[Note: This was written in 2017, based on experiences in 2016. A lot has changed. The lessons haven’t.]

TheGunBlog.ca — For the past few years, I’ve been a Glockophile with acute SIG Sauer P226 envy.

The legendary SIG pistol has a decades-long reputation for reliability, durability and dependability. It’s a 9 mm design used by top competitors and by elite military units like the U.S. Navy SEALs and Canada’s Joint Task Force 2.

But my P226 lust came with a serious complication: P226 phobia.

In late 2016, after four years of suffering from this double P226 fantasy and fear, I went for therapy: two days of handgun training (Handgun 103 and 104) at SIG Sauer Academy in New Hampshire.

Tuition included the use of a pistol. I requested a P226 Legion, a refined P226 model available since 2015. In Canada, where I live, the Legion costs about $2,000 after tax.

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I had shot a P226 on only two occasions before the SIG Sauer Academy courses:

The timeless P226 MK25. What’s your favorite classic #SIG pistol? #Vcrown #SIGammo #P226 pic.twitter.com/Qazt76QSry

Those two times were for fun, to get a feel for the products.

This time I wanted to learn to manage the two trigger modes — DA and SA — and the decocker, and to make fast, good hits under the intensity and pressure of a (simulated!) violent life-or-death confrontation.

I knew that the courses I was taking were to build general handling and shooting skill. SIG Sauer Academy offers a separate series of courses for defensive training. But I could still pretend.

Our first shots at the outdoor range were an accuracy drill at 3 yards, taking as long as we wanted.

I devoted a lot of focus and time to the long, heavy double-action trigger pull, aligning the sights, gently pressing the trigger, re-aligning the sights, squeezing the trigger a bit more, repeating this sequence until I thought I was close to the shot firing, and then flinching in anticipation. In a video series called Fear Not the Double-Action Shot, Ernest Langdon calls this “Now Syndrome.”

Even though I knew I was doing it wrong and I finished each string last among the 10 students on the firing line, I was one of the only shooters sending almost every round through the same hole in the centre of the target.

At some point as the drills progressed, I guess within the first 100 rounds, I stopped trying to consciously and deliberately manage the double-action pull. I just forgot about it. Poof! It vanished from my awareness so completely that I even forgot that it had been a concern.

It was only three weeks later when talking about the P226 to a friend that I remembered that it had been an issue.

Glorious. With the DA/SA fear gone, half my phobia had been quickly and effortlessly cured.

Now for the other half, the decocker.

(Oh, and the “high” bore axis? Non-issue from the beginning.)

Several times during Day One I got overwhelmed by a simple “problem” experienced by every pistol shooter: the slide locks open after the last round is fired.

Here’s how I experienced it in 5 seconds that felt like forever:

I considered quitting the course.

I replayed this clumsy act all day. I froze and fumbled the reloads and (simulated) malfunctions. I just couldn’t get it.

As much as running a Glock felt natural and fun, running the P226 felt awkward and painful.

In my hotel room that night, the P226 phobia obliterated the fantasy. I invented a “Boo-Hoo, Poor Me!” story where everyone and everything was wrong: the gun, the course, the instructors, and me.

I considered quitting the course.

I called my No. 1 gun buddy to share my sob story. (He had switched to wearing a SIG for personal protection after years of carrying a Glock 19.) He helped me to unfuck myself change my attitude and re-commit to my learning. (Thank you, Oliver.)

Nothing beats a P226 LEGION on 2/26 day! Post your P226 pics and tag us to celebrate! #SIG #SIGSAUER #NEVERSETTLE pic.twitter.com/w6OcVnibYF

The drills got more complex. Longer distances, smaller targets, shorter times, added movement, unfamiliar positions, unusual firing sequences. We also had to deal with cold and rain.

Drill: Torso-sized steel targets from 10 metres, while walking across the range left-to-right, then right-to-left.

Drill: Same drill on 6-inch plate.

Drill: Run 20 metres to barrier, then kneel, take a hostage-rescue shot on a 6-inch plate.

Drill: Torso-sized steel single handed from 40 metres.

I was making good, fast hits on any target from any position under any constraints. The gun was part of me. I couldn’t miss.

I ran the trigger and decocker reflexively and quickly. After every “stoppage,” I got the gun back up in a flash. I was making good, fast hits on any target from any position under any constraints.

My decocker phobia and fumbling had healed in my sleep. I was unstoppable. The gun was part of me.

I felt I couldn’t miss.

(In reality, of course I missed and messed up. But I had stopped running the “Poor Me!” story. I was now operating from “I can do this!” Change your focus, change your reality.)

The therapy worked. The patient was healed.

I fell in love with the P226 Legion.

A few months later, I owned one.

Keywords: Glock, Handguns, Products, SIG Sauer

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