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Thread: If a person wanted to try a P250 in 2021...

  1. #1
    Site Supporter HeavyDuty's Avatar
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    If a person wanted to try a P250 in 2021...

    ... what would this theoretical person look for? My understanding is that there were a lot of inline product improvements, and that by the end they were actually pretty decent guns.
    Ken

    BBI: ...”you better not forget the safe word because shit's about to get weird”...
    revchuck38: ...”mo' ammo is mo' betta' unless you're swimming or on fire.”

  2. #2
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    Quote Originally Posted by HeavyDuty View Post
    ... what would this theoretical person look for? My understanding is that there were a lot of inline product improvements, and that by the end they were actually pretty decent guns.
    Do some google image searches on P250 gen 1 vs gen 2

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  4. #4
    Site Supporter dogcaller's Avatar
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    I can't speak to the differences between iterations. I do know they don't get much love here. I have one that has provided "boring Sig reliability" to paraphrase an old Jan Libourel line from G&A.

    I was very anti DAO back in the 90s when it became a thing. I purchased my 250 to use as a trainer, primarily. It has the best DA stroke one could hope for. Smooooth and relatively light, if long. I sometimes use it with new shooters.

    When I took my 16-year old son to his first real (4-day) pistol class, I required him to use the P250, so he would learn the fundamentals. I had purchased a G17 for him as a gift, but I wouldn't let him have it until he could do 10 headshots, on-demand, at 10 yds with the 250.

    He did well in the class, and, after returning we went to our local range and he was successful in his headshots. I then let him run the same drills with my G34. The look on his face was priceless. Jaw dropped, looking both amused and betrayed he looked at me and exclaimed--"You're a cheater!. This is a cheater gun! LOL! He wasn't wrong.

  5. #5
    Site Supporter HeavyDuty's Avatar
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    Good info - I didn’t realize the cosmetic changes were so clear cut, I figured they would be all internal. That was a pretty radical cosmetic redesign...

    Was the FCU improved? Given the mix and match nature of the series, could an older (possibly problematic?) FCU be put into a new grip frame?

    I’m not sure what was mechanically changed, but have heard numerous times that early ones had reliability issues.
    Ken

    BBI: ...”you better not forget the safe word because shit's about to get weird”...
    revchuck38: ...”mo' ammo is mo' betta' unless you're swimming or on fire.”

  6. #6
    Site Supporter HeavyDuty's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by dogcaller View Post
    I can't speak to the differences between iterations. I do know they don't get much love here. I have one that has provided "boring Sig reliability" to paraphrase an old Jan Libourel line from G&A.

    I was very anti DAO back in the 90s when it became a thing. I purchased my 250 to use as a trainer, primarily. It has the best DA stroke one could hope for. Smooooth and relatively light, if long. I sometimes use it with new shooters.

    When I took my 16-year old son to his first real (4-day) pistol class, I required him to use the P250, so he would learn the fundamentals. I had purchased a G17 for him as a gift, but I wouldn't let him have it until he could do 10 headshots, on-demand, at 10 yds with the 250.

    He did well in the class, and, after returning we went to our local range and he was successful in his headshots. I then let him run the same drills with my G34. The look on his face was priceless. Jaw dropped, looking both amused and betrayed he looked at me and exclaimed--"You're a cheater!. This is a cheater gun! LOL! He wasn't wrong.
    This is my use case, if I go this way - as a trainer for a few new shooters.
    Ken

    BBI: ...”you better not forget the safe word because shit's about to get weird”...
    revchuck38: ...”mo' ammo is mo' betta' unless you're swimming or on fire.”

  7. #7
    Site Supporter OlongJohnson's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by HeavyDuty View Post
    Was the FCU improved? Given the mix and match nature of the series, could an older (possibly problematic?) FCU be put into a new grip frame?
    My understanding is the grip modules and magazines both changed and cannot be mixed and matched with the new versions, but I don't know if anything changed in the FCU and slide. If nothing, it should be possible to upgrade old guns by swapping grips and mags, but I've never seen discussion about doing that. Would be a cheap way to go, if it worked. Like you, all the discussion I've seen is based on how to recognize the difference by the cosmetics of the grip module, but info it pretty thin beyond that.

    I'm kinda wishing I'd picked up a pair of 9mm compacts when everything was cheap a year ago.
    .
    -----------------------------------------
    Not another dime.

  8. #8
    I had a 1st generation full size. This was unfortunately at the time when the P250 was getting roundly trashed by pretty much anyone who did hard trials with the gun. Mine was a poster child for why you don't buy a P250. I sold it with full disclosure and went G19.
    After a nerve injury made me want to go back to a long DA style trigger pull, I started seeing some solid SMEs here and elsewhere saying that Sig had fixed the issues and made it a pretty good gun, but it was too late to save the line in the eyes of LE and Mil. I snagged both a compact and a subcompact. I am buy no means a pistolero are a high round count user, but I've had no problems of any kind with either of mine. None of the odd problems I had with the first one. I learned on revolvers (Ruger Service Six) so the trigger was nothing new. I find it very smooth.
    The downside now is aftermarket options for rear sights, or red dot mounts, are pretty tough to come by. The slide is milled for the hammer travel, so things that work with the P320 usually don't work for the P250.

  9. #9
    Site Supporter EricM's Avatar
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    I would steer well clear of Gen 1 P250s as a whole. I had a Gen 1 9mm Compact that the previous owner had sent back to Sig due to extraction issues if I recall correctly. I knew there was a risk but the price was good and he said it ran fine since getting it back...of course, I ended up having problems. I liked the trigger and the modularity though and found a good deal on full-size and subcompact Gen 2 exchange kits (slide and frame). To my surprise though my Gen 1 FCU did not work...I dug up an old email I sent to the seller: "Found something interesting, apparently Sig changed the takedown lever on the P250 since the early old-style P250c I own. The old-style lever doesn't fit flush on the right side of the newer grip frames, and the offset prevents the guide rod from fitting into place. I ordered a new-style takedown lever and look forward to getting things to the range once that arrives." Should've taken the seller up on his offer to return them, as it turned out the shop was unable to fulfill my order for the takedown lever, and none were available from Sig at the time either. That was 10 years ago, I have no idea what availability might be like now or if it uses the same part as the P320. But in any case based on my experience I wouldn't try to mix generations.

  10. #10
    Site Supporter HeavyDuty's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by EricM View Post
    I would steer well clear of Gen 1 P250s as a whole. I had a Gen 1 9mm Compact that the previous owner had sent back to Sig due to extraction issues if I recall correctly. I knew there was a risk but the price was good and he said it ran fine since getting it back...of course, I ended up having problems. I liked the trigger and the modularity though and found a good deal on full-size and subcompact Gen 2 exchange kits (slide and frame). To my surprise though my Gen 1 FCU did not work...I dug up an old email I sent to the seller: "Found something interesting, apparently Sig changed the takedown lever on the P250 since the early old-style P250c I own. The old-style lever doesn't fit flush on the right side of the newer grip frames, and the offset prevents the guide rod from fitting into place. I ordered a new-style takedown lever and look forward to getting things to the range once that arrives." Should've taken the seller up on his offer to return them, as it turned out the shop was unable to fulfill my order for the takedown lever, and none were available from Sig at the time either. That was 10 years ago, I have no idea what availability might be like now or if it uses the same part as the P320. But in any case based on my experience I wouldn't try to mix generations.
    Good info, thanks! Based on your experience it sounds unlikely that I’d run across any Frankenstein guns, then - if it has Gen 2 cosmetics it’s probably an original Gen 2. I’ll keep an eye out for a compact 9.
    Ken

    BBI: ...”you better not forget the safe word because shit's about to get weird”...
    revchuck38: ...”mo' ammo is mo' betta' unless you're swimming or on fire.”

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