Sig Sauer P226 E2 pistol
The Sig Sauer P226 E2 was one of the more understated new guns announced at the 2010 SHOT Show. A refinement of the P226 line, the new E2 had new ergonomic characteristics that pushed it to the top of my “must review” list.
The concept of the E2 pistols is fairly simple: take an established line of successful pistols and make them more shootable for a wider range of people. But with any fine machine, the details make the difference.
Good news: the Sig Sauer P226 E2 is a winner.
Why the change?
Sig Sauer’s enormously popular line of P226 pistols are large. The pistol was designed to be a full-size combat handgun for military and law enforcement forces of the world. The catalyst for the project was the pistol tests of the United States military seeking to replace the M1911-A1 handguns.
Available first in 9mm, the P226 was later chambered in .40 S&W and .357 Sig.
However, the size of the P226 frame was a problem for many shooters with small or even average size hands. The grip size will affect where the finger addresses the trigger. For someone like myself with “stubby finger syndrome,” the normal P226 is simply too large a frame for proper finger placement on the trigger.
Minor modifications, such as the installation of a reduced reach trigger and aftermarket grip panels were the only real ways to adjust the size of the P226 to match the shooter. For some shooters, one or both of these modifications were enough to satisfy them. Neither completely solved my problems.
Enter the E2
Prior to the 2010 SHOT Show, I discovered that Sig would be showing a new pistol called the E2, which was designed to address the size of the frame on the P226 and P229 pistols.
At the SHOT Show, one of the first booths I visited belonged to Sig Sauer. There I had the chance to handle one of the new E2 pistols. I was immediately blown away by how good this new Sig felt in my hand. I knew I had to test one of these as soon as I could.
Eric vonBosse, a product manager for Sig Sauer, told me that his company received a lot of requests over the years to have a P226 that was designed for smaller hands. vonBosse said the E2 was the culmination of the research and design efforts of Sig engineers to meet that demand.
E2: Ergonomics Squared
So, what makes the E2 pistol special? Not much, yet everything.
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