Always been a fan of German hammer-fired guns since I played Rainbow Six and saw that classic HK USP on the cover of the box.
Since then I have been able to get myself a little family of German compact handguns that I love all equally for different reasons.
I will always prefer a DA/SA hammer-fired handguns over all else as they are what I have been raised off them growing up..
On that note, the golden-age of those pistols were the 90s/early 00s (before Glock came along and changed the entire handgun game with the striker-fired design), and the kings of those DA/SA hammer-fired designs, for me, will always be HK and Sig Sauer. Something about the aesthetics of their slides and frames made my brain tingle since I have seen them for the first time.
So here is what is here and what I think of each:
Sig Sauer SP2022 9mm
My first handgun, and honestly one of my favorite pistols for many many different reasons, but the one that is above all else is the price and affordability of this thing. It is at most, about half the price of a P226/229 or USP Compact, and about 2/3 the price of a P2000, yet it has all of the features of the P229 including controls, just with a polymer frame. That is really it. You are getting P229 for half the price...
Trigger is awesome and smooth, outside of a strange false-reset click that you might notice if you are very very slowly creeping off the trigger after a shot. Most of the parts outside of the outer shell of the actual grip/frame are made out of metal, which is a plus over the P2000, which uses polymer all over the place.
No matter what people tell me, this is Sig Sauer greatest polymer framed handgun, and it is a huge shame that is got discontinued last year. There was so much potential to explore with the Sig Pro line of polymer framed DA/SA hammer-fired handguns...but it never came to pass.
Still very easy to find however, and still very affordable. Seriously one of the best quality handguns or firearms you can get for the money...only other one I can say gives you this much bang-for-the-buck out of the box is a Beretta 92...
Sig Sauer P229 Enhanced Elite 9mm
Yea so I got my SP2022 first because I was a poor-poor when shopping for my first handgun. Years later I got the heirloom (to me) version of the SP2022, and the pistol it pretty much is the budget version of...the P229. I really don't know what to say about this thing that has not been said, but the entirety of Sig Sauer's pistol reputation before recent events was built on top of the P226/8/9. Even recent events cannot really tarnish the reputation of reliability, safety, and capability of the P22X series of Sig Sauer pistols.
So what makes this better than the SP2022?
The biggest thing is that it has an all metal construction with the grip/frame being constructed out of aluminum alloy compared to the polymer of the SP2022. Also the frame on the Enhanced Elite is the extended beavertail one to held with a better hold and comfort.
It also includes a Short Reset Trigger on the Enhanced Elite, which makes the single-action reset very short and very crisp.
The entire thing feels nice, and honestly after getting it, my desires to get a 2011 went down substantially.
HK P2000 V3 9mm
So the last one I want to talk about is the HK P2000 V3, the V3 meaning that it has a trigger mechanism that is DA/SA with a decocker (so just like all the other pistols here).
When I was going to get my first pistol, it was going to be this one, before I saw the price after all the taxes and fees, then I looked elsewhere and saw the SP2022.
Later down the line I got my hands on this P2000 V3 that I always wanted and there are definitely things about this pistol that may justify the price over an SP2022.
First and foremost, the thing about the P2000 that I like over both the SP2022 and the P229, is the compact nature of the whole pistol compared to the Sig's, which goes along with allow it to have a better hold for my smaller hands.
What I mean here is that if you look at the picture, you can see that the frame of the P2000 is not as thick in both width and height compared to the Sig Sauers. This allows the bore-axis to be lower on the HK, along with the ergonomics just feeling better and closer to a Glock. I absolutely love handling this handgun!
This along with the recoil spring system being a captured one with a buffer, this allows the HK P2000 to feel like better shooter for many people.
Now things that irk me about this HK are two things, the use of polymer on so many different parts and the feel of the trigger. The polymer use on this pistol is very extensive, like the slide stop lever is polymer, the hammer is polymer, mag release lever is polymer, and even the trigger is polymer. Just was a bit weird to me, and it probably is not even an issue.
What I will say is the HK's polymer is second to none, period. They make the best polymer anywhere, and the feel of it without a doubt feels more solid than any other polymer I have felt on any firearm.
On top of that, the trigger feel on the V3 is very average and maybe even bad, especially for the double action pull. The double action trigger pull is already pretty heavy on the P2000, but it also is not smooth as it seems to get noticeably heavier as you get closer to the break, along with it having a very long travel distance getting to the wall. The SP2022's trigger in comparison feels smooth with a smooth travel and consistent weight through the entire double action pull.
But I absolutely love this thing, and I am very happy that I picked one up when I had the chance.
So yea...heres to some German hammer-fired handguns!
What's your take on them and what you got?