page_title: SIG Sauer System
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: SIG Sauer System / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Parabellum 00 pistol. These Swiss military service pistols were introduced in 1900 and chambered in 7.65×21mm Parabellum. The engraving of the Swiss cross "in splendor" (rather than as a coat of arms) indicates that this pistol was built before 1909.[1]
context_page_description: The SIG Sauer System is a type of action found in self-loading handguns. It is a refinement of designs based on the work of both John M. Browning and Charles Petter which began with the Browning Model 1910, progressed to the French Model 1935A, and later the SIG P210 handgun. This action first appeared in the United States on the Browning BDA .45 ACP caliber handgun around 1975. It represents a design which optimizes the cost of production of handguns while instilling high levels of accuracy and dependability. It is the basis for several SIG Sauer, Inc. designs which have been widely adopted for police, military, and civilian use and is the action used in the M17 and M18 sidearms of the United States Armed Forces. It has become a highly copied design found in many parts of the world today.
context_section_description: When introduced in 1975, the new SIG Sauer P220 handgun used a new type of action called the SIG Sauer System. It was a development of the French Model 1935A's action which SIG had licensed in 1947. The SIG Sauer handgun first appeared around 1975 after the Swiss company Schweizerische Industrie Gesellschaft (Swiss Industrial Company, or SIG) developed a new type of industrial production machinery known then as an automatic screw machine. This was an automated type of milling machine which could perform several machining operations without a great deal of human input. Today that machine is referred to as a Swiss type of CNC (computer numerical control) machine. This type of machine allowed for a greatly reduced cost of manufacture of whatever part it is used to produce. This is of particular concern in the production of firearms.
  As an example, the Luger pistol which appeared around 1908 had over 650 machine operations and 450 hand fitting operations needed to  complete its construction.  The cost of this in time and labor was very high. As a result, the Luger (made by Deutsche Waffen & Munitions, or DWM) was one of the most expensive handguns available anywhere in the world. The Luger was replaced by Carl Walther's P38 as a sidearm. The Walther design had several innovations, the most important of which was that it was easier and cheaper to manufacture.
  In 1947, SIG had licensed from the French SACM a design for a handgun which had been developed in 1936 for a French Army contract.  This was designated as the P210 by SIG. It was renowned worldwide as an extremely accurate handgun. But like the Luger, it was very expensive to produce. With the development of the new machinery, SIG was able to produce a simplified version of the P210 handgun which became the P220 (designated P6 in police use).
caption: Parabellum-Pistole 08 (Luger Handgun)
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