SIG P6

Petrol & Powder

Well-Known Member
I have long held interest in the police pistols selected in West Germany in the second half of the 1970's. I've read every scrap of information I could find on the topic, some based on solid information and some rather questionable. The three pistols that were ultimately selected by the (then West) German government were the Walther P5, the SIG P6 and the H&K P7.

It's interesting to me that at the conclusion of the trials by the West German government, they didn't pick a winner but rather created a list of approved pistols. All three of the approved guns (P5, P6 & P7) were excellent pistols that met the requirements.

Each West German state (Land) was allowed to select the type of pistol they wanted to equip their police with. Of the three models, the SIG was the least expensive. That lower cost was probably a factor in the P6 being selected by the largest number of states (seven in total) plus a few German federal agencies. In addition, the P6 (or P225) was adopted by governments beyond West Germany, including the Canadian Navy.

The Swiss had adopted the P75 in 1975. The P6 was essentially a compact version of the P75 service pistol with a 1911 style magazine release. If you envision the P75 as a full sized service pistol like the Government model 1911, then the P6 is akin to the "Commander" sized variant of the P75.

The P6 is roughly the same size as its high capacity brother the P228 or a contemporary Glock G19 but it lacks the 15 round capacity of those models.
The commercial version of the P6 was the SIG P225, The P6/P225 were nearly identical but there were small differences.

The P6 was a well made but economical pistol. It confirmed that low cost doesn't have to equal "cheap". It was first adopted more than 40 years ago and the P6 still impresses me.

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CZ93X62

Official forum enigma
During the last year I worked, one of Marie's relatives via marriage came for a visit to our area. "Dirk" was a detective on the German Federal Police in Hamburg, assigned to the Russian Organized Crime section. Cool guy, he was 6'5" tall and spoke superb English. He spent a full day at my office, and was jazzed to see that most of our troops carried "SIG-und-Sauer" pistols, mostly P-220s and P-226s in 45 ACP and 40 S&W. At that time (2004), Glocks were making inroads into the SIG-Sauer predominance, but it wasn't the groundswell that came later on. His issued sidearm was the P6, though sidearms in his venue were kinda secondary tools. The main persuader was an H&K MP-5, and there were Benelli 12 gauges and H&K G-3s as long guns for special occasions. Dirk was most surprised that so few of our deputies carried American-made sidearms, and that 9mm was almost non-existent.
 

Petrol & Powder

Well-Known Member
Years ago Hamburg was described to me by locals as the Baltimore of Germany. That may be a little unfair to Hamburg today but it was certainly not your typical neat and orderly German city in the past.
" ...His issued sidearm was the P6, though sidearms in his venue were kinda secondary tools. The main persuader was an H&K MP-5, and there were Benelli 12 gauges and H&K G-3s as long guns for special occasions...." - That is an accurate statement for most European police. A handgun is seen as a weapon of last resort. A submachine gun or rifle is far more likely to be deployed when dealing with difficult situations.
In the 1980's, terrorism was their focus and in the 1990's organized crime became the focus. And now they're back to addressing terrorism again. The type of threat changed but the severity didn't.
The P6 was on its way out of service in the early 2000's but I'm sure the specialized units would have retained it as long as possible. It was trusted, proven and familiar.
 
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CZ93X62

Official forum enigma
One of Dirk's biggest thrills while at my station was to ride in one of our Crown Vic patrol cars. The classic American black & white police cars--esp. the Crown Vics--have cult status in European police hobby discussions. He took about a dozen photos of the cars and himself inside one, then I took him on a chow run to get REAL tacos from a street vendor (a Tuesday tradition for the clerical staff). Between the ride in the Holstein and the excellent carne asada tacos, Dirk's smile stayed in place all day.
 

FrankCVA42

Active Member
We had a dealer we used for all our reloading supplies back when the Sig P6 were first on the market. Think it was $300 plus tax and a choice of any of the West German holsters that he had. So three of us all bought one each. Years later still one of me favorite 9mm pistols. Aim was selling the Sig P6 mags at about $19 each and the price dropped slightly as to how many you bought. Over the years added AKAH single mag pouches, couple different AKAH holsters. Best deal I ever made. Frank
 

Petrol & Powder

Well-Known Member
When the Virginia State Police swapped their SIG P228 pistols for the 229 in 357 SIG, a bunch of the old surplused 228's came on the used market. I purchased one of those 228 pistols and it was a fine gun. Despite the fact that it was essentially the same size as the P6 [225] and held almost twice as many rounds, I still favored the P6.
I sold the P228 but I will never sell my P6.