Concealed Carry & Home Defense

Gun Test: SIG Sauer MK25/P226

Guns and Gear Contributor
Font Size:

 By Sammy Reese, GUNS Magazine

The Best Of It’s Kind.

During the hiring process with my former Police Department, I was told of all the great gear I would be issued. A take-home car was at the top of the list, along with the best gear money could buy — to include a SIG SAUER P226. When I received the call from my background investigator telling me I was hired, I can’t describe the feeling. I was, as my kids say, “super stoked.”

Prior to starting the Police Academy, I was fitted for my bulletproof vest and issued all my leather gear — most was new, and some was a little bit worn. (Okay, it was beat-up crap that I had to polish and fix, so as to not get dinged on inspections at the academy.) When the lady in the Property room slid my new/old P226 across the counter, my mouth dropped. Coming from the Marine Corps, I was used to drawing weapons from the armory in a different manner, and I was used to the guns not looking like they had been dragged behind a 5-ton truck for 200 miles. The look on my face caused the lady to ask if something was wrong. I asked her if this was some kind of rookie prank — the gun looked like it’d been a play toy for the gorillas at the zoo. She smiled and said, “These SIGs are the best guns money can buy…” Seems like I had heard that tag line before.

The old pistol had a really worn finish, the night sights were close to dead and if you shook the pistol it sounded like a metal maraca, but it functioned perfectly through the entire academy — using some really bad reloads. I used the same pistol for two more years on patrol and for use in LE shooting matches, before I was issued a brand-new P226 when I joined the Firearms Training Unit. I don’t know how many thousands of rounds went though both of the P226 pistols during their service lives, but I can’t recall a single malfunction during the years I had either. I bought the second one when the department switched from 9mm to .40, and it still shoots great.

Today’s P226

When I opened the box containing the brand-new P226 MK25 and picked it up, it felt like I was shaking hands with an old friend. However, it looked like an old friend who not only hadn’t aged, but had maybe had an enhancement or two. The biggest difference was the addition of the Mil Spec 1913 rail. Weapon light technology has come a long way, and for a duty/fighting gun, that’s a must-have piece of kit.

The MK25 pistol is issued to the guys at the pointy end of the spear — US Navy SEALs. I know there are always some inter-service rivalries, and I participate in the trash talk with my friends who are SEALs, but I have the utmost respect and admiration for them and what they do to keep America free. This pistol is identical in every way to the one they are issued and carry into harm’s way. The very small anchor engraved on the left side of the frame is the only visual clue this isn’t a “standard P226.” Each MK25 comes with a letter of authenticity stating it is the same gun used by the Naval Special Warfare community.

During my law enforcement career, my P226 was subjected to the weather, which included a few rainstorms. What the SEALs put their gear through destroys sub-par equipment, and in their line of work, equipment failure isn’t an option. To keep the MK25 protected in some of the worst operational environments on earth, the MK25’s stainless steel slide is Nitron-coated, the aluminum frame is black hard-coat anodized and all the internal parts are treated with anticorrosion coating. Combine the protective coatings with the battle-tank tough P226 and you have the MK25.

At The Range

Shooting the MK25 was almost boring; in that it ate up everything I loaded the magazines with. I shot the pistol with and without a SureFire X300 — it didn’t make a difference in function or reliability. I even loaded several different brands and types of 9mm in the same magazine, and I couldn’t make the pistol malfunction.

The MK25 digested over 300 rounds of the following ammo: Federal American Eagle 115-grain FMJ, Winchester 147-grain JHP Personal Protection, Winchester 127-grain +P SXT, Hornady 115-grain FTX Critical Defense and Black Hills remanufactured 115-grain FMJ. Then I had to stop shooting because I ran out of ammo. I thought I had brought more 9mm ammo to the range, but found the last 500 rounds in my ammo box were actually all .45 ACP ammo — I hate it when that happens.

I didn’t bench the MK25 — I usually don’t bench shoot pistols unless they are for hunting. In the right hands (not mine) this pistol is capable of really great accuracy. I was able to put 30 rounds in the head of a silhouette from the 25-yard line. If you are looking for a pistol that won’t let you down in the toughest of environments, look no further than the MK25. I have to say it felt good to spend some time on the range with a SIG SAUER pistol in my hand again. I’ll have to do it more often.

Photos By Joseph Novelozo

 To get a free digital version of GUNS Magazine click here.

Tags : 9mm
Guns and Gear

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel