Travel to the Dark Side

[Pizza Bob 1,488]

Yesterday I visited the dark side….briefly.

I’m a tried and true revolver guy. I have competed in (IDPA, USPSA & ICORE) with nothing but wheelguns for the last four or so years. Several weeks ago I came across a really good deal on a bottom feeder, a 9 mm Sig P226 Elite RX SAO. Allow me to interpret: The Elite has special features over the standard P226, to wit – a beavertail, an undercut trigger guard, checkering on the front strap, Sig Lite night sights and G10 grip panels. The RX means that the gun is factory equipped with a red dot optic – in this case, Sig’s Romeo 1 with a 3 MOA dot. And, of course, the SAO means single action only. So I pounced on it. The same person that found this deal pointed me to another great deal on Sig walnut grips for the gun at about 67% off MSRP or about 60% off the “street” price – so I grabbed them too.

I had to wait until Friday, 5/18 to pick this beauty up due to a previous purchase (thanks OGAM, and yes, that one was a revolver). My intention was to shoot an IDPA match with the new Sig on Sunday 5/20. I was going to use Saturday to practice drawing – remembering to disengage the safety – and acquiring the red dot. Wasn’t able to do any live fire or sighting in. The dot appeared to co-witness the irons, so I figured “close enough for government work."

Well, as it often happens, life got in the way and I didn’t get a chance to even touch the gun on Saturday, but that didn’t deter me, off I went to the match on Sunday with a totally unsighted, untested gun. Sometimes I’m a glutton for punishment.

For those of you that are knowledgeable about red dots on hand guns, I’m sure you know what happened next – that is after I forgot to disengage the safety – I couldn’t find the red dot. Took me a while to track it down, and it started all over again after each shot. It did improve, slightly, as the day wore on but I know that I could have shot all the stages more quickly with my revolver. In short: It was a disaster and I finished DFL.

I didn’t expect to be competent right off the bat, but I did expect to acclimate to it somewhat. While there was minimal improvement from the start to the finish, my performance was still laughable at the end. To the guns credit, it ran 100% absolutely flawlessly, and when I did actually manage to find the red dot and break the shot as it passed over the down-zero scoring area, it also put the bullets where they were aimed.

This is going to require further study – much further study. The gun is great and shooting static targets from a static position I’m sure that I could shine – but in practical shooting where you may be moving, the target may be moving, or both, I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to be even slightly competitive without tons of practice. I have new found respect for those shooting the new Carry Optics divisions in both IDPA and USPSA.

Next match it will be back to the bright side and this…

Adios,

Pizza Bob

[Rob0115 1,105]

Careful Bob, you start buying bottom feeders then suddenly BAM there's a Glock in the safe and you're making excuses to friends on what happened.    Nice piece and welcome to the dark side.  

[Howard 538]

Why were you having such problems finding the dot if you can co-witness?  I know I can just find the front sight on my G34 MOS and the dot is always right there.

[Shane45 807]

Its pure junk PB! You should just sell it to me and be done with it! Kidding aside, there is a learning curve. The windows are smaller and there are some techniques to help you get dialed in. But a lot of it is going to simply be practice and reps.

[T Bill 649]

The problem was you did not turn the gun horizontal and grab your crotch at the same time.  Bet you forgot the durag too!  Sometimes you just cannot teach an old dog new tricks! 

[45Doll 5,877]

Great looking Sig there Bob. Nice combination of features, especially the SAO.

Don't feel bad about the dot acquisition. I have an FNP-45 with a Burris on top and even shooting at the range I have frequent issues finding the dot when I bring the pistol up. Obviously haven't worked enough with it yet.

We'll subtract 15 seconds from your time for having the nerve to take it to a match first time out!

[Krdshrk 3,877]

What?!  Your revolver isn't mag fed?  

[Ray Ray 3,566]

At least it is metal and has a hammer, I wouldn't trust a gun made of the same material as my daughter's toys and a striker that breaks easily.

[Rob0115 1,105]

1 minute ago, Ray Ray said:

At least it is metal and has a hammer, I wouldn't trust a gun made of the same material as my daughter's toys and a striker that breaks easily.

But you’d be happier if he got a Beretta right?

[Mr.Stu 1,922]

That's a nice piece, Bob.

If you ever feel the frustration is too much, please remember who is your favorite IDPA match director  

[Ray Ray 3,566]

3 hours ago, Rob0115 said:

But you’d be happier if he got a Beretta right?

Greatest 9mm ever