The SIG P224 is essentially a P226 that's been chopped down. The result is an excellent carry gun with a killer DAO trigger that available initially in .40 and .357 SIG.

The SIG P226 has an enviable reputation. Designed for the Joint Service Small Arms Program trials in the early 1980s, it lost out to the Beretta 92, mostly due to a minor cost difference in the parts and magazine package. Adopted by the SEALs nonetheless, it has proven to be durable, reliable, accurate and adaptable. What it has not had a reputation for is compactness. As a high-cap, double-stack magazine pistol, it is as big as any duty pistol out there and larger than summer carry would have us desiring.

The P224 is a P226 shortened on both ends and features all the improvements the current generation of combat pistols have. The frame is aluminum alloy given a black hard anodized finish. The front of the frame has a checkered panel, and the pattern of the checkering is duplicated in the finger rest of the magazine.

Need 10 accurately placed .40 S&W rounds? The P224 will deliver.

The frame does not have checkering on the back of the frame, as the grips wrap around the back, and you get the laminate, grooved and scalloped for a nonslip grip.

The slide is stainless steel; the barrel is carbon steel, which is induction-hardened for durability. Both the slide and barrel feature a Nitron finish. The sights are Siglite night sights. The front of the slide is chiseled off at an angle, so you will be less likely to catch the edge of the slide on a holster, while re-holstering or gearing up for the day.

The magazine is of necessity a short one, holding (in this pistol) 10 rounds of .40 S&W. Were it chambered in .357 SIG, it would also hold ten10 and the 9mm version will hold 11 rounds. So depending on your caliber choice you have 10+1 or 11+1 rounds available. The gun also takes P229 magazines for the .357 and .40 versions; in 9mm, you’ll need the 229-1 magazine for extra capacity.

If you go with these extended-magazine options, you can get 12 or 14 rounds in .357 and .40, and 13, 15 or 17 rounds in 9mm. That’s a lot of extra ammo, comforting in places you may have to enter.

The laminated grips give a nonslip grip and give the pistol a distinctive look.

The trigger is the DAK (Double-Action Kellerman) that has quite a following in defensive-carry circles. It is a smooth and light double-action-only trigger, with restrike capability. In stroking the trigger, I get more of a sensation of using a slicked-up revolver than I do of a double-action pistol. It is light and smooth enough that is doesn’t hinder accurate shooting, but it is long enough that you know you’re pulling the trigger.

I can’t get all three fingers on the short frame, which means the muzzle will rise in recoil. And so it does. But the P224 doesn’t snap in recoil; it sort of bounces up and then comes right back down again. If you’re used to the recoil force and pattern of its big brother, the 226, you may find the 224’s recoil pattern disconcerting at first, but you can’t expect a compact pistol that weighs just over 25 ounces empty, chambered in .40 or .357 SIG, to be sedate, can you?

As you’d expect, filling the magazine is work at first. The first few times I filled the magazines, I had to practically pound the last round into place with a mallet. And, once loaded, I had to push hard to get the magazine to seat with the slide forward. The magazine spring has to be stout in order to lift the stack and keep up with the slide as it shuttles back and forth. The P224 is not at all alone in this, many compact and some non-compact pistols have this as the break-in process.

When you consider the matter of a compact carry gun, you have to have some way to carry it. We’re in luck because the profile of the P224 is essentially that of the 226/229, meaning the entire range of holsters will work—although some of them just may have an excess of leather or Kydex.

The frame has checkering on the frontstrap, which is echoed on the finger tab of the base plate.

Galco was kind enough to send me a Quick Slide holster and a dual-mag pouch. The Quick Slide worked just fine, as it was designed to be the minimal amount of leather that would hold a 226 securely. The 224 is also held securely.

The dual-mag pouch is another matter, but it’s not Galco’s fault. The pouch, designed to hold a full-size magazine even against running, simply swallows up the stubby 224 magazine. If I pushed the magazine all the way down into the pouch, about the only way to get it out was to hook my fingertips on the base plate. Again, the SIG is not unique in this regard, as all stubby magazines can be hard to access.

Disassembly of the P224 couldn’t be simpler. Unload the gun and lock back the slide. Check the chamber, then check again. Now pivot the disassembly lever (on the left side) down and leave it there. Grab the slide and press the slide stop down, then ease the slide off the frame. At that point it is like every other self-loading pistol.

Now, if the P224 Extreme isn’t to your aesthetic tastes, then SIG has three other models. The SAS features a one-piece polymer grip. The Nickel has a nickel-plated (matte finish, not mirror bright) slide, slide stop, takedown lever and magazine button that accent the black anodized frame, plus Hogue Custom G-10 grips. The P224 Equinox has a two-tone polished slide done in Nitron, with the slide stop, mag catch and takedown lever nickel-plated, plus Hogue black diamondwood grips. On top, the Equinox has a fiber-optic front sight, matched with a night-sight rear blade.

The magazines are short versions of the P229, so if you have the right one you can up the capacity of your 224.

So, is the SIG Sauer P224 the carry handgun for you? That depends. Clearly, a 10-shot .40 or .357 SIG pistol, in a compact form, is a good carry choice.

What you will have to decide is if the grips is a bit too short, too much of a good thing, and can you get a good grip on the draw. Can you shoot quickly and accurately?

And can you adjust your shooting to the DAK trigger? As good as it is, it is a bit different from all the others, and that takes some getting used to. If you do not spend time practicing, no pistol, no matter how good, is going to serve you well. Coming from a strong revolver background, I found the DAK trigger an easy transition.

The grip, while small, is big enough, but I sure won’t turn down an opportunity to put a bigger magazine in the P224. So the only real question for you is which caliber.

Fast Specs

• Type: hammer-fired DAO semiauto
• Caliber: .40 S&W (tested), .357 SIG
• Capacity: 10+1
• Barrel: 3.5
• OAL/Height/Width: 6.7/4.5/1.3 in.
• Weight: 25.4 oz
• Finish: Nitron, black anodized
• Grips: laminate wrap-around
• Sights: three-dot w/night-sight optional
• Trigger: DAK, 5.5 lb. pull
• Price: $1,146
• Manufacturer: SIG Sauer

Accuracy Results

• Smallest avg. group: (tie) 180 gr. Hornady Steel Match, 180 gr. Hornady TAP, 165 gr. Winchester PDX1—3.0 in.
• Largest avg. group: (tie) 155 gr. Hornady TAP, 180 gr. Winchester FMJ, 135 gr. Federal Guard Dog—3.5 in.
• Avg. of all ammo tested (6 types)—3.25 in.

Chambered in both 9mm and .40, this polymer-framed pistol has an external hammer and is about the size of a Glock 19.  For its size, it holds an impressive number of rounds—16+1 in 9mm, and 12+1 in .40 S&W.  This DA/SA automatic can be had either with a decocker or a safety, so it can be carried cocked and locked.

Not only do I like the way the P-07 looks, with its squared-off trigger guard and beavertail, I like the way it shoots.  It has a low bore, and the trigger pull from the factory is rather good, both in single and double action.

As someone who likes to shoot and carry full-size pistols, I was very happy to have the opportunity to play with two pre-production versions of the new CZ P-09 Duty chambered in 9mm.  If you imagine the P-07 spent the winter working out and taking vitamins, the result is the P-09, a full-size version of the proven design.  Right now this pistol is in pre-production, and is not expected to be commercially available until January 2013 or so.  .40 S&W versions are planned.

The original P-07 had a 3.8” barrel, and the pre-production versions of the P-09 I had an opportunity to examine had what appeared to be a 4.3” barrel.  The grip is longer as well, and instead of 16 rounds of 9mm the magazines hold an impressive 19 (although in production versions I was told this might be officially reduced to 18 as that last round can be a little difficult to slide in).

The P-09s had interchangeable backstraps, and the one in the photo has the small backstrap installed, which is rather flat.  The large backstrap provides the distinctive CZ-75-type hump.  The P-09 also has forward cocking serrations on the slide, but otherwise the big pistol is identical in features and operation to the P-07.

Jason Morton of CZ showed up with two pistols, one with a decocker and one with a safety, allowing the pistol to be carried Condition One, cocked and locked.  I don’t know if I would choose a P-07/P-09 with a safety, as it is a little small and flat for me and I am not confident I’d be able to hit it under stress.

Production models will have a slightly thicker beavertail than the one you see in the picture to better withstand abusive military/law enforcement drop tests, but my hope is that the engineers at CZ change nothing else with the pistol before it goes into full production, because I really liked it.

Everyone who shot the pistols loved them.  Between the good triggers and sights and longer sight radius and extra weight (I had no scale but estimate the P-09 tips the scales around 2 pounds) the pistols were just a joy to shoot.

Retail price is guesstimated to be about $500, which makes the P-09 a real value, and I can’t wait to get my hands on one to test at length for Handguns Magazine.

The Trayvon Martin case is just about the ultimate Worst Case Scenario, a “Perfect Storm” if you will when it comes to a concealed carry confrontation (one where the shooter survives).  I am not talking about the actual physical confrontation, but rather the aftermath.

I don’t know what happened that night in Florida, and neither does anyone else.  The only person who knows exactly what happened is George Zimmerman, and even he might be fuzzy on a few things from the photos I’ve seen of his bloody head.  That fact, however, has apparently been lost on everyone who is screaming about race or gun control or Castle Doctrine.  It’s not that I don’t have strong opinions on what I think is going on with this case, it’s that I recognize that’s what they are—opinions.  Let’s look at some facts.

If you carry a gun for self-defense, and get involved in a shooting, odds are you will be sued, either by the person you’ve shot, or their surviving family members.  You should also assume that, no matter how clear cut a case of self-defense it was, that you will be put in handcuffs at the scene, arrested, and treated by the authorities like a criminal.

I am not mentioning these items to dissuade anyone from carrying a gun for self-defense—it’s far better to be on trial for shooting someone than to be dead—but rather to make sure nobody has any false illusions about how the justice system in our country can and often does work.

VOTE: Does the Trayvon Martin case demonstrate a flaw with Castle Doctrine/Stand Your Ground laws?

Once done defending yourself in court (post bail costs and attorney fees), if you find yourself a free man or woman, there is a good chance you will be sued in civil court.  Even if you win, you will have more attorney fees.  No matter what the verdict in George Zimmerman’s criminal trial, I would not be surprised if he gets sued by family members of Trayvon Martin.  I predicted to friends that Zimmerman would be charged with civil rights violations by Eric Holder’s Justice Department if he wasn’t charged by local authorities, and that still may happen.  Again, Zimmerman is living through the Worst Case Scenario of a shooting aftermath, and while it is unlikely that most people who get involved in a self-defense shooting will suffer the same kind of attention, everyone who carries a gun needs to know that it is possible.

It may turn out that a number of people who have leaked information about this case to the press have straight-out lied.  People lie in court all the time.  You cannot control what other people do, only what you do.  Get some documented training, call 9-1-1 either during or as soon as practical after a confrontation, and when the authorities show up, just remember that anything you say can and most likely will be used against you in a court of law.

Protect yourself, protect your loved ones, and if you ever find yourself facing a media lynching or being accused in the press of all sorts of things that just aren’t true, maybe your only recourse will be knowing you did the right thing when the time came.

Attorney General Eric Holder's Justice Department runs ATF, which conducted the botched Fast and Furious gun trafficking operation. Holder claims he had little knowledge of the operation and didn't know guns were permitted to "walk" across the border into Mexico.

Media reports indicate Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) has drafted a resolution holding Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress for a lack of cooperation in connection with Issa’s investigation into the botched Fast and Furious operation.

If you’re not up to speed on Fast and Furious, it was a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives operation that directed gun shop owners in border areas to allow sales to suspected straw purchasers.

While the alleged intention of the operation was to collect evidence against straw buyers and their Mexican drug cartel connections—and track the firearms acquired in such purchases—the result was that thousands of guns crossed into Mexico and few were tracked. Some of the guns were subsequently connected to crimes, including the murder of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry and Immigration Control and Enforcement agent Jaime Zapata.

Rep. Darrell Issa chairs a House committee investigating Fast and Furious. He says Attorney General Holder is not cooperating with the investigation and has drafted a resolution charging Holder with contempt of Congress.

Some gun-rights advocates have claimed that Fast and Furious was a back-door attempt at gun control—a way for the Obama administration to place the blame on the flow of guns into Mexico on U.S. civilian gun sales and thereby increase restrictions on civilian sales. And in fact the ATF did institute additional long-gun sales reporting requirements in border states; the National Shooting Sports Foundation filed an appeal in federal court to strike down the requirements.

In the course of his investigation, Issa, who chairs the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, had issued subpoenas to get documents relating to Fast and Furious from the Department of Justice and was increasingly upset by what he saw as stonewalling on the part of Holder’s department.

“The Justice Department’s failure to respond appropriately to the allegations of whistleblowers and to cooperate with congressional oversight has crossed the line of appropriate conduct for a government agency,” the 17-page resolution reads, according to The Hill. “Congress now faces a moment of decision between exerting its full authority to compel an agency refusing to cooperate with congressional oversight or accepting a dangerous expansion of executive-branch authority and unilateral action allowing agencies to set their own terms for cooperating with congressional oversight.”

According to The Hill article, if Issa moves ahead with contempt proceedings, his committee would vote on the contempt resolution, which would then move to the House floor. House Republican leaders would then decide to bring it to full House vote.

The House is currently in one of its “district work periods” and doesn’t return to session until next week.

First, an important note: This 3-gun zombie match, jointly sponsored by the ammo company and the Nebraska National Guard, is limited to 350 entrants and has two registration days. Registration for the VIZ (Very Important Zombie slayer) category opened May 1. For $275 you’re registered for all competitive and side match stages, plus you get one commemorative box of ammunition, a commemorative t-shirt, lunch on both days, and a bug-out bag stuffed with goods.

On May 14, registration opens for the ZS (Zombie Slayer) category. Fee is $165 and includes category entry into the eight competitive stages, lunch on both days, and a bug-out-bag.

The zombie match will feature eight competitive stages, and six side match stages. Event sponsors will provide many new and reactive zombie targets developed specifically for this match, with most targets falling over, moving, or exploding. Shooters will be required to compete with pistol, rifle and shotgun. For a complete list of rules / equipment requirements, please go to the Zombie Guide (aka Rules and Regulations).

“We want competitors to enjoy a unique, surreal environment while showcasing their 3-gun skills,” said Hornady’s Neil Davies. “With a prize table of $110,000 in sponsor merchandise (and growing), Pandemic 2012 promises to attract shooters from all over the country.”

Awards will be made in three divisions. Pro Zombie Slayer is essentially an open division. No capacity restrictions on rifle, pistol or shotgun, and optics are permitted on rifles and handguns.

Tactical Zombie Slayer division allows a single optic on rifle only and a maximum handgun magazine length of 140 mm. Maximum magazine capacity on rifle is 30 rounds. Shotguns may be loaded to a maximum of nine rounds.

Almost A Victim Zombie Slayer division allows an optic on the rifle, iron-sighted handgun and a semiauto or pump shotgun restricted to five-round capacity.

An optional Charity CQB Shoot House, sponsored by the Nebraska Army National Guard, will feature a maze of walls, smoke, lights and sound, and reactive zombie targets. Competitors will be armed with an airsoft M-4 with green laser and over 100 rounds of airsoft ammunition. Access to the Shoot House costs an additional $5, with proceeds donated to a military charity. Others interested in sponsoring various aspects of the zombie match can do so beginning May 12.

This looks like a hugely fun zombie match, and I’m jealous. And come to think about it, those Heartland folks have one other advantage over us Californians. I live near the coast, so if the zombie hordes come, my back will be to the ocean. And with California’s stupid magazine capacity restriction, I’ll have only 10-rounders in my AR to fight them off. Better buy a boat, I guess.

Heritage Manufacturing makes single-action revolvers such as the Rough Rider Combo, a .22 LR/.22 Mag that sells for between $200 and $350, depending on model.

Taurus just announced its acquisition of Heritage Manufacturing, which makes rimfire and centerfire single-action revolvers. The company didn’t disclose the terms of the acquisition.

Heritage Manufacturing, like Taurus’ U.S. subsidiary, is located in Florida. It was founded in 1992, and its flagship Rough Rider SA revolvers are affordable designs that include a .22 LR/.22 Mag. combo and .45, .357  and .32 H&R models. The Rough Rider combo rimfire gun is available in a wide variety of grips and finishes; most are in the mid-$200 range. The .32 H&R goes for around $300, and the .45s and .357s range between $480 and $550. Heritage Manufacturing also has a good-looking and well-rounded line of holsters and other gun-leather goods, plus accessories and parts.

“Heritage and Taurus have always had a long, family-like relationship,” said Jay Bernkrant, Heritage founder and president. “We share the same family-based values and deep-rooted desire to bring the best products to the most people.

The Heritage name and brand will continue to be marketed as a standalone company, according to a news release. Heritage will receive “the full support of the Taurus management efforts and distribution channels,” according to the release.

Taurus president and CEO Mark Kresser called the move a great complement to Taurus’ and Rossi’s current product lines and part of a growth strategy to “acquire and partner with companies that share our core competency of affordably priced firearms for all shooters. Taurus is continuing to accelerate in the shooting sports, and Heritage products will keep our customers hunting, plinking and cowboy-action shooting.”