Your Gun Company’s Top 5 changes

Pick a Gun Company.   Any existing Gun Company, big or small.  You are now the CEO, Chairman of the Board, and Majority Shareholder.  It’s your company.  You can do anything you want with it.    What are the TOP FIVE things you would do with your Gun Company?

I’d take SIG SAUER.
1.  First thing I’d do, right off the bat… End the relationship with iTAC Defense.  iTAC is SIG’s goiter.  It’s the unwanted, unloved tumor that people tend to get rid of as soon as possible.  You have well engineered and made firearms, and then you have this cheap plastic crap that devalues the weapon system that the iTAC item is bundled with.  It’s AOL installed on your new computer.  The holster is a terrible knock off of the SERPA… it actually makes the SERPA look good.  The Red Dots are okay on the outside, but the field of view is too small and the Dot is too big and the optical quality is much like trying to see through a Vegas Fremont Street dive bar… DANK.  Dark and murky.  Do not get me started on the SIG Lights.
If SIG is going to Bundle holsters and lights and Red Dots… SIG has got to realize it’s intended market position and select accessories that are in that same position.  SIG wants to be the Mercedes Benz of the Firearms World – Who’s the Mercedes of those accessories?  Red Dots?  Trijicon.  Lights? Surefire.    Make some deals with those guys and make it happen.

2.  Kill the P250.  The P250 is SIG’s SIGMA.  You might think it’s just fine or you may have thought the SIGMA is fine.  You are wrong, and all your taste is in your mouth.  You are a Philistine, and your opinion is invalid.  The new 320 may be an improvement on the P250, but that’s a low hurdle.  I’d kill the 320 as well.   Because a Modular Handgun is a good idea, being able to fit a handgun to the hand of the shooter is idea thats time has come.  But the P250 is a really bad execution of that idea.   Everyone else has done this the right way, simply and effectively with swappable panels.  This started with the Walther P99 and now most everyone has done this – HK has done it the best.  SIG goes and does something completely different, which is fine… but they did it completely wrong.    Changing grip frames to go up and down in sizes of the gun it’s self… We’ve see that before in the Dan Wesson revolvers.  Nice execution there… but not exactly a success in the market.   Why is that? Because no one really wants that.  Why have 1 gun that changes when you can have 2?  I’d rather sell someone two guns.  They would rather own two guns.  How do I know?  Because I’d rather have two guns.  Changing calibers is different.  That’s cool.  Look at the TC Contender and Encore pistols.  That works.  But if the Contender or Encore was all the same caliber and only let you change barrel lengths – I don’t think it would have been the success that we see today.  The other thing the Contenders and Encores have going for them are that they are well crafted.  The P250 may be well crafted – but it doesn’t feel that way to me.  It feels as solid as a 68 VW Beetle that every time you shut the door you leave a line of powdered rust under the door sills.    It feels tinny and hollow.  Exactly in the same way a Glock or XDM or M&P doesn’t.  SIG needs a serious polymer framed Stryker fired pistol.  Not a 250 with a conversion kit stuck in it.

3.  This.  And This.   What are you making guns in Turkey now?  Sarsilmaz your contractor now?  Come on.  What the hell is this?  This is SIG’s version of the DONK.   This has got to stop.  Along with it, all the different color variations that are separating the SIG Brand from the SIG core foundation.  I counted 26 different versions of the P226.  Twenty Six.  I’m sorry, but that is just pants on the head retarded.   That needs to be trimmed down.  You make 20 different pistol types and each one has a couple dozen versions.  And that’s not even counting the pistol versions of the rifles… If I did, that’s 26 again.  That just… It gives me that sharp stabbing pain right behind my eyes… that headache… SIG – you give me THAT headache.

4.  The P210 is literally more than twice the actual price it should be.  I’ll give you 1200 bucks MSRP on them.  No more.  I’d make the P210 pistol something that every enthusiast can obtain… and by doing that I’d burst open the flood gates and take the single stack 9mm market by storm.  And don’t tell me that it’s so bloody complicated to machine.  This is the age of 5 axis CNC milling when you are talking about a pistol made in the age of hand machining.  You can make it faster and cheaper without sacrificing quality.  By limiting the production you inflate to value.  Look at it this way – everyone competing with an X5 – should be competing with a P210.  Make that your flagship line.  Don’t call it a “Legend”  Others will call it that for you.

4.  Your State Compliant guns.  GONE.  Screw those states.  I’m not going to make a special gun that compromises my product to capitulate with Anti-Gun bullshit legislation.   I wouldn’t sell a single item in those states.   Not only that… I’d move out of New Hampshire and move to a state that is unquestioned in regards to the Second Amendment.  I’d move to Arizona.  The right to keep and bear arms in AZ is not up for debate.  That’s where a premier gun maker needs to be based.  Not in New England.  New England had the industrial roots at the turn of the century, which is why the great gun companies grew there – but that time has passed.   It’s time to go to where your supporters are.  The tax dollars you generate for a state that doesn’t support your industry – is folly.  Move.  Close every office, move ever person and asset, liquidate what’s left.  Restart anew.  That’s what needs to happen.

5.  Where’s my Shotgun?   Specifically, where is my semi-automatic, tactical shotgun?

46 thoughts on “Your Gun Company’s Top 5 changes”

  1. George
    You & I have had a lot of conversations about Sig over the last decade or so. You know I’m an unapologetic fanboy. But I cant help but agree with your frustration here even if i dont agree on the actual points.

    So many gun companies are guilty of branded bull shit. S&W has had shitty knives and garbage for years Winchester etc. But Sigs global competition, HK & Glock have not. Your idea to release branded models of gear from trijicon & surefire, take my money! Do you know how fast I’d buy a Sig/Surefire 500 lumen light? I have one of Sig’s last knives and its decent kit. But not for a company that once was & ought to be again one of the holy trinity of handguns. A Sig partnership with zero tolerance? In a hearbeat!

    I don’t love the 250 , but I don’t hate it. Rather I’d prefer Sig shifted to a CZ approach. Think of a polymer framed 220 or 226 that shared classic P series mags and slides? How about a 226 frame molded to match the Tacops Magwell grip? How about a polymer lower frame that matches the E2 body mods? Uses the same stock of mags I already have? And Holsters you say? I’ll take 2!

    I think the outrage over the paint jobs from the custom shop is misplaced. Yeah the crazy paintjobs look like Liberace’s handguns. But some people are into that. My biggest complaint is Cerakote is cheap and a custom shop should do more. Split the custom shop into Custom Shop & Master Shops. One handles finishes, sights & grips. The other gets master work. I’m talking custom master engraving. Body jobs that are frightening, terrifying, audacious, and bold. Maybe not practical but damnit, impress me or awe me.

    Agreed on the volume of models. Especially when the vast volume are nothing but different finishes. Here’s an idea, stop mucking about with models and release the core P series in classic Sig Nitron and sig grey or green. Put quality Siglite NS or Trijicons on them. Standardize the SRT trigger. Leave options for customers like E2 grips and let every other mood be an option through the custom orders through the custom shop.

    I think if the 210 was a cnc produced firearm they worry about killing the brand. Instead they should make a production 210 and a Master Shop 210. One is $1200. The other is the greatest single stack 9mm pistol of all time. Just don’t muck w the XFive & XSix. Those are grail guns for me.

    I’d love to see them split production a la Ruger. Open a facility on Arizona as they grow and leave the NH facility alone. Funny thing NH is an odd state. They are socially and fiscally liberal but love their guns.

    A tac shotgun would be awesome. But honestly I just want the 556xi to be released and be reliable.

    1. Uh, what? NH has just about the lowest per capita taxes in the country. Unless you meant “liberal” in the classic sense, that’s just totally incorrect.

        1. Yeah, but that has nothing to do with being “fiscally liberal,” which is the assertion that you made.

          NH is 46th in per-capita government spending. That’s hardly indicative of being “fiscally liberal.” And a huge chunk of that is on infrastructure (given the ravages of winter on our roads, divided over a small population) which, again, is not indicative of “fiscally liberal” behavior, in which spending would instead be on social programs and boondoggles.

  2. NH is the most pro-gun state in the country. That’s part of /why/ we have so many gun companies located in such a small state.

    AZ comes close in a few minor ways, but NH blows them out of the water in more-important ways. There’s no US state with better gun laws (few restrictions, combined with lots of protections) than NH. Probably no jurisdiction in the entire Western world.

    1. No New Hampshire is not a better gun state. A good state. Its not even the best in New England unless you’ve been.enacting new laws.

      1. What, precisely, are you talking about?

        NH does, indeed, have the least-restrictive gun laws in the entire US. And some of the strongest protections for gun owners. The only thing AZ or VT have are unlicensed concealed carry. Other than that, both have significant restrictions on firearms. VT prohibits such carry by those under 18. AZ for anyone under 21. NH recognizes no minimum age – so, young adults in AZ are oppressed in a way that does not exist in NH, and both parents and children are oppressed in AZ and VT. In NH, there is no minimum age on concealed carry, with the only restriction being that a minor may not possess a firearm without parental permission, so once I decide that it is time for my kids to be able to carry, I write them up a little slip giving them permission to do so. I’m going to skip VT from now on, unless you’re actually interested, since I assume you really actually care about AZ…

        AZ requires that you inform a police officer if you are carrying, and allow him to disarm you, if he’s performing an “investigation.” NH does not require that you inform anyone, and you may only be disarmed if you are taken into custody.

        AZ prohibits carry at any “public event” if someone has posted a “no guns” sign. Same for any bar or restaurant that serves alcohol, unless you have a concealed carry license. AZ prohibits carry at any polling place. AZ prohibits carry on school grounds, with a few small exceptions. NH prohibits carry in courtrooms. That’s it.

        AZ prohibits machineguns unless registered with the Feds. So, if Dear Leader manages to close down the NFA registry, then machinegun possession in AZ would suddenly become a violation of state law. NH does not care whether you possess a machinegun; as long as you aren’t hunting with it, NH doesn’t treat it any differently than any other firearm. As a result, NH has the highest per-capita number of machineguns of any US state. By a wide margin. Probably three or more times the rate in AZ, since we’re already about twice the second-place state.

        And, if you want to get a license in AZ, the process is extremely onerous. You have to be 21, take a training course, be photographed and fingerprinted like a common criminal, pay an exorbitant price ($60), and wait up to two and a half months.

        NH requires a license for only one thing: carrying a pistol both concealed and loaded. Eject the magazine and the chambered round, and you can conceal all you like (not that I recommend it, but it’s useful for visitors). It also only applies to “pistols and revolvers,” which are defined based upon barrel length – if you can conceal a long gun, then you are free to do so.

        Getting a license involves a $10 (not a typo) fee, no fingerprints, photographs, or training requirements. Just name and address on an application. They have 14 calendar days to issue the license, and if they do not, or if they deny without lawful cause, the individual officer responsible (not the department’s insurance policy) is personally liable for court costs and damages, so they adhere fairly strictly to the law. It’s shall-issue, and to a greater extent than in most other states, as NH truly believes in “innocent until proven guilty,” so even if you are under a felony indictment for a violent gun crime (for a real-world example), they cannot deny you a license – only a conviction would suffice.

        There is no requirement to inform officers that you are carrying, or even to have a license in your possession. License information is stored by the individual departments that issue licenses, so there’s no way for an officer to know that you are a licensee during a traffic stop. Even if he finds out that you are armed, and you do not have a license in your possession, and it’s after hours so he can’t call the issuing department, he cannot legally arrest you for carrying without a license – the burden of proof rests on him, as it should; he must have probable cause to believe you are unlicensed if he’s going to arrest you.

        The only reason that licenses still exist, here, is because they are so trivially easy to obtain that no one really cares enough to get rid of them. It’s harder to get a prepaid cell phone.

        And, of course, the protections for gun owners are substantial. NH has been a “castle doctrine” and “stand your ground” state for decades. The law specified that you only had to retreat if you could do so “in complete safety,” which the courts had interpreted as “never,” since any situation which you could justify using deadly force is not a situation in which “complete safety” exists. Even that text has been struck, not that it mattered.

        Police in both states are prohibited from destroying guns from a “buy back,” effectively making those pointless. AZ’s law is recent, and NH has had such protection for years. NH also prohibits destruction of any legal firearm, even those seized as evidence during a criminal investigation, and unlike AZ’s law does not require that firearms be sold only to Federally-licensed dealers, but rather requires that any firearm the police seize must be returned to its owner, if possible, or if not, sold at public auction. They are not even allowed to require a background check for a transfer, unless they have actual reason to believe that the buyer is a prohibited person.

      1. What is? NH has the least restrictions and most safeguards of any US state. Bar none. The only thing NH falls short on is requiring a license for certain types of concealed carry, but the license is so ridiculously-easy to obtain that it doesn’t count for much. And cops have to assume you have one, even if you don’t carry it with you, so if anyone wanted to carry without a license, they could probably get away with it (not that there’s any real reason – it’s laughably-easy to get).

  3. George, you are so correct. I felt embarrassed for Sig when I first saw the rainbow slide finish. And the new striker fired pistol may work but not with any style or class.
    The 320 is another embarrassment and is no competition for a Glock, S&W M&P pro or Steyr M-A1 series.
    It’s sad but I may never buy another Sig. I had 3 but already sold one of then. I still love my P226(old west German)


    So NH has sidestepped the NFA?


    1. NH doesn’t give a hoot. Maybe the Feds would try and enforce it. Maybe they wouldn’t. But they would have no assistance from local law enforcement, because there would be no NH law being broken.

      Contrast that with a state in which the law says that NFA items are illegal, unless registered. Eliminate the registry, and now everyone who owns one is breaking a state law, as well, so state and local cops would be enforcing the Federal decision.

      NH has 7.48 machineguns per 1000 residents, according to the NFA registry. AZ, on the other hand, has 2.58, which just gets it into the top 10. The bottom of the list contains the usual suspects, like NY, WA, RI, CA, NJ, MA, etc.

      Around one in ten NH FFL’s are also SOT’s. Despite being a relatively small state, there are something like 80-90 firearms manufactueres located here. Sig, Ruger, H&K, T/C, etc.

      Around 4.5 residents per thousand are directly or indirectly involved in the firearms manufacturing industry in NH. I don’t know if that statistic is readily-available for other states, but I very much doubt that many (if any) are higher. Guns are a huge part of the culture and economy, here, and it shows.

    1. Nah, lots of folks can’t handle the weather. Or want the government to do everything for them – I’m constantly annoyed when someone claims to have moved here for greater freedom, and then whines that the government does not provide trash pick-up, or some other “service” that is better provided-for by the private sector.

      But if guns are your concern, then NH is the absolute top of the list. It’s already the least-restrictive and most-protective of gun owners, and it’s only getting better, unlike most other states. Want to know how many bills were introduced here right after that mass murderer in Newtown killed those kids? None. Not a one. Compare that to the flurry of anti-gun bills in other states.

      Even when some out-of-state group shows up and finds a politician to submit some bill for them, they get shot down.

      My first-floor windows are currently 3/4-covered with snow. NH is not for everyone. But the claim that NH does not have good gun laws is patently false. NH not only has good gun laws, but actually has the best in the entire country. If that’s your one and only concern, NH is the best possible destination. If you have other concerns that are more important to you, then you’d have to weigh them all.

        1. But in which direction? Personally, I love snow, so even though I grew up on the coast (ocean effect means less snow), I moved up into the mountains.

          Cold doesn’t bother me – I dress the same in 40-degree weather as I do in 80-degree weather, and don’t even consider it “cold” until it’s cold enough to freeze my mustache (usually around ten below). I hate hot weather, so I’d never want to live someplace where the temperature hits triple digits more than a couple times a year.

          Others hate snow and can’t stand the cold, so they move away from it. It all comes down to how one weighs the various factors. Weather, taxes, RKBA, employment, etc. all play a part in directing our choices of where to live.

          1. I moved from the mountains of Utah to the southern east coast so you can guess how I feel about snow.

  5. Couldn’t agree more on your Sig comments. I depend on my 226 and it hasn’t ever let me down, but it seems like Sig has lost their way with the models you mentioned. I count on Sig to be one of the companies that make reliable combat handguns and the 250 and sp2022 don’t strike me as such.

  6. Those fancy sigs, who is going to shoot one of those? They could just make metal dummy guns, paint them and sell them.

  7. Colt
    1. Move to Texas
    2. Put the Python back in production.
    3. Put the 1911 a-1 mil spec of WW2 back in the lineup.
    4. Put the Python back in the lineup
    5. in case I forgot , Bring the Python back into production

  8. I asked a SIG rep about the silly stuff they’ve been offering lately. He pretty much told me “yeah, it’s dumb, but enough people with a lot of money and no taste buy it that it lets us put more money into R&D.”

    1. That’s the problem with the thought experiment. What I’d like to see a gun company do, and what would be profitable, are not always the same thing.

        1. Oh, the true enthusiasts would eat them up. Problem is that 90% of the market, at least, is made up of the sort of folks who /like/ the fact that their new computer came with AOL. Sad, but true.

  9. I am afraid that the current costs of production for a Python made to the same standards as those made in the 40s/50s/and 60s would put it in the same league as the Korth cost wise if not higher. Most likely a no go from the starting line. Sig sig sig, yawn. As Carmine Said “Don’t care” always felt top heavy and never found one that I liked. Let the flames begin!

    1. I don’t believe that… With the tight CNC tolerances you can machine… you can do it at a reasonable price. The Python was not all that special.

      1. “Python was not all that special” Respectfully good sir, BRAVO SIERRA! A quality of construction, smoothness of trigger,and finish that when one compared it to its contemperarys would be like comparing a Rolls Royce to a Yugo. 1st two revolvers I fired were a S@W 19 followed by a Colt Python. Night and day the difference between them. This is backed up by the prices used Pythons are selling for today.

          1. My late Fathers duty Python has over 25000 thru it since 62 and runs fine. Have never had that problem with any of mine

  10. Concerning the Python, I am afraid I would have to agree with George, the lockwork was indeed dated. A revolver George has claimed was rather a flop, the Dan Wesson would in fact beat in accuracy, was designed by Mr. Weaver, who redesigned the Colt Trooper, as well as designing Brownings BLR.

  11. The SP2022 has a very nice stock DA trigger pull. I would be more consistent with the type of extractor I used in them and add at least one more mag with each pistol.

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