Petrol & Powder
Well-Known Member
The initials S I G stand for Schweizerische Industrie-Gesellschaft; German for “Swiss Industrial Society [Company]”. The company that most Americans simply call “SIG” has gone through many name changes and re-organizations. These include associations with J.P. Sauer, a few U.S. importers and manufacturers and some other re-organizations in the U.S.A. & Europe. We’ll just call them SIG here.
Shortly after WWII the Swiss adopted the Model 49, also known as the model P210 in civilian trim. This is an outstanding pistol of incredible quality. That pistol was also used by Denmark and a few other governmental agencies in Germany. While the P210 is a great pistol, it is rather expensive to build. By the 1970’s the Swiss were looking for a modern replacement. In 1975 the P220 was born out of this effort. That pistol known as the P220 in civilian modes and the P75 in the Swiss military, represented a huge leap forward in pistol design.
The folded metal slide wasn’t an original idea, the Walther Volkspistole, a last-ditch weapon designed late in WWII used a folded sheet metal slide. There were other prior examples as well. The material used in the P220 slide was too thick to be called sheet metal, but it was formed by a folding/pressing type operation. The solid nose cap was added to the front of the slide and a solid breach block was fitted and pinned in the rear of the slide. At the time, the resulting slide was cheaper and faster to produce than an all-milled forging. For largely economic reasons SIG would later move back to a more traditional manufacturing method for the slide but the folded slide was strong, fast to produce and durable.
Another BIG innovation was using a squared off ejection port to lock the barrel and slide together. This method to accomplish barrel/slide locking in a Browning tilting barrel design is now used by a multitude of makers that employ the Browning tilting barrel system. Prior to the SIG P220, most users of the Browning system had lugs on the barrel and matching recesses cut inside the side. While that certainly works, it is far more costly and complicated to manufacture and requires more material in the upper slide. Pick up a locked breach type pistol today and the chances are very good it will have a slide to barrel locking system similar to the SIG P220 from 1975.
The frame of the P220 was made of an aluminum alloy. This wasn’t groundbreaking at the time, but it was executed with a Swiss like twist. Like the earlier Model P210 / Model 49, the slide rails ran the full length of the frame with only one cut for the slide catch/ejector. This results in excellent slide to frame fit. Even old, well used SIG pistols will have outstanding slide to frame fit after tens of thousands of rounds. The aluminum frame has a hardened steel locking block (pinned in place by the trigger pin and takedown lever). That locking block provides a hardened surface for the barrel to cam against during locking and unlocking. Technically that locking block is replaceable but I don’t think I’ve ever seen one wear out.
The P220 utilized a de-cocking lever to render the pistol safe when there was a round in the chamber. The DA/SA action allowed the user to fire the pistol by simply pulling the trigger. If the slide was closed and there was a live round in the chamber, the gun would fire if the user pulled the trigger. There was virtually no way to put a loaded pistol into a mode in which it would not fire when needed. And there is a passive firing pin block that prevents the gun from firing if the trigger is not fully depressed.
SIG was extremely innovative in 1975 but they didn’t completely abandon old school tech. The gun was still a hammer fired design. The locking system was still basically a Browning tilting barrel system. The P220 (P75) and later P225 (P6) utilized single stack magazines. These were service pistols that were modern but retained their rock-solid roots.
Yeah, SIG’s of that era were a bit “blocky” before that was really the norm in service pistols. And yes, the finish was never going to win a beauty contest (but it holds up well to abuse). And you could pay a lot of money to get nice checkered wooden grips but for the most part, these guns wear plastic panels.
These guns are work horses; not show horses. They WORK!
That original P75 design was adopted by the Swiss military. It became the basis for an entire line of great pistols such as the P225 (P6), the P226 (the double stack, full size high-capacity service pistol), The P228 (the compact, high-capacity version of the P226). And there were other spin offs.
SIG returned to conventional milled slides for later models such as the 229 and 239 but retained the squared off ejection port barrel/slide locking method. The cost savings with modern automated machining were just no longer there. Eventually SIG entered the realm of polymer frames and striker fired actions.
There was a time, not that long ago, when local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies relied heavily on those P220’s and their derivatives. Civilian sales of SIG pistols have always been strong, and the brand enjoys amazing and well-deserved loyalty.
And to this day, there are a lot of old SIG P75 pistols, with heel magazine releases and single stack mags….. winning pistol matches.
Shortly after WWII the Swiss adopted the Model 49, also known as the model P210 in civilian trim. This is an outstanding pistol of incredible quality. That pistol was also used by Denmark and a few other governmental agencies in Germany. While the P210 is a great pistol, it is rather expensive to build. By the 1970’s the Swiss were looking for a modern replacement. In 1975 the P220 was born out of this effort. That pistol known as the P220 in civilian modes and the P75 in the Swiss military, represented a huge leap forward in pistol design.
The folded metal slide wasn’t an original idea, the Walther Volkspistole, a last-ditch weapon designed late in WWII used a folded sheet metal slide. There were other prior examples as well. The material used in the P220 slide was too thick to be called sheet metal, but it was formed by a folding/pressing type operation. The solid nose cap was added to the front of the slide and a solid breach block was fitted and pinned in the rear of the slide. At the time, the resulting slide was cheaper and faster to produce than an all-milled forging. For largely economic reasons SIG would later move back to a more traditional manufacturing method for the slide but the folded slide was strong, fast to produce and durable.
Another BIG innovation was using a squared off ejection port to lock the barrel and slide together. This method to accomplish barrel/slide locking in a Browning tilting barrel design is now used by a multitude of makers that employ the Browning tilting barrel system. Prior to the SIG P220, most users of the Browning system had lugs on the barrel and matching recesses cut inside the side. While that certainly works, it is far more costly and complicated to manufacture and requires more material in the upper slide. Pick up a locked breach type pistol today and the chances are very good it will have a slide to barrel locking system similar to the SIG P220 from 1975.
The frame of the P220 was made of an aluminum alloy. This wasn’t groundbreaking at the time, but it was executed with a Swiss like twist. Like the earlier Model P210 / Model 49, the slide rails ran the full length of the frame with only one cut for the slide catch/ejector. This results in excellent slide to frame fit. Even old, well used SIG pistols will have outstanding slide to frame fit after tens of thousands of rounds. The aluminum frame has a hardened steel locking block (pinned in place by the trigger pin and takedown lever). That locking block provides a hardened surface for the barrel to cam against during locking and unlocking. Technically that locking block is replaceable but I don’t think I’ve ever seen one wear out.
The P220 utilized a de-cocking lever to render the pistol safe when there was a round in the chamber. The DA/SA action allowed the user to fire the pistol by simply pulling the trigger. If the slide was closed and there was a live round in the chamber, the gun would fire if the user pulled the trigger. There was virtually no way to put a loaded pistol into a mode in which it would not fire when needed. And there is a passive firing pin block that prevents the gun from firing if the trigger is not fully depressed.
SIG was extremely innovative in 1975 but they didn’t completely abandon old school tech. The gun was still a hammer fired design. The locking system was still basically a Browning tilting barrel system. The P220 (P75) and later P225 (P6) utilized single stack magazines. These were service pistols that were modern but retained their rock-solid roots.
Yeah, SIG’s of that era were a bit “blocky” before that was really the norm in service pistols. And yes, the finish was never going to win a beauty contest (but it holds up well to abuse). And you could pay a lot of money to get nice checkered wooden grips but for the most part, these guns wear plastic panels.
These guns are work horses; not show horses. They WORK!
That original P75 design was adopted by the Swiss military. It became the basis for an entire line of great pistols such as the P225 (P6), the P226 (the double stack, full size high-capacity service pistol), The P228 (the compact, high-capacity version of the P226). And there were other spin offs.
SIG returned to conventional milled slides for later models such as the 229 and 239 but retained the squared off ejection port barrel/slide locking method. The cost savings with modern automated machining were just no longer there. Eventually SIG entered the realm of polymer frames and striker fired actions.
There was a time, not that long ago, when local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies relied heavily on those P220’s and their derivatives. Civilian sales of SIG pistols have always been strong, and the brand enjoys amazing and well-deserved loyalty.
And to this day, there are a lot of old SIG P75 pistols, with heel magazine releases and single stack mags….. winning pistol matches.