SIG 210
Built by Schweizerische Industriegesellschaft in Neuhausen / Switzerland from 1949 on and used by the Swiss and Danish military and in limited numbers of 5,000 by the German borderguards this pistol was quickly adopted by European civilian shooters for their astonishing quality and accuracy. A removeable hammer unit that is numbered to the gun makes cleaning easier. This gun displays an amazingly good finish inside and out!
I love the Swiss SIG P210 series, having owned two of them and only parting with one that was gifted to my oldest son, I find this to be an exceptional semi automatic service pistol! It is made to very close tolerances and has a superb trigger. The service trigger has a 1 kg trigger spring while the sports triggers of the -5 and -6 models have a 500 gr spring. The pistol is slim and elegant, having a low bore axis, it does not move a lot when being fired. The most common complaint about the P210 is hammer bite. The Danish Army just trimmed the hammer spurs down, I have included a photo of a trimmed Danish hammer and a complete hammer unit for a -1 to -4, while the -5 and -6 have the hammer unit affixed to the frame by an extra screw.
Browning Model 35
Generally known as the High Power, or Grand Puissance in French, this gun was the first military pistol using a double stack high capacity magazine at its introduction in 1935. This pistol has a lengthy military career, being adopted by too many countries to list.
The Belgian Brownings still have a large following after all these years and when I shoot mine, I understand why. It also has a low bare axis and does not feel blocky in my hand, it is a well balanced pistol which allows fast follow up shots ,while having good accuracy. The trigger pull is usually suffering from the magazine safety but the safety can easily be removed to improve the trigger pull characteristics. It does not do wonders, though, the way that the trigger bar is working and guides forces through the slide is complicated and not easy to improve beyond a certain point.
SIG Sauer P220
Developed in Switzerland by SIG, this gun was designed as the successor to the SIG P49 (P210) used by the Swiss military and built at the SIG Sauer plant in Eckernfoerde, Germany.
To me this is a simple no-frills service gun of good quality with a good trigger and sights. It is easy to manipulate the safety and DA/SA trigger and displays good accuracy. The grip angle is suiting me but the bore axis is high and this gun is not as elegant and slim as the P210.
Walther / Manurhin P1
This version of the pistol was developed after WWII and received an aluminium alloy frame to become the new service pistol for the newly founded West German Bundeswehr. The P.38 had been the first locked breech DA/SA pistol and was designed in 1938, starting production in 1939. Unlike the other guns in this small review, it does not use a Browning locking mechanism but a moving locking block that lives on in the Beretta 92. It is also the only one that ejects to the left.
The P.38 was designed as a replacement of the very expensive and complicated to manufacture Luger P.08. It is a simple service pistol that was used by a military where handguns and handgun training have never played an important role. The P38 / P1 is accurate but the grip angle makes feeding hollow points a bit tricky and follow up shots are hard to do fast. This was my service pistol in a West German Panzergtrenadier Batallion where I was chosen to sight the pistols in and competed successfully with the P1 in military & police competitions.
Walther P88
Introduced in 1988 for participation in military tenders, the P88 was only built until 1996 since no major military or police contract were ever won by this gun. It saw interest from the civilian shooting community because of its good accuracy but the AWB that was introduced in 1994 curtailed interest in this expensive pistol.
The P88 is a well made gun that has great accuracy and a good enough grip angle to fire the pistol fast. Many shooters with smaller hands complain about the grip being too large and the levers hard to manipulate. I do not have a problem with that and used the P88 for a steel plate competition shoot for one season.
All of the above semi automatic 9 mm pistols are well made classics in today's market of plastic framed pistols that are giving good service at a superior price point. The main difference is in the charisma that these old traditionally manufactured guns ooze out. I consider all of them accurate enough to use in 25 m centerfire pistol matches but, of course, have my favourite: the SIG P210-6 for 25 m accuracy and the overall quality. It isn't just the trigger pull weight or the sheer mechanical accuracy that intrigues me, it is the shootability, it's the trigger characteristics, how the pistol fits my hand and inspires confidence.
Enjoy!
Built by Schweizerische Industriegesellschaft in Neuhausen / Switzerland from 1949 on and used by the Swiss and Danish military and in limited numbers of 5,000 by the German borderguards this pistol was quickly adopted by European civilian shooters for their astonishing quality and accuracy. A removeable hammer unit that is numbered to the gun makes cleaning easier. This gun displays an amazingly good finish inside and out!
I love the Swiss SIG P210 series, having owned two of them and only parting with one that was gifted to my oldest son, I find this to be an exceptional semi automatic service pistol! It is made to very close tolerances and has a superb trigger. The service trigger has a 1 kg trigger spring while the sports triggers of the -5 and -6 models have a 500 gr spring. The pistol is slim and elegant, having a low bore axis, it does not move a lot when being fired. The most common complaint about the P210 is hammer bite. The Danish Army just trimmed the hammer spurs down, I have included a photo of a trimmed Danish hammer and a complete hammer unit for a -1 to -4, while the -5 and -6 have the hammer unit affixed to the frame by an extra screw.
Browning Model 35
Generally known as the High Power, or Grand Puissance in French, this gun was the first military pistol using a double stack high capacity magazine at its introduction in 1935. This pistol has a lengthy military career, being adopted by too many countries to list.
The Belgian Brownings still have a large following after all these years and when I shoot mine, I understand why. It also has a low bare axis and does not feel blocky in my hand, it is a well balanced pistol which allows fast follow up shots ,while having good accuracy. The trigger pull is usually suffering from the magazine safety but the safety can easily be removed to improve the trigger pull characteristics. It does not do wonders, though, the way that the trigger bar is working and guides forces through the slide is complicated and not easy to improve beyond a certain point.
SIG Sauer P220
Developed in Switzerland by SIG, this gun was designed as the successor to the SIG P49 (P210) used by the Swiss military and built at the SIG Sauer plant in Eckernfoerde, Germany.
To me this is a simple no-frills service gun of good quality with a good trigger and sights. It is easy to manipulate the safety and DA/SA trigger and displays good accuracy. The grip angle is suiting me but the bore axis is high and this gun is not as elegant and slim as the P210.
Walther / Manurhin P1
This version of the pistol was developed after WWII and received an aluminium alloy frame to become the new service pistol for the newly founded West German Bundeswehr. The P.38 had been the first locked breech DA/SA pistol and was designed in 1938, starting production in 1939. Unlike the other guns in this small review, it does not use a Browning locking mechanism but a moving locking block that lives on in the Beretta 92. It is also the only one that ejects to the left.
The P.38 was designed as a replacement of the very expensive and complicated to manufacture Luger P.08. It is a simple service pistol that was used by a military where handguns and handgun training have never played an important role. The P38 / P1 is accurate but the grip angle makes feeding hollow points a bit tricky and follow up shots are hard to do fast. This was my service pistol in a West German Panzergtrenadier Batallion where I was chosen to sight the pistols in and competed successfully with the P1 in military & police competitions.
Walther P88
Introduced in 1988 for participation in military tenders, the P88 was only built until 1996 since no major military or police contract were ever won by this gun. It saw interest from the civilian shooting community because of its good accuracy but the AWB that was introduced in 1994 curtailed interest in this expensive pistol.
The P88 is a well made gun that has great accuracy and a good enough grip angle to fire the pistol fast. Many shooters with smaller hands complain about the grip being too large and the levers hard to manipulate. I do not have a problem with that and used the P88 for a steel plate competition shoot for one season.
All of the above semi automatic 9 mm pistols are well made classics in today's market of plastic framed pistols that are giving good service at a superior price point. The main difference is in the charisma that these old traditionally manufactured guns ooze out. I consider all of them accurate enough to use in 25 m centerfire pistol matches but, of course, have my favourite: the SIG P210-6 for 25 m accuracy and the overall quality. It isn't just the trigger pull weight or the sheer mechanical accuracy that intrigues me, it is the shootability, it's the trigger characteristics, how the pistol fits my hand and inspires confidence.
Enjoy!
Last edited:
Maybe not a "classic" because not well known; but the VIS 35 ( Polish), is highly regarded as one of the worlds great 9mm battle pistols.
