Armchair Quarterbacking: SIG SAUER

SIG has always been one of my favorite gun companies.  I’ve said before that SIG is one of the three gun makers that I would bet my life on out of the box.  Their handguns on the 22X series are world class.  The P220 has been called “The Thinking Man’s .45.”  And for good reason.  It’s extremely accurate and reliable… a personal favorite as is the 228 and 229 pistols.  I tend to equate SIG as being the Mercedes Benz of the handgun world.  SIG’s 550 series of rifles is also top notch.  Yet SIG is not without its flaws.  What SIG makes themselves is generally pretty dang good… What SIG doesn’t make is where the problems lay.  All except the P250 pistol.

The SIG P250 is an interesting idea that’s poorly executed.  I’m not really a fan and I don’t think I’d actually buy one.  Ever.  But that’s just me.

The SIG Mosquito is also problematic.  It too is a good idea that has less than stellar execution.  It looks good, feels good… and just doesn’t quite work as any SIG should.

SIG’s name branded accessories… their holster, lights, laser combos… they just don’t quite work well enough to really warrant the SIG names.  See,  a long time ago Winchester whored out their name onto a lot of cheap Chinese made crap.  SIG has evidently done the same.  The SIG holster is a rather poor Serpa knockoff.  Their lights either fail or burn through batteries too quickly.

If I were SIG’s CEO, Chairman, Ultimate and Final Decision Maker… Here’s what I’d do:

1.  Discontinue the P250 and write it off as a loss.  All remaining P250’s would be given to the NRA’s Training program.  All of them.  Or maybe to the SIG employees who want one.  Write them all off for tax purposes.

2. The 2022 pistol needs a bit of work.  It seems like an unfinished product.  Such as the way the takedown pin sticks out a bit too far and the slide lock lever feels a bit too… chinsey

3. All the cheap items with the SIG name… they are all done.  Gone.  Instead of cheap crap… contract with those that actually make good products.  Or just not bother with them at all, because those items are not in SIG’s mission.  Simple as that.  SIG makes fine weapons and SIG needs to concentrate on just that.

4.  SIG needs to make a tactical shotgun to complete their line up.

5.  Drop the Mosquito and bring back the Trailside.

6.  Concentrate on Quality Control… above all else… quality.

25 thoughts on “Armchair Quarterbacking: SIG SAUER”

  1. I have never understood the logic of putting the company logo on a crap optic that is shipped with a high dollar rifle. Why not make a deal with EOTech, Trijicon, or Leupold to supply optics?

  2. Chinese gear can be a crap shoot. Sometimes it’s good, most times it’s not. Example: I just bought a CAA Tactial Light/Laser combo, basically a copy of a Streamlight TLR-2. It cost me $75 plus tax, exactly 25% of what a TLR-2 retails for.

    I asked the counter guy to estimate how many rounds of 12 gauge ammo it would take to break the thing. He swore that they have not had any returned yet. I’m keeping my receipt.

    CAA is very specific that this device is not made in Israel, there is a sticker on it that says “Made in China”.

    I took it shooting this weekend. So far it has survived several rounds of 2 and 3/4 #4’s without losing the zero on the laser. We’ll see, but sometimes the QC inspector on the assembly line is actually sober.

  3. SECOND the call for better quality control. Most recent purchase was a p226 “TACOPS” in 9mm. First SIG. Out of the box the darn thing shot low- not a little low, we are talking 6 inches low at 20 yards. SIGs website claims they use a “combat” point of impact in which the front site “covers” the point of impact, and SIG snobs on a host of web sites who were confronted with numerous writers with the same complaint would first blame the user, then point out the SIG “combat sighting” claim. I read on a number of sites accounts of owners calling SIG and getting a promise that they would be charged $105.00 or some such figure, if returned, and the gun company that let it go out for sale that way determined that it was up to THEIR standards.
    DID find a post as an FYI about a set of Trijcon NOVAK sites that corrected the point of aim VS impact problem on his p226. Bought them, put them on. They are, in my opinion, what SIG should have done to begin with.
    Did I “cut them out” of a “chance” to make it right? Not really. They had THAT chance BEFORE this weapon was released for retail sale.

  4. You would bet your life on SIG, Glock (I’m assuming) and then what, CZ?

    My W German P220 was my first and is still my favorite.

    SIG needs to quit trying to be a fashion statement. The equinox verions were gaudy. The “rainbow finish guns”, yuck. I prefer the clean lines of earlier non-rail versions. Give me a choice SIG, rail or no rail offerings on all of your line.

    For many reasons, I prefer to have my flashlight in my other hand, but that’s just me.

    1. Accuracy and quality above all else.
    2. Make your own quality mags (don’t subcontract) and offer them at a reasonable prices.
    3. I would like to see a hunting rifle offered again. The Colt Sauer 7mm mag was a fantastic rifle.

    Tac shotgun, well maybe but that seems like a pretty flooded market today and it would need to compelte at the Benelli level. Perhaps they could pull it off.

  5. I agree! Recently bought some P238 extended mags from SIG and they do not mate well with frame -it’s these little things that feel like you want shop elsewhere.

  6. I wanted a Sig 239 in 357 Sig for concealed carry but even used they were out of my budget…dang it. When the 250 was first talked about I had my hopes up but even the so called subcompact version was too wide for me. I guess I’m just in that minority that wants a single stack pistol with a more potent round than 9mm.

  7. George, spot on for all 6 counts! I LOVED the Hammerli Trailside pistols. Probably the only .22 that I really ever desired.

    Yes, a shotgun. But how could it stand out? The Mossberg, FN, Benelli and Beretta have the semi-auto base covered. To make it “stand out” would be the creation of the “double” side magazine. I’m not talking tubes and I’m not talking “doublestack”. My thinking is that Saiga got it right with their mags. Do the same thing Surefire did with their quad stack but make it a double. This way a 10-12 round magazine would be less obtrusive than a single stack one.

    1. RE: The Shotgun. There is always room at the table for something done well. Make is stand out? Make it very good. Maybe something along the lines of the X-Rail system but mounted under the receiver, or perhaps a detachable box magazine… giving an alternative to the Saiga by making it a modification to the 551-556 system. Call it a 512.

  8. I loved my 220. So did some SOB baggage handler at DCA airport.
    Accuracy second only to my Gold Cup. The bottom mag release took some getting use to but damn I miss it.

  9. Back when it was first announced that Texas DOT was going to convert from Sig 220’s in .45 ACP to Sig’s in 357 Sig, I thought “Oh boy a chance to pick up a used Sig 220. What happened was that DOT gave the officers first chance to buy the 220’s……Sigh. You can guess what happened.

  10. Amen on all counts. I’m still kicking myself for not putting a Trailside on the credit card back when they were available and I was broke. I LIKE my Buckmark, but I’d LOVE to own a Trailside.

    Somebody tell Browning about #3 too, btw.

  11. I have 2 Sigs: a P239 SAS gen 2 and now a P229 SAS gen 2 with those new E2 grips. My 239 has never failed me, but my new 229 had 90% feed issues with commercial ammo out of the box.

    I’ve sent it back twice and now it’s at a specialty gun smith getting worked on. When I get it back, it will be absolutely perfect, but I’m obviously not happy with Sig.

    Today’s Sig is not the Sig of yester-year, and these may be my last Sigs.

  12. 2. Make your own quality mags (don’t subcontract) and offer them at a reasonable prices.

    Honestly, they should have just kept branding the Mecgar mags*. I’ve got the Mecgars in every sig I own and have never had a problem with them.

    *and stopped trying to double the price, of course.

  13. OMG you hate SIG! You’re just as bad as Correia with H&K!!!1!ELEVENTY!!!

    😉

    I couldn’t agree with you more. Under no circumstances would I ever purchase the Sig Light/Laser/Red-Dot/Foregrip/Sink/Buttscratcher from those emails that I opted out of (which was because the emails were only hawking that crap). I’ve always wanted a Sig, and I’ll eventually pick up a 220. I’ll buy Crimson Trace if I want a laser, Surefire if I want a light, etc.

    tweaker

  14. I jumped on the 250 band wagon when they first came out @ $600.00. Now, it seems as if I’ll have to pay someone to take it. What a turd of a pistol.

  15. Sig offered me a job last summer in their sales department. They wanted me to sell their accessories line.

    I turned them down for two reasons:

    1. The accessories are absolute garbage. Chinese knock-offs mainly. They also recently bought an accessories company (located in NH, IIRC) that they were going to use to complement the Chinese crap. Their stuff sucked too.

    2. I’ve been in sales for 20 years and their compensation package was an absolute insult.

  16. I own three Sigs…A 226 .40, a 250 sub-compact 9mm, and a Mosquito. Like them all. The Mosquito needs higher grade ammo to not jam, but is accurate. One thing I disliked with the 250 is it only came with one mag. Not sure why. Every other Sig I purchased came with two.

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