Several years ago, Sig Sauer had a .22 pistol called the Mosquito in its product line. The Mosquito was very similar in appearance and operation to the P226. Sig no longer produces the Mosquito, choosing instead to concentrate on the Law Enforcement and Personal Protection markets. However; the enjoyment found in shooting the Mosquito is not lost as German Sports Guns and American Tactical, Inc. have brought it back. GSG’s relationship with Sig involves creating realistic licensed air gun replicas of several Sig Sauer pistols, including the P226. After working with Sig on the specs, GSG developed a Mosquito knock-off called the FireFly. Still an insect, but with a little more spark. American Tactical, Inc. imports the FireFly with several color schemes, with and without threaded barrel and with an optional Bridgemounted Duosight Red/Green Dot sight.
I’m a sucker for .22 pistols, especially ones that emulate my centerfire pistols. Lots of cheap shooting helps me maintain my proficiency, plus it’s just plain fun to go plinkin’ with a .22. Right now anything that qualifies as a handgun is scarce, but I was able to get my hands on a tan, non-threaded barrel version of the FireFly. In normal times the other colors available are: black, green, pink and purple. I probably would have chosen tan regardless of the other colors being available.
The FireFly has an alloy-frame with an integrated accessory rail. The slide features adjustable sights, cocking serrations and a slide mounted ambidextrous thumb safety. The three-dot sights look like Trijicon night sights, but they don’t glow in the dark. The frame has a fixed barrel that operates with a blowback system. It also has an ergonomic grip that feels excellent in my medium-sized hands. Like the Sig P226 it emulates, the FireFly is a DA/SA hammer-fired pistol with a decocking lever. It is equipped with a magazine safety which means with a magazine removed the trigger won’t operate. The single-action trigger pull is slightly over 8 lbs. and the double-action pull a little over 12 lbs. There’s a clean break for either one. There’s almost no slack before the double-action trigger is engaged and the stacking distance works out to about .5″. The single-action trigger moves almost .5″ before engaging but the break is immediate. None of this is out-of-line for a .22 caliber semi-automatic pistol. The FireFly is a 95% scale of the P226 but weighs considerably less — 24.6 oz. compared to the P226’s 34.4 oz. The alloy frame overmolded with polymer makes the difference.
The key to making this gun run is choosing the right ammo. The printed manual that came with my sample gun only warned about using good factory ammo and did not mention the two recoil springs that shipped with the gun. Having had previous experience with the Sig Mosquito, I knew there had to be more to it. I went to the ATI website (americantactical.us) and located the FireFly manual that was online and it included the following information, obviously translated from German:
According to updated knowledge of modern gun manufacturing for caliber .22. We have therefore decided to make an adjustment to the loads that have priority for use with the FireFly, which are the two major groups, utility and high-speed rounds. So to increase the round compatibility, we provide two slide springs for every pistol. The bigger bored version is designed for high-speed loads and is fitted in the pistol with delivery. The simple coiled smaller spring (marked white) is for standard loads and is supplied with the pistol. Tip: It has been proven that many types of utility rounds function more smoothly if the rounds are lightly oiled.
Take a tip from this old gunwriter and longtime shooter of .22s. Stick with the recoil spring that was in the gun when you got it (should be the larger one) and shoot only high-velocity ammo (1200 fps and above) and you’ll have a grand time with the FireFly. High velocity ammo is as easy to find and generally cost no more than standard. My favorites are Aguila Super Extra HPs, Blazer 22 Long Rifle, CCI Stingers, CCI Mini-Mag High Velocity, Eley High Velocity Hollow Points, Federal Game Shok, Federal Premium HV Match, Remington Yellow Jackets, Remington Golden Bullets and Winchester Super X High Velocity. I was having so much fun shooting the FireFly I tried all of these and had zero issues with feeding and ejecting ammo.
Disassembling the FireFly for cleaning is simple, but not like a centerfire handgun. Remove the magazine and lock the slide back. Rotate the takedown lever on the left side of the slide 180 degrees. Pull the slide back slightly and lift the back of it before pushing the slide forward off the barrel. Be careful to remove the recoil spring and guide rod so you can get them in the right place before reassembly. After cleaning and oiling make sure the guide rod and spring are seated then reinstall the slide. The slide needs to be in the forward position before rotating the takedown lever back to its operating position.
The FireFly can provide hours of enjoyment, whether popping aluminum cans or putting holes in paper. I didn’t do any accuracy comparisons between different rounds as I was mostly checking to see if there were any high velocity rounds that didn’t work in the gun. I didn’t find any. My shots pretty much went where I wanted them to, but I was shooting at close ranges, typically ten yards.
I haven’t found anything not to like about the Firefly and at an MSRP of $349 for the base model, you’re likely to find them priced around or just under $300 when supplies are once again available. I think you would enjoy the FireFly and certainly get a lot of utility out of it you own or plan to own a Sig Sauer P226 or P229 pistol.
David Freeman 