Could someone explain to me the reasoning by putting a 1911 style beavertail on a Sig?
I think they look like crap and don’t perform the same function as a real beavertail on a 1911.
I was going to buy the new SIG229 with the threaded barrel and I see it has the beavertail now so I won’t be buying.
I was at SIG when the first beavertail gun, the Elite, came out. I found out about it when the press release came out, and immediately sent my boss an email kvetching about it. I was the only person in the company shooting SIGs competitively (many of my trophies hang in the halls of the HQ building) but I was kept completely in the dark about the Elite. When I complained – and pointed out that the beavertail looked poorly thought out – my boss’s response was, “If you want a job in engineering, send me a resume.” :rolleyes:
The beavertail has two problems, one major and one minor.
The major problem is that it actually forces your hand lower on the frame than you can achieve without the beavertail. As such, it actually increases muzzle flip.
The minor problem is that the beavertail makes it very difficult to put your thumb on the hammer while holstering, something that should be SOP with anyone using a hammer-fired gun, especially one without a manual safety.
The beavertail was put on the gun because someone in the Marketing department thought it would look cool and sound good on a list of “improvements.”
None of that surprises me.
Todd, does the same hold true for the 220 Compact? The 220 Compact seems a much smaller gun, which seems right to have a beavertail or something similar provided it lets your hand grip higher on the weapon, but in my limited fondling of it I don’t recall if it’s served poorly or well by a beavertail.
-B
Tried one out and as Todd said, it made my hand ride lower than usual with the thumbs forward grip. I really don’t see any need for it other than eye candy…and that isn’t all that great either. I like Sigs a lot, but I don’t like the direction the ex Kimber man is taking the company. I’d really like an all stainless P229 to compliment my other aluminum framed model, but I want it with classic styling. Rounded trigger guard, no rail, no beaver tail, and no forward cocking serations…but I guess that is too much to ask for.
As useful as tits on a bull, but don’t tell some who drink the Sig Kool Aid. 
Todd, none of that information surprises me. If Sig can sell the same gun with a different finish or an extended protuberance and call it an improvement, some people will buy it.
But as a person who has carried a P229 for a long time, I’ve never once wished that it had a beavertail. And as you pointed out, Sig’s incarnation of the unnecessary beavertail actually detracts from the function of the pistol.
I like my Sigs, but there’s a reason why only my P229 was built by Sigarms. The rest of them are all built before the fall of the wall.
I was planning on getting a P239 with the factory threaded barrel sometime in the next 6 months.
I went out and got it today before they gayed this pistol up like everything else.
A basic gun is just too much to ask for nowadays from most companies.
I was also looking at the P250 with the threaded barrel but then it came with the digital camo frame that screamed “wanabee”
BAC – Without one to handle, I wouldn’t want to say for certain. The Compact was available for only a very short (pardon the pun) period of time before I departed. But to the best of my recollection, the grip angles were all the same as on a regular P220, in which case the beavertail would, as with the other guns, force your hand down lower … which is the exact opposite of what a beavertail is supposed to do.
The only good thing about the Elites is the short reset trigger mechanism. And a little bird in New Hampshire told me that the short reset is going to become standard in all SIG pistols some time this year …
I think that some of this comes down to hand structure. I used to have a callous on my firing hand from the tang of my P220. I think I had my hand fairly high up on the gun to get the callous.
When I transitioned to an Elite I didn’t notice any appreciable difference in where my hand rode. I also shoot with a thumbs high grip and this seems to seat the pistol deeper in my hand as well. As best I can tell, the beaver tail fits MY hand.
Personally, I like the way the beavertail serves as a “stop” as I run my hand up the pistol. It works especially well with a Safariland ALS holster where the hand is being forced against the beavertail as you deactivate the ALS.
With that said, the actual beavertail itself is excessive. Sig should have trimmed it down some. I would suggest trimming so that the beavertail fits into the IDPA box when equipped with a 5" barrel but I have my own agenda. You could probably “deepen” the beaver tail so the gun sat even lower and it wouldn’t hurt my feelings either.
I like the Elite package as I press check from underneath so the front cocking serrations are nice. I like the short reset trigger. I like the beavertail. I sold the non-functional wooden grips for $150 and replaced them with the factory thin grips. IIRC, selling the grips fully subsidized the upgrade from non-Elite to Elite.
These, also seen to one extent or another on the Glock add-on or recontoured beavertails.
They do indeed shield the web of the hand a bit, and are a more positive stop as John notes, but at a price.
The beavertail was put on the gun because someone in the Marketing department thought it would look cool and sound good on a list of “improvements.”
Yup. More fluff for owners, rather than shooters.
My favorite Sig remains the P228 classic.
MMMMmmm, Ilaflon flavored Kool-aide.
They shield the web of your hand on a gun that has no risk of the web of your hand getting hit by any moving parts.
In fairness, that will depend on hand size. Ernest Langdon welded a beavertail onto his P220ST … he has huge hands and of course he put his at a shape and angle that actually helped. 
Is it possible for a 'smith to bob or otherwise modify the beavertail to do what it’s supposed to do (let your hand sit a little higher)? I’m not so familiar with the Sigs to guess how much material would need to be altered.
-B
On the aluminum guns, probably not. On a steel framed gun a 'smith could remove the offending part of the beavertail, which is all of it … meaning you’ll pay for the beavertail and then pay to remove it.
Now that Max Michel is shooting for SIG and influencing gun designs, I wouldn’t be surprised if you see an improved generation of the Elite before the end of the year.
A man with moderate hands can be pinched by a 1911.
Only someone with very large hands (5 percentile) could be pinched by a modern pistol.
A gun does not need a beavertail to accommodate the top five percentile.
I dunno…I have several with and without…doesn’t bother me one way or another.
Sometimes I think we tend to over-analyze shit…
YMMV…
Wow how pathetic.
Its already been said by many but you can add me to the list of people who was mystified by the Sig beavertail. I have large hands and it does in fact force my hand lower which is not good considering that Sigs already have a high bore axis. Sig just plain pisses me off with all the goofy things they are doing. I used to be a big Sig kool aid drinker but you couldn’t pay me to own one now.