The Sig P228 is a Swiss-designed and German-manufactured handgun from the Sig's long and marvelous line of P series handguns. The real P228 is a 13-shot 9mm compact version of the P226, which is a 15-shot 9mm. The P228 is widely used by law enforcement, most notably by many federal law enforcement agencies, and it was adopted as the US military's standard-issue compact handgun and designated the M11, to the Beretta's M9. Tokyo Marui has crafted a faithful Airsoft version of this popular handgun with all of their usual attention to detail.

Appearance

  As usual, TM has done an excellent job overall on the P228. The proofmarks and other stampings are all the the right places, and the logo on the grips is well done. Everything is proportioned nicely, and the magazine (though plastic) closely resembles a real P228 magazine. The only real trouble I have with the P228 appearance-wise is the hammer. It looks fine when it's at rest, but when it's cocked it looks... well, dorky. One could cut it off (or actually take the time and disassemble the weapon to remove it) and have a P228D (double action only) look-alike since the hammer's not integral to the firing mechanism. Removing the hammer would also reduce the firing noise of the pistol a little. I happened to have a Tasco Laserpoint with Sig mount laying around so I attached it to the P228, and it definitely makes the pistol look meaner.

Function

  The P228 functions reliably, and the slide action is stiff but smooth. The trigger pull is a bit long but clean and smooth. The magazine fits up into the magazine well nicely but there is a small amount of rattle once it's in place. The grips feel soooooo nice to me - even nicer than a real P228's grips. I may try and see if they'll interchange. The pistol points naturally, and with the Tasco laser sight it is stable and has a good weight to it. The safety is incorporated into what on the real pistol would be the decocking lever, and it's easy to operate with the thumb if you're shooting right handed. The magazine catch is also readily accessible and the magazine drops free of the weapon easily.

Accuracy

  Well, frankly, it sucks. This is probably the most inaccurate Airsoft pistol I've ever fired. Instead of chewing a ragged (or even semi-ragged) hole in the target paper, this was putting BBs all over the place. Some were not even hitting the target at all. I don't know what it is - it's almost like the barrel is way too big for the BBs and they're just sort of rattling out and ambling toward the target however they want to. I had really high hopes for the P228, but there's no way I'd ever use it for anything unless we were doing a particular scenario where we had to use P228s. I wonder if there's a replacement barrel available (maybe even Hop-up) that could be substituted for the current barrel. If there was anything that could be done to improve the accuracy, this would probably be my handgun of choice. But until then, it's just a looker.

Overall Impressions

  This is a nice handgun as far as appearances and function go, especially if you're a Sig fan. However, the accuracy severely limits its potential for anything but indiscriminately throwing BBs around. If you're into that sort of thing, then this would be a nice Airsoft for you. I prefer to hit what I'm aiming at, and this pistol makes that task difficult at best.