SIG Sauer P226 X-Five Blue Moon Gen 2

Most P226 X-Fives wear matte black or natural stainless. This one wears electric blue, and it changes the whole conversation. The frame and slide carry a deep metallic blue anodized finish that SIG's German Mastershop calls Blue Moon, broken up by wide brushed stainless flats where the slide cuts expose the bare metal underneath. Run your eye down the slide and you get that back-and-forth play of blue and silver, with the X-FIVE script cut into the flat and the SIG Sauer logo standing proud near the muzzle.

Underneath the color, this is the full X-Five competition build. The 5 inch match barrel, the single action trigger with adjustable take-up and overtravel, the bright polished beavertail and hammer, and the adjustable target rear sight all carry over from the standard X-Five Match. The dust cover runs a full-length accessory rail. It's a heavy, front-balanced pistol built for one-hole groups off the bench, and the weight shows up the moment you pick it up.

The grips are what tie it together. They're laminated wood in alternating bands of blue and natural tan, contoured into target panels with a thumb shelf and palm swell. The blue picks up the frame color, the wood grain keeps it from feeling synthetic. Slide markings confirm a P226 in 9mm Para, Made in Germany.

Worth noting: this is a Mastershop piece, the small German custom shop inside SIG that handles the limited finishes and competition guns. They don't come through in volume. The pistol arrives cased with two manuals, a spare magazine, a tube of SIG grease, and the factory test target dated from the proof house. For a collector who wants an X-Five that nobody else at the range will be holding, the Blue Moon earns its spot.