By Brandon
July 8, 2009
These little pocket pistols have always been something of a quandary to me; is it possible for a company to get reasonable performance out of such a tiny gun? While the optimist’s answer is a stereotypical (simplified for the sake of easy mockery) “Of course, everything is possible with a great attitude!”, the realist’s response is generally quite a bit less hopeful. Being of the latter category, and interested in pocket pistols after spending so much time with medium and large frame automatics, I was itching to do some testing on one. Conveniently, my favorite stateside retailer (Depot53, you shall be missed!) was in the terminal stages of going out of business, and I picked up one of these little curiosities for a flat $60 US. My impression can be gathered from the paragraphs below.
Real Steel History:
The SIG-Sauer P-230 pistol was designed and produced in Germany by the joint venture of the J.P.Sauer (Germany) and a SIG Arms (Swiss) as a compact police and self-defense pistol. P-230 hit the market circa 1977 and was manufactured until the 1996, when it was replaced by the P-232 pistol, which is no more than technologically and ergonomically improved P-230. Original P-230 was offered in variety of 3 calibers – 9mm Browning Short, 7.65mm Browning and a now discontinued 9mm Police, which was designed as a powerful round suitable for straight blowback pistols. 9x18mm Police is roughly equal in terms of power to the Russian 9x18mm Makarov, but these two ARE NOT interchangeable! Attempt to fire 9x18mm Makarov in the 9mm Police P-230 can result in serious damage to the pistol and injury to the shooter!
P-230 and P-232 are quite similar internally. Both are straight blowback operated, hammer fired pistols, with double action triggers and a manual decocker levers mounted on the left side of the frame, behind the trigger. P-232 also featured automatic firing pin safety. Both pistols lack a slide release. Both pistols can be found in standard form, with steel slide and aluminum alloy frame and blue finish, or in SL versions, with both slide and frame made from stainless steel. Latter models are slightly heavier and wear a polished steel finish. P-232 featured drift-adjustable rear sights, dovetailed into the slide. Feed is from single stack magazines for 7 9mm or 8 7.65mm rounds. It should be noted that both P-230 and P-232 feature a magazine catch located at the heel of the grip.
From World.Guns.ru
Movie Appearances:
The P232 is a lamentable case in terms of its movie appearances. It has a number of memorable roles, but is doomed to always be mistaken by the uneducated masses for a PPK. Noteable appearances include:
Jordi Molla as Johnny Tapia in Bad Boys II
Anne Hathaway as Agent 99 in Get Smart
Funfact- The various agents in MIB also carried P232s/230s. Beneath that horrid propgun shell is our elegant little pocket pistol.
More notable than the others, but not pictured due to lack of media, is the P230 as used by Nicholas Cage as Tom Welles in the film 8mm. Until decent images of Mr. Welles with his Nickel P230 appear, you’ll have to suffice with a picture of the movie poster.
First Impressions:
So, formalities aside, we’re ready to start taking this little pocket pistol out of the box. When the reasonably dated styrofoam box is opened, one is greeted with this;
The gun comes reasonably spartan in its packaging, with a plunger-loader, some BBs, a 1mm allen wrench (Precious!), and of course, the gun itself. Mine did not come with a set of manuals, so if you need those, beware. Also noteworthy, the box appears to be longer than the gun, to support what may have been future planned iterations of the gun with a compensator or extended mag. A cursory google search didn’t turn up any race variants of the P232, but anything is possible in airsoft.
Taking the replica out of the box, the gun comes off as amazingly light. The feel of the gun doesn’t go so far as to suggest springer quality, but it certainly feels insubstantial in the hand. This is not the fault of KSC, however; The real Sig P232 weighs 17.6 oz with an unloaded magazine (1.1 pounds), while this replica clocked in at 1.3 pounds on my home scale. Despite the lightness, the gun is very solid, the trademarks are deep, and the grip is fantastically ergonomic.
The gun’s sleek shape, low profile hammer, and Double/Single action trigger are all good features for a concealed carry backup. The DA/SA trigger is faithfully replicated on the KSC replica. The trigger is relatively good for an airsoft pistol, with a light pull and a clean break.
The trademarks on the gun are one of its high points for the trademark pedantic (myself included!).
The trademarks are complete, and generally accurate. The left hand side of the slide reads SIG SAUER, MADE IN JAPAN, P232. All of these are correct aside from the Japan bit.
The right hand side of the slide is marked 9mm Kurz, with proofing marks and the gun’s serial number.
The handles have good Sig trademarks, reading SIG SAUER on the left grip panel, and P232 on the right. These markings are accurate for the plastic-handled guns.
The serial number can again be seen along the front of the frame, along with faux milling marks and the ASGK logo. The attention to detail on this replica is fantastic.
The safety on this gun is a bit of a misnomer. The real 232 has no active safety, merely a decocker located on the left hand side of the gun, as seen on the replica below;
On the replica, the decocking lever is more functional than the real gun. Pushing the lever down drops the hammer as would be expected, but pushing the lever up activates a simple trigger bar safety, as can be seen below. Care should be taken with the lever (Decock/safety gently!), as this is one of the parts I had to reassemble more than once. The parts in here have enough play to disassemble themselves with rough handling. One of the few notable build-foibles of the gun.
The slide lock on this pistol is another interesting function. The slide release is visibly absent. The only way to get the gun back in battery after locking the slide is to rack it either without a magazine in it, or with another mag full of BBs.
The mag release is another quirky little bit on this pistol. Sig 230/232s have mag releases mounted on the heel of the grip. Staying faithful, the replica has a simple spring loaded catch on the heel of the grip. Pull the catch to the rear of the pistol to release the magazine.
The magazine is another great looking detail feature on this gun. The mag appears to be blued sheet steel on the outside, just like the real one, and is marked Sig Sauer.
The heelplate is potmetal, and the mags capacity is 12 bbs. While the real magazine holds only 7 rounds (evident from the faux load holes on the sides of the mag), this still isn’t a super practical capacity for a skirmish gun.
Disassembly:
As is to be expected, the disassembly on this pistol is a bit different from standard large frame fare. Stripping begins with releasing the disassembly latch on the left hand side of the frame.
Pulling the slide back a little more than a quarter of the way, the back of the slide lifts easily off the frame rails. You shouldn’t have to force this, if it won’t budge you do not have the slide in the correct position.
After getting the back of the slide free, maintain the angle and pull it forward off the barrel. This gun uses a fixed barrel with a recoil spring around it. Again, this is faithful to the original gun. Below the gun is pictured fully field stripped, and one can see the fixed barrel, the internal slide-stop lever, and the recoil spring.
The internals are pretty standard KSC stuff, though I noted the BB muzzle was unsprung, like it is on most pistols. I couldn’t figure this one out, but it didn’t appear to need it.
A shot of the opposite side of the gun as fieldstripped shows the trigger bar, and the knock pin for the fixed barrel. Simply remove this pin to remove the barrel.
Shooting Impressions:
So, I bought this to see if all concealed backups are worthless. To do that, I brought it with me to the field that I volunteer at, DMZ Airsoft in Colorado Springs, Colorado. There I put the gun through quite a few paces as both a primary for pistol games, and its intended concealed backup role for some scenario games. Below your author can be seen dressed in full ridiculous attire, with his ridiculous backup, in a ridiculous pose.
Now, I have to point out that I fully expected the gun to be as useless as other pocket pistols, so confirmation bias was aimed at the gun sucking. Surprisingly though, the gun beat my expectations fully. The gun shoots straight and relatively hard (considering its size as well as the tiny gas mag). On propane, the gun chronoed a median of 273, with enough gas to shoot 2 or 3 loads of 12 on a full fill.
In terms of skirmishabilty, I actually found the thing useful much more than I had expected. It was the perfect size for any time that sprinting was in order (without a primary), and the light weight was ideal. The gun took a spill or two on the hard concrete floor (this comes from me, using it truly as a ‘pocket pistol’ instead of buying adequate retention for it), and survived without qualms, and amazingly, without even really suffering cosmetically. Regular light silicone oil was used for maintenance, and no problems occurred. I have read rumors of propane/green destroying these, but from my experience this pistol is a durable little workhorse.
The pistol is very accurate for its size, and produces a nice crisp blowback (due to the lightweight slide). Don’t expect much ‘recoil’ here, but the gun is snappy, and for CQB engagement distances is quick on target and accurate. For longer ranges, the gun loses its usefulness. Overhopping was an issue for me, and BBs would go spearing off into oblivion after 40-50 ft.
Video of shooting and pictures of accuracy test targets will be up shortly.
Conclusion:
So, how did this gun do overall?
For a pocket pistol, it surprised me. It had great short range consistency, was easy and comfortable to use, light and durable. This is the first backup gun I’d really call skirmish capable in its proper role. I grant that outside, the thing rapidly becomes decorative (or aspirational if concealed), but really the real gun wasn’t meant for engagement over much distance, so I’m not bothered.
Performance: 3.5/5
While the gun fires well, it becomes inaccurate at medium range. It really is a backup for 30-40 feet tops.
External Design: 4.5/5
The external design of this gun is great with deep trademarks, and sturdy build regardless of the light weight. Grip panels are extremely comfortable, and my only niggle is the poor fit and finish on the ‘safety’ lever.
Value: 3.5/5
This gun was purchased from Depot53′s closing sale for $62.99. At this price, I should’ve bought more. I’d buy this thing at up to $95-100, as it is an excellent looking, decent shooting little workhorse. Mags are not readily available however, and the value listed takes into account my top-end price, not my price from Depot53.
Overall: 4/5
This is a stylish little backup that performs well in its role, is gas efficient, easy to use, and well built on KSC’s part. I’d recommend it
The Final Word:
Ultimately, I sold the gun to our very own MikeG, with whom it currently stays. It wasn’t from a lack of functionality, but rather a recent focus on some non-airsoft goods. If I could, I’d buy it right back.
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