I’m thinking of picking one of these up. Does anyone have any knowlege regarding the reliabilty or longevity of this particular weapon? What about recoil ? Is it managable? Would this be a desirable weapon purchase if the price were good?
The slide is heavier than the 9mm, and so is the recoil spring. So, it takes some good strength to charge the pistol. Kinda hard to do it with one hand.
It’s fairly reliable and durable. With that stiff recoil spring it has a pretty strong return force, so it will wear out the take down levers and slide catch levers more quickly than the 9mm version. I carried a P226 .40 on duty for a while, but found that I just prefered using the P229 .40. So I went back to the P229 even though recoil was “slightly” softer on the P226. I’ve learned over the years that how .40 recoil effects your performance is based on how practiced you are with the platform. With years of shooting the same .40 platform, me and several of my coeworkers can outshoot many 9mm shooters in speed and accuracy.
There is a difference between the P229 and P228 slides in 9mm and .40, the P229 is wider; there is no discernible difference in weight or appearance in either caliber with the P226.