The only way to remove the human element is with machinery. Here the author puts the X-Five through its paces while it is clamped in the Ransom rest.

If you're shooting the X-Five as a competition gun (or a carry gun), you need a holster. It won't fit a holster that's made to fit a 226 tightly. It is too long, and the larger dustcover won't fit in holsters made specifically for the 226. Never fear. Competition race holsters are skeletal affairs, and adjusting them to fit is no problem. A tactical thigh holster often has enough extra room to take the X-Five. And for those who think "Kydex" when holsters are mentioned, making something for the X-Five should be no problem to makers such as Blade-Tech or Cen-Dex.

I put a couple of boxes of ammo through the X-Five to see how it worked and to find out any peculiarities. I found that whoever does the test-firing at the factory (the stamped name of "O. Kachel" was on the test-fire target) zeroed the X-Five too high for me. On the backstop 30 yards away, I was half a foot high. It took more time to find a screwdriver in my heap of range bags than it did to crank down the sight a half-dozen clicks and solve the problem.

For handling, I set up the classic El Presidente: three targets at 10 yards, back to the targets. Two shots on each, reload, then two shots on each again. For the spare magazine I simply used a standard 226 .40-caliber mag and reloaded with the X-Five's magazine.

I found that the Sig grips caused a predictable problem for me: At speed, I started losing my index. The round grips caused occasional wide shots left or right. I found that if I tried to press the envelope and shoot under six seconds, I'd get flyers. If I shot it at a relatively sedate six seconds flat, I could shoot it with all "A" hits and no flyers. For me, the X-Five would be great if I took those beautifully checkered rounded grips and whacked them flatter with a belt sander. As Sig was kind enough to loan me the gun, I did not alter the grips.

Accuracy testing posed a slight problem: The X-Five is not a 226. The Ransom-rest inserts wouldn't fit. Luckily, I checked them before heading off to the range, or else I'd have been in trouble. The standard inserts wouldn't fit around the beavertail. And if I tried to simply torque down the knobs, the inserts would bind against the thumb safety. The binding safety would not clear the hammer, and there would be no "bang." So I modified the inserts (sorry about that, Ransom) until the inserts fit the frame.

This was the first group the X-Five shot from the Ransom rest. Things mostly got better; rarely did it shoot worse.

I had a bunch of ammo along to test and a nice overcast day to spend trudging from bench to targets and back again. The drudgery of accuracy testing was immediately relieved with the first group. I had used Black Hills 180-grain Full Metal Jacket to settle the gun into the inserts. (Sometimes a subject gun needs a few groups to squirm into solid and consistent contact with the inserts, and then it starts shooting well.)

The first group was one inch across. And the next one. And the next. This particular X-Five hardly cared what ammo I fed it; it was going to shoot groups under an inch and a half, center to center, at 25 yards.