Firing the Sig Sauer P226

So I was at Payar Lebar camp's 50m range for a P226 re-familiarization shoot. I know many Singaporean soldiers have fired weapons such as the AR-15, M16 and of course the SAR-21. I myself have fired the mentioned assault rifles, including FN MAG (better known to Singaporean soldiers as the GPMG), but shooting a pistol is very different and I would say harder to pass compared to the other small arms I have fired.

The AR-15 and the M16 require manual zeroing, so that is one thorn in the side when it comes to firing it at the ranges on Pulau Tekong. The SAR-21 on the other hand is automatically zeroed and I would say is very convenient to fire. Many international defense and weapons experts have praised our home grown assault rifle even though I've heard many Singaporean soldiers say there are a ton of problems with it. I don't find much problems with it and in fact, I did enjoy firing it through both the sights and using the optical laser and nearly got a perfect score on my virgin fam shoot. The sound discharge is also much lower than the AR-15 and the M16.

Basic GPMG ranges are even easier to pass since the primary focus is barrel changing without touching the machine gun barrel yourself (or you will walk around with the barrel stuck to your fingers). The sights are fixed so there isn't much target practice involved at all. The other difficult part is absorbing the impact of the MG butt on your right shoulder which can lead to sores later, especially if you are given an excess of 100 rounds to expend.

Pistols ranges, on the other hand, are quite a different experience. For one, the pistol kicks like an enraged buck, easily destroying any aim you've built up. This is especially different from the SAR-21 which absorbs any shock from a discharged round very well.

Secondly, the pistol isn't a very powerful weapon and for policing duties, we use frangible rounds, which means the round stays in you when it penetrates your flesh. This is in stark contrast to assault rifle rounds that drill a nice BIG hole through the back of your body as it exits. The drop of a pistol round is tremendous, and I find aiming slightly above the head of the target works best for 50m as the round will drop down to the chest level.

There is also a stance which requires you to "fire behind cover", which is actually this flimsy piece of wood which doesn't really absorb vibration well. I almost always score badly for this stance since my palms will kick to the top of the "cover" most of the time after firing and stay there for awhile, killing any aim I've built up.

All factors considered, the chances of going bobo and re-shooting is much higher with a pistol compared to other small arms I've fired. But I've, fortunately, passed on the first try (even though I have not fired for more than a year) and here are my scores for the individual
stances:

Standing - 8/10
Kneeling - 6/10
Kneeling behind cover - 5/10
Sitting - 8/10
Prone - 7/10
Overall - 34/50

The top score was 47. Our PC promised anyone who could get 50/50 50 bucks, but that's because its almost impossible with a pistol ^^