Way back in the 80’s, the US military decided they had too many different kinds of pistols, and they needed to standardize. They put together a committee, specified a pile of requirements, and chose the Beretta 92 over the Sig P226 mostly due to cost. Personally, I feel like most government committee purchasing decisions are massive shams where they set out the requirements to get what they want. Is that what happened here? Did the Navy make the right choice when they picked the 226 instead of the 92?
What they have in common
Both the 226 and 92 are big, bulky, hammer fired 9mm pistols. The massive difference that sets them apart from most of the handguns the US was fielding at the time is reliability and capacity. Unlike a lot of the weird or old garbage, these pistols could run for thousands of rounds without failure.
They also both ran double stack magazines with higher capacity than a lot of what was available at the time.
They both have decockers that let you carry the pistol loaded with a round in the chamber and a heavy double action trigger pull as the only safety.
Trigger pull on both guns varies depending on model but most factory examples will be around 12/5lbs: DA/SA. With a spring kit or trigger kit, you can pull both way down and the SRT kit on the Sig makes the trigger reset length incredibly short.
How they’re different
The decocker on the Sig is easier to use: it’s bigger and not in a dumb spot like on the slide. The Beretta safety/decocker is smaller and it’s in a spot where you can accidentally stroke it onto safe. IMO, the safety is not needed or wanted; decocking is fine and accidentally leaving the Beretta 92 on safe is terrible. The 92G does away with the safety and only has a decocker, which is the way to go IMO.
On the other hand, the slide lock lever on the P226 is right where you want to rest your thumb. You’ll need to train yourself to hold the gun differently or the slide lock open on empty will never work.
The Sig 226 bore sits VERY high above your hand. That gets you a bit more torque and muzzle flip compared with the Beretta 92.
Personally, I prefer shooting the Beretta 92 with its fuller grip and nice trigger, but the 226 decocker is just so much easier to use.
Do they still stack up in 2021?
No. Fuck no. They’re not competitive in any category other than “iconic guns from the 80s”. They’re heavier and bulkier as a police/military sidearm and hilariously large as a carry handgun. They’re also not great for IPSC and competition shooting: having been eclipsed long ago by handguns from other manufacturers as well as by newer models from Sig like the P320 XFive.
You enjoy them like you’d enjoy an 80’s Mustang: nostalgic to look at something from 40 years ago, fun to take for a spin, but you know it’s not competitive with the new stuff. You can modify a 92 or a 226, but it’d be easier to buy something made for competition like a P320 X-Five competition pistol, CZ Shadow 2, or a 2011.
