Sig Sauer P250 .45 ACP

[Adam123]

A semi-local gun shop has Sig Sauer P250s for $380.00. From what I can tell, this seems to be a great price. They have this model available in multiple sizes and calibers, but the one that I am concerned with is the full-sized .45 ACP. Can you guys offer any information regarding this pistol's dependability, accuracy, or Sig Sauer's customer service (hopefully never be needing it). One downfall that I can see is the price of mags. Anything else that you'd like to add would be great. Thanks in advance for your assistance.


Here is the pistol to which I am referring:

http://www.sigsauer.com/CatalogProductDetails/p250-full-size.aspx

 

[Strahley]

No comment on the full size, but I picked up a compact .45 not too long ago, so I can tell you about it...and why I chose it over the full size

Dependability - I've put a couple hundred rounds through mine so far, no issues. I'm not surprised, I expect a SIG Sauer pistol to run top-notch, and it has not let me down. I've put WWB, steel surplus, and some JHPs through it so far. I plan on running lots of steel surplus through it since it's fairly cheap to do so

Accuracy - amazing...IF you are good with the P250's DAO trigger. To me, it's near effortless to put up good groups with this gun...a good group (to me) means I send a target 10 yards away, and I put a single ragged hole through the middle of the target. I connect very well with how the trigger is. You might too. I suggest shooting one first if you can. This trigger is NOT for everyone...can't stress that enough. If you hate DAO you will hate the P250. If you like/love DAO, you will be very impressed with how smooth and comfortable this trigger is

Customer service - awesome. SIG has a great reputation.

Price of mags - yep, it's a SIG...mags are expensive. No way around it

Why I chose compact over full size - simply put, round count. Full size only gives you 1 more round in the magazine, and adds a bit of bulk in the process. I bought the compact .45 as a carry gun, so I wanted a good size/capacity ratio. Full size did not offer enough extra capacity to justify the extra bulk

 

[cwp3420]

Take a look at the GAO report on the Sig Sauer P250 that ATF tested in order to buy new weapons for their agents.

http://www.gao.gov/decisions/bidpro/4023393.htm

Sig actually argued that "reliability" should not be a factor in the ATF test. That stunned me. Since when should federal agents actually carry a pistol that is not reliable? FAMS (Federal Air Marshals) bought a lot of P250's for their air marshals. They were failing so fast that the marshals had to re-issue their old P229 pistols and recall all of the P250's. They are now sitting in a warehouse and FAMS allegedly is considering a lawsuit against Sig because of the poor quality of the P250. For a plinker it would probably be ok. I sure wouldn't trust my life to one though. Good luck with your decision!

 

[Strahley]

SIG also redesigned the 9mm/.40/.357 models to match the .45 models. The early production smaller caliber models had some issues. Seems the newer ones are just fine

 

[Adam123]

CWP, those results are quite significant in contrast to S&W/Glock and throw a bit of a wrench in the works. So, could the gun be cheap because it's crap and Sig Sauer/shops just want rid of them or has Sig Sauer made changes/improvements since this evaluation?

Strahley, I see that you may have answered my question to CWP. So, the .45s (do keep in mind that I am after the .45) did not have these issuse... just the others? If so, why is that?

 

[rellascout]

I am not a fan of the P250 trigger. It is very long with a bery long reset. If you do not mind it or even prefer a longer revolver like trigger it might work for you.

I think that the most damaging part of the GAO report is the number of gun induced failures which IIRC was 13 on the Sig.

They are priced at the sub $400 level because that is the price point where they can get them to sell. Take that for what it is worth.

 

[FullEffect1911]

There have been a large number of upgrades to the p250 since it came out. The most serious of which was a trigger bar fix because of light strikes.

If the pistol was manufactured in late '09 or later. The design bugs will most likely have been worked out of it. Make sure that you get the newest version of the grips module. Here is a link explaining the difference:

http://www.sigsauer.com/upFiles/CmsContent/documents/P250%20COMPACT%20GRIP%20CHANGE.pdf

As far as the low price; in my opinion, the pistol got a bad reputation early and they are trying to get more of them out there to break that reputation. It is a decent pistol, but I did sell mine as my follow up shots suffered due to the long and light DAO trigger. This was a deal breaker for me considering it is a defensive pistol. Mine was the p250 .45 fullsize.

 

[rellascout]

Another point to consider is that there is talk that Sig will not sell magazine parts to anyone. Guys like Top Gun, MidwayUSA & Brownells cannot order them. This includes mag springs. So there is no self service for even a mag spring or a broken follower.

 

[Strahley]

They are cheaper because they have to be, to be able to compete with other polymer guns. Why would somebody spend up to $600 on a new design with a longer DAO trigger, when for $100/$200 less you can buy a proven gun (Glock for example) with a shorter trigger? I mention the trigger because I know a lot of people will run away from it being DAO