Sig P226 Trigger Question

[Crysknife1013]

Hi Calgunners,

I'm hoping someone out there can help me with a question I have about the trigger on my Sig Sauer P226. I wasn't sure if I would be able to write my question sufficiently so it made sense. So instead I prepared a video to show you what I'm wondering about. It's not long and hopefully you can see what I'm having trouble with and can offer some advice on what I can do to make the trigger better. Thanks in advance and looking forward to reading all your advice!

[mtenenhaus]

That isn't unusual for a p226. Mr. Bruce Gray (grayguns.com) is master with that platform, he can modify that for you. He's done quite a few pistols for me and mine and its so much better.

[Sabian722]

i got the srt installed pretty quickly after picking up my p226 and I like it a lot, either way, I would get that done if you can. in regards to the travel, it doesn't look completely out of the ordinary... have you considered the action enhancement package as well? it won't shorten the travel but it definitely smooths out the pull.

ive heard nothing but good things about gray guns as well... can't go wrong with either imo.

[feynslowblade]

I own several Sig Sauer pistols and they all break within a few milimeters of touching the frame. Yours appears to be breaking at 1 or 2 milimeters so it is on one end of the spectrum but not unusual. There does not appear to be anything unusual with your pistol.

If you are having trouble with the single action mode of the Sig trigger, one suggestion is to prep the trigger. In single action mode, take up the slack in the trigger then press through the break point when you are ready to shoot. If you try and stroke the trigger in a single movement, it can mess up your shots because most of the cycle you will meet little resistance and then sudden heavy resistance at the end. There are many posts about prepping the trigger which can explain it better than I can. Hope this helps.

[Markinsac]

Your demonstration shows a problem. You aren't really showing the single action reset of the gun. After you pull the trigger in double action, hold the trigger back against the stop, rack the slide, then ease it out to where it resets and then take up the slack. If you still have a lot of slack at that point, then either the GrayGuns or the Sig SRT will reduce it down. I have models with both systems, and am very happy with both. I also have one that is stock - it does exhibit some of what you demonstrate, but when I'm using it, the amount of take-up slack when releasing pressure isn't nearly as much as pulling from full release of the trigger.

[Plisk]

The pre-travel you're explaining in your video; is 100% factory spec to your pistol. That pre-travel is also called "slack". You take up your "slack" until your trigger hits the "wall" then you press your trigger until the shot breaks.

Taking up slack in the trigger is not going to affect your shots, at all. You take up the slack to the wall, and what you do at the wall is whats going to affect your shots. An SRT equipped Sig will have the same amount of slack to take-up until you hit the wall. All the SRT allows you to do, is once you fire and the trigger is held fully depressed; as you release or "walk out" the trigger it will re-set and allow you to come back to the wall with less amount of movement. The SRT gives you an advantage for faster follow-up shots. For slow target firing, you get little benefit.

The issue isn't in the trigger slack, its in your fundamentals if you're experiencing inconsistent accuracy.

[9mmepiphany]

What I saw in the clip looks pretty normal. What you are referring to as travel is just the takeup of the slack before the trigger bar re-engages the sear.

You shouldn't be releasing the trigger all the way out after the shot breaks anyway. You should be holding the trigger back and then releasing it out to the reset point before taking up the slack again. If you are releasing the trigger all the way out after each shot, installing the SRT won't help.

I'm not sure why you would think the free travel in the trigger, before the engagement point, should be affecting your accuracy. The only part of the SA trigger stroke that can be affected is if you are including the take of the slack as part of your trigger stroke...it isn't. The trigger stroke starts from the point that the trigger bar and the sear engage...I think you called it the wall. Everything before that is just taking up the free travel, that you should be pressing through before you start the actually trigger press. If you include the free travel in your trigger press, you are slamming your finger into the engagement and throwing the sights off.

Try moving the trigger back at a smooth and consistent rate...don't move faster or slower to make up for pressure or the sights drifting off the target. The slower you can so this the better, until you get a feel for the trigger.

If you go through the take up quickly and then slow down when you hit the wall, to wait for the sights to be on target, before pressing the trigger, you are experiencing anticipation (you're jerking the trigger).

When I'm working with clients who have this issue, we 1) move the target in, 2) prep the trigger hard and 3) press slowly while watching the sights wobble across the target

[onegtalon]

^ this. I've got the same gun... normal operation.

Also knowing the reset of the trigger helps alot. This was my problem when I purchased my first semi auto HG.

[CnCFunFactory]

Well I'll just simply echo what many have said here... Completely normal, get it worked on and tuned or just carry on as is.

[gds23]

If you're lookin for less trigger travel trade that in for a 1911

[Alan Chen]

I was feeling the same way about my sig trigger lately. Completely stripped my sig down and cleaned the crap out of it. Took about 2 hrs, but now the trigger is like a dream again! The slack on the trigger is so light the I do t even precieve it. All I feel now is the wall and the lightest cleanest break past that! I could not believe the difference a good cleaning makes.

[Zeke003]

That's normal for a factory Sig with the Short Trigger (not the same as the SRT). The short triggers are thinner than the standard triggers and because of that the trigger will break almost at the frame. With the regular triggers the break for the back of the trigger is still in the same place but the front of the trigger is a little farther up due to the difference in width of the 2 triggers. That amount of pretravel looks normal.

[ldivinag]

That's normal for a factory Sig with the Short Trigger (not the same as the SRT). The short triggers are thinner than the standard triggers and because of that the trigger will break almost at the frame. With the regular triggers the break for the back of the trigger is still in the same place but the front of the trigger is a little farther up due to the difference in width of the 2 triggers. That amount of pretravel looks normal.

this...

one more thing. listen for when the trigger RESETS after it breaks. it's very small. but once you listen for that "click" that is when the gun is ready to fire again.

btw, did you buy the gun with short trigger to begin with?

[Crysknife1013]

I just wanted to say thanks to all that have responded! I really appreciate all your advice and insight!

Many have commented on the reset of the trigger. I thought about including that in my video but because I was getting fed up with starting and stopping my recording since I was messing up so much that I just skipped it. But if I had, you all would have seen that the reset actually happens at the very same position as where the slack starts in my video. (And I swear that's not an exageration!)

So I think I'm going to start saving up to get that SRT trigger installed later this year.

And just FYI, this Sig is not my first handgun. I've owned a Glock 17 for 3 years now and I've trained myself to feel that reset and not let the trigger return all the way forward so I don't slap the trigger on the next shot. And I swear the amount of travel before the Glock resets is dramatically shorter than on the Sig. (I'm not trying generalize and pit the Glock against the Sig here. There's been enough of that over the years. This is just my personal experience and observations with my very own guns.)

[Ronin2]

I have owed Sig's for 15 yrs. Thats normal "creep" for a SiG. Most Ad/SA guns will have similar travel. If y ou want no travel/slack then get a 1911 with a professional trigger job.

BTW... you are using waaaaaaay too much "finger" when manipulating the trigger on your gun in both double and single action. You need to use just the "pad" of your index finger only. With so much "finger" you will most likely be shooting left and possibly a bit low. Much lower if you are anticipating recoil with a flinch.