This is another article slated for publication in The Blue Press. Comments welcome.
John
During the late 1960s, Switzerland’s Schweizerische Industrie Gesellschaft (Swiss Industrial Company, better known as SIG) began development of a new 9mm pistol which would replace the aging SIG P210 pistols then in the Swiss service. This was a tall order, as the single-action P210 9mm semiauto pistols were generally acknowledged as perhaps the best in the world, and had been since World War II. Machined and assembled with Swiss precision, the P210 was accurate and reliable, but very expensive to manufacture. It was thought that the new replacement pistol should be a double-action design, fully as accurate as the P210, but simpler and more economical to produce with modern production materials and techniques. That SIG succeeded in this quest is a tribute to the engineering skills of the company, and the new P220 pistol became legendary for its reliability, ergonomic qualities, accuracy, and innovative production methods. Today, the P220 and its similar offspring are used not only in the Swiss Army, but in the hands of special military units and police organizations world-wide.
To go back to the beginning, SIG began as a wagon factory created in 1853 by Friedrich Peyer im Hof, Heinrich Moser and Conrad Neher. They won a contract to manufacture 30,000 muzzle-loading rifles, and at that point changed their name to its current form. After many years of successful arms making in Neuhausen Rhinefalls, it was natural for the Swiss government to turn once again to SIG to design and produce a successor to the P210. Following World War II, SIG had bought a controlling interest in the German arms making firm of J.P. Sauer und Sohn, and collaborated with that company in the design of the new pistol, with an eye towards also using its considerable manufacturing capability. It didn’t hurt that utilizing a German plant would help in getting German police contracts, and possibly also getting some NATO business. Switzerland, as is generally known, remains a neutral nation, and its export regulations are stringent about exporting firearms. It therefore made a lot of sense to produce the new design in Germany. Sauer had a long history with the Germans, including making finely crafted Mauser K98k rifles during World War II.
The marriage of SIG and Sauer was a good one. Engineering personnel from both firms put their heads together and incorporated a number of innovative features into the new pistol. The locking system was a spinoff of the original locked breech short-recoil Browning principle. Previously, it was necessary for both the barrel and the slide to have locking lugs and cuts that would mate together for lockup as the barrel was cammed up and forward. The new SIG/Sauer design dispensed with the necessity for such machining, locking the barrel and the slide together with an enlarged breech section mating into the ejection port in the slide. This principle is now used widely, being utilized by Glock, Heckler & Koch, and many others. The construction of the slide itself was unique for its time. While it appears that the slide is constructed from a single piece of machined steel, such is not the case. In fact, the bulk of the slide is actually a thick sheet metal stamping which is machined only on the exterior for the finger grooves and contour. The breechblock, which is a solid piece, is roll-pinned into the rear of the slide. The nose section of the slide is welded in, complete with an internal barrel bushing. The welding and finishing is very well done, and the result is almost indistinguishable from milled steel. This innovative method of slide fabrication helped immensely in reducing production costs and increasing manufacturing volume. The hammer, trigger and mag catch button are investment castings. The recoil spring is made of wound multi-strand wire, helping to ensure reliability and longevity. A full-length recoil spring guide rod is standard. The barrel measures 4.4 inches in length.
The frame of the pistol is made of forged aluminum alloy, another use of modern materials. It has a hard-anodized coating that exactly matches the finish on the slide. Utilizing a feature of the pre-World War II Sauer 38H pistol, the new SIG P220 used a hammer-drop lever to the rear of the trigger on the left side. Following chambering a round initially, the cocked hammer is safely lowered with this device, and the pistol is ready for immediate firing via a long double-action pull on the trigger. A takedown lever, mounted in the left side of the frame forward of the trigger, allows quick and easy field stripping. The slide stop lever is mounted aft on the left side, and part of it serves as the ejector. A firing pin safety is utilized, requiring a complete pull of the trigger to allow forward movement of the firing pin. Early pistols had a magazine release on the heel of the pistol, similar to the system used on the German P.38 pistols. This type of release requires a conscious effort to drop the magazine, and was considered by the Germans as a benefit over the thumb button so as not to inadvertently lose a magazine during stress. Keeping things simple, there is no manual safety, nor is there a magazine safety. As with a revolver, the double-action pull is considered safe enough to prevent unintentional firing. The hammer can be thumb-cocked for a light single-action pull, or fired in that mode directly following loading. Using this pistol is closely analogous to operating a double-action revolver, a plus for police departments transitioning to automatic pistols, as many were in the mid-1970s.
In 1975, Switzerland officially adopted the P220 as the “Pistole 75”, or P75, chambered in 9mm Parabellum. Japan, Denmark and France soon joined Switzerland in adapting the P220. SIG lost no time in marketing the new pistol to other nations. The P220 first came to U.S. soil as the Browning Double Action (BDA). Browning-marketed pistols had the heel-mounted magazine release. These were sold in the U.S. from about 1977 to 1980. Browning dropped the line due to poor sales, which many attributed to the pistol’s “new age” appearance. The BDA slides are stamped on the left side “Browning Arms Company Morgan, Utah and Montreal PQ” and “SIG-Sauer System Made in W. Germany” on the right. They were offered for sale in 9mm, .38 Super, and .45 ACP. .38 Super pistols are quite rare. Interarms imported P220s for a short time thereafter. In 1985, SIGARMS became the American branch of SIG, headquartered in Tysons Corner Virginia. The P220s have since been imported here only in .45 ACP through SIGARMS. The pistol illustrated is one of these, manufactured in 1997. They have the thumb button mag release, and feature 7- or 8-round single-stack magazines. In 1987, SIGARMS moved to Herndon, Virginia, and in 1990 moved again to Exeter, New Hampshire where some manufacturing is now conducted.
Minor changes have been made over the years on the P220 for American consumption. In addition to the button mag release, machining on the slide has been slightly changed, and checkered grips have replaced the older “pebbled” style. It is currently offered in a number of different variations. The ground-breaking P220 has spawned other similar and very reliable 9mm pistols, notably the compact P225 and P226. In addition to law enforcement employment, the latter pistol is currently used in our armed forces and by government intelligence agencies.
To quote from a Sig Sauer advertisement: “This is a pistol that can fire off 10,000 rounds in a day, without a single failure.” So it can, and right out of the box, no gunsmithing required. It’s earned the trust of police and military units around the world, and can be relied on as a superb civilian defense arm. Although these modern classics are expensive ($1,000 plus) when bought new, used excellent condition military surplus P220s can be had as of this writing for between $500-600. When your life is on the line and you want top-notch quality, these reliable and powerful pistols are certainly worth every penny.
(c) 2013 JLM
John
During the late 1960s, Switzerland’s Schweizerische Industrie Gesellschaft (Swiss Industrial Company, better known as SIG) began development of a new 9mm pistol which would replace the aging SIG P210 pistols then in the Swiss service. This was a tall order, as the single-action P210 9mm semiauto pistols were generally acknowledged as perhaps the best in the world, and had been since World War II. Machined and assembled with Swiss precision, the P210 was accurate and reliable, but very expensive to manufacture. It was thought that the new replacement pistol should be a double-action design, fully as accurate as the P210, but simpler and more economical to produce with modern production materials and techniques. That SIG succeeded in this quest is a tribute to the engineering skills of the company, and the new P220 pistol became legendary for its reliability, ergonomic qualities, accuracy, and innovative production methods. Today, the P220 and its similar offspring are used not only in the Swiss Army, but in the hands of special military units and police organizations world-wide.
To go back to the beginning, SIG began as a wagon factory created in 1853 by Friedrich Peyer im Hof, Heinrich Moser and Conrad Neher. They won a contract to manufacture 30,000 muzzle-loading rifles, and at that point changed their name to its current form. After many years of successful arms making in Neuhausen Rhinefalls, it was natural for the Swiss government to turn once again to SIG to design and produce a successor to the P210. Following World War II, SIG had bought a controlling interest in the German arms making firm of J.P. Sauer und Sohn, and collaborated with that company in the design of the new pistol, with an eye towards also using its considerable manufacturing capability. It didn’t hurt that utilizing a German plant would help in getting German police contracts, and possibly also getting some NATO business. Switzerland, as is generally known, remains a neutral nation, and its export regulations are stringent about exporting firearms. It therefore made a lot of sense to produce the new design in Germany. Sauer had a long history with the Germans, including making finely crafted Mauser K98k rifles during World War II.
The marriage of SIG and Sauer was a good one. Engineering personnel from both firms put their heads together and incorporated a number of innovative features into the new pistol. The locking system was a spinoff of the original locked breech short-recoil Browning principle. Previously, it was necessary for both the barrel and the slide to have locking lugs and cuts that would mate together for lockup as the barrel was cammed up and forward. The new SIG/Sauer design dispensed with the necessity for such machining, locking the barrel and the slide together with an enlarged breech section mating into the ejection port in the slide. This principle is now used widely, being utilized by Glock, Heckler & Koch, and many others. The construction of the slide itself was unique for its time. While it appears that the slide is constructed from a single piece of machined steel, such is not the case. In fact, the bulk of the slide is actually a thick sheet metal stamping which is machined only on the exterior for the finger grooves and contour. The breechblock, which is a solid piece, is roll-pinned into the rear of the slide. The nose section of the slide is welded in, complete with an internal barrel bushing. The welding and finishing is very well done, and the result is almost indistinguishable from milled steel. This innovative method of slide fabrication helped immensely in reducing production costs and increasing manufacturing volume. The hammer, trigger and mag catch button are investment castings. The recoil spring is made of wound multi-strand wire, helping to ensure reliability and longevity. A full-length recoil spring guide rod is standard. The barrel measures 4.4 inches in length.
The frame of the pistol is made of forged aluminum alloy, another use of modern materials. It has a hard-anodized coating that exactly matches the finish on the slide. Utilizing a feature of the pre-World War II Sauer 38H pistol, the new SIG P220 used a hammer-drop lever to the rear of the trigger on the left side. Following chambering a round initially, the cocked hammer is safely lowered with this device, and the pistol is ready for immediate firing via a long double-action pull on the trigger. A takedown lever, mounted in the left side of the frame forward of the trigger, allows quick and easy field stripping. The slide stop lever is mounted aft on the left side, and part of it serves as the ejector. A firing pin safety is utilized, requiring a complete pull of the trigger to allow forward movement of the firing pin. Early pistols had a magazine release on the heel of the pistol, similar to the system used on the German P.38 pistols. This type of release requires a conscious effort to drop the magazine, and was considered by the Germans as a benefit over the thumb button so as not to inadvertently lose a magazine during stress. Keeping things simple, there is no manual safety, nor is there a magazine safety. As with a revolver, the double-action pull is considered safe enough to prevent unintentional firing. The hammer can be thumb-cocked for a light single-action pull, or fired in that mode directly following loading. Using this pistol is closely analogous to operating a double-action revolver, a plus for police departments transitioning to automatic pistols, as many were in the mid-1970s.
In 1975, Switzerland officially adopted the P220 as the “Pistole 75”, or P75, chambered in 9mm Parabellum. Japan, Denmark and France soon joined Switzerland in adapting the P220. SIG lost no time in marketing the new pistol to other nations. The P220 first came to U.S. soil as the Browning Double Action (BDA). Browning-marketed pistols had the heel-mounted magazine release. These were sold in the U.S. from about 1977 to 1980. Browning dropped the line due to poor sales, which many attributed to the pistol’s “new age” appearance. The BDA slides are stamped on the left side “Browning Arms Company Morgan, Utah and Montreal PQ” and “SIG-Sauer System Made in W. Germany” on the right. They were offered for sale in 9mm, .38 Super, and .45 ACP. .38 Super pistols are quite rare. Interarms imported P220s for a short time thereafter. In 1985, SIGARMS became the American branch of SIG, headquartered in Tysons Corner Virginia. The P220s have since been imported here only in .45 ACP through SIGARMS. The pistol illustrated is one of these, manufactured in 1997. They have the thumb button mag release, and feature 7- or 8-round single-stack magazines. In 1987, SIGARMS moved to Herndon, Virginia, and in 1990 moved again to Exeter, New Hampshire where some manufacturing is now conducted.
Minor changes have been made over the years on the P220 for American consumption. In addition to the button mag release, machining on the slide has been slightly changed, and checkered grips have replaced the older “pebbled” style. It is currently offered in a number of different variations. The ground-breaking P220 has spawned other similar and very reliable 9mm pistols, notably the compact P225 and P226. In addition to law enforcement employment, the latter pistol is currently used in our armed forces and by government intelligence agencies.
To quote from a Sig Sauer advertisement: “This is a pistol that can fire off 10,000 rounds in a day, without a single failure.” So it can, and right out of the box, no gunsmithing required. It’s earned the trust of police and military units around the world, and can be relied on as a superb civilian defense arm. Although these modern classics are expensive ($1,000 plus) when bought new, used excellent condition military surplus P220s can be had as of this writing for between $500-600. When your life is on the line and you want top-notch quality, these reliable and powerful pistols are certainly worth every penny.
(c) 2013 JLM
I bought a P225 in 1986 and shot it extensively. Just one time when I depressed the hammer drop level, my thumb slipped and hit the magazine release and dropped the magazine. Embarrassing.
