FBI, meanwhile, went back to 9mm after all, and in 1996 were issuing their agents with SIG-Sauer P228 pistols – a choice automatic, but not a .40.” (1) Law and Brookesmith, it should be noted, are advocates of larger calibers.
The P228 succeeded in its design parameter, which was to be a concealable handgun of adequate power with a substantial magazine reservoir. The Outback concealed carry vest has worked well for the author and many of his staff, associates, and students.
This particular P228 shows “4+1 syndrome” with 147-grain subsonic ammo, but still shows splendid grouping potential.
The FBI was not the only Federal law enforcement agency to adopt the P228. So did the Internal Revenue Service for its armed enforcement personnel. The DEA issued a great many P228s, and a number of U.S. Marshals have carried that sidearm as well.
The U.S. military, however, made the most striking purchase of SIG P228s by the Federal government. In what many saw as confession and atonement for the decision that had been made in the service pistol trials, the P228 was designated the M11 and issued to CID (Criminal Investigation Division, the “detective branch” if you will of the Military Police). Firearms authority Tim Mullin had the following to say in his book The 100 Greatest Combat Pistols. “…(The) U.S. military really wanted the SIG P226 when it sought a 9X19mm pistol, but got stuck with the Beretta M9/M10. Well, some military units got around adopting the Beretta by opting for the SIG P226 anyway, rebuilding old Government Models (as did Delta), or buying Glock 21s, as did the Marine Corps.”
Continues Mullin, “After the M9/M10 was adopted, all of a sudden it dawned on some people that this was a big pistol. There were many different pistols in the U.S. military inventory simply because big pistols don’t work for every situation. But the military had spent a lot of money convincing Congress that it needed one caliber to rationalize ammunition control, 9X19mm. As soon as the call went out for a smaller pistol for women, criminal investigators, and others, the P228 was developed. Now, anyone who knows anything about guns knows that it is not the length of the barrel that makes it difficult to conceal a pistol, but rather its width. The P228 was shorter than the M9/10, but just as wide since it used a double-column magazine. If the military services needed a smaller weapon, you think they would have gone to the single-column version of the M92. Had they done that, the manual of arms training would have been the same. Instead, they adopted the P228, calling it the M11, which meant extra training. Of course, the P228 was merely a shortened version of the pistol they originally wanted, and that was probably the major element in the decision.” (2)
When Britain’s SAS adopted the P226 as its primary fighting pistol to replace its former trademark gun, the Browning Hi-Power, “the regiment” also acquired a quantity of the more compact P228s. Known to work in undercover/ plainclothes modes against terrorists, they wanted a handgun which would be reasonably concealable yet eminently shootable under stress. By all reports, they are delighted with both the P226 and the P228 in their respective roles within SAS mission profiles. Observes Mullin, “The British Army made a better decision in adopting the P226 for general use and the P228 for those requiring a smaller weapon. It would have been even better for it to have taken the P225, but high-capacity autoloaders are the rage for those who plan to miss a lot.” (3)
The P228 was not limited to plainclothes operatives, however. Many police departments thought enough of the gun that they adopted it department wide, issuing it to uniformed officers as well as plainclothes investigators. The rationale was that with 14 shots (13 in the original pre-ban magazines and subsequent LEO magazines, and one more in the firing chamber), the P228 brought them nearly equal the firepower they would have been afforded with the larger SIG P226. They also had a pistol which, being shorter overall and particularly in the butt, was much more amenable to concealed carry.
P228, below, is descended from the P226, above.
This has several advantages. Many private citizens looking at police weapons purchases do not take into consideration that today’s uniformed officer is tonight’s off-duty cop, and tomorrow’s plainclothes investigator. If you issue separate guns for uniform division and detective division, there are extra guns that must be accounted for to the bureaucracy. There are extra training hours and qualifications that must be scheduled when a uniformed patrolman is promoted to detective, or when a detective is promoted to sergeant and rotated back to uniformed patrol.
Some police departments still require their sworn personnel to be armed at all times when off duty except when they plan to consume significant quantities of alcohol. Most, at minimum, encourage off-duty carry. Only a handful of agencies (in the United States, at least) forbid their cops from carrying on their own time.
For the off-duty policeman and his department and his firearms instructors, having one gun for both plainclothes and uniform wear solves many problems. It guarantees that the officer will have maximum familiarity, confidence, and competence with the one gun he has trained with most, and carries all the time. It is one less gun to keep track of in terms of department records. It is one less set of skills the officer must learn, and one less set of qualifications that the often beleaguered range staff must put him through.
P228 is shown with optional extended floorplate magazine…
Consider the Vermont State Police. When they switched from the six-shot revolver, the pistol they adopted was the SIG P228. Troopers carried it in exposed duty holsters in uniform. Plainclothes officers carried it in concealed, safety-strapped holsters. And all sworn personnel, no matter what their assignment or daily dress code, had it to carry off duty.
The result was uniform competence and confidence with the State Police sidearm. The troopers I talked with loved the pistol for its reliability, its good fit to the hand, its light weight on the hip during a long tour of duty, and its comfort and discretion in concealed carry. Similarly, the instructional staff sang its praises. The troops shot it well, found it quick and easy to learn, and were able to easily maintain it in perfect condition.
In the end, the only reason the Vermont State Police traded in their P228s was that the agency found the same fault with it that Law and Brookesmith had. It was a 9mm, and they decided that the more potent .40 S&W caliber would be a better choice. The VSP traded up to the SIG P229 in .40 caliber. They still carry the same gun on and off duty, in uniform or in plainclothes. They still appreciate compactness with firepower as afforded by a double-stack compact pistol. And they still swear by their SIGs.
America’s armed citizens also liked the P228. From the time of its introduction to the coming of the high-capacity magazine ban in 1994, we saw a great many of them in the civilian classes at Lethal Force Institute. The owners were usually licensed to carry concealed unless they came from a state with no provision for such a permit, and they appreciated the P228’s concealability as much as any plainclothes cop, and found the small, high-capacity pistol substantial enough for the added function of home defense. Once again, the dual-purpose thing kicked in: The carry gun could also function admirably as the house gun.
