SIG Sauer is closing shop in Eckernfoerde, Germany

Sad to hear of any high quality firearms manufacturing going down the tubes. My New Hampshire made P239 has never jammed and is impressively accurate.
 
....they prefer cheaper American labor and are consolidating production in their US facilities.....
Keep em coming. We love our neighbors at the nearby BMW plant.



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Sad to hear of any high quality firearms manufacturing going down the tubes. My New Hampshire made P239 has never jammed and is impressively accurate.

Huzzah, Huzzah! I've been dailying a P239 DAK in .357 Sig for almost 10 years, stuffed with Speer Gold Dots. Fantastic package for hot weather carry, slim mags make it very easy to bring spares.

I love my P229's and P226's, but Texas summer heat makes dressing lighter a must and that P239 makes it possible to carry a powerful piece that doesn't feel like you're trying to conceal a box of Wheaties with a bikini! LOL!
 
Sorry to hear. Were the german made Sigs higher quality than the ones produced at the New Hamshire facility? Better machined and QC over there. Always seemed like a highly regarded pistol.

Yes, no comparison between the Mastershop German Sigs and the stuff they build here. Granted you pay a price for them, but they are are high end handguns with very high quality parts, precisely fitted, along with outstanding refinement and attention to detail.

I'm a big fan...





Nothing Sig builds in the States appeals to me. Not that they're bad guns, but just not my thing.
 
Jay

I got to disagree with you here. Sig has become a absolute powerhouse and hard to catch any more by the competition after the 320, 365, new beltfed machine gun etc and I do not think you build a near 1 billion turnover company after near bankruptcy in the early 2000s based on crappy product.

The 365 is a strike of genius and it gets incredible groups at 50 yards from a rest, sales numbers tell the rest of the story as I believe it is the single best selling gun in the US period.

The new P210 is a marvel of engineering, preserve the spirit and accuracy of the old while making modern upgrades to be able to produce it at a mass price point while using really great new and innovative materials such as quite specialized DLC that is beyond the usual.

The list of great accomplishments goes on and on.

I have a few US made stainless elites in 9, 45 w and w/o red dots for competition and would not trade them for anything at all.

Yeah, I'm not seeing it. The American P210A is absolutely nothing like the German Super Target. Check the two out side by side and there's no comparison. Also, the P210A didn't upgrade anything. They simply copied the modern features already being used on the Super Target and cheapened it from there, between the parts quality, fitting, and the cheapened locking design itself.

Sig USA makes solid pistols and they have been very successful overall. However, they are nothing special as compared to what was being built in Germany from a quality perspective. Its night and day.

Check out a Super Target sometime. I've got a couple of them. I'm not saying they're a better value for the casual shooter at $4000-$4500 than is a $1400 P210A Target, but there is a very significant difference. Its like comparing an American P226 Elite with a German P226 X-Five. BIG difference.

Here's one of my Super Targets in silver DLC. Do the American P210's even come with a test target? I don't think so. Maybe a minor detail, but its all about the details with guns like this.


















 
I'm a fan of the older, all metal P2XX series pistols. I have four. A P220, P226 and P228 all made in Germany. And then a P239 made in New Hampshire. Great guns! I love 'em! :D

Sorry to hear about the German shop closing. But isn't that their Custom Shop and not a primary factory? :confused:

Honestly, I don't care for the current plastic Sigs at all. :mad:

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I'm a fan of the older, all metal P2XX series pistols. I have four. A P220, P226 and P228 all made in Germany. And then a P239 made in New Hampshire. Great guns! I love 'em! :D

Sorry to hear about the German shop closing. But isn't that their Custom Shop and not a primary factory? :confused:

Honestly, I don't care for the current plastic Sigs at all. :mad:

Yes, its their Mastershop, as they call it.

I'm sure the main factory will still produce guns for the Euro market, but its the Mastershop guns that were their best. That's what's closing.
 
Personally I won't own a US mfg'd SIG. was spoiled by the German guns early on.
I know where your coming from. I own both versions of a 220 and 226. Had a break-in period with the American 220 other than that all 4 are fine. I'm not happy with the CA mods on the US 226. I bought the US versions to put the German ones up for posterity.

The US 220 is a standard 220R and the the US 226 is a Scorpion Elite.

Also have a pair of 239s in 357 sig, one came as a .40. They come to mind as possibilities when I see threads like "If you could only own one handgun..." One of them I believe has a German frame.
 
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I'm a fan of the older, all metal P2XX series pistols. I have four. A P220, P226 and P228 all made in Germany. And then a P239 made in New Hampshire. Great guns! I love 'em! :D

Sorry to hear about the German shop closing. But isn't that their Custom Shop and not a primary factory? :confused:

Honestly, I don't care for the current plastic Sigs at all.

We cant have the plastic fantastic Sig guns here in CA, exception of the sp2022 and .40 version.. Even if we did, which I wish we did just for the record, I meet them with a meh. I looked at the P365 through the glass in the leo section and wondered what the hype is. Just visually I would much rather have my LadySmith 9mm for compact carry.
 
Have a West German Sig P6 and a Sig P239 in 40 S&W. I've used both to qualify for either renewal or new concealed carry permits here in Louisiana.Last qualification was with my P6 and instead of just the bare minimum required to pass the shooting test I fired over 200 rounds and all were center mass hits. Which I say not bad for a 73 year old fat guy who needed cataract surgery at the time. Still cannot fathom why Sig decided to cancel the P239?. Single stack instead of double stack mag pistols more popular?. Frank
 
WOW Germany sure don't like it's gunmakers.
They will treat their factories better once we take them off the nipple they have been on since 1945 of white glove full service military protection...grow up EU.
 
.... I looked at the P365 through the glass in the leo section and wondered what the hype is. Just visually I would much rather have my LadySmith 9mm for compact carry.

The P365 is not only a great shooting gun, having both a surprisingly managable recoil and good accuracy for size and weight, the size and weight make it also a very comfortable to carry and easily concealable gun.
 
They will treat their factories better once we take them off the nipple they have been on since 1945 of white glove full service military protection...grow up EU.

Do not forget that West Germany had 450.000 soldiers during the peak of the cold war and another million in the military reserve. I was one of them, was drafted and served for 195 German Marks a month, not even $100. After the service I was in the reserve, not getting paid but paying $20 each year to carry my own insurance in the reserve organisation.

Time to get educated about the subject you are talking about.
 
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Do not forget that West Germany had 450.000 soldiers during the peak of the cold war and another million in the military reserve. I was one of them, was drafted and served for 195 German Marks a month, not even $100. Afterwards the service I was in the reserve, not getting paid but paying $20 each year to carry my own insurance in the reserve organisation.

Time to get educated about the subject you are talking about.

Andy, I also served over there and I like to say everyone shall be very grateful for your service. It provided peace for a lengthy period since WW2. Point I was trying to make is that I am not sure I see other countries these days showing enough appreciation as well as contribution to keeping themselves protected against major threats coming in the future. Look even the state of some of the European airforces.
 
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I decided to grab up one more Mastershop SIG before they are all gone. I picked up this P210 6" Super Target Midnight Tuesday. It a a real beauty and beautifully made.
 

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Once upon a time I insisted all my Sig's were made in W. Germany. I had one of only 50 W. German p239's imported to US.

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I still have my P228 and P220.

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Gentlemen,

I am a German gun owner and am personally acquainted with the sales manager of Sig Sauer Germany. Although I am not informed in depth about the current background of the decisions to close down the Eckernförde site, I can tell you so far: There has been a very difficult lawsuit following the export of handguns to Columbia via the US which was deemed illegal, a violation of rules to prohibit export of firearms. This has had severe impacts on Sig Sauers long-standing position with German federal countries as purchasers of their handguns for police departments. They partly lost their reputation with politicians and representatives of authority.

Although Sig Sauer makes high quality handguns in Eckernförde, the private sales of their handguns don't make enough profit. There has been a rumour for quite a time that Eckernförde will stop making handguns due to the decline in public business and they lost their Mastershop Manager about 2 years ago who was fed up with the uncertain future of his job. Now the management has made upo it's mind. Sad, but true.

Another point for those who don't know the German gun law situation. Germany is VERY gun unfriendly, politics and strong parts of the population don't support weapons ownership. Thus, legal restrictions of owning firearms are largely restricted to target shooters and hunters, official permits are mandatory and are only to come by under very tough official regulations. Many gun manufacturers can't make enoguh profit under such conditions, many dealers and gunsmiths have given up their business, many shops are closed over the last years. Now it's Sig Sauer who slams on the brakes.

reagrds from Germany
Ulrich
 
reagrds from Germany

Ulrich
Thank you for taking the time to explain the situation there. I appreciate their products and hope SIG's survival in the consumer firearms market is not threatened.



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