Tag Archives: sig p210

If you Could Carry a Top-shelf Target Pistol, Would you?

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SIG’s design concept behind the P210 Carry was to “blend the historic lineage of its iconic Swiss predecessor with the ideal characteristics and necessities the modern consumer expects in a carry pistol.” In a brief explainer, the original M1911-sized P210 first hit the scenes around 1948 and was adopted by the Swiss Army (and others), soon becoming a landmark pistol prized for its accuracy, reliability, and simple elegance. Out of production in Europe by 2006, SIG started making Americanized P210 Target and P210 Standard models in 2017, complete with steel frames, some updates to the internals such as in barrel lug profile, and a full-length 5-inch barrel.

The SIG P210 Target

Where the P210 Carry switches gears is that it is smaller– using a 4.1-inch barrel and likewise trimmed slide– while keeping the same height. It sheds weight due to an alloy frame, coming in at 29 ounces (unloaded) compared to the 36.9 ounces of the P210 Target model. It also runs SIG night sights, has front and rear cocking serrations on the slide, and slim Houge G10 grips to augment the ergonomics added by the checkered front strap.

While only introduced this year, the P210 stands atop 80 years of firearms history when it comes to mechanically locked, hammer-fired, short-recoil-operated pistols, with a salute to Swiss firearms designer Charles Gabriel Petter.

And, after 1K rounds, I have some thoughts about how the P210 Carry handles and if you should use it for EDC or not in my column over at Guns.com.

Meet the P210 Carry, a More Refined EDC

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An evolution over 80 years in the making, Sig Sauer’s new P210 Carry 9mm blends a classic lineage and modern features to live up to its name.

Swiss firearms designer Charles Gabriel Petter, who learned the up-close and personal side of weapons in action while an officer in the French Foreign Legion during the Great War, was a cultivated polyglot who moved freely across Western Europe in the 1920s and 30s. After a decade with the Lewis Arms Company, he perfected a series of modifications and improvements to single-action self-loading pistols, taking cues from the even-then famous Browning locked-breech system.

A series of his patents led to the French Model 1935A pistol, and by 1938 SIG in Switzerland had licensed them for use in a pistol which the company intended to submit to replace the dated Luger in Swiss military service. Working with Petter for a further decade, the Swiss Ordnance SP47/8 was adopted in 1948 as the P49 by the Swiss Army and others including the Danish military and West German border guards.

By 1957, the P49 designation was renamed the P210, remaining in production in Switzerland until 2006 by virtue of its reputation for accuracy, reliability, and simple elegance. They were so iconic they were even immortalized in art.

Today’s P210 Carry owes its lineage to Swiss firearms designer Charles Petter’s circa 1938 patents, and decades of military, police, and sports use by the P210 series since then.

More in my column at Guns.com.

Sig’s new ‘Gentleman’s Carry’ Piece

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New Hampshire-based Sig Sauer on Thursday announced a new installment in its P210 series 9mm pistols, meant specifically for carry purposes.

As Sig fans can tell you, the P210 was the historic pistol that launched the company’s modern handgun line. Designed as the Swiss Army’s Pistole 49 just after WWII, the 210 has been a hot commodity in Europe for generations and has more recently been embraced on this side of the pond — though supply was far less than demand.

Danish contract Sig P210 Semi-Automatic Pistol (M49),9mm, 21-groove European walnut stock, crown HTK’ markings to the left side frame rail. Vintage military and border guard surplus specimens often command upwards of $3,000 on the commercial market.

The new P210 Carry, however, goes a different direction from the Target and Standard models, combining the lineage of its iconic Swiss predecessor with the “ideal characteristics and necessities the modern consumer expects in a carry pistol,” says Sig, who teased the gun as far back as the 2019 SHOT Show.

The new P210 Carry is, for sure, a “gentleman’s carry gun.”

More in my column at Guns.com.

Fans of classic P210s may have something to cheer about

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The Sig P210, derived from Charles Petter’s Modèle 1935A pistol in 1937 and improved on a number of points, is perhaps the nicest single-stack military-issue combat handgun to come out of the 20th Century (unless you are a well-tuned 1911 purist). The Swiss military and police adopted them for generations as did the West German GSG-9 anti-terror teams and Monaco’s ancient Company of Carabiniers. The gun has a downright cult following and surplus Swiss-made 210s go for big money (like $2K) while Sig Sauer-USA in New Hampshire has begun low rate commerical production (at $1,700) to fill the niche.

However, it looks like there could be a big cache of vintage 1950s-era P210s coming on the surplus market as Denmark, who bought some 20,000 of these sweet 9mms, had recently signed a $3 million contract for new Sig XCarry P320s.

Denmark chose the Sig P320 X-Carry to replace the Sig P210 pistols they have used for more than the past half-century. The latter of which in turn replaced the M1910/21 Bergmann and Lahti M40 handguns in 1949 (Photo: Danish Ministry of Defense)

Tentatively announced in Denmark a few months ago and confirmed by Sig this week, the X-Carry will replace all of the handguns in the Danish military and serve with the country’s Army, Navy, Air Force, and Special Operations Command.

The gun was tested in a month-long competition against the Glock 17 Gen 5, Beretta APX, and Canik TP 9 SF to replace the classic but obsolete Forsvarets M/49 “Neuhausen” pistol, the Danish designation for the Sig P210 adopted after World War II.

Danish Sig P210 Semi-Automatic Pistol (M49), 9mm, complete with classic 21-groove European walnut grips, and crown “HTK” markings to left side frame rail,

The Neuhausen has been a staple of the Danish military since 1949 and, while a number were sold surplus in the 1990s by Sig, the replacement by Sig– who is making more P210s as we speak– could be a good sign for collectors (Danish Ministry of Defense)

The P320 was the unanimous choice after evaluators ran the handgun through grueling field tests followed by accuracy, drop and safety tests. When compared against the legacy Sig, the X-Carry has more than double the magazine capacity (17 or 21 vs. 8) and the capability to use suppressors, tactical lights, lasers and red dot sights. In Danish service, the X-Carry will mount XRAY 3 night-sights, use an enhanced grip with deep trigger guard undercut, flat trigger and extended removable mag well.

More on all this in my column at Guns.com