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SIG Sauer P226

semi-automatic pistol

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 11, 2026
Entity authorityQ866367 ↗
Source-derived summary

The SIG Sauer P226 is a full-sized service pistol made by SIG Sauer. This model is available in four chamberings: the 9×19mm Parabellum, .40 S&W, .357 SIG, or .22 Long Rifle. It has the same mechanism of operation as the SIG Sauer P220, but is developed to use higher capacity, double stack magazines in place of the single stack magazines of the P220.

The P226 itself has spawned further sub-variants; the P228 and P229 are both compact versions of the double stack P226 design, while the P224 is a subcompact variant. The SIG Sauer P226 and its variants are in service with numerous law enforcement and military organizations worldwide.

History

Schweizerische Industrie Gesellschaft (SIG) is a Swiss company, now known as Sig Sauer AG. In 1975, SIG entered into an agreement with German gun manufacturer J.P. Sauer & Sohn to develop and market a new handgun which became the P220. The P220 was the first SIG Sauer handgun sold in the U.S. It was marketed initially by Browning as the Browning BDA. The SIG Sauer P220 is a refinement of the Petter-Browning design used in the SIG P210. The locked breech design is very different and was pioneered by SIG Sauer.

The P226 was designed for entry into the XM9 Service Pistol Trials (see also Joint Service Small Arms Program) that were held by the U.S. Army in 1984 on behalf of the U.S. Armed Forces to find a replacement for the M1911A1 and 24 other makes of handgun in U.S. military service. Only the Beretta 92SBF and the SIG P226 satisfactorily completed the trials.

Editorial summary

“SIG Sauer P226” enters the record as semi-automatic pistol. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Sauer, P226 and semi-automatic can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA practical starting point whose main value is the path it opens into stronger specialist and primary sources. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1975, 1984—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1981. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Sauer, P226 and semi-automatic.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“SIG Sauer P226” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Sauer, P226 and semi-automatic provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q866367. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1975 and 1984.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

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  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “SIG Sauer P226”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow SIG Sauer P226 primary sources, SIG Sauer P226 archive and Sauer research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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  2. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
  3. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “SIG Sauer P226” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.