I recently picked up a Tanaka Sig P226 ST (Rail Frame) and I figured I'd write up a review.
All I have to compare it to is the KJW USP.
Tanaka makes (Or made, anyways) a P226 without a rail underneath, and from what I'm told, it is now discontinued. That being said, I understand that this P226 Railed Frame is an entirely different airsoft gun altogether. The magazine, internals, and external quality have all been reworked and improved.
The most striking thing about the P226 ST (Here on out, just P226) is that it seems very plasticy. When I first saw it after opening the box, it had the looks of a springer. After picking it up, though, my fears were set to rest, as it is a fairly hefty item. Compared the the USP, the P226 seems fragile and delicate, which is probably due mostly to its abundance of plastic feeling. While it is indeed plasticy, the metal content is still somewhat high. All the levers, trigger, hammer, screws, sights, and magazine are metal.
I believe that it could benefit from some nice Hogue or Pachmayr grips and that they would do away with most of the plasticy feeling of the weapon. That is not to say that the stock grips are uncomfortable or anything, just that, cosmetically, the pistol would likely be nicer with some aftermarket grips.
There is a seam down the center of the frame, and it makes the rails look kinda goofy with a line across them. However, the frame and slide do not feel plasticy, and are on the same quality level or higher than most other airsoft GBBs I've seen. The rails, of course, aren't as robust as the ones on a TM RIS, however, I think that they'd certainly hold up whatever light/laser/etc you would place on them.
The sights are nicely done, with the rear sights having 2 tubular inserts rather than just painted on white dots. The front sight slides out of the top of the slide, although it's a tight fit, and I don't think that it will slip loose during an airsoft game. The dot on the front sight is painted on.
Unlike any other GBB I've seen, it comes with 2 outer barrels, one that is slightly longer and threaded, and one that is flush with the end of the slide. Unfortunately, both barrels are plastic, including the threads on the threaded barrel. I'm not sure how well it would hold up to having a metal suppressor threated onto and off of it numerous times. The inside of the outer barrels are rifled, which is a nice cosmetic touch, although it does nothing for the airsoft function and is mostly hidden by the inner barrel.
The trademarks are nice, and are present in 3 places. The left side of the slide has "SIG SAUER P226 STAINLESS" on it, the right side of the grip has a "SIG SAUER" and the magazine has "SIG SAUER P226" on the left side. As far as I know, these are all correct. Photographs I've seen of this pistol make it seem rather grey-ish, but mine is very much solid black.
With the magazine, the whole thing weighs about 1 1/2 pounds. It is weighted and balanced nicely. It seems a bit light, but I have no experience with a real SIG P226... (Kyle?) It's not overly light though, it certainly doesn't detract from that "Heavy = good" feeling.
Like the USP, it has a decocker, however, unlike the USP, the P226's decocker actually works. If the hammer is back and you slide the decocker down, the hammer drops, but the weapon does not fire. A round is still chambered, though, so you can pull the trigger and the weapon will fire.
My USP has a metal slide, and I usually use it with green gas. The P226 shoots better with HFC134a than the USP does with green gas. The consistency of each shot is good, although occasionally one BB decides it wants to go way off in one particular direction for some reason. I haven't seen how far the actual range is yet, (I'm using .20g BBs) but the effective range seems to be about 40-50 feet, which I feel is probably good for a sidearm.
It has a nice, crisp blowback. The trigger pull is very nice, long and smooth. (No jokes [
]) It is both single and double action. It has a very heavy trigger pull, much more so than any other airsoft pistol that I've ever fired. The USP feels sloppy compared to the nice trigger pull and blowback action of the P226. The slide lock works great and has locked each and every time (Again, unlike the USP...) I've run the magazine dry.
The magazine itself is about 10 ounces. Which is considerably lighter than my USP magazines, which weigh a ton... Well, figuratively. The magazine is slim and tall, and so far has fit into all of the magazine pouches I've tried it in. The ammo capacity is 24 shots, which seems to be plenty, considering most airsoft GBB's mags are at least twice what their real counterparts are. From what I can tell, the gas usage/consumption is fantastic. I filled it once with HFC134a and I shot at least 3 1/2 mags worth of BBs through it. Compared to the USP, thats fantastic. I fear putting green gas in it, as the instruction manual says not to, (I think, it's all in Japanese) as well as the fact that Tanaka parts aren't widely available, I'm told.
I plan on getting some Hogue or Pacy grips and Insight M3 illuminator for this pistol. I'd like to see a metal slide made for this P226, I think it, coupled with different grips, would eliminate the whole plasticy feeling of the P226.
If I think of anything to add, I'll post it.
EDIT - Punctuation, Grammar.
