The
SIG Pro is a series of semi-automatic pistols developed and manufactured jointly by
Schweizerische Industrie GesellschaftSchweizerische Industrie Gesellschaft , or SIG, is the former name of SIG Holding AG, a Swiss company that has been active in various businesses during its more than 150 years of operation. Since the year 2000 the Society has undergone strategic refocus, concentrating on its core compentence in...
(SIG) and
J. P. Sauer & SohnJ. P. Sauer und Sohn GmbH is a German manufacturer of firearms. Founded in 1751 in Suhl, Thuringia, Sauer & Sohn is the oldest firearms manufacturer still active in Germany. The company's production remained there for two centuries, before relocating to Eckernförde in 1951...
. It was the first
polymerA polymer is a large molecule composed of repeating structural units. These subunits are typically connected by covalent chemical bonds...
-frame handgun from either company and one of the first pistols to feature a built-in universal accessory rail and interchangeable grips.
The SIG Pro was marketed as a lightweight and compact alternative to the "legacy" SIG-Sauer handguns in an increasingly competitive and budget-oriented law enforcement market. The pistol is the result of continued collaboration between two famous
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an arms makers: SIG (now
Swiss Arms AGSAN Swiss Arms AG is a Swiss manufacturer of small arms. It was known as SIG Arms AG before 2000 when it was acquired by the German investors Michael Lüke and Thomas Ortmeier from parent company Schweizerische Industrie Gesellschaft .-Products:...
) of
NeuhausenNeuhausen may refer to:*Neuhausen am Rheinfall, a town in the canton of Schaffhausen, Switzerland*Neuhausen auf den Fildern, a municipality in Baden-Württemberg, Germany*Neuhausen , a municipality in Baden-Württemberg, Germany...
,
SwitzerlandSwitzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
and
Sauer & SohnJ. P. Sauer und Sohn GmbH is a German manufacturer of firearms. Founded in 1751 in Suhl, Thuringia, Sauer & Sohn is the oldest firearms manufacturer still active in Germany. The company's production remained there for two centuries, before relocating to Eckernförde in 1951...
of
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. As with other joint ventures between the two companies, these pistols are sometimes referred to as "SIG-Sauer". It was originally developed as a
.40 S&WThe .40 S&W is a rimless pistol cartridge developed jointly by major American firearms manufacturers Winchester and Smith & Wesson. The .40 S&W was developed from the ground up as a law enforcement cartridge designed to duplicate performance of the FBI's reduced velocity 10mm cartridge which could...
-caliber
service pistolA service pistol is any handgun issued to military personnel.Typically service pistols are revolvers or semi-automatic pistols issued to officers, non-commissioned officers and rear-echelon support personnel for self defense, though service pistols may also be issued to special forces as a backup...
and introduced in June 1998 with the
SP 2340 model, followed shortly by a version in
.357 SIGThe .357 SIG pistol cartridge is the product of Swiss-German firearms manufacturer SIG-Sauer, in cooperation with the American ammunition manufacturer Federal Cartridge. While it is based on a .40 S&W case necked down to accept bullets, the .357 SIG brass is slightly longer...
(which retained the same model designation). About one year later, a 9x19mm Parabellum variant, the
SP 2009, was introduced and entered production in response to demand for the type.
Design details
The SIG Pro is a short recoil operated, locked breech semi-automatic pistol. It uses a traditional Browning cam-operated locking system. The barrel locks into the slide via enlarged ejection port.
The frame is made from
polymerA polymer is a large molecule composed of repeating structural units. These subunits are typically connected by covalent chemical bonds...
, with detachable grip panels. Grip panels can be easily replaced and are available in several different sizes and shapes.
The overall design is slightly different from earlier SIG-Sauer pistols such as
P220The SIG P220 is a semi-automatic pistol designed in Switzerland by Swiss Arms AG . It is manufactured in Eckernförde, Germany, by J.P. Sauer und Sohn GmbH. It uses the Browning linkless cam short recoil action of self-loading with a double action trigger mechanism...
or
P226The SIG P226 is a full-sized, service-type pistol made by SIG Sauer. It is chambered for the 9×19mm Parabellum, .40 S&W, .357 SIG, and .22 Long Rifle. It is essentially the same basic design of the SIG P220, but developed to use higher capacity, staggered-column magazines in place of the...
, as there is no separate disassembly lever on the frame and the
slide stopA slide stop, also referred to as a slide release, on a semi-automatic handgun is a function that visually indicates when a handgun has expended all loaded ammunition and facilitates faster re-loading by removing the step of pulling back the slide to advance the first round of a new magazine...
lever looks quite different.
The standard SIG Pro does not have a manual safety but it does incorporate a decocking lever (lowers the hammer without striking the firing pin), trigger-bar disconnect (disconnects the trigger when the slide is out of battery), automatic firing pin lock (does not free the firing pin until the trigger is depressed) and a hammer safety intercept notch (prevents the hammer from striking the rear of the firing pin until the trigger is depressed).
Variants
The Sig Pro comes standard as a double-action/single action pistol with 10 lb and 4.5 lb trigger pulls, respectively. Double-action only conversion kits are also available from SIG.
- SP 2340: The original pistol introduced in 1998. It has a rounded trigger guard and is chambered for .40 S&W
The .40 S&W is a rimless pistol cartridge developed jointly by major American firearms manufacturers Winchester and Smith & Wesson. The .40 S&W was developed from the ground up as a law enforcement cartridge designed to duplicate performance of the FBI's reduced velocity 10mm cartridge which could...
and .357 SIGThe .357 SIG pistol cartridge is the product of Swiss-German firearms manufacturer SIG-Sauer, in cooperation with the American ammunition manufacturer Federal Cartridge. While it is based on a .40 S&W case necked down to accept bullets, the .357 SIG brass is slightly longer...
.
- SP 2009: 9x19mm Parabellum version announced in 1999.
- SPC 2009: A shorter version of the SP 2009 with a 3.58" barrel length and only available in 9 mm. It is equipped with the SIG accessory rail system and the trigger guard is rounded. This is the basis for the SPC 2022
- SP2009-9-BMS: A variant of the standard SP 2009 with a slide-mounted manual safety and short trigger. These were offered for a short time to the U.S. civilian market.
- SP 2022: A modified version of the SP 2009/2340. It entered service with the French Police and Gendarmerie in 2002 for a planned service life of 20 years, hence the name. 460,000 rounds have been used for testing it before adoption by a sampling of future users and modifications of the SIG Pro followed to produce the 2022. It is available in 9x19mm, .40 S&W and .357 SIG. The pistol is fitted with an integral Picatinny rail
The Picatinny rail or MIL-STD-1913 rail or STANAG 2324 rail or a "Tactical Rail" is a bracket used on some firearms in order to provide a standardized mounting platform. A similar system is the Weaver rail mount.-Description:...
instead of the proprietary rail of the other models and the front trigger guard is shaped differently to allow a finger hold. It can also be equipped with a threaded barrel and detachable suppressorA suppressor, sound suppressor, sound moderator, or silencer, is a device attached to or part of the barrel of a firearm which reduces the amount of noise and flash generated by firing the weapon....
and the fixed open sightsIron sights are a system of shaped alignment markers used as a sighting device to assist in the aiming of a device such as a firearm, crossbow, or telescope, and exclude the use of optics as in telescopic sights or reflector sights...
are dovetailed into the slide.
- SPC 2022: A more compact version of the SP 2022 that is only available in 9x19mm. The SPC 2022 has a slightly shorter barrel and slide, as well as flat magazine base plates which make its grip shorter by 7 mm. It is equipped with a Picatinny rail and a finger groove trigger guard.
Users
: The
Colombian National PoliceThe National Police of Colombia is the national police force of Colombia. Although the National Police is not part of the Military of Colombia , it constitutes along with them the "Public Force" and is also controlled by the Ministry of Defense. They are the largest police force in Colombia...
purchased several thousand SP2009 pistols. A quantity of 55,890 SP2022 pistols was also purchased recently.: In 2003,
FrenchThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
law enforcement and internal security agencies (including the
Gendarmerie Nationale, National Police and French Customs) adopted the model SP 2022 in 9x19mm Parabellum to replace the PAMAS and several other pistols in service. Over 250,000 of the SP 2022 were acquired in what would be the largest single order for service handguns since
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.: The SIG Pro is used by the Swiss Military Police (as the
Pistole 03).: SIG Pro SP 2022 are used in Republican National Guard and Public Security Police.: The SIG Pro is used by the
Drug Enforcement AdministrationThe Drug Enforcement Administration is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Justice, tasked with combating drug smuggling and use within the United States...
(DEA).
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