The new P290 serving wall duty at the SIG SAUER SHOT Show booth sure looks like a SIG. But it doesn’t feel like one. For fans of the brand, the P290’s slimness is startling. As is the sheer diddiness of the 20.5 ounce gun (three ounces heavier than the new Ruger LC9). As for the mouse gun’s nine-pound double-action-only trigger pull (video after the jump), let’s just say that the P290 tethered to the wall is a prototype. I hope. With Ruger’s LCP and now maybe LC9 tearing-up the charts, you can understand why SIG’s chasing sales within the increasingly crowded RSG (Really Small Gun) genre. But SIG’s got a big or should I say small problem: the P238.
Holding the little nine after caressing SIG’s Mustang-clone .380 is like jumping into a Chevy Malibu after stunting and flossing in an AMG Mercedes. Still, if SIG can bring reliability to the RSG market at anything like a reasonable price point, the feel of the thing may not be the P290’s most important attribute. Which is just as well.
When the SIG sample shows up next month, we’ll know what’s what. Watch this space.