History of SIG - Schweizerische Industrie Gesellschaft - SIG-Sauer

Schweizerische Industrie Gesellschaft (Swiss Industry Society), better known by the acronym SIG, was founded in 1853 by Heinrich Moser, a watchmaker, Conrad Neher-Stokar, an officer of the Swiss Army, and Friedrich Peyer im Hof, a political figure. Originally, SIG built rail cars and equipment. In 1860, SIG began producing firearms at the request of the Swiss government. Most accounts, like this one, skip the early history of the company to the early modern era, with the production of the SIG-Chylewski, a small .25 ACP pocket pistol, introduced in 1919.

During the first half of the 20th Century, the Swiss sought a successor to the expensive Swiss Lugers issued to its military. SIG licensed the existing Petter 1935 A, designed by a French Swiss engineer by the name of Charles Petter and produced by the French manufacturer Societe d'Applications Generales (SACM). SIG developed its own version of the Petter pistol, originally in 7.65 mm, but later upgraded the design to utilize the more potent 9 mm Parabellum cartridge. Later work yielded the 44/16, a pistol with a 16 round capacity, and the 44/8, with a capacity of eight rounds and improved ergonomics.

The famous SIG P 210 was a direct descendant of the 44/8, and was adopted by the Swiss Army as the 47/8. Early military contracts for the m/49 also came from the nations of Denmark and Sweden, as well as the Bundesgrenzschutz (Federal Border Police) of the former Federal Republic of Germany, which adopted the pistol as the P 210-4. Several variants of the P 210 have been produced over the years, some featuring different chamberings, microadjustable target sights, target triggers or heavy frame designs. With the expense of producing what was essentially a handcrafted pistol, SIG encountered difficulty securing military and police contracts. Work on the next generation of pistols commenced in the late 1960s.

In 1971, SIG acquired the H�mmerli firm, along with its line of sporting arms. In 1974, SIG also added the German firm JP Sauer & Sohn, best known for sporting arms and a line of mostly striker-fired semiautomatic pistols. Foremost among Sauer's pistols was the Sauer 38H, the first large production semiautomatic pistol to implement a decocking lever. The acquisition of Sauer brought increased manufacturing capacity, but also allowed SIG to circumvent Swiss neutrality laws that made distributing pistols on the international market difficult. SIG began production and marketing of a new pistol in 1975, the SIG-Sauer P 220, adopted by the Swiss military as the P 75. The P 220 first saw service in the United States with the Huntington Beach Police Department (Orange County, California), and spearheaded further adoption of other SIG-Sauer pistols by various Federal, State and local agencies.

Information Courtesy of Schweizerische Industrie Gesellschaft (SIG) and SIG Arms.