SIGforum
Sig / Browning BDA in 38 Super... found one NIB, need info

This topic can be found at:
https://sigforum.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/430601935/m/6800031144

April 29, 2018, 07:57 PM
Colt601
Sig / Browning BDA in 38 Super... found one NIB, need info
A couple weeks ago I was at a gunshow in Fairbanks and ended up walking out with a Browning Sig P220 chambered in 38 Super. The gun is NIB and has two magazines. I don't collect Sigs but it was what I thought a decent price so I went for it.

I've heard these are pretty rare but have been unable to find the value and whether or not they are collectible.

I'd appreciate any help and hopefully you guys enjoy seeing the pistol!






April 29, 2018, 08:05 PM
12131
Don't know about value, but that thing is SWEET! Welcome to SF.


Q






April 29, 2018, 08:18 PM
David Lee
Best I can recall there were only 752 of them in Super imported. I hope I get to try out some kind of .38 Super in my life time. I had 2 BDAs in .45 Auto and,1 in 9mm which never got fired by me. Being a EU style magazine release they aren't as rare as a P220 in .38 Super with the American style release. Still a fine auto pistol.
April 29, 2018, 08:41 PM
arfmel
That's a dandy, for sure. Congratulations!
April 29, 2018, 09:04 PM
hrcjon
Interesting David Lee. I never consider anything I find in my local store to have the potential to be rare, but I've found and bought two of these in great shape (but not NIB) there. Where would import numbers be found?
j


“So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong, and strike at what is weak.”
April 29, 2018, 10:56 PM
sleepla8er
.

Nice find, congratulations!!!

Pics of my .45cal BDA are in the link of my signature line below...

There are only four 38 Super BDAs on the Forum's list of Sigs:
http://SigForum.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/430601935/m/7320040262

As for price, that only matters when you're ready to sell it and having the patience to let the buyer willing to pay your price find you.

I've been offered $1,200 for my BDA because it looks NIB even through my box is as beat up as the box in your picture.

A note about the magazines. Since it's an European magazine release in the heal of the grip, the magazines do not have cut-out for the American magazine release button.
.
April 29, 2018, 11:24 PM
YooperSigs
Nah... No real value. I volunteer to take it off your hands!
Welcome aboard.


End of Earth: 2 Miles
Upper Peninsula: 4 Miles
April 29, 2018, 11:48 PM
FenderBender
Hopefully Para comes along if I recall he's a real fount of knowledge on these.
April 30, 2018, 12:00 AM
colt_saa
Congratulations on a Great find

I have found the BDA/P220 chambered for 38 Super to be exceptionally accurate.

This thread had me pull mine out so I can go shoot it this week. Smile

I has been several years since I shot mine


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April 30, 2018, 06:08 AM
blindref
Congrats on a hard to find gun. Those BDA / Sigs came in three calibers 9mm, 45acp, and 38 super. The ones chambered for 9mm and 45acp are much more common than ones chambered for 38 super. It took me quite a while to find mine so I could complete the trio.








Bye for a while, guard the fort. - My Dad


April 30, 2018, 06:29 AM
David Lee
quote:
Originally posted by hrcjon:
Interesting David Lee. I never consider anything I find in my local store to have the potential to be rare, but I've found and bought two of these in great shape (but not NIB) there. Where would import numbers be found?
j
Good question. The 752 is accurately what I recall from this Forum. I've held and posted that several times over the years.
April 30, 2018, 06:32 AM
David Lee
quote:
Originally posted by FenderBender:
Hopefully Para comes along if I recall he's a real fount of knowledge on these.
Yes and he has the finest example of a 7.65 model P220. If there was ever a rare P220, its got to be that one. Back to the beautiful BDA pistols.
April 30, 2018, 07:22 AM
Redhookbklyn
Beautiful pistol.



“There is love in me the likes of which you’ve never seen. There is rage in me the likes of which should never escape."
—Mary Shelley, Frankenstein

April 30, 2018, 12:50 PM
lyman
quote:
Originally posted by David Lee:
quote:
Originally posted by hrcjon:
Interesting David Lee. I never consider anything I find in my local store to have the potential to be rare, but I've found and bought two of these in great shape (but not NIB) there. Where would import numbers be found?
j
Good question. The 752 is accurately what I recall from this Forum. I've held and posted that several times over the years.



that is the number listed in Blue Book of Gun Values,


they list 100% at $1175



https://www.chesterfieldarmament.com/

April 30, 2018, 01:34 PM
parabellum
Pop Quiz- and this will surprise some people:

The oft-quoted production numbers of the BDA- approximately 10,000 in .45 ACP, approximately 2700 in 9x19mm, approximately 800 in .38 Super- from which publication did these figures come, and when? The surprising part is the 'when'.
April 30, 2018, 05:32 PM
.38supersig
quote:
Originally posted by Colt601:
...a Browning Sig P220 chambered in 38 Super. The gun is NIB and has two magazines...


Nice! NIB with two mags, manual, box, and cardboard sleeve.

quote:
I've heard these are pretty rare but have been unable to find the value and whether or not they are collectible.


Yes. These are indeed rare. They are very desirable. The reason you can't find a firm price on this one is because there are very few in this condition.

quote:
I'd appreciate any help...


The BDA was what Sig branded these as before they sold the P220 in the US. Browning had the task of getting all of them through Customs back then. I have personally had the joy of getting firearms imported through Customs myself, 'tis no picnic.

quote:
...and hopefully you guys enjoy seeing the pistol!


Hell yeah, I have many West German P220s in all the calibers in which they were available. I would be proud tho have this in my collection and just about anyone here would too.

Welcome to the forum from Georgia.




April 30, 2018, 05:38 PM
12131
Is it just me, or does the slide flat looks partially polished?


Q






April 30, 2018, 05:39 PM
parabellum
quote:
Originally posted by .38supersig:
The BDA was what Sig branded these as before they sold the P220 in the US. Browning had the task of getting all of them through Customs back then.
This is not entirely true. Hawes was importing the P220 in .45 ACP, 9x19mm and .38 Super and the P230 as well, and doing so at the very same time as Browning was importing the BDA.

BTW, here's my BDA in .38 Super. Take a look. You may find something odd. All serial numbers match- frame, slide, and barrel.


April 30, 2018, 05:46 PM
hjs157
quote:
Originally posted by 12131:
Is it just me, or does the slide flat looks partially polished?


Yes - BDA slide flats were high polished. As for rarity, with only ~800 units supposedly produced, Super 38 BDA's surface with surprising regularity. In fact, one will likely encounter BDA's in all three calibers much more frequently than their Hawes counterparts. The OP's NIB Super .38 example is superb.
April 30, 2018, 05:49 PM
hjs157
quote:
Originally posted by parabellum:
BTW, here's my BDA in .38 Super. Take a look. You may find something odd. All serial numbers match- frame, slide, and barrel.


Indeed. SIG Sauer serialization - not the more familiar Browning format.