Hammerli Info

I have a Sig/Hammerli Trailside with the blue plastic semi custom grips that I really like. I can shoot in the 570's if I do my part in our winter indoor 600 league. I don't have any experience with the mostly discontinued higher end Hammerli pistols.  Seems by just looks the Trailside is an economical stripped down 208, is that correct?  Based on my fondness for the trailside should I consider a higher quality Hammerli? 

Any input is welcome!

Dieselguy624

I have an Xesse and a 215. The Xesse is not near as nicely made, in my opinion, as the 215. The 215 feels somewhat like an heirloom-quality pistol to me because of build quality, while the Xesse just feels like a tool. I had a few issues with FTF with the Xesse when it was new, but I think that is because everything was so tight. As I have shot it, it has gotten better and I am not seeing any issues. I also have to keep the chamber and breech area very clean on the Xesse. I hear 208s are even nicer than the 215. I only shoot irons currently. The sights on the 215 are much nicer than the sights on the Xesse. I would say I like the trigger on the 215 a bit better as it is wider and has a great feel. The trigger on the Xesse, while good, is plastic and it feels like it flexes a little when I pull it. If I had to keep only one, I'd keep the 215. All that being said, the barrel on the Xesse is better and is by far the best barrel of all my 22 target pistols.

Fwiw...there are differences between the two pistols.  Of course there is the build: 208s are very finely constructed with a fine polished look, variably adjustable trigger wider than the Trailsides. Nicely balanced, and there a few other differences: grips, sights etc.  

Trailsides are great in their own right. Less refined, smaller overall, lighter, slightly different balance point. However the trigger is more rudimentary than the 208s. Unless you have “Larry’s Trigger” installed, there are pretty much only two adjustment points: the plunger, and the reset screw. 

The other issue that may affect one’s decision is that while there is some availability of parts for the Trailside/Xesse thru Walther, parts for the 208/208s/215 are becoming scarcer with each season. (Unless you have good friends with mad machining skills, or a buddy with one of the Military armorers) It may be in your best interest to spend the $2000.00 or so one might lay out on a more current production high end pistol.

Thanks for the replies so far guys!

I think I'm going to order the Larry's trigger for my Trailside and maybe a few other parts for now.  I'm reluctant to spend the money on a "spaghetti" gun as I've witnessed quite a lot of reliability problems with them. Might check out the Walther GSP and the Feinwerkbau

dieselguy624 wrote:I think I'm going to order the Larry's trigger for my Trailside and maybe a few other parts for now.  I'm reluctant to spend the money on a "spaghetti" gun as I've witnessed quite a lot of reliability problems with them. Might check out the Walther GSP and the Feinwerkbau

You're kidding, right? Pardini SPs are probably the most reliable .22 target pistols around. I've gone literally 1,000s of rounds SK Pistol Match without cleaning mine without a hiccup.  They seem to be reliable enough to win a ton of hardware in NRA Precision Pistol and ISSF competitions.

Actually no not kidding.  Seen it happen more than once. Guy on my team is waiting on parts to fix one now.

As far as trailside spare parts goes this is my list that i always have

Extractor and spring
Recoil spring
Safety plug
Slide stop or catch kit

Larrys trigger will go a long way to making the trigger pull feel more solid.. if you modify the sear as he notes in the installation sheet it will shorten the pull a bit. The trigger allows an easy 2 stage pull to be setup or a single.stage

Jimmy, is the Larry's trigger for the Trailside/Xesse something a gunsmith needs to install or could someone with mechanical ability do it on their own?

you can google "Larry's trigger installation" and download a copy to check it out.

trigger install is straight forward. sear modification is more involved. it involves removing the hammer, mainspring and sear. I've done 3, but I do work on a lot of guns. be glad to answer any questions after you have a look at it.

trigger by itself is improvement in feel and will give you a 2 stage pull if you own a trailside. the Xesse trigger already has that ability. only difference is Larry's trigger is aluminum and has a more solid feel. the sear mod will shorten the trigger pull a bit which most folks will like.

Why is there such a large price difference between the 208 and the 208S?

Yes it is all about the trigger and the 208s cost more because of the trigger.

The 208 has a trigger with basic adjustments and no length of pull adjustment. The 208s is more adjustable, different trigger with length of pull adjustments.