SIG's revolutionary three part gun design. Opinions?

PlayboyPenguin · Jan 5, 2011

I would like to hear what other people think of SIG's new three part design (slide, frame, firing control being the three major components). I would like to keep the discussion centered on the design itself and not on opinions of the SIG P250 per se. If you own a SIG P250 feel free to discuss how you feel the design operates. if you do not own one please just discuss the merits of the design itself.

Gun owners as a whole do not always seem to receptive of new things. We tend to be a tiny bit opinionated when it comes to what makes a proper and good firearm. I must admit that I was a bit guilty of this when I first got my SIG P250c. The design is a bit different and the feel is a bit different. I was put off almost immediately and decided I did not like it before I even shot it or gave it any chance at all.

Then I started exploring the gun a bit more and really thinking about the new formula. I found myself really liking the three part design. I love how grips are now replaceable as well as slides and barrels. Crack a grip frame or scratch it badly? Just buy a new one. This truly is a modular gun. If you have one firing control mechanism you can buy all three different size configurations to go with it.

I also love the fact that the slide rides entirely on metal rails. I have always been wary of guns where the slide rides along polymer rails. I also am not all that crazy about metal implanted into polymer at certain contact point. I always worry about wear between the two different materials where they meet. I know it is probably not going to be an issue but I still think about it.

Then I shot it and I found I really loved it. The system seems to work flawlessly. Add to it the excellent DAO trigger SIG produces and I was won over completely.

In the end I am really impressed with the new three part modular design. I think it is a stroke of pure genius. I haven't really found a truly negative thing about it or how it works. It does create a slightly different feel when shooting but it is not a bad difference. It is just different. I really hope it catches on in the future.

What does everyone else think?

The Cheese · Jan 5, 2011

I like the concept of it. Its nice to be able to swap stuff around like that. My only criticism is that I wish they had da/sa and SAO options for it. DAO is nice and all, but it would be nice to have other options available. That said, I don't know how easy it would be to do that give the design and is potential limitations.

spengo · Jan 5, 2011

The Cheese said:
I like the concept of it. Its nice to be able to swap stuff around like that. My only criticism is that I wish they had da/sa and SAO options for it. DAO is nice and all, but it would be nice to have other options available. That said, I don't know how easy it would be to do that give the design and is potential limitations.

Well there *is* the often-overlooked sig sp2022.

I prefer DA/SA too. :s0155:

I've never heard of this "three part design" thing before. Most handguns you can replace the grips, slide, or barrel pretty easily. Many have different fire control configurations available too. The most obvious would be all the regular sigs (p229, p226, etc.) that are available with the standard trigger, the DAK fire control group, the short trigger, the short-reset trigger, and even the SAO fire control group like with the x-five series. It's kind of cool that you can pull the whole fire control group out as one thing though like in the p250. This does limit you some though, I don't know how the DA/SA thing could work without some crazy macgyvering if you wanted it to all come out as one unit.

rodell · Jan 5, 2011

I like the flexibility, particularly if you are in a very controlled state. (Some would be in trouble because the barrel length is listed on the registration, though). I don't know that I would agree that it is revolutionary. A lot of the polymer pistols have removable fire control groups, so, making them interchangeable is the the interests of the manufacturer and the next logical step.

It does require good manufacturing tolerances if the firearm is to function in any configuration. That's good all the way around.

atypicalparkie · Jan 5, 2011

PlayboyPenguin said:
(*edited by me*)
...I also love the fact that the slide rides entirely on metal rails. I have always been wary of guns where the slide rides along polymer rails. I also am not all that crazy about metal implanted into polymer at certain contact point. I always worry about wear between the two different materials where they meet. I know it is probably not going to be an issue but I still think about it...

That seems like a biggie to me, too. I wonder about the different rates of wear, especially since the sr9c I currently have (& shoot the heck out of) is my daily cc piece. No problems yet or evidence of problems-to-be, but it would be better to my mind to have all metal rails for the reasons you mention.