Before I describe our range session, I need to mention the magazine situation. For one thing, the M11-A1 comes with three magazines. If you look closely at the magazine well, you will see that it is slightly wider than the P228’s. The designers adjusted the geometry of the 13-shot magazine that works well in the P228 and ended up with a 15-shot unit. As far as I have been able to determine, the military-issue M11s still use the 13-round magazines. In this particular feature, the M11-A1 is (two rounds) better than the M11.

At the range, the gun exhibited no malfunctions throughout several hundred rounds of informal plinking and accuracy testing. The trigger is better than any other SIG SAUER pistol I have ever fired, and I find that I could recover quickly for second shots. To evaluate accuracy, I fired the M11-A1 from a Ransom Rest with three kinds of commercial ammunition. I have been testing SIG SAUER pistols that way for 28 years and have come to expect tight groups. No disappointments here—the M11-A1 exhibits fine accuracy. It performed best with Federal’s 147-grain Hydra-Shok, producing five-shot groups at 25 yards averaging 2 inches, which included one that measured 1.19 inches.

It would seem that SIG SAUER has produced another fine pistol. This one is a great example of military-grade thinking and equipment trickling down to the civilian market. The result is one of the best possible choices for a mid-sized service pistol.

Manufacturer: SIG SAUER, Inc.; (603) 772-2302; www.sigsauer.com
Caliber: 9 mm Luger
Action Type: recoil-operated, double-action/single-action, center-fire, semi-automatic pistol
Frame: anodized aluminum alloy
Barrel: 3.9"
Rifling: 1:16" RH twist
Magazines: detachable box; 15-round capacity
Sights: SigLite with tritium inserts
Trigger Pull: double-action, 10 lbs.; single-action 4 lbs., 6 ozs.
Overall Length: 7.1"
Width: 1.5"
Height: 5.4"
Weight: 32 ozs.
Accessories: lockable hard case, cable lock, manual, two spare magazines
Suggested Retail Price: $1,125