SIG Elite Performance Brings New Ammo Source to Market

by
posted on July 5, 2014
SIGammo.jpg

If nothing else, SIG Sauer’s Elite Performance ammunition will be a welcome new source for a commodity that’s been too hard to get for too long. I’m betting it goes further than that. If this new ammo line makes an nth of the market impact as SIG firearms, the result will be enthused shooters and a handsome return on investment. Leave it to the free-enterprise system to come to the rescue.

SIG is betting, too, that its gold-star reputation will attract a customer base that appreciates the elite accuracy and stopping power widely associated with its name. However, unlike firms that seek to leverage a successful brand by using it to cross-market related products, SIG isn’t just sticking its headstamp on cartridges loaded by some OEM supplier. Rather, the company went out and acquired a factory in Eubanks, Ky., where all the workers are now SIG employees. Clearly, this is a long-term commitment.

The initial offerings span today’s most popular personal-defense handgun loadings: .380 Auto/90 grs.; 9 mm Luger/124 grs.; .357 SIG/125 grs.; .40 S&W/165 grs.; and .45 Auto/200 grs. The cartridge brass is coated with “Techni-crom,” which SIG says increases lubricity to ensure fail-safe feeding and extraction. The key component is the proprietary V-Crown bullet, a hollow-point with a dual cavity design. Its cone-shaped nose depression extends to a long, thin channel into the core.  According to SIG, this design produces, “ ... controlled, uniform expansion at all effective distances and velocities.”

We’re going to rely on ace ammo-performance analyst Richard Mann to provide a full T&E on Elite Performance ammunition in an upcoming American Rifleman article, but I can report being duly impressed during my own initial range session. We fired the 9 mm load in a Hi-Point carbine and it held 2” groups from sandbags at 50 yards. That gun has chronic extraction problems, but not so with the Elite Performance, which fed and ejected flawlessly. The same was true with two boxes of .45 Auto rounds we put through a brand-new M1911, and the accuracy at 15 yards was equally satisfying.

Latest

NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits, Atlanta
NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits, Atlanta

The Rifleman Report: New Developments

Our official coverage of new products for the current year is set for next month, but we included two substantial new developments in this issue that have the potential to make significant ripples in the firearm business even before then.

Arkansas To Begin Mandatory Gun Safety Lessons In Schools

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed into law requiring public and open enrollment public charter schools to provide age-appropriate firearm safety instruction beginning during the 2025-2026 school year.

Adams Arms Set To Relaunch

Alexandria Pro-Fab, a contract machine shop based in Minnesota, announced that it has purchased the assets of Adams Arms, along with all of the company’s intellectual property, and it plans to relaunch the company in the second quarter of 2025.

I Have This Old Gun: Bayard Auto Pistol

The Herstal, Belgium, firm of Anciens Etablissements Pieper was apparently expecting big things when, in 1908, it named its new semi-automatic pocket pistol “Bayard.”

The Armed Citizen® March 31, 2025

Read today's "The Armed Citizen" entry for real stories of law-abiding citizens, past and present, who used their firearms to save lives.

New For 2025: Benelli USA Nova 3 Tactical

This latest update to Benelli’s pump-action shotgun gives users a few upgrades over previous generations, making the new NOVA 3 the most exciting pump-gun yet to come from the Italian maker.

Interests



Get the best of American Rifleman delivered to your inbox.