SIGARMS
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
SIGARMS is the US representative of Swiss manufacturing firm Swiss Arms AG, which was split off of Schweizerische Industrie Gesellschaft (SIG) in 2000. SIGARMS was established in 1985 to import and distribute SIG firearms into the United States although it now also has some manufacturing capabilities. As of 2000 it has been a separate entity. The original SIG Arms AG parent company was simultaneously renamed as Swiss Arms AG.
Contents |
[edit] History
The origins of SIGARMS stem from a wagon factory created in 1853 by Friedrich Peyer im Hof, Heinrich Moser and Conrad Neher. Upon winning a contract to produce 30,000 muzzle-loading rifles, they changed their name to Schweizerische Industrie Gesellschaft (SIG), German for "Swiss Industrial Company". SIG produced what is widely considered to be one of the finest semi-automatic pistols—the SIG 210 series. Their high cost, however, limited their market. SIG began work on designing a pistol that would be advanced yet affordable. Eventually, SIG decided that it would be most cost effective to enter into a business collaboration with the German gunmaker of J.P. Sauer & Sohn. Thus, the SIG-Sauer line of handguns was born in the 1970s starting with the SIG-Sauer SIG P220 handgun in 1975, still renowned for its accuracy and durability. Pre-WWII, Sauer had been primarily a maker of fine shotguns and hunting rifles. During the war they had produced one of the finest and most advanced semi-automatic pistols ever built, the Sauer 38H. However, after the war, Sauer had retreated from this market. With SIG, Sauer would again be back in the business of building advanced handguns.
SIG also produced only one machine gun, The MG 710 which was based on the German MG42. It was a state-of-the-art GPMG of 7.62x51 NATO calibre, It also used Roller-delayed blowback as used in the CETME/G3/SIG 510 rifles and sometimes had a muzzle capable of launching rifle grenades. The only drawback of the MG 710 was the high price tag so the weapon was only exported to Bolivia.
In 1985, SIGARMS was created as the American branch of SIG in Tysons Corner, Virginia to import the P220 and P230. In 1987 SIGARMS moved to Herndon, Virginia, and in 1990 moved to Exeter, New Hampshire to accommodate new manufacturing.
SIGARMS, and its European sister companies, J.P. Sauer & Sohn, Blaser, Mauser and Swiss Arms were bought by Michael Lueke and Thomas Ortmeier in October, 2000. Today, SIGARMS is the largest of the five companies and one of the largest firearms manufacturing entities in the world. It is also the fastest growing firearms maker in the United States, expanding its operations and increasing sales nearly 50% since 2005.
SIGARMS also operates a world-class firearms training school, the SIGARMS Academy, in Epping New Hampshire.
[edit] Products
[edit] Handguns
- SIG P210
- SIG P220
- SIG P225
- SIG P226
- SIG P228 (adopted by US as the M11 Pistol)
- SIG P229
- SIG P226 X-5
- SIG P232
- SIG P230
- SIG P239
- SIG P245
- SIG P250 DCc
- SIG GSR (M1911 clone)
- SIG Mosquito
- SIG Pro series (includes SP 2009, SP 2022 and SP 2340)
- SIG 1911
[edit] Rifles
- SIG 510/STGW 57
- Blaser
- HKS
- K95
- Blaser 93 Tactical
- LRS2
- Sauer 202
- Mauser Magnum
- 550 (Fass 90 / Stgw 90)
- 551
- 552
- SIG 556
- SSG 2000
- SSG 3000
