Part 1 - Initial (unfired) evaluation

Received the STAS from member DaBigBR a couple of days ago. Thank you Brad for not jacking up its price like 99% of sellers out there. Have not had the chance to go to the range, yet, but the gun itself is oustanding from up close evaluation. More on it in a minute, but I have a couple of gripes about SIG as a company.

First, when did they start NOT to include the owner's manual with the gun? Instead, you have to scan this stupid QR code to get it online. WTH? I don't care how advanced we are technology wise, but the physical owner's manual should always be included with tools we buy. Second, the gun has all these different adjustable screws for the adjustable trigger, but they didn't even bother to include the tools for them like their their predecessor SIG DE did. Lame.

Onto the gun. Fit and finish are on par with many of the German Xguns I had. Picking it up and gripping it, you instantly know that it will never squirm in you hands. Not even a little. The newest Hogue G10 pattern is a mixture of Piranha (in the "X") and what appears to be micro Chain Link elsewhere. Amazingly grippy! I like the green fiber optic front sight; easier for these senior eyes to pick up than the all black front on the German guns. As I said elsewhere, I like the tapered bottom of the front of the slide and the rounded trigger guard. The bull barrel appears to be DLC in contrast to the unfinished ones on most German Xguns. Oh, and the "gas pedal" is actually quite comfortable. But more on it in a minute.

Trigger. The all important trigger. The didgital ( ) owner's manual says you can adjust the weight from 2.5 to 4 lbs. Mine goes from 2.5 to 3.5 lbs. How does the actual pull feel? Not as good as most German Mastershop guns I've owned. After the pre-wall travel, when you press further to release the trigger, it does not break "like glass rod". When you pull through deliberately slowly, you can definitely feel a tiny smooth (not gritty) slip bfore the sear breaks. I suppose it won't matter, when you press through it without hesitation, because then, it does feel like glass rod breaking.

---

For a DLC barrel, either they did a poor prep job, or they test fired it quite a bit at factory? I've never seen a DLC barrel hood like this on a NIB SIG. As this gun will be used, I'm not throwing a fit at SIG..

---

Looking at the TDL, one would scratch his head as to the actual take down procedure. It's not intuitive. So, onto the online manual again. So, the TDL and that protruding part of trigger pivot pin act as each other's detent. With slide in full foward position, push the TDL up then push the trigger pin flush into the frame. Then, rack and lock the slide back and proceed as usual (turn TDL 90 degrees clockwise) to slide out the upper from the frame.

---

The SAO safety mechanism is the same as on the SAO Legion, and it is different from the German gun.

---

The trigger mechanism, as I mentioned in the other thread, is a complex of parts and not just a simple trigger that many of us are used to. Beware that, if you remove it then put it back, you must have the spring indicated in the correct position, or you will run into trouble.

---

How doe the jet funnel stay put? They came up with new idea that I think is more clever than the German way. The new jet funnel has the built-in tab in the rear that, after sliding onto the botton rails of the grip frame, is held firmly in place by the new Hogue grip design. No screw needed to attach it to the main spring seat's bottom like in the German jet funnel.

---

---

Comparing it to the German Facettes

1- Beavertail on the German is a little longer.

2- Dust covers and front of slides are of different profiles. So, the German upper does fit in the US frame, but the US upper will not fit in the German frame. The barrels themselves are not interchangeable, due to slight dimensional differences. So, although the German entire upper fits in the US frame, I would not attempt to shoot it in this Frankenconfiguration.

3- The recoil springs are surprisingly of drastically different lengths. The German one is much longer. The recoil assemblies (RSA) are constructed differently and are not interchangeable.

4- Grips are slightly fatter on the German gun, due to the "X" that is above surface compared to the one on the STAS that is flush with the surface. German grips are not interchangeable with the US grips, whether they are the old Gen1 (original) or Gen 2 (Enhanced) guns.

5- The extractors are obviously different. But, as mentioned in the other thread, I'll just have to live with the long external extractor.

6- The STAS has the 18-rd Mec-Gar AFC mag body Plus 2 base. The Facettes has the 17-rd polished blued Mec-Gar mag body Plus 2 base. Mags are interchangeable.

7- As noted above, the SAO safety mechanisms are different.

8- Not shown, but the trigger complex on the German gun is slightly different.

---

---

---

Part 2 - 11/11/22 Shooting report

First, I cannot believe I haven't gone shooting at all since March 11 this year. With too many other things going on, coupled with the lack of motivation (aka laziness), and you got yourself 8 months of rustiness.

So, with the new US X5 as motivation, I went to the range 3 times this week, dragging the Facettes along for head-to-head shootout. Total of 400 rds through each gun.

1st day, ammo = Speer Lawman 124Gr TMJ. Shot 200 rds through each gun.
2nd day, ammo = Fiocchi 124Gr FMJ, Geco 115Gr TMJ, Magtech 124Gr FMJ, SIG V-Crown 15Gr JHP. Shot 100 rds through each gun.
3rd day, ammo = Fiocchi 124Gr FMJ, Geco 115Gr TMJ, Magtech 124Gr FMJ, SIG V-Crown 15Gr JHP. Shot 100 rds through each gun.

Observations and results:

1- Trigger - Going head-to-head, I was surprised to note that the STAS trigger pull was clearly heavier, not because of the slip mentioned above, but it's actually heavier than the Facettes's trigger pull. I had, without measurement, assumed that the last time I adjusted the Facettes' trigger to lightest, it would be at 2.5 lbs. Wrong! When I got home, I decided to measure both with the Lyman digital trigger scale. The STAS was at the expected 2.5 lbs (average of 10 pulls), but the Facettes was at 1.75 lbs! Not only is it very light, but with crisp break and zero creep/slip, it made for a pleasant shooting experience. As to trigger profile, I much prefer the curve one of the STAS. Never been a fan of straight trigger.

2- Sights - Definitely like the fiber optic front of the STAS.

3- Barrel finish - As mentioned above, the STAS' barrel hood uneven DLC finish was either from sloppy prep work or from a lot of factory test firing. But, after having 400 rds through the gun without seeing any noticeable wear, I'm convinced that it was poor prep work.

4- Hiccups - 2 FTExtract on the first day with the Facettes. One failure to completely chamber the next round on the 3rd day with the STAS.

5- "Accuracy" - In my shaky and rusty hands and my aging eyes, not too great. All shooting was done with the butts of the guns resting on the aluminum suitcase. Despite the trigger differences, with the STAS' trigger honestly annoying me at times, the two guns overall appear to have the same accuracy in my hands.

So, in conclusion, I'm very happy with both guns and had a great time this week, after such a long layoff. The STAS could definitely use some clean-up of that trigger "slip". Hey, I'm a trigger snob.

---

11/8/22

---

11/10/22

---

11/11/22

This message has been edited. Last edited by: 12131,

Very Nice. Q will the grips from the original X-5
guns (Nill) fit the US guns and Vice-Versa. Thanks for review. Looking forward to shooting impressions.

Very nice, and great comparison.

Awesome… your review is like a Sommelier‘s evaluation of a fine wine. Especially compared to my Wino’s evaluation of his first pull off a fresh bottle of MD 20-20. Special thanks for the details on the trigger system!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: NMDave,

Great details!!

Thanks for the comparison, Q! It's great to see that the new NH X-Five holds up relatively well in comparison to the German pistols. You really would think they could include a paper manual and tools with a top of the line pistol! I purchased one of the SIG P320/M18 pistols (that some at SIG Customer Service have characterized as military contract overruns) that come in a cardboard box with a label dated 30 SEP 2022, similar to how they packaged the surplus M17s and M17 and M18 Commemorative pistols, and it came with a paper manual. The P365 I bought last year simply came with a QR code to scan for an online manual - not a great idea, in my opinion.

Thanks Q, for a great written comparison of the German v. American XFive, and the spectacular photograhic illustrations. Very, very nicely done, and worth preserving. In fact, I've made your post into a PDF.

Both of them look good, however, even with the prestige (and price) of the German guns, they are not as fit or finished as a semi-custom 1911/2011 with bull barrels (or even Dan Wessons or the TRP Operator) as there’s a significant gap at the front about the barrel where the hole is milled in the front. Also, the rails aren’t as tightly fitted which could also lead to increased accuracy.

On a $2200 gun that is practically all machine fit, that’s perfectly acceptable. When you’re talking about the German Mastershop guns that supposedly has some hand fitting and cost between $4-7K, that’s extremely disappointing.

Q,

those are both fantastic! Great write up and pics. I look forward to the shooting review.

These make my new M11 I bought yesterday look boring, however, I did get to shoot it when I brought it home!

Thanks Q. Great comparison. Now I have to buy one. I hope DaBigBR gets another soon.

Thanks for the writeup and excellent pics.

Is that a long extractor I see?

Nice write-up, thank you.

Very nicely written and the photos are great. Thanks! Personally I like the lines of the US one better, extractor and all.. If I won the lottery and didn’t live behind enemy lines I’d make it a point to acquire one. Looking forward to your evaluation of its performance. Thanks again.

The MIM parts used in its trigger group win the day. The piece directly above its trigger would be extremely costly to produce on a CNC machine tool without making changes to its design. The polymer 320 should be so simplistic. It would be interesting to see how the German made pistols achieved this. Its a nice X gun and Sig seems determined that all pistols need the rail.

quote:

Originally posted by DanH:
Both of them look good, however, even with the prestige (and price) of the German guns, they are not as fit or finished as a semi-custom 1911/2011 with bull barrels (or even Dan Wessons or the TRP Operator) as there’s a significant gap at the front about the barrel where the hole is milled in the front. Also, the rails aren’t as tightly fitted which could also lead to increased accuracy.

On a $2200 gun that is practically all machine fit, that’s perfectly acceptable. When you’re talking about the German Mastershop guns that supposedly has some hand fitting and cost between $4-7K, that’s extremely disappointing.

There are so many areas on all 1911s which need to be fitted to obtain high accuracy. Those same features can wear with disassembly and use so as to effect accuracy. The 1911 guns benefit from the no bushing front lock up. When you learn about how a Sig barrel achieves lock up, you'll better understand the double bore at its slides front. You know what one of the harder things to find on the web is? Ransome resting a X gun. I know they shoot as well as the most expensive 1911s. Maybe Accuracy X could lock up a X gun for us.

You're very welcome, Q, and thank you for the excellent write up. I really want one for me now.

I dry fired this gun exactly three times before I shipped it and I agree with your assessment of the trigger. It does not break sharply. I thought it kind of rolled.

Any idea why the US mag has an extra, small divot at the top?

I read the entire review knowing that it would only make me want one MORE than I already do.

Q, your write ups are a joy to read. Clear, concise and no fluff. Perfect pictures with all the right lighting and descriptions. You should be on SIGs payroll, if nothing else than an ambassador to the brand.

I’m curious to know what the bore looks like .The last two Legions I bought shot fine but the bores weren’t real smooth .

Outstanding review, thank you.