SIG Sauer wants to move some metal in the next few months, and they’re resorting to used car salesman tactics to do it. But in a good way. No, really! After the manner of Lexus dealers handing out little Scion econoboxes with the purchase of a loaded Lexus luxury SUV, SIG will toss an extra 1911-22 in the box if you purchase one of the .45 ACP 1911s shown above . . .
Full-power SIG 1911s generally run between $900 and $1500. And not all of them will qualify for a free .22 practice gun, just those on this list:
1911 Ultra TT (1911U-45-TSS)
1911 Compact C3 (1911CO-45-T-C3)
1911 Carry Nightmare (1911FCA-45-NMR)
1911 Tacops (1911R-45-TACOPS)
1911 Spartan (1911-45-SPARTAN)
1911 Stainless (1911R-45-SSS-CA)
Given the current scarcity of .22 long rifle ammo, this otherwise-brilliant promotion might not get the traction SIG is hoping for. My local retailers are trying to squeeze eight bucks out of me for a 50-round box of bulk-grade .22s (maximum 2 per customer), but this is only marginally below my component cost for handloading cast-lead .45 ACPs myself. Material costs being about equal, I’d probably rather spend the extra time at the reloading bench and practice with .45 ACP.
Paying panic prices for practice plinking ammo pisses me off. Try saying that ten times, fast.
A twofer gun deal like this SIG promotion is certainly full of win, but it touches on a deeper misery we’re all facing right now. It’s a sad day when .22 ammo is so scarce and expensive that gunmakers are almost literally giving away the guns that shoot it.