September 27, 2017, 09:44 PM
bac1023Finally got the holy grail of Sig P210 pistols....
I tried to resist the temptation to acquire one of these unicorns, but when the opportunity presented itself, it was hard to let it pass by. I never see them for sale. Without one of these pistols, I don't think I could have ever said I own the finest handguns in the world, so I had no choice. I’ve discussed the Sig P210 many times over the years on various forums, but here’s another basic breakdown of its history. I'm far from a Swiss Arms historian, so please forgive me if I misspeak in any way. The Sig P210 was originally a military pistol. It was introduced in 1947 after being in development for a number of years (delayed by WWII). It was adopted by the Swiss army in 1949, finally replacing the Luger. While it doesn't quite have the service pedigree of, say, the Browning Hi Power, the P210 has a storied past and has been used by a number of countries for various functions over the years. From a quality and accuracy standpoint, the Sig always had the Browning beat by a landslide. The accuracy of the Sig is legendary and the Swiss army routinely used them out to 100 yards. These pistols were basically entirely hand built in Switzerland, starting from slides and frames that are machined from solid carbon steel forgings. All these fine materials and precision craftsmanship made the P210 a very expensive gun to build, which helped lead to its replacement by the P220 in the mid 1970’s.
Once replaced in its service life, the P210 lived on in a sporting role, with the target variants like the P210-6 and P210-5 becoming more popular. Production ended in 2004 or 2005, primarily due to manufacturing costs. In 2010, Sig Sauer reintroduced the P210, as the German P210 Legend. The German models were high quality and great shooting pistols. Some may even argue that the newer German models were even a bit more refined. However, I’ll always prefer the old Swiss examples for their incredible old world build quality and durability. More specifically, the forged frame models from the 1960’s and 1970’s were the best. Once the serial numbers changed to the 300xxx series, the frames were generally CNC and part of that old world touch was forever gone.
As for the pistol itself, the Sig P210 is basically peerless. To me, the forged Sig P210 target variants rank as the very finest handguns ever produced. In my carefully thought out opinion, no other automatic pistol ever constructed during any time period has combined the build quality, durability, accuracy, and service pedigree to the degree of this Sig. There are pistols that can match or maybe even exceed it in a one category or another, but when combined, nothing else comes close, as far as I’m concerned. In fact, the only handgun that can come close to matching it in all these criteria is a revolver, the Manurhin MR 73.
The reason I’m holding this particular example in such high regard is that its an extremely rare forged model built on the heavy National Match frame. It’s not to be confused with later Sig, SAN, or Sig Sauer CNC heavy framed P210’s. Those are much more common and much more pedestrian. According to my sources, well under 300 of the forged heavy frame models were ever produced and they almost never trade hands. When they do, prices are stratospheric. All of them were –5 or –6 target shooting P210 variants, this one being the P210-6.
This particular example was produced in 1975. It was one of 50 built by Sig for Hofmann & Reinhart of Zürich in March of that year, all of which were fitted with military sights. Half of them were chambered in 30 Luger and the other half in 9mm. This is the latter. As one can imagine, build quality is way off the charts. It is clear to me that Sig put their full manufacturing and craftsmanship prowess into these. As mentioned above, the forged Sig P210 target variants from the mid 1960’s until the late 1970’s are the finest handguns ever built, as far as I’m concerned. Furthermore, this very small run of forged heavy frame examples is the best of the best. What I’m saying is that they’re the finest pistols ever produced, in my opinion. Its the greatest of all time. Nothing I own matches it. The closest is probably my standard frame P210-6 from 1967. However, I think the National Match frame really puts this one over the top.
Condition is impeccable. Its 42 years old and looks new, other than some minor storage marks. I don’t know if this pistol has ever been fired outside the factory. It doesn’t appear to have been. The checkered walnut grips are immaculate. The gun is tight as a drum. It’s a perfect example of just how fine the Swiss can build a handgun and the P210 is the only handgun Sig ever produced. It was the pride and joy of the company.
Please enjoy the pics and share your thoughts...
Thanks for reading.
Here it is with my other current P210's from 1954, 1967, and 2002.
