SIGARMS
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 set 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.
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 pistolsâ€"the SIG 210 series. Their high cost, however, limited their market. SIG began work on desiging 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.
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.
The American SIGARMS distribution company was bought by Michael Lueke and Thomas Ortmeier in October,
2000.
SIGARMS also operates a world-class firearms training school, the
SIGARMS Academy, in
New Hampshire.
Handguns
*
SIG P210*
SIG P220*
SIG P225*
SIG P226 *
SIG P228 (adopted by US as the
M11 Pistol)
*
SIG P229*
SIG P232*
SIG P230*
SIG P239*
SIG P245*
SIG GSR (
M1911 clone)
*
SIG Mosquito*
SIG Pro series (includes
SP 2009,
SP 2022 and
SP 2340)
Rifles
*
SIG 510*
Blaser** HKS
** K95
**
Blaser 93 Tactical** LRS2
*
Sauer 202*
SG550* Mauser Magnum
*
550 (Fass 90 / Stgw 90)
*
551*
552*
SIG 556*
SSG 2000*
SSG 3000Machine Guns
* 710
*
SIGARMS official website*
Swiss Arms AG official website*
Sauer & Sohn, the German half of SIG-Sauer*
Forum with lots of great SIG information
