Author Topic: Browning BDA: The OG Sig Sauer P220  (Read 730 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Online Elderberry

  • TBR Contributor
  • *****
  • Posts: 24,279
Browning BDA: The OG Sig Sauer P220
« on: February 03, 2021, 12:13:22 pm »
Guns.com by Chris Eger 02/02/2021

The year 1977 was pivotal to Americana, as Atari was released, Elvis died, and Browning first imported a neat new double-action pistol from Europe.

Old World Roots

 The Swiss gunmaker SIG, in a move to comply with Geneva's tough gun export laws, partnered with J.P. Sauer & Sohn of Eckernförde, West Germany, to produce guns without having to cut through layers of Swiss red tape. Thus was born Sig-Sauer in 1976. The new organization's first gun would be the P220.

A modernized answer to SIG’s 1940s-era P210 to replace the latter in the service of the Swiss Army, the P220 was introduced in 1975 and was immediately met with open arms by military users around the world. Switzerland adopted the new 9mm handgun as their Pistole 75 — where it continues to serve today both in the Alps and with the Swiss Guard of the Vatican. Overseas military customers included the Japanese Army, which produced them under license by Minebea Mitsumi, as well as a host of smaller countries.

By 1977, Browning, which had long imported pistols and rifles from Belgium, France, and Portugal, as well as shotguns from Japan under their iconic banner, became the first to bring the Sig Sauer P220 to American shores. Dubbed the Browning Double Action, or BDA, the new gun would be imported in not only its standard 9mm caliber but also more New World flavors, namely .38 Super Auto and .45 ACP.

The BDA joined Browning's more legacy designs such as the FN-made Hi-Power single-action 9mm and Challenger series rimfires in 1977.

The BDA had both Browning and Sig-Sauer markings, and was imported for just three years.

Brought in at first just in a 9+1 shot 9mm, it was later joined by a model in .38 Super and .45 ACP.

A hit and a miss
 

When the BDA first hit the market in the U.S., gun writers liked how it shot, but hated the European-style heel-mounted magazine release. George Nonte, writing in the Nov. 1977 American Handgunner, went so far as to call the heel release "abominable." He also grumbled on its price tag, saying, "I have no doubt that a great many people will gladly pay $400 plus for this gun, but I'm equally certain that a good many of them will mutter under their breath and grit their teeth as they do so," showing folks have always had heartburn over the cost of Sigs.

Nonetheless, the BDA proved popular, with competition shooter Seth Nadel running a .45 model in the 1980 Bianchi Cup Match. Nadel said afterward that, "It may not be as esthetically pleasing in looks as a 1911, but when you shoot it you will feel the difference." 

More: https://www.guns.com/news/2021/02/02/browning-bda-the-og-sig-sauer-p220