I recently scored a nice police trade in 226 for $400. The gun is almost unfired (no smilies on the barrel), with dim night sights, in .40 but otherwise pretty plain. I want tune it up, primary use will be for IDPA and USPSA. I know I’ll be getting a BarSto 9mm conversion barrel and a short reset trigger kit.

What is the hive mind here for best upgrades to a 226? It’s been years since I’ve tuned one up nicely. Is the Gray Guns SRT worth it over the Sig factory kit? What triggers do folks recommend and are they worth it? What else would you do to really tune the gun up for competition?

I think the short reach trigger is a good idea and I've done a Gray Guns on one of mine... works perfectly... not quite sure why you want to change out the barrel especially since you say the one that came with the pistol is practically brand new.

SRT kit and better sights is about all I'd do. If you don't like the grips, get G10 in the pattern you prefer.

I would swap some springs out (Mainspring, trigger bar spring and recoil), SRT, maybe a new guid rod from Gray Guns. Outside of sights and grips, let it rip.

Most all of mine get outfitted with a short reset trigger, a GG guide rod, and some black checkered aluminum grips.

Then I'll shop around for 7 or 8 magazines if I can find the ones I am looking for.

Let us know what you end up with.

I got a police trade in 9mm 226 elite for not much more than yours this year and I put legion controls on it, I like how the slide stop is smaller but grippier. Gray guns flat faced trigger, the strut kit, and stainless guide rod and night fision sights plus the new hogue contoured g10 grips in all black and this gun is just gorgeous and shoots like a dream

I also got an LE trade P226, but in 9mm, from a Forum member, and it was in good condition at a good price. I got lucky. It has the German frame with the stainless upper and short extractor.

I wanted to have some fun with it, so I went to the Sig Guy website and bought some Armory Craft & Sig Armorer parts (AC short reset kit; AC flat dual adjustable trigger; Sig Armorer SuperStrut; Sig Armorer SuperStrut Mainspring Seat). I also bought some Hogue grips from Greg Cote, LLC. The trigger parts improved the trigger to a degree that I believe it's at least as good, if not better, than my son's Beretta 92A1 with the famous "Langdon Trigger Job in a Bag."

These changes have really helped the P226, and I shoot it in local IDPA matches. I've just bought some Ameriglo sights with the high visibility orange front sight, and will be adding those soon. I do want to send it to CCR for a complete refinish and will do so in 2024. Good luck!

Thanks all. To answer a few questions, I’m converting to 9mm because it is all I shoot right now, and for IDPA in particular, there’s no advantage to shooting 40. If I do occasional shoot USPSA, frankly, it’s something I do because it’s fun and to keep my skills up, I’m not hyper competitive. If I change my mind, I can order up some ammo and drop the original barrel back in.

Currently, I have a pair of 226s that were plain Jane models I bought used a decade or so ago. I dropped SRT kits into them, replaced the grips on both, and a Dawson Precision front sight on one of them. It’s been a while since I’ve dug into it, and am curious what’s changed in the market in that time, and what else I should be looking at. I want to do something a bit more this time and am curious about the various triggers, and other parts that can improve the trigger even more.

As for sights, I’m leaning toward another Dawson Precision FO front sights. Any reason to get an adjustable rear?

One additional question, since multiple people suggested it, what’s the point of replacing the guide rod?

quote:

Originally posted by Shackelford:
One additional question, since multiple people suggested it, what’s the point of replacing the guide rod?

That's exactly what I was thinking....

OP,
I don't think you'll feel much difference between the GGI and SiG factory SRT kit. GGI no longer offers the competition short reset kit. IMHO if you want it to be a 9mm pistol, get a complete slide and mags for it. I'd leave the recoil spring guide rod alone.

quote:

Originally posted by Shackelford:

As for sights, I’m leaning toward another Dawson Precision FO front sights. Any reason to get an adjustable rear?

IMO no, especially if you only plan to shoot 9mm in it. Use the Dawson calculator and get the front sight height that puts the bullets where you want them. Note that Dawson measures their sight height from the slide to the top of the sight, while SIG measures theirs from the bottom of the dovetail to the top of the sight. So take that into consideration when choosing.

This is something that I hate about Sig, but are you thinking about putting in a Short Reach Trigger or a Short Reset Trigger pack?

quote:

Originally posted by DanH:
This is something that I hate about Sig, but are you thinking about putting in a Short Reach Trigger or a Short Reset Trigger pack?

The Short Reset is a must, just wondering if Sigs is good enough, or if any of the others on the market are worth it. The short reach trigger is a hard no for me. I have long fingers, so the standard triggers fit me well, and a short reach results in me pinching the tip of my trigger finger behind the trigger.

Yeah, the nomenclature here is horrible.

Hi! I'll answer your inquiries with facts about my company's stuff. I needed to write some new ad copy, so thank you in advance for the opportunity to prattle on here.

Our SRS kit is manufactured in Reedsport, Oregon at GGI Main under agreement with SIG SAUER. I optimised the sear angle to yield around 4.25X with stock springs, and somewhat less than 4X with our competition sear spring. We no longer make a dedicated "competition" sear, as it became redundant. Our sear is machined from A-2, heat treated by our certified lab, hand polished, gauged, and stoned by me and my Parts Finishing Dept. Manager April Silva, and then finished in hard baked electroless nickel boron PTFE. We're currently the only manufacturer of precision machined tool-steel P-Series sears afaik.

The Grayguns Enhanced Leverage System trigger & trigger bar kit
was originally designed by me for use in duty pistols. It reduces DA pull weight by 23% (according to the maths) with STOCK SPRINGS and thus without affecting ignition reliability. This is of crucial importance, because the other DA/SA trigger kits out there rely upon a reduced mainspring to effect a lighter DA pull.
For range use, you can go nuts with a reduced mainspring, and get
the lightest and cleanest pull possible without suffering misfires.

Our proprietary trigger bars are made in the same factory as the OEM SIG versions, and our triggers are machined, heat treated, and finished entirely in Oregon. We offer the ELS kit with you choice of Straight, Hybrid, and Intermediate Legion-style curved face triggers.

Like our ELS trigger kit, the Grayguns FAT strut & seat is another totally unique solution to the problem of a rough factory DA pull. Our hardened shockproof tool steel FAT strut is keyed to its matching anodised 7075 aluminium spring seat. It guides & supports the mainspring throughout its full range, eliminating deflection, friction and grinding. Manufactured and finished by GGI in Oregon. Our FAT strut is not
just a copy of the factory E2 part. Like everything we do, these components are guaranteed for life.

I was hesitant about Graygun's trigger bar and FAT strut. However....
They make a very noticeable difference in the trigger pull. They are well made and should be a positive addition to you weapon to lower trigger pull. I wouldn't even consider gaming (USPSA/IDPA) a P22x series SIG without one now.

My current problem is I want them in all my P series SIGs.

I may be wrong, but make sure you get 226 9mm sights and not the factory 40 height sights. IIRC there are different numbers for diff calibers

Load it up with anything from GrayGuns.

For me I put in the solid guide rods in all of my Sigs ~ then it was a Bedair rod and sad that he is gone but I digress ~ it was an improvement for me.