The X-Five is a single-action variation of the P226 with a longer and heavier dustcover. It comes with one magazine and two Allen wrenches that are used for trigger adjustment.

For one who is usually paying attention to all things USPSA/IPSC related and always looking for cool new guns, I stumbled onto this one. I had called Paul Erhardt, the PR honcho at SIG, to borrow a Model 210 for test and evaluation. For those who don't recall, the SIG 210 was once considered to be the benchmark for 9mm accuracy. An all-steel single-stack single-action, it was the pistol that won the first IPSC World Championship back in 1975.

If the trigger reach is too long, it is easily adjusted. It worked fine for the author as set by the factory.

Finely machined and fitted, the gun's somewhat portly rail section was due to the slide riding inside of the frame instead of outside as on the 1911. I wanted to borrow one to do accuracy tests and comparison--and also because I hadn't shot one in more than 20 years and I wanted to see if the new ones shot as well as I recalled the old ones shooting.

Paul let me down easy. "I don't think we have a 210 in the loaner pool. But the X-Five is just as accurate." He knew what I was looking for. There's only one reason a gun writer wants to borrow a 210. But an X-Five?

"What's that?" I asked, more interested in information than looking like I knew everything. "Our new competition gun. Let me send you one along with some GSRs."

SPECIFICATIONS SIG X-Five
MANUFACTURER:	SIGARMS
CALIBER:	9mm or .40 S&W
TRIGGER:	Single action, adjustable; 2.2 to 3.53 pounds
LENGTH:	8.82 inches
HEIGHT:	5.87 inches
WIDTH:	1.73 inches inches
BARREL LENGTH:	5 inches
OVERALL LENGTH:	8.82 inches
SIGHT RADIUS:	7.17 inches
WEIGHT:	47 ounces with magazine
CAPACITY:	19 (9mm), 14 (.40)
FINISH:	Stainless, others available
SIGHTS:	Low-profile adjustable
PRICE:	$2,499

Which is how I happened to have this factory racegun from SigArms on my desk.

The X-Five is basically a 226. The frame is stainless, and the dustcover is longer and thicker than it is on the 226, adding weight. Sig says the weight is 47.2 ounces with an empty magazine. Mine registers exactly 46 ounces on my postal scale.

The longer dustcover is proportional to a longer slide and barrel. The barrel is 5 inches long, and combined with a longer slide, it gives a full seven inches of sight radius to the X-Five.

The rear sight is an adjustable unit, machined into the slide. That is, Sig didn't just machine a dovetail in the slide and press a sight in place. The slide was machined to accept the adjustable parts of a rear sight. My first thought on seeing it was, "Nice sight." My second thought was, "Will Sig sell just the sight so I can see if it fits a 1911 slide?"

The magazine and magazine well are notable. Sig took a standard 226 high-capacity magazine and installed a hollow extended baseplate on it. The standard .357 Sig/.40 S&W magazine holds 12 rounds. The X-Five magazine holds 14 rounds. (You can also have an X-Five in 9mm, where the magazine holds 19 rounds.)

Unlike a regular 226, there is a magazine funnel to the X-Five--a big one. The magazine catch is a lot taller than your standard Sig 226 mag catch. It stands 5/16 inch out from the frame.

The grips are wood, held to the frame with two screws each, and nicely checkered, if somewhat round. Those who have shot Sigs before won't notice any difference, but I come from a 1911 background and find the grips a bit on the round side, but not so much as to be a problem. And they are wood, after all. They can be changed if you find them to be a problem.

The front of the frame is checkered. Combined with internal beveling, this makes reloading a lot faster.