When did Hawes import Sigs? Were they the first to do so? I know there is plenty of info here from the members. Thanks in advance.

1978 to 1980 or so.

I am short in memory about the Hawes markings. Are they nicely engraved or free hand electric pencil ? Anyone have photos ?

I believe Browning was first to import the P220 followed shortly by Hawes. However, I have seen at least one article that had Hawes first.

As for markings, from the photos I have seen on the internet, the markings are similar to the Browning markings (name of company, city and state of company, "Made in W Germany") except they are on the right side of the slide behind the "P220".

OK, thank you. Stamped nicely and it's how I recall.

Hawes was the first to import, but only briefly. My P220 in .38 Super is dated HH for 1977. No electro pencils on them either.
They have the early pinch nose. Box was plain blue and cheaply made, the label fell off before I got the gun.
I recall in some research there were only 15 imported in .38 Super.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: p08,

Forgot the date code.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: p08,

Very nice bottle nose Hawes

I find my P220 in 38 SUPER to be wonderfully accurate

Are you going to take it to the range? Or just kind of preserve it for the moment?

I had a HH date coded Browning in 9mm. I believe the quantity of .38 Supers imported by Browning was much higher. I've lost track but seems it was around 760. The Owner of Sig Forum has a absolute perfect P220 around the year '77 which chambers the 7.65 round. That one facinates me more than any of the old Sig Arms guns.

Interestingly, the Hawes P220's are not serialized on the slide. I've observed several with an additional import stamp on the chamber (Golden State Arms, Sacramento, CA), though I'm uncertain the significance of Hawes' affiliation with this firm.

quote:

Originally posted by colt_saa:
Very nice bottle nose Hawes

I find my P220 in 38 SUPER to be wonderfully accurate

Are you going to take it to the range? Or just kind of preserve it for the moment?

I used to shoot it years ago, but when I found out how uncommon it was I stopped shooting it. I am a collector of many guns that for historical conservancy I cannot shoot for fear of damaging them (Luger pistols). I think I have owned this gun since the early 90's!

quote:

Originally posted by p08:
I recall in some research there were only 15 imported in .38 Super.

That would mean that here in SIGforum over the last twenty years, we've seen pics of about 20 of those 15 Hawes-imported 38 Super pistols.

I don't know where you got that number, but it's wrong.

"Made in Western Germany." That's interesting.

I think he's referring to the "Western" part of that. Later SIGs, of course, were marked "Made in W. Germany" but I think that in the United States at least, the common name before reunification was "West Germany", not "Western"

OK, well, the above post was in response to a member, who apparently deleted their post. Makes me look like a boob, talking to no one. Thanks

Hawes also imported the J.P.Sauer and Sohn revolvers around the same time. I was able to find one in 44 Magnum for $100.

For what it is worth, the P220s stamped as 9mm Luger is substantially rarer than the P220s stamped as 9mm Para.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:

quote:

Originally posted by p08:
I recall in some research there were only 15 imported in .38 Super.

That would mean that here in SIGforum over the last twenty years, we've seen pics of about 20 of those 15 Hawes-imported 38 Super pistols.

I don't know where you got that number, but it's wrong.

I do not recall where I saw that, I looked things up years ago.I will take your word on how many there are. I do know that there aren't that many though.

I'll tell you where that likely came from- some jughead on Gunbroker advertising his ULTRA-RARE shooter. Whoever started that was just pulling humbers out of their ass in an effort to profit from it.

Yes, of course the number of Hawes imported P220s pales in comparison to Browning. Browning imported less than 1000 BDAs in .38 Super. I'd estimate that Hawes imported about a quarter of that number of P220s in that caliber.

If you really want a truly scarce Hawes-imported SIG-Sauer, find one of the P230s they imported.

That's interesting what you wrote about the P230s imported by Hawes, Para. The only 230 I've ever seen they imported is in a magazine I have called Pistolero (Summer 1980 issue). Phil Engeldrum praised it after testing one and lamented that it was no longer being brought into the country. So, in what year would Hawes have started importing the P230? And since they stopped importing it by 1980, when would Interarms have begin with their importation of it (and the P220 and P225)? BTW, I still have that magazine if anyone is interested in reading it. Feel free to email me (see profile).

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:

Yes, of course the number of Hawes imported P220s pales in comparison to Browning. Browning imported less than 1000 BDAs in .38 Super. I'd estimate that Hawes imported about a quarter of that number of P220s in that caliber.

SIGSauer built about 6000 pistols of this first type. What makes the Hawes of the standard production so special compared to the Browning series, which is a type of its own? Is Hawes historically significant?