your holster and I received mine after only a couple.



Before I had ever even carried the gun I had to have several holsters that would fit it.  This is how you end up with a box full of holsters!  My preferred IWB (Inside Waist-Band) holster, the Comp-Tac MTAC.



For when you aren't wearing a belt I like using a shoulder holster and picked up a Galco Gun Leather shoulder system component.  Galco isn't designed for locked and cocked (hammer back, safety on) carry but it isn't a hindrance.




Fixing The Trigger
I called SIG and explained the issue but they offered no help.  The SIG Custom Shop won't perform their Action Enhancement Package on SAO models and they apparently considered the horrible trigger to be within spec.  Gray Guns is a well know SIG and HK smith with good reviews so I emailed them.  I asked to have the creep fixed, the trigger weight reduced and inquired as to the cost.  Below is the reply I received.



Their reply didn't elicit much excitement in me.  I don't like the idea of sending something in for work when they won't quote me how much my bill is going to be.  So I sat on the gun and continued looking for options.  Around a week later George emailed me and told me about <a href="http://www.thesigarmorer.com/">The Sig Armorer</a>, who seemed to have just as good of reviews as Gray Guns.  I noticed his phone number had a 972 area code which would imply he was local to me.  I sent him the same requests I sent Gray Guns and got this reply back.



Now that is exactly what I was looking for!  I replied that I would stop by the next day.  Upon arriving at his shop I was warmly greeted and offered a seat.  Upon dry-firing my pistol his brow furrowed and his first word was "Eww!"  I was glad it wasn't just me that thought it was a horrible trigger.  He talked me through exactly what he would do and even drew out some diagrams of how their trigger and safety systems work, which was very much appreciated.  I requested a weight between 3.0# to 3.25# and was quoted a week turnaround.  True to his word it was completed in exactly a week.

Arriving at his shop I was warmly greeted again and we sat to discuss the work done.  He had TOOL playing in the background and I complemented his choice in tunes as I'm a big TOOL fan.  Turns out he was as well and we got a bit distracted talking music for the next 15 or so minutes.  During this time he pulled out my Legion and passed it over.  I took it in hand, closed my eyes to concentrate and pulled the trigger as slowly as possible.  It was a perfect crisp and clean break.  As said in his email he reduced the take-up (while keeping the firing pin safety intact), eliminated the creep and improved the already very good reset and over-travel.  Now this was a pistol I was proud to own!



Getting Dial In
Any time I get a new pistol I like to bench test it at 25 yards to find its preferred bullet weight and see how it groups.  I hadn't shot in a couple of weeks and wanted to try out a new rest and test out a few different target styles as well.  I brought a healthy mix of ammo; Remington UMC 115 grain FMJ, Fiocchi 115 grain FMJ, American Eagle 124 grain FMJ, Aguila 124 grain FMJ, Federal HST 124 grain JHP, and American Eagle 147 grain FMJ. Unfortunately I left my standard shooting rest at home and the Caldwell Pistol Rest and I didn't get along well.  My preferred rest holds the muzzle tighter allowing both less vertical and horizontal play.  It wasn't my best outing but I'm confident that switching rests will bring it all inline.

In my initial 200 round 'make sure it all works' outing with the Legion it shot the UMC especially well.  I didn't initially put much stock in this because it was the 3rd ammo I shot that day and I was already 150 rounds in, maybe I had just settled in with the gun.  Still though who knows, so I flagged it in my mind to follow-up on.  Part of the reason I didn't consider much of it at the time is because Remington UMC is pretty cheap ammo and can be had for under $200 per 1,000 rounds.  I don't use "cheap" and "inexpensive" interchangeably, I consider them quite different, and to me UMC has always been cheap ammo.  It's the dirtiest of the ammo I shoot, which isn't saying much as I buy good ammo, and it has never proven to be a spectacular performer in my other 9mm's.  In the Legion though the results are quite interesting.



That was the 3rd group I shot in practice and the first with UMC.  I was, obviously, struggling with managing my vertical.  As a 5-shot group it's nothing great at just under 3.5 inches but they're all within a 0.5 inch horizontally, and check out those 3-shots touching for 0.458 inches.  That gives me some hope that this may be a great shooter.  Here was a second group of UMC I shot later.



The vertical was dialed in better and the overall group size shrunk by just under an inch.  But check out those 3-shots all hanging out at 0.763 inches.  I can't wait to test it again, I'm really hoping it turns out to be a solid performer.  How cool would it be to have one of the most commonly available and affordable rounds shoot supremely well?  I could shoot  even more with the savings!

When picking up the pistol from Robert I mentioned an ammo test I was going to do and he gave me a box of Aguila 124 grain FMJ to test out.  He told me that he found it to be particularly accurate and soft shooting for him.  I was happy to try it out.  I only shot a few groups with it as I only had one box and given my issues with the rest I didn't want to burn it all.  Still though, I was pretty impressed with how it performed.



2 inches isn't bad for one of the more inexpensive rounds available.  I dropped a shot low right and if you bring that it gets quite a bit better.



For just FMJ practice ammo that's impressive in my book!  This is another round I'm really looking forward to retesting. Next up is my preferred carry ammo, Federal HST in 124 grain.  It surely didn't let me down.



I was getting a bit more dialed in by this point, having saved my carry ammo for later in the practice session.  Results like this are what I've come to expect from Federal's HST.  I've never found a gun it didn't perform exceptionally well in and its ballistic performance is unmatched, in my opinion.  Like with the Aguila ammo I still had a shot low right, which if we remove makes for a fine group.



That shows some pretty impressive potential, to me.  Plus it shoots nearly dead center of the front sight dot.  I love not having to adjust my sights to my preferred ammo!

Some may say that discounting the outlining shots aka flyers is cheating, and you could make a solid case for it.  There's a couple of reasons I'm not worried about it.  One being the aforementioned struggles with the Caldwell Rest.  The other is Massad Ayoob.  He has said that taking the best 3-shots of a 5-shot group that is fired from a rest can be indicative of how a pistol may perform in a Ransom Rest.  Considering he's been shooting for longer than I've been alive I'm certainly not going to dispute it.  Though I would love to find a ransom rest and test out the theory!  Anyone in the DFW area who may read this someday and owns a Ransom Rest that would like to participate in that please shoot me a message.

800 Rounds Later
I've put, as you may guessed it, 800 rounds through it so far and it has run perfectly.  Not a single bobble anywhere.  This is unheard of for me, I know many people who buy guns and they never encounter any malfunctions but my luck has never been that good.  Every autoloader I've owned, including 3 Glock's (a Gen3 fullsize, Gen4 compact and Gen3 sub-compact) all experienced several malfunctions by this point.  I didn't clean or re-lube it during this time thinking that maybe something would eventually happen.  Nope.









One thing I'm pretty disappointed in is the fragile finish.  I first noticed this when I borrowed my friend's SIG and I ended up scuffing the rail.  I'm really surprised at how fast it wears, even with minor physical contact.  I like guns that are used and look like it but I prefer to earn that wear.



Wrap-up
Dislikes-
Safety issue with one pistol and trigger quality issue with other.
No SIG support for trigger work.
Exceedingly fast finish wear

Likes-
Incredibly easy to shoot.
Unmatched reliability.
Fantastic accuracy.

The bottom line, I love this gun.  Even with the trigger and finish issues the end result is such a great pistol it doesn’t bother me, much.  The frame/slide fit is tighter than some 1911s I’ve owned and it runs perfectly.  I’ve only begun to explore its accuracy potential and can’t wait until my upcoming 9mm Match and Duty Ammo Test to see what it can really do!

-SA

To see the accuracy this pistol is capable of click here for my 115 grain Accuracy Test and here for my 124 grain Accuracy Test.

Nice right up. I have a 229 legion and love it and have the exact same conclusion about the finish.

Good review!

I have that holster for my Legion P229 in .357, and as a range holster it's great, but it doesn't conceal as well as a good leather pancake holster does.

You can improve it a little by moving the aft leather wing from the back of the holster to the front.  That will help pull the grip in a bit closer to your body.  It worked just ok for me, and when I contacted Blackpoint that was their first suggestion.  I wish they would mold the gun onto the holster so that the grip was rotated against the body, but they didn't seem terribly interested in my suggestion.  

My P229 Legion and my P320 (both 357s) are my primary EDCs.

(Pic was before I moved the leather wing)

Attached File

Thanks.  It sure does seem to be their weak point.

Great info, thanks!

This is the pistol that finally got me to take the plunge on an American-Sig.

I love it, thankfully my safety and trigger were great out of the box.  I have a 229 Legion I am carrying now as well; I just wish they made a SAO 229.

You and me both!  I'd buy one in a heartbeat.  Unfortunately SIG views SAOs as competition only.

Better man than I.  I had a problem with my trigger (notch/hitch in the pre travel), Sig told me that was "normal" when infact any Sig armorer worth a shit told me in was two major trigger components slipping on each other and a fairly decent problem to have, so realizing I had over 1k into a "warfighting badass super gun with a great trigger", well atleast according to Sigs marketing team, I sold it when Sig for a second time told me their defective trigger was normal.

I'd never have put 200+ Into the trigger of a gun touted for having an awesome trigger.

It wasn't the gun, or the minor problem I had with it that bothered me.  

It was Sigs total lack of customer support, lack of ability to acknowledge a problem, and piss poor attitude toward a 1k plus firearm being less than perfect. When you get a good one, Sigs are great guns.  When you need factory support, they're as useful as a ladder made out of crisco.

Sounds like your experience closely mirrored mine.  It really is disappointing.  If I hadn't been so enamored with the pistol I would have been pretty pissed.

Well they make the p220 carry in a SAO version, and it is nearly identical in size to the p229, just not in the Legion flavor.

I want 15+1

Including an update in this review after my pistol rusted.

Rusted SIG P226 SAO Legion

I'm no longer on the fence about the Legion. Thanks for sharing.

Did you not read the part where the factory trigger was horrible and they wouldn't fix it?

Holy shit.

I wanted to bring this thread full circle so here is how my Legion looks now.



More pictures are viewable here as part of my Cerakote review.

Beautiful pistol. Well done!

After seeing many reports of finish problems and trigger inconsistencies with the Legion models, I'm convinced that the MK25 is the best current offering from SIG.

Of the post-Cohen ones, yes.  But you are still better off with an older German one.

Based on my personal experience with my 226 Legion SAO, I'm convinced you're dead wrong

I don't know what the hell happened with the OP's example but that is the complete opposite of my experience. You can usually bet money that if there are known issues/problems with a specific model gun that I will be one of the lucky ones who gets one with all of the reported issues but not in this case. My Legion SAO is perfect. trigger, safety, fit, finish, accuracy, reliability, etc.. It's exactly what you would expect from a gun in this price range.

Hell, I even got mine for a good price. Every one I've let shoot it loves it and wants one for themselves (at least until I tell them how much they cost! ). They are fantastic guns IMO.

I've always wanted a P226 with a SAO trigger... thought I'd buy a P226 Legion SAO at some point. Even considered selling my excellent P228 to fund it. But damn! C'MON SIG! How do you mess up the finish?! And it's still not changed on the current production guns???

Damn.  I fondled a 226 Legion the other day and have been back and forth about buying one.  I sweat a lot, so it looks like the finish would be toast on me.  May have to order a MK25 if I really want another Sig.  Love my 320

Yup I have an SAO and I know at least 10 more that have legions. None of them experienced any of  the OPs problems either. It sucks hardcore, and I feel for OP. I've had lemons before but it happens.

Another P226 Legion SAO owner. No issues with the finish or trigger either. I have a M11-A1 I used to carry which had an amazing trigger and this SAO trigger is even better. I also have a P938 that's my main carry piece.

This P226 Legion is probably the most perfect handgun I've seen out of the box. If they made a P229 Legion SAO it would, for me anyway, would be perfect for carry or home defense.

That trigger is straight sexy.

My SAO Legion was perfect out of the box.  Sounds like OP got a lemon.

Your P226 SAO Legion is a thing of beauty. I have a P226 DA/SA Legion, i love it, as everyone else that fires it love's it. I am a sig guy, all my pistols i own now are Sigs. But when you, or anyone else pays $1,000+ for any Sig pistol, you shouldn't have to drop another $245, + $30 shipping to get the trigger perfect. You didn't buy a P250, you bought a Legion. The trigger stock from Sig on this high end pistol, should be perfect when you unbox it and fire it. JMHO, and i could be wrong.