View Full Version : Sig now shipping just 1 mag with commercial pistols
This was in my email inbox today:
OR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SIG SAUER® Commercial Pistols Now Shipping with Single Magazine
EXETER, NH – SIG SAUER, the leading manufacturer of military, law enforcement, government agency, and commercial firearms, has announced effective March 20, 2009, that all commercial pistols with a standard configuration of two magazines will now ship with a single magazine. This change in configuration is a result of the critical shortage of magazines throughout the industry. SIG SAUER’s decision to ship commercial pistols with one magazine will allow existing and new orders to be processed without interruption. Without this change in policy, magazine availability would severely hinder SIG SAUER’s ability to meet market demand and ship product in a timely manner. Distributor and dealer single magazine pistol shipments commence immediately. For more information on SIG SAUER, or any if its products, visit www.sigsauer.com.
About SIG SAUER, Inc.
SIG SAUER, Inc. is the largest member of a worldwide business group of firearms manufacturers that includes J.P. Sauer & Sohn and Blaser GmbH in Germany and Swiss Arms AG in Switzerland. This global network of companies gives SIG SAUER a world-class firearms knowledge base, unparalleled design expertise, and extensive manufacturing capacity, enabling the company to respond quickly and effectively to changing market conditions and the needs of its military, law enforcement, and commercial markets worldwide. SIG SAUER is an ISO 9001: 2000 certified company with over 300 employees. For more information on SIG SAUER or any of its products, or the SIG SAUER Academy, log on to www.sigsauer.com.
PR Contact:
Laura Burgess, LLC
603-436-1748
www.laura@lauraburgess.com
B.
S.
This has been in the works for a while. Simply put, it saves the company about $6 in production cost but more importantly leads to an increase in sales for the very high-margin magazines. It started with the Mosquito (which comes with 2 mags in Europe but only one in the U.S.).
If they just admitted it was a cost-saving measure ("to offset rising materiel and manufacturing costs") it would be one thing. But claiming some kind of worldwide magazine shortage is just poor customer relations.
I think I already know the answer to this question but I'll post it anyway.
Did they drop their pricing by $50 or at least offer a voucher for a magazine in the future?
EDITED: Obviously not.
Just when you think that SIG can't go any lower, they pull a stunt like this. Thank god my W. German P226 was put together by people with higher standards. I don't think I can compel myself to purchase a recent manufactured SIG.
Robb Jensen
03-19-09, 22:36
They must need a bailout. :p
losbronces
03-19-09, 22:59
B.
S.
This has been in the works for a while. Simply put, it saves the company about $6 in production cost but more importantly leads to an increase in sales for the very high-margin magazines. It started with the Mosquito (which comes with 2 mags in Europe but only one in the U.S.).
If they just admitted it was a cost-saving measure ("to offset rising materiel and manufacturing costs") it would be one thing. But claiming some kind of worldwide magazine shortage is just poor customer relations.
I agree with your statement. I haven't seen any shortage of Sig magazines, but there is a shortage of Glock magazines.
My primary carry weapon is a 14yr old P228 that's been a flawless performer for nearly 20k rounds. I also have W. German P226's and P220's that get quite a bit of range time. These are well-made and dead reliable pistols. My grandchildren will be shooting them long after I'm dead.
However, Sig has made a series of marketing & customer relations blunders over the past decade that guarantee I'll never buy a new Sig handgun or rifle. This "one magazine" decision is simply idiotic and can only cost them more money in the long run due to lost sales.
If I was in the market for a new pistol and didn't have a brand preference, why would I choose the Sig Sauer? Nearly every major player in the market has a lower MSRP and includes at least two mags.
Almost sounds like they want to follow Heckler & Koch's business model of ignoring the civilian market and counting on LE/MIL sales to keep themselves afloat.
However, Sig has made a series of marketing & customer relations blunders over the past decade that guarantee I'll never buy a new Sig handgun or rifle. This "one magazine" decision is simply idiotic and can only cost them more money in the long run due to lost sales.
If I was in the market for a new pistol and didn't have a brand preference, why would I choose the Sig Sauer? Nearly every major player in the market has a lower MSRP and includes at least two mags.
Include the S&W rebate, and you'll get FOUR magazines with the M&P at HALF the price of a gaudy, pimped out, platinum SIG!
What a crock.
Magazine shortage my left nut. I can buy Sig mags all day long at their ridiculous $40 price tag.
As if I even needed another reason not to do business with Sig. How much lower can they sink? Low QC, spotty customer service wasn't enough?
What's next? Shipping guns without sights? Oh, wait - don't they already do that with their rifle?
That's pretty shocking. Especially when you consider the price jump between them and a Glock or M&P.
I've been a loyal Sig guy for years. I've carried both a 226 and 228 as duty weapons. I'm sick of how the new management is running the company and its good name into the ground.
I'm LE so my pistol would still get three mags, but I still think this is crap!
I totally agree with Todd (and others) on this one-a "critical shortage of magazines throughout the industry?" Give me a break. The only way in my opinion that such a corporate stance could even vaguely make sense (and pass the "laugh test") woud be if they selectively applied it to the guns withwhich they have heavy contract committments, like the Sigpro 2022 or the P2229R DAK.
And once you have the dies/stamping machines/molds set up, just how difficult is it to produce a sheet steel box magazine, anyhow? Please-this position insults the intelligence of an intelligent shooter in the marketplace.
Another very unfortunate case of cost-cutting to temporarily increase the corporate bottom line-at the very possible long term result of alienating themselves from an established. loyal customer base.
Not a very smart move in my opinion.
Best, Jon
John_Wayne777
03-20-09, 11:35
So when I go to buy this
http://www.sigsauer.com/upFiles/catalog/product/X-5-Golder-Dragon-detail-L.jpg
It will only come with 1 magazine? Damn.
Tis a shame that Sig Sauer has chosen to go the route it has in the last 5 years since the Kimber guy became the big cheese. Prior to his arrival, I would not have hesitated to recommend classic Sigs to anyone looking for a reliable, durable, and accurate hard use duty pistol. Now days, I recommend they look one over very carefully before they buy it to ensure that it does not have any visible quality control problems.
As much as I like Sigs, if I was in charge of equipment adoption for my agency I would recommend that we go with another manufacturer.
So when I go to buy this
http://www.sigsauer.com/upFiles/catalog/product/X-5-Golder-Dragon-detail-L.jpg
It will only come with 1 magazine? Damn.
Holy frickin' crap...that is one of the ugliest pistols I have ever seen. I thought it was a photochop at first, had to go to Sig's website to confirm :eek:
SIGs are absurdly priced currently anyway, for what they want they should come w/ a bundle of mags.
A local dealer here claims that Glock is doing the same thing, only putting one mag in with every gun (I've never seen anything official from Glock though). When I bought my P229 in 1994, it only came with one mag and this same dealer said Glock was on the one-mag policy then too. I had a suspicion that the dealer was taking the mags out and reselling them, but couldn't prove it.
Either way, it sounds like these manufacturers (or dealers) are dredging up ban-era policies to maximize their profits in these crazy times.
RAM Engineer
03-20-09, 15:40
I just bought a new Austrian made Glock 19 yesterday and it had two mags in the box.
losbronces
03-20-09, 16:30
I totally agree with Todd (and others) on this one-a "critical shortage of magazines throughout the industry?" Give me a break. The only way in my opinion that such a corporate stance could even vaguely make sense (and pass the "laugh test") woud be if they selectively applied it to the guns withwhich they have heavy contract committments, like the Sigpro 2022 or the P2229R DAK.
And once you have the dies/stamping machines/molds set up, just how difficult is it to produce a sheet steel box magazine, anyhow? Please-this position insults the intelligence of an intelligent shooter in the marketplace.
Another very unfortunate case of cost-cutting to temporarily increase the corporate bottom line-at the very possible long term result of alienating themselves from an established. loyal customer base.
Not a very smart move in my opinion.
Best, Jon
I agree, but I can see the new CEO making his presentation to the BOD. He will show them how he has increased sales volumes and margins (not giving appropriate credit to BHO). I'm sure he will get a nice bonus, a salary increase and yet all the while he is leading Sig Sauer into future problems by creating the perception (at a minimum) of diminished quality and value in the product line. This will force Sig at some point to either lower prices or lose significant sales. At least, that is my opinion.
Another way in which Sigarms becomes more and more like Kimber.:mad:
I agree, but I can see the new CEO making his presentation to the BOD. He will show them how he has increased sales volumes and margins (not giving appropriate credit to BHO). I'm sure he will get a nice bonus, a salary increase and yet all the while he is leading Sig Sauer into future problems by creating the perception (at a minimum) of diminished quality and value in the product line. This will force Sig at some point to either lower prices or lose significant sales. At least, that is my opinion.
The assumption made above is that the owners are more concerned with long term health than short term profit. On the contrary, indications are that Cohen ("The Kimber Guy") is doing exactly what the owners want and achieving precisely the goals the owners laid out.
After all, look at how much money Kimber makes every year without worrying about things like QC, service, LE sales, etc. ...
RogerinTPA
03-20-09, 17:42
A local dealer here claims that Glock is doing the same thing, only putting one mag in with every gun (I've never seen anything official from Glock though). When I bought my P229 in 1994, it only came with one mag and this same dealer said Glock was on the one-mag policy then too. I had a suspicion that the dealer was taking the mags out and reselling them, but couldn't prove it.
Either way, it sounds like these manufacturers (or dealers) are dredging up ban-era policies to maximize their profits in these crazy times.
I agree totally. This is BS of the highest order. Just like the last AWB when gun dealers were taking the extra mag out of the box, then leading you to another area of the store where he had a ton of extra mags at an extremely marked up price. Soon, other manufacturers will follow suit with the same steaming heap of crap. They should be totally shunned and boycotted.
losbronces
03-20-09, 18:08
The assumption made above is that the owners are more concerned with long term health than short term profit. On the contrary, indications are that Cohen ("The Kimber Guy") is doing exactly what the owners want and achieving precisely the goals the owners laid out.
After all, look at how much money Kimber makes every year without worrying about things like QC, service, LE sales, etc. ...
I am stating my opinion that short-term decisions can lead to undesired consequences over the long-term. In this case, I think it will cost them, but time will tell.
Having been in a few BOD meetings, they always want the short term results and an improved long-term outlook. However, with bonuses, restricted stock and the like to be considered, decisions tend to favor the short-term results. And, yes, I know long-term we will all be dead.
I am stating my opinion that short-term decisions can lead to undesired consequences over the long-term. In this case, I think it will cost them, but time will tell.
I agree 100%. But let's consider a scenario:
A bunch of Germans buy a gun manufacturing conglomerate because they love big game hunting and the conglomerate owns one of the best hunting rifle companies in the industry.
The owners reorganize the conglomerate and the marketing plan to maximize exposure and sales for the hunting rifle company.
The hunting rifle company fails to grow by any significant amount because in the world's largest market (USA) the guns are seen as too different and too expensive.
While all this is happening, the pistol part of the conglomerate unexpectedly wins a huge (8-digit) contract.
The Germans shift focus to make the conglomerate appear as financially attractive as possible over a few years.
Once the conglomerate looks like it's printing money in the back room, it gets sold at a tidy profit to another company or group of investors that doesn't really appreciate just how damaged the conglomerate's reputation has become.
As an aside, 1-5 have already happened.
This move is one step closer to the bubba category. Bubba pistols only come with one magazine.
bullitt5172
03-21-09, 14:45
Doesn't bother me, I don't like Sigs to start with. For the price of a couple Sig mags I can buy another Glock. This just goes along with the chinese optic clones, cheap light combos etc they have been starting to sell. :mad:
The cheap chinese red dot and light stuff they sell is an embarrassment.
If their CEO had his shit together, they wouldn't be selling these extra "trinkets" and all the handling and bullshit time they waste including them with a gun.
The cheap chinese red dot and light stuff they sell is an embarrassment.
It's akin to Colt or LMT peddling Leapers/UTG as a marketing ploy. Shows how out of touch the management is at SIG.
variablebinary
03-22-09, 03:52
Eh who cares. There are already a dozen reasons not to buy a SIG as is. This is just something else to add to the list.
SIG just isnt the same company anymore. They are a hair from being Taurus 2.0
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