SIG Sauer SP2022 Handgun – the One We Forgot About

Posted April 26, 2019 6:00 pm by R.P. Mcmurphy Comments

The Sig SP2022 is a duty sized handgun designed around the snappy 40 S&W round.

A Brief History

The 2022 started out life as the P2340 in 1999. At the time, Glock’s polymer framed striker-fired pistols were cutting into Sig’s share in the military and law enforcement world. Polymer guns were still tough, but lighter-weight and cheaper to produce. Sig’s answer was a 40 caliber pistol targeting law enforcement, using a polymer frame while retaining the aforementioned familiar operation of their older, trusted platforms. This was a conservative design but one that landed in time, as the French were looking for a new police pistol. The 2022 won the contract in 2002, the largest pistol contract since the end of World War II. 400,000 units were ordered with an expected service life of twenty years and replacement, hence the name 2022. Some military and law enforcement adoptions followed, but since then the 2022 has played a very underrated role, not just in Sig’s line up, but in the rise of budget-oriented fighting pistols.

Overview

The 2022 is a full sized handgun available in either 9mm Luger or 40 S&W. Oddly enough, it is one of the few handguns developed from the ground up for the 40, whereas most 40 caliber handguns are 9mm designs made to take the larger 40 round. The gun is hammer fired and is a traditional double action/ single action design. With the hammer down, the gun may be fired by a long pull of the trigger or with a light trigger pull with the hammer cocked rearward.

There are only three controls that need to be worried about, all of which are on the left side of the pistol: a standard magazine release button, a decocker lever, and an elongated slide release all clustered together and accessible by your right thumb when you grip the pistol.

To round things out, there is a relatively small lanyard loop behind the magazine well–an ancient holdover that military pistols simply must have. More appealing is the universal rail forward of the trigger guard for all the light or laser accessories you could want.

The SP2022 uses a standard 1913 picatanny rail that will take most universal lights and lasers. Note the scratches on the Nitron finish. Even after some hard use on the surface finish, the stainless steel slide is nearly impervious to rust and corrosion.

Specs

Barrel length: 3.9 inches
Loaded weight: 2 lbs. 2 ounces
Slide: Stainless steel, Nitron treated
Trigger Pull: 9.2 lbs. double action, 4 lbs. single action
Sights: rear notch, front blade in a three white-dot setup
Capacity: 15 rounds in 9mm Luger
Accessories: two magazines, manual, hard sided case, and a cable lock

The SP2022 features a loaded chamber indicator at the top of the ejection port. When a live round is in the chamber, the indicator sticks skyward.

Range Time

Over several sessions, I ended up firing about six hundred rounds through my pistol with a single cleaning in between. I did my best to include a variety of brands and bullet weights to assure function. This included:

Aguila 115 grain and 124 grain FMJs

Remington UMC 115 grain FMJs

Browning 147 grain FMJs

Winchester White Box 115 grain and 124 grain NATO FMJs

Remington HTP 115 grain JHPs

Sig Sauer Elite Performance 124 grain JHPs

U.S.A. – Sig Sauer thundered into the polymer pistol market when they introduced the P320 to market a few years ago and it has taken the civilian market and the US military by storm. They followed up this striker-fired duty pistol offering with a pocket-sized P365, which hit the shelves last year. Both models have been very successful, but Sig isn’t this late to the polymer pistol game.

Their first plastic fantastic debuted back in 1999 and it is still to be had, the SP2022–otherwise known as the Sig Pro.

SIG SAUER SP 2022 SIG PRO

Like its more famous predecessors, like the P226, the 2022 is a double-action hammer fired pistol and the general operation is identical, but the platform is wedded to a lightweight polymer frame. This unusual amalgamation of old and new found initial success, but has since been forgotten. I have always liked this quiet player, that along with a newer offering that follows the same basic operation, the CZ P07. Not mainstream, but cool. I had it in my head that my first polymer duty-sized pistol would be one or the other. The latte drinking, plaid shirt wearing hipster in me wanted the CZ, …Read the Rest

Source:: AmmoLand