I just wanted to pass along how amazed I have been with my P220. I will always prefer revolvers, but for years I could never find a semi-auto I could even tolerate. As a left handed person, I always hated how semi-auto handguns are nearly impossible to operate quickly. I have to say, the P220 (or variant in other calibers) might just be the perfect semi-auto handgun, it definitely beats out the 1911 in my book. That last statement should stir the pot good.
One of my biggest problems as a left hander was that the safety's of any handgun are never right where they need to be. They are either too far to reach without shifting my grip, or so close I accidentally turn them on when shooting. The P220 got it right, there is no safety. Of course there's plenty of striker fired, DAO, and DA/SA guns out there the same. To be able to just drawn and shoot, yet have the option of cocking the hammer for an accurate first shot is huge. So many other DA/SA guns have bobbed hammers which don't allow this.
This brings me to the trigger. SA is nothing special, it's light enough to shoot well. The DA is great, very revolver like. The best part is the transition from first to second shot is seamless. It seems on so many other DA/SA guns that the first and second shots are dramatic. You can hardly even tell if you don't think about it on the P220, and it seems it may be due to the trigger having a lot of take up. It's normally a bad thing, but it works well here.
The sights are the one weak spot on the standard P220. I hate 3 dot. I bought a set of used adjustable sights, and they are a thousand times better. I painted the rear flat black, and the front bright orange. That is the best sight combo for me. I got my P220 used for a great price, but if I were to buy new, I'd look for one with adjustable sights. They must make a hunter model, it looks like it may only be in 10mm auto.
Ergonomics for the left handed are awesome. With no safety, all you need to worry about is the mag release. I can hit it no problem, it might even be easier left handed. For the slide release, I either use my right hand, or just pull the slide back to release it. You can use the decocker if you want. I don't, I use it just like a revolver. There's nothing else to it, this gun is bare bones elegant.
Accuracy is fantastic. You can make just about anything shoot good with enough money, and it seems a large number of semi-auto shooters only care about what they can put on target at 7 yards in 3 seconds. I'm talking rested groups here, but the gun is very ergonomic. I can shoot this as good as my revolvers offhand quickly. My gun is as it came off the factory floor, no modifications. My best yet is 4.5 grains american select, Federal 150 primer, Lee 200 gr SWC sized .452" and two coats of Lee Alox, with an OAL 1.25". I shot my standard five 5-shot groups, for an average of 1.9" at 25 yards. I've never shot another semi-auto this accurate. This was with unsorted brass, not trimmed, only checked for max length and chamfered, and powder thrown straight from the measure. I shot a 15 shot string over the chrony; average 741 FPS, SD 14 FPS.
Reliability is out of this world, I'm continually amazed by this gun. I never did any smoothing of anything, and mine will feed empty cases. Just now i put 5 fired empties in a magazine, and it fed all 5. Try that with your 1911. It will feed any SWC, even the Lee 452-252-SWC. How cool would a 38 special SIG be?