SIG Sauer Pro series

The SIG Pro is a series of semi-automatic pistols developed and manufactured jointly by Schweizerische Industrie Gesellschaft (SIG) and J. P. Sauer & Sohn. It was the first polymer-frame handgun from either company and one of the first pistols to feature a built-in universal accessory rail and interchangeable grips.^[1]

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 European arms makers: SIG (now Swiss Arms AG) of Neuhausen, Switzerland, and Sauer & Sohn of Germany. 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&W–caliber service pistol and introduced in June 1998 with the SP 2340 model, followed shortly by a version in .357 SIG (which retained the same model designation). About one year later, a 9×19mm Parabellum variant, the SP 2009, was introduced and entered production in response to demand for the type.^[1]

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 polymer, 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 P220 or P226, as there is no separate disassembly lever on the frame and the slide stop 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

An officer of the Royal Malaysia Police firing the SIG Sauer Pro 2022 with casing ejected out to the right side.

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 and .357 SIG.
• SP 2009: 9×19mm 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, Customs, Penitentiary administration 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 9×19mm, .40 S&W and .357 SIG. The pistol is fitted with an integral Picatinny rail instead of the proprietary rail of the other models and the front trigger guard is shaped differently so as to allow a finger hold. It can also be equipped with a threaded barrel and detachable suppressor and the fixed open sights are dovetailed into the slide.
• SPC 2022: A more compact version of the SP 2022 that is only available in 9×19mm. 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.^[2]

Users

A SP 2022 issued to the French National Police. The words "PROPRIETE DE L'ETAT" ("Property of the State") are apparent on the front of the slide, on the right side (bottom).

•  Ecuador: El Servicio Nacional de Aduana del Ecuador compro el modelo sp 2022 para su personal.
•  Colombia: Colombian National Police, several thousand SP2009 and 120,890 SP2022^[3]
•  France: French law enforcement and internal security agencies (including the National Gendarmerie, National Police and French Customs), over 250,000 of SP 2022 (the largest single order for service handguns since World War II)^[4]
•  Malaysia: Royal Malaysia Police (some 2000 batches)^[5]
•  Portugal: SP 2022, Republican National Guard and Public Security Police^[5][6]
•   Switzerland: SPC 2009, Swiss Military Police (as the Pistole 03).^[5][7] and some state police departments
•  United States: U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command, 5,000 SP2022 pistols chambered in 9mm^[8]
•  Iraq: US Purchased SP 2022's Were issued by MNSTC-I to the Iraqi Army in 2005 ^[8]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to SIG Pro.

• J. P. Sauer & Sohn—official site
• SIG Pro SP 2340/SP 2009/SPC 2009 instruction manual
• SIG-Sauer Pro SP 2022 instruction manual
• SIG Sauer.com
• Ken Lunde's SIG Pro FAQ
• Modern Firearms