Plan2Live
Member
I owned and carried a Sig 239 for around 6 years. I loved that pistol but so did my oldest son. When he graduated college last year with an engineering degree, I let him have it as a graduation present. My intention was to go buy a new one for me to replace the one I gave him. That’s when I discovered Sig had dropped the 239 from their lineup, so service work, spare parts, magazines, etc. were not going to be easy to come by going forward. So I set about finding a replacement carry gun. I prefer DA/SA, hammer fired guns for carry so the field of candidates was limited. I kept searching and kept coming back to the same gun, the 225A-1. For one reason or another I never got around to making the buy. Recently I started looking again in earnest and discovered that Sig is only showing one 225 model on their website, the Nitron. Not so long ago they showed 4 models, Nitron, Bi-Tone, Classic and Threaded Barrel. I checked various retailers and could only find the Nitron in inventory. This makes me think Sig is phasing out the 225 so l called around and found one on the shelf at a Sportsman’s Warehouse in Anderson, SC. I drove over and celebrated the 4th of July with a new pistol purchase.
Why did I pick the 225? As I said, I prefer DA/SA, especially in a carry gun. I prefer a full three finger grip and the 225 delivers that. After carrying the 239 for so long I am familiar with the controls. I doubt I will ever encounter John Wick or a rouge Spetznaz wet team looking for me so I am comfortable with 8+1 and a spare mag, besides, the double stack Sigs don’t fit my hand all that well. As for the DA/SA transition objections, If I shoot you once I am probably going to shoot you twice so if my second shot goes of a millisecond sooner than I anticipated it’s still going to be sufficiently on target.
Straight out of the box, the pistol was bone dry. I took off the slide, applied a little oil and a touch of grease and headed to the range. The gun performed just as I anticipated, feeding Federal FMJs, Fiocchi FMJs and Hornady Critical Duty with zero problems. The DA pull is a bit stiffer than I remember my 239 being but the 239 had several thousand rounds through it. I’m sure the 225 DA pull will get smoother with time and use. The reset is very short, very tactile and very audible. The 225 has a slightly flared mag well so finding the hole for reloading was easy. The G10 grips are outstanding.
I had a Galco Avenger holster for a Springfield XDm 3.8 Compact, my first carry pistol. The 225 fits that holster nicely and will do until I get a replacement. I could crank down the retention screw and tighten it up just a tad but overall it fits well as is. I accessed the live chat on Galco’s website to ask about holsters. The Galco person (or bot) said Galco didn’t have a specific so holster for the 225 nor had they tested it in any of their holsters but suggested the holster for the 228 should work. They confirmed the holster for the XDm was not the same holster as the one for the 228. I find it odd that Galco has never tested the 225 in their holsters, but then again, finding holsters designed for the 239 wasn’t easy either.
Aside from the DA trigger pull being a tad stiff, the only complaint I have so far is the magazine base plates. The 225 base plates are perfectly contoured to the mag well with zero protrusions. At the moment, the magazines eject easily, but if they don’t eject as freely in the future there isn’t anything to grab for leverage. The 239 had a bit of a pinky extension and I had developed a technique of sweeping my support hand down the front strap when I ejected a magazine just to make sure the ejected mag cleared the mag well. That won’t help with the 225.
Hopefully I am wrong and Sig isn’t phasing out this fine pistol. But at my age, this one should last me the rest of my life.
Here are some photos.
Galco Avenger holster, Don Hume mag carrier.
Magazine base plate fits perfectly flush, doesn't give you much to grab if it needs help coming out.
Why did I pick the 225? As I said, I prefer DA/SA, especially in a carry gun. I prefer a full three finger grip and the 225 delivers that. After carrying the 239 for so long I am familiar with the controls. I doubt I will ever encounter John Wick or a rouge Spetznaz wet team looking for me so I am comfortable with 8+1 and a spare mag, besides, the double stack Sigs don’t fit my hand all that well. As for the DA/SA transition objections, If I shoot you once I am probably going to shoot you twice so if my second shot goes of a millisecond sooner than I anticipated it’s still going to be sufficiently on target.
Straight out of the box, the pistol was bone dry. I took off the slide, applied a little oil and a touch of grease and headed to the range. The gun performed just as I anticipated, feeding Federal FMJs, Fiocchi FMJs and Hornady Critical Duty with zero problems. The DA pull is a bit stiffer than I remember my 239 being but the 239 had several thousand rounds through it. I’m sure the 225 DA pull will get smoother with time and use. The reset is very short, very tactile and very audible. The 225 has a slightly flared mag well so finding the hole for reloading was easy. The G10 grips are outstanding.
I had a Galco Avenger holster for a Springfield XDm 3.8 Compact, my first carry pistol. The 225 fits that holster nicely and will do until I get a replacement. I could crank down the retention screw and tighten it up just a tad but overall it fits well as is. I accessed the live chat on Galco’s website to ask about holsters. The Galco person (or bot) said Galco didn’t have a specific so holster for the 225 nor had they tested it in any of their holsters but suggested the holster for the 228 should work. They confirmed the holster for the XDm was not the same holster as the one for the 228. I find it odd that Galco has never tested the 225 in their holsters, but then again, finding holsters designed for the 239 wasn’t easy either.
Aside from the DA trigger pull being a tad stiff, the only complaint I have so far is the magazine base plates. The 225 base plates are perfectly contoured to the mag well with zero protrusions. At the moment, the magazines eject easily, but if they don’t eject as freely in the future there isn’t anything to grab for leverage. The 239 had a bit of a pinky extension and I had developed a technique of sweeping my support hand down the front strap when I ejected a magazine just to make sure the ejected mag cleared the mag well. That won’t help with the 225.
Hopefully I am wrong and Sig isn’t phasing out this fine pistol. But at my age, this one should last me the rest of my life.
Here are some photos.
Galco Avenger holster, Don Hume mag carrier.
Magazine base plate fits perfectly flush, doesn't give you much to grab if it needs help coming out.
Last edited:
