Type Semi-automatic pistol In service 2007–present | Place of origin USA Used by See Users | |
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Designer Adrian Thomele, Thomas Metzger, Michael Mayerl, Ethan Lessard Manufacturer SIG Sauer, Inc., Exeter, NH, United States | ||
The SIG Sauer P250 is a semi-automatic pistol made by SIG Sauer of Exeter, New Hampshire. The SIG P250 can be chambered in .22 Long Rifle .380 ACP, 9×19mm Parabellum, .357 SIG, .40 S&W, and .45 ACP. The P250 chambered in 9×19mm Parabellum was introduced to the North American market on November 7, 2007 followed by the .45 ACP compact model in February 2008 at the SHOT Show. The last of the models were introduced in late 2009.
Contents
- Design details
- Modular Design
- Interchangeable Grip Sizes
- Changeable Calibers
- Safety
- Trigger system
- Barrel
- Ammunition feeding
- Sights
- Accessories
- Variants
- Product evolution changes
- Cancelled order
- Users
- Cancelled orders
- References
In early 2014, the SIG P320 was introduced. This striker version of the P250 continues the modular format and shares several of the same components as its hammer-fired sibling including magazines and grip frames.
As of January 25, 2017 the only available caliber for the P250 on both the SIG Sauer website and their online catalog is the P250-22 Nitron Compact .22 Long Rifle. Exchange kits can convert the P250 from .22 Long Rifle to 9mm, .357 SIG, .40 S&W and .45 ACP.
Design details
The P250 pistol is a short recoil operated, locked breech pistol. It uses the SIG Sauer locking system in which an enlargement of the chamber locks into the ejection port on the slide.
Modular Design
A key feature of the pistol is its modular design. The main module of the P250 is an internal stainless steel frame fire control unit which consists of the integrated fire control group (trigger, hammer and all necessary linkage and springs), ambidextrous slide release (one on each side of the pistol), ejector and four slide rails. This steel receiver unit is used in every P250 grip module, top end, and chambering combination and is inserted into the grip frame module and held in place by the axis pin of the disassembly lever. The firearm's serial number is on the fire control unit instead of the grip module. The fire control unit allows the operator to interchange differently-sized slide assembly or top end modules and polymer grip frame modules and trigger shoes and (limited) chambering conversions to adapt the gun to the individual user and address different needs.
The P250 was designed to be ambidextrous in handling, sporting an ambidextrous slide catch lever and user reversible magazine catch. All other operating controls are designed so they can be operated from either side. The firearm can be field stripped with no tools.
The full-size and compact grip modules feature an integral Picatinny rail mounting-bracket at the lower forward edge of the module to allow the mounting of laser sights, tactical lights, and other accessories. Before the introduction of the Picatinny rail SIG Sauer used a different rail integration system on the P250 Compact.
Interchangeable Grip Sizes
The P250 pistol is offered in three glass-reinforced polymer grip module sizes (with small, medium, and large grip widths) in the full-sized and compact variants, and in two grip module sizes—small and medium—in the subcompact variant. The pistol slide assembly also comes in full-sized, compact, and subcompact variants that will fit the correspondingly-sized grip modules. Every chambering can be converted by the user with a caliber exchange kit. The .380 ACP, 9×19mm Parabellum, .40 S&W, and .357 SIG chamberings share their polymer grip frame modules, thus offering the possibility to interchange these three chamberings by swapping the slide assembly and the box magazine. Due to the significantly larger external dimensions of the .45 ACP cartridge compared to the other P250 chambering options, the .45 ACP chambering uses slightly wider .45 ACP specific polymer grip modules with an enlarged magazine well.
Changeable Calibers
The manufacturer offers caliber exchange kits (X-Change kits) consisting of a slide, recoil assembly, barrel, box magazine and grip module in the varying frame sizes, grip module sizes and chambering variants in which the P250 pistol is offered. These kits enable a user to switch between the various P250 configurations without the use of tools.
Safety
The P250 has no manual safeties. Instead, an automated firing pin safety ensures safe carrying of the weapon whilst preventing accidental discharge if the gun is dropped or roughly handled.
Trigger system
The trigger is a self-decocking DAO trigger system with spurless and recessed hammer. The trigger system has a pull weight of about 45 N (4.6 kgf, 5.5 lbf) {dead link} and will not reset until completely released.
The P250 trigger is available in standard or short configurations meaning two user interchangeable trigger shoe variants are offered. The short reduced reach trigger shoe configuration can be reached and operated better by users with relatively short fingers.
Barrel
The P250 is available with a 91 mm (3.6 in), 98 mm (3.9 in), or 120 mm (4.7 in) barrels depending on the size (sub compact, compact, or full-sized, respectively). Additionally, a threaded barrel for the addition of a sound suppressor is available but only for the 9×19mm Parabellum compact variant.
Ammunition feeding
The pistol feeds from metal detachable box magazines with a six- to seventeen-round magazine capacity, depending on chambering and pistol size. The butt plates at the bottom of the magazines are made of polymer. The magazines of the early (Generation 1) P250 pistols do not fit in later produced (Generation 2) pistols unless the Generation 1 baseplate is replaced with a Generation 2 baseplate. Larger magazines can be used in smaller sized grips. A removable grip sleeve can be used to fill in the gap between the grip module and magazine baseplate; thus the compact grip module can accommodate the full sized magazine and the subcompact grip module can accommodate the compact's magazine. {dead link}
Sights
The P250 comes with three-dot combat-type iron sights of which the front sight element can be drifted to the left or right in its dovetail to adjust for windage. There are three rear sight heights and six front sight heights available to adjust for elevation. Self-luminous tritium powered Siglite Night Sights in differing heights are optional.
Accessories
The factory accessories consist of spare magazines, caliber exchange kits, a short reduced reach trigger shoe, handgun holsters, a polymer double magazine carrier, and the STL-900L Tactical Light/Laser unit.
Variants
The handguns are available with a dark colored Nitron slide surface finish, two tone finish, where the stainless steel slide has an untreated surface, and a diamond-plated finish.
Product evolution changes
The grip module on the P250 Compact was changed in 2009. This change makes that the original and new style grip modules use different magazines. These old magazines are not compatible with new grip modules; the accessory rail was changed as well from a curved rail to a Picatinny rail.
The factory holsters of the original grip modules do not fit newer grip modules featuring Picatinny rails though the modular nature of the firearm allows the original grip modules to be easily swapped out with the new version inexpensively.
In 2012, SIG Sauer introduced a medium width version of the subcompact grip module with the Picatinny rail. The small width versions of the subcompact does not have this. Also introduced were exchange kits for a .380ACP and a .45ACP caliber subcompact version.
Cancelled order
For Dutch police service the Dutch government intended to order about 45,000 PPNL pistols (a P250 DCc variant) in 2011 to replace the Walther P5 used by the police and Glock 17 in use as a stopgap measure by the Arrestatieteam (the SWAT team of the Dutch police). In March 2011 the Dutch government informed the Dutch parliament that Heckler & Koch and Walther had sought a preliminary injunction against the intended order for PPNL pistols. The Volkskrant newspaper wrote: "the choice of the SIG-Sauer earlier this year evoked surprise with representatives of both the arms industry and police unions. During police tests there was a strong preference for a pistol made by Heckler & Koch." According to the court verdict on 28 March 2011 there were no manipulations involved during the public tender process and the order was finalized.
On 8 November 2011 the Dutch Minister of Security and Justice formally declared SIG Sauer in default and immediately dissolved the order following the fourth negative production sample test of PPNL pistols firing Dutch police issue RUAG Action 4 NP ammunition by an independent German testing institute (Beschussamt Ulm). Minister Ivo Opstelten found that SIG Sauer could not deliver the requisite quality in a mass production setting and had some harsh comments on SIG Sauer: "On the basis of the results of these tests I no longer find it responsible to continue with this pistol. There is no longer enough confidence in the quality of the pistol, nor in the capacity of the manufacturer to improve the quality or safeguard it. All this brings a risk to the safety of police officers on the street." The Minister delegated a (legal) review to examine the possibility of coming to an agreement with one of the other suppliers that has had their pistol operationally tested in the procurement procedure.