founded schleswig holstein germany headquarters newington new hampshire united states area served worldwide products handguns rifles electro optics airguns suppressors ammunition shooting accessorires services gunsmithing training owner l ke & ortmeier gruppe number of employees 750 parent swiss arms website sigsauer.com contents 1 history 1.1 schweizerische waggon fabrik 1.2 schweizerische industrie gesellschaft sig 1.3 sauer & sohn 1.4 sig sauer inc. 2 us modular handgun system procurement xm17 3 products 3.1 handguns 3.2 submachine guns 3.3 rifles 3.4 machine guns 4 see also 5 references 6 external links history edit schweizerische waggon fabrik edit the origins of the sig sauer company lie in the company named schweizerische waggon fabrik or swiss wagon factory in english which was founded in 1853 by friedrich peyer im hof heinrich moser and johann conrad neher . 1 2 in 1860 a state of the art rifle of their creation won a competition by switzerland s federal ministry of defense resulting in the award of a contract to produce 30 000 prelaz burnand rifles . the pr laz burnand 1859 was invented by gunsmith jean louis joseph pr laz and an army officer edouard burnand and adopted as rifle m1863 15 566 made by sig . 3 schweizerische industrie gesellschaft sig edit upon receiving the contract to produce rifles the company name was changed to schweizerische industrie gesellschaft sig german for swiss industrial company in french regions of switzerland was known as soci t industrielle suisse . 1 reflecting the new emphasis on their production . 4 sig produced other firearms and pioneered the first automatic rifle the mondrag n rifle which was produced by sig between 1908 and 1910 . the sig p210 pistol was developed in 1937 based on the french model 1935 pistol the petter browning design was licensed . it was adopted by the swiss military in 1949 as the pistole 49 . the single action semi automatic p210 brought sig much acclaim due to the precision manufacturing processes employed in its manufacture and its resultant accuracy and reliability . the p210 frame design incorporates external rails that fit closely with the slide thus eliminating play in the mechanism during firing . the p210 was noted for its extreme accuracy . the petter browning patent which was a refinement of the browning hi power p35 which was john moses browning s last design which was created for but not adopted the french 1935 pistol . in the 1970s sig purchased both hammerli 5 6 and j.p. sauer and sohn which resulted in the formation of sig sauer . sig was purchased in the year 2000 by l & o holding . 7 it is now known as swiss arms 8 sauer & sohn edit in the 1970s sig developed a new and highly efficient type of production machinery referred to then as an automatic screw machine . this allowed sig to produce handguns at a major cost reduction with very high precision of parts fitting . sig began work on designing a handgun that would take advantage of the new production efficiency . where the p210 had been a very expensive premium quality firearm sig would now be able to produce a similar handgun at very low production cost . to this end the design of the p210 was simplified for efficient production on sigs equipment . a new design of firearm was created in response to the swiss military and police requirement for a handgun to replace the p210 . the new design was based on the petter browning design but was simplified . it should be properly called the sig sauer system which is in fact the labeling on one of the first sig sauer handguns . a modified sig sauer p220 design was produced for the browning arms company in 1977 . on the right side of the slide are the words sig sauer system . this was the first sig sauer p220 type sold in the usa . when the sales of the browning bda ceased in 1980 the p220 was sold in its own form . 9 swiss law limits the ability of swiss companies to export firearms . 10 swiss companies who wish to do this have to do so by using a foreign partner . in the case of sig they chose the german firm of j.p. sauer & sohn . in partnering with sauer sig also combined their expertise in firearms design . the sauer 38h had been produced in competition with other german makers such as mauser and walther at a time with new designs began to feature a double single action trigger . the double action trigger mechanism combined with the advanced safety features including the hammer lowering decocking lever were contributed by sauer to the new p220 design . 11 the sig sauer line of handguns began in 1975 with the sig sauer sig p220 . prior to world war ii sauer had been primarily a maker of shotguns and hunting rifles . during the war they produced a handgun the sauer 38h but afterwards had withdrawn from this market . with sig as their partner owner sauer returned to the business of manufacturing handguns . sig sauer inc. edit in january 1985 sigarms was established in tyson s corner virginia where the handgun models p220 and p230 were imported into the usa from sig sauer in germany . in 1987 the firm moved to a larger facility in herndon virginia and introduced models p225 p226 and p228 . in 1990 sigarms moved to exeter new hampshire where production facilities had been established and began producing the p229 in 1992 . in 2007 sigarms changed its name to sig sauer . the parent company sig sauer gmbh is a subsidiary of manufacturing firm l & h holding which also owns swiss arms ag which was formerly known as schweizerische industrie gesellschaft sig . since 2000 sig sauer inc has been organizationally separate from manufacturer sig sauer gmbh . citation needed 1 sigarms and its european sister companies sauer & sohn blaser usa mauser jagdwaffen gmbh and swiss arms were bought by michael l ke and thomas ortmeier in october 2000 . ron cohen sig sauer s president and chief executive officer joined the privately held firm in 2004 . born in 1963 and of israeli ancestry ron cohen studied at technion israel institute of technology and served in the israeli defense forces . cohen was a commander of a combat unit between 1979 and 1984 . 12 in 2004 according to cohen the company was near failure with just 130 employees . cohen decided to add ar 15 pattern rifles to the company s product mix which he credits with saving the company . by 2016 it had over 1 000 employees and was selling more than 43 000 firearms a year . 13 sig sauer is the largest of the five sisters companies and one of the largest firearms manufacturing entities in the world . 1 according to sig sauer one third of us police use sig firearms . 14 sig sauer operates a firearms training school in the u.s. led by german specialists the sig sauer academy in epping new hampshire . 15 us modular handgun system procurement xm17 edit the u.s. military has produced a requirement for a new handgun to replace the current m9 model beretta 92fs . in february 2016 bids were submitted by 12 companies to compete for this contract which was expected to result in purchases of more than 500 000 pieces . as of july 1 2016 sig sauer was reported to be one of three remaining competitors who were in consideration for this contract . 16 sig sauer submitted their p320 handgun which met the requirements for the handgun part of the contract . sig sauer also has the production ability to provide the ammunition which is to be provided under this purchase . products edit handguns edit browning bda a version of the p220 in 9mm 38super .45 acp is the first sig sauer handgun to be sold in the usa sig sauer p220 sig sauer p225 sig sauer p239 sig sauer p245 sig sauer p226 us federal air marshals british sas 17 sig sauer p226 mk25 adopted by navy seals us coast guard sig sauer p227 sig sauer p228 adopted by the us military as the m11 pistol sig sauer p229 sig sauer p224 sig sauer p230 sig sauer p232 sig sauer p238 sig sauer p938 sig sauer p250 sig sauer p290 sig sauer p320 submitted for the xm17 mhs contract sig sauer gsr sig sauer 1911 sig sauer mosquito sig sauer sig pro series includes sp 2009 sp 2022 and sp 2340 submachine guns edit sig sauer mpx rifles edit sig sauer ssg 2000 sig sauer ssg 3000 sauer & sohn sauer 90 discontinued in 2008 sauer 100 sauer 101 sauer 202 sauer 200 str scandinavian target rifle sauer 303 s 200 tr target rifle 6mm norma br as single shot and 6.5 55mm and .308 winchester with 5 round magazines chamberings swiss arms sig 510 stgw 57 sig m400 5.56 45mm nato with direct gas system sig sg 540 sig sg 542 sig 550 fass 90 stgw 90 sig 551 sig 552 sig 553 sow sig 516 5.56 45mm nato with ar 15 design gas piston 16 barrel sig 716 516 based rifle chambered for .308 winchester 7.62 51mm nato sig 522lr sig 556 sig mcx sig 751 sapr pe 90 based 308 7 62 sig shr 970 swiss hunting rifle . multiple calibers . barrel change capability . blaser hks k95 blaser r93 tactical 2 r8 lrs2 mauser jagdwaffen gmbh m 12 basic m 12 extreme m 03 basic m 03 extreme m 03 trail m 03 match jagdmatch m 03 solid m 03 africa m 03 arabesque m 03 de luxe m 03 old classic m 03 alpine m 98 m 98 magnum machine guns edit mg 710 general purpose machine gun based on the mg42 also known as the mg55 . see also edit companies portal references edit a b c d about us http www.guns review.com innovaeditor assets sigsauermcx 516 founders 5 . jpg % 7cphoto of founder http curioandrelicfirearmsforum.yuku.com topic 15072 prelazburnard rifle http www.sigsauer.com lawenforcement default.aspx % 7c sig sauer law enforcement http www.haemmerli.info en home.html http tonybrong.blogspot.com 2009 02 sig hammerli trailsidex esse.html http www.guns.com 2013 05 31 sig sauer parent company buys gsg supplier of sig 1911 22 handguns http www.swissarms.ch http forum.pafoa.org showthread.php t 36564 http www.globalsecurity.org military world europe ch industry.htm smith w.h.b. 1968 . book of pistols and rifles 7th ed . . stackpole . p. 287 . http managementtoday magazine.com index.php featured content 245 sig sauer inc this is how sig sauer cashed in on selling assault rifles . newsweek . 27 june 2016 . it was a company on the verge of bankruptcy and about two seconds away from imploding company ceo ron cohen recalled in a 2010 profile in management today . then cohen made a swift decision that would save the company and turn it into the no. 4 gun manufacturer in america he turned the company s sites onto ar style assault rifles that would be marketed to civilians ... . in 2004 the company had a mere 130 employees . ... a decade later it sold 43 141 guns in a single year and today has more than 1 000 employees in manufacturing facilities across the country . sig sauer military le customers http www.sigsaueracademy.com http bearingarms.com bob o 2015 07 01 top three contenders u s militarys xm17 modular handgun system contract http www.militaryfactory.com smallarms detail.asp smallarms id 386 external links edit official website sig pistols factory an inside look at how sig sauer pistols are made from sig s plant in germany on youtube sig716 for a r was rejected after tests . 1 photographs of peyer im hof moser and neher 2 prelaz burnand rifle further reading