One thing led to another and before long I became the proud owner of a P226. The early SIGs were also manufactured with a carbon steel slide assembly.Īs soon as the now famous 9mm SIG 226 became available, a buddy of mine put me in contact with a senior gunsmith at SIGARMS. In essence, the P226 was a SIG 220 with a redesigned aluminum frame, that accommodated a 15 round magazine and a more traditional frame mounted magazine release button. Because the 1980s was the era when high capacity 9mm pistols were coming into widespread law enforcement service, SIGARMS reacted to this trend by creating the 9mm SIG 226. Unlike the more modern design, the original DA/SA SIG 220 was a 9mm pistol that utilized a single column magazine and the European “heel mounted” magazine release, that was located at the bottom of the grip. As a point of information, the Swiss adopted the P226 in 9mm, also known as the P75, as their military service pistol in 1975. Initially, the DA/SA SIG 220 was the first SIG pistol imported into the United States. SIGARMS was the entity that imported SIG Sauer firearms into the U.S. Shortly, after I transferred to Miami in 1985, SIG Sauer established a company based in Virginia called SIGARMS. In federal service, this level of flexibility authorized the carrying of handguns chambered in 9mm. Having this level of flexibility enabled me to carry various government issued and personally owned firearms in different calibers. Customs Service Patrol Officer, Air Officer, Special Agent and Senior Special Agent. This was especially the case, when I served as a U.S. As you will read in a number of my articles, during my law enforcement career, I was fortunate to work for agencies that allowed varying degrees of flexibility, when it came to agency firearms policies.