Sig Sauer P250: A Review –
Sig makes some amazing firearms. However, how does the P250 measure up?
SIG Sauer autopistols are not always a popular option among shooters (this one at the front of the line) from an aesthetic standpoint.
They’re good-looking guns but are not always as much fun to shoot as other handguns. In my arsenal, I have more fun with my Glocks, Beretta 92F/M9, Heckler & Koch (HK) P7, CZ-75, or Colt M1911.
But as I’ve also said in those SIG reviews, from an objective standpoint, they are accurate and reliable weapons from a highly reputable manufacturer that’s been in business since 1853.
Alas, the innate imperfections of human nature and manmade objects being what they are, even the best gunmakers produce a lemon now and then. Say a tepid hello to the SIG P250 9mm.
Sig Sauer P250: History & Specifications
The SIG P250 9mm debuted in November 2007. In a manner of speaking, this particular model was virgin territory for the manufacturer; as Mark Simmons wrote in a May 2022 article for Gun Advice, “Namely, this is one of the first modular gun designs the world got to see. With this gun, you can change the grip you are using, the length of the slide and even the caliber of the weapon itself.” Those additional caliber options include .22 LR, .380 ACP, 9x21mm IMI, .357 SIG, .40 S&W, and .45 ACP.
The Sig Sauer P250 was a double-action-only (DAO) autopistol, but with a lighter and less grating pull weight and feel than, say, the Double Action Kellerman (DAK) trigger on the SIG P229 .40 caliber that was my duty pistol during my two years spent as an ICE Special Agent (that DAK trigger pulls like a truck through the mud IMHO, and I shot Expert in spite of it, not because of it). It also had a polymer frame, which wasn’t the first of its kind in the SIG product line, but still a bit of a departure from their primarily all-metal pistols.
The 9mm version of the gun came with a 17-round standard capacity magazine. Barrel length was 4.7 inches, overall length was 8.1 inches, width was 1.3 inches, and height was 5.5 inches. Weight with an empty magazine in-place was 28.9 ounces.
Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!
I certainly couldn’t complain about the price I paid for my personally owned SIG P250 … as I got it for free! More specifically, I won it during a raffle as a participant in the handgun matches – modeled along Police Pistol Combat (PPC) competition – at the August 2008 Nevada Police & Fire Games, which were held at the Las Vegas Metro PD (LVMPD) outdoor firing range. A pretty triumphant weekend overall, as that gun raffle win coincided with the multiple Gold and Silver medals I won in the shooting matches themselves thanks to my ever-trusty Glock 17, Glock 21 SF, and Ruger GP-100.
While I didn’t hit the jackpot at the Vegas casinos that weekend, I dang sure hit the gun range jackpot in more ways than one; “Viva Las Vegas” indeed!
Shooting Performance, i.e. “Houston, We Have a Problem”
Okay, so winning a free gun was nice and all, but how did the damn thing shoot, y’all may be asking?
For the first 750 rounds, it shot just fine, thank you very much. A
s I already indicated, the DAO trigger of the P250 was considerably more user-friendly than the P229 DAK, which was a boon to practical accuracy. Head shots at 7 yards and center-of-mass torso shots at 25 yards were a breeze. The grip ergonomics felt good too.
My shooting buddies of various levels of experience who tried the pistol out pretty much shared my sentiment.
Alas, in less than a year, I arrived at the 750-round mark, and that’s when trouble in paradise started brewing. The gun still fired accurately, but suddenly it began failing to extract or eject properly. One of the staffers at LAX Firing Range examine the pistol and made the determination that the pistol’s extractor had broken!
Thankfully, the gun was still within the manufacturer’s warranty coverage period, and to their credit, SIG fixed it within a short space of time.
All the same, I felt a tad bit leery and skittish every time I took my P250 to the range afterward. First of all, though any manmade product can fail, I simply wouldn’t have expected something from a company of SIG’s reputation to break so soon. Second of all, it wasn’t as though I was using any fancy-crazy reloads or higher-pressure +P loads or “proof loads” in the gun, but simply standard-pressure, standard-velocity factory ammo.
I eventually sold mine at a gun show shortly before I left for my first Iraq contract gig back in mid-2011.
Evidently I wasn’t the only schmoe who had issues with the P250, judging by the other reviews out there with titles such as “Sig P250 Review: A DAO Misstep” and “What Happened to the Sig Sauer P250?”
Want Your Own?
Well, if you’re looking for a brand new Sig Sauer P250, you’re S.O.L, as SIG doesn’t even list the P250 in its online catalog anymore, as it ceased production in 2017 and has since been replaced by the striker-fired SIG P320 AKA M17/M18.
Used ones are currently selling on the Guns.Com website at a price range of $349.99 to $795.99 and on the Gunbroker.Com website at a Current Bid request range of $255.00 to $750.00. Buyer Beware.
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Christian D. Orr has 33 years of shooting experience, starting at the tender age of 14. His marksmanship accomplishments include: the Air Force Small Arms Ribbon w/one device (for M16A2 rifle and M9 pistol); Pistol Expert Ratings from U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP), Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) Criminal Investigator Training Program (CITP); multiple medals and trophies via the Glock Sport Shooting Foundation (GSSF) and the Nevada Police & Fires Games (NPAF). Chris has been an NRA Certified Basic Pistol Instructor since 2011.
