One of my favorite things about SIG Sauer is that they like support their products in not only “real steel” versions, but also in air pistol and air soft categories as well. We recently got the chance to take a look at their SIG Sauer P320 ASP CO2 air pistol and had an absolute blast while doing so. Externally, the SIG Sauer P320 ASP CO2 is a beautifully-made recreation of SIG Sauer’s P32o pistol – at least, at first glance. The metal slide and polymer frame have nice weight and the feel is incredible – but, of course, that is because the frame has been modeled after the real steel version of the P320. The ergonomics are incredible and have to be felt to be believed.
Unfortunately, in terms of realistic operation, the SIG Sauer P320 ASP CO2 air pistol does suffer. The ejection port is merely cosmetic, and is simply a depression in the metal slide. The takedown level does nothing, and there is no slide catch system. However, the slide does cycle while shooting, which is nice and offers a slight bit of recoil which helps with your muscle memory. There is a safety located on the left side of the slide, which acts a bit differently than I expected as you can still squeeze the trigger when enabled, however it does not shoot. These air pistols are a great way to practice shooting fundamentals like recoil control while not shooting through hundreds of dollars in real ammunition at a firing range. Plus, you can shoot these in the privacy of your own home or backyard! The SIG Sauer P320 ASP CO2 also features an under barrel rail system for flash lights, lasers, etc which is a nice option should you need them.
Will the real P320 please stand up? (Click to make big)
The SIG Sauer P320 ASP CO2 air pistol holds one magazine with a 30 round capacity and makes use of a rotary belt to cycle through all of the contained BBs or pellets. More to that, the SIG Sauer P320 ASP CO2 air pistol rums on 4.5mm steel BBs or, my personal preference, .177 caliber pellets. Loading the magazine takes a little bit of time but isn’t too bad once you get the hang of it. The GOOD thing about using 4.5mm BB’s instead of the .177 pellets is that they do load a lot easier into the magazine’s rotary belt, but I digress. During our shooting tests, the magazine cycled without issues using both types ammunition, however the pellets seemed to be slightly more accurate than the BBs.
Powering the operation of the SIG Sauer P320 ASP CO2 air pistol is one 12g CO2 cartridge which loads inside the pistol grip. The CO2 loading mechanism is really good in this air pistol. Once the back strap and faux magazine base plate are removed (they simply rotate out), you have access to the CO2 chamber. Built right into the frame of the pistol grip is a rotating bolt that will lock and pierce the CO2 cartridge in-place. I intentionally went through a handful of cartridges during my testing and none of them leaked whatsoever – and that was without any sort of gasket lubrication!
SIG Sauer has crafted a very good recreation of their P320 handgun in this air pistol. While it doesn’t feature some of the realistic features that some air pistol shooters desire, it is an excellent recreation of the P320 pistol with good weight and feel as well as accuracy. Plus, its magazine design works well with both BBs and pellets, so you have some options there. The SIG Sauer P320 ASP CO2 air pistol retails for about $120 dollars and is available now at several online retailers.
