P210 frame "tang adapters" extender

[tangohammerli]

Some one here wrote of a firm that offers these frame extenders in Europe and I would like more data on them. Does any one know what I am talking about??

[Mike Taylor]

Are you looking for something to prevent "hammer bite"? My SIG 47/8 (predecessor to the P210, I'm told) really bites me. The previous owner had soft-soldered a thin piece of copper to the underside of the tang, forming a crude "beaver-tail". It has since fallen off. I, too, would be interested in learning of a more aesthetically pleasing solution to this problem.
Mike T.

[Tycho]

I think the part is made by Nill, the same guys that do the competition grips. Check out their homepage. If not, get back back to me, I can get the adress of the manufacturer - friend of mine sells those things.

[Mike Taylor]

Tycho,
Thanks for the tip to the Nill site. I found the part. It comes in four versions. Nice looking, indeed, but being Swiss craftsmanship, they are rather pricey - $115 US, which equates to about $175 Cdn (with taxes, handling, and shipping). Considering I paid only $250 Cdn for my gun (used, not new), I can't justify $115 for a tiny piece of metal, especially when a similar part for a 1911 (beavertail grip safety) is less than $25. So I cleaned off the old solder on the frame of the SIG SP 47/8 and on the home-made tang extension and then bonded them together using 2-part epoxy adhesive - crude, but effective, and cheap.
Mike T.

[Tycho]

Nill is at home in Germany, actually :-)

You ever find another SIG 210 for 250$, give me a call or send me a mail. Even the costs for freight, customs and paperworks to Switzerland would be covered by that profit margin. My factory new P210 Heavy Frame set me back CHF 2'600 (which are about 1:1 to CND) 7 or 8 years ago...

[Mike Taylor]

Tycho,
Thanks for the correction on the location of Nill. I was confusing the source of the gun with the source of the adapter :-)
As to the price of the gun, I bought it from an elderly (older than me) shooting aquaintance. I don't know if he was the original owner. The gun came with an instruction booklet and a four-page brochure for a SIG "Automatic Pistol Neuhausen SP 47/8", although the gun itself is marked, SP 47/8 "Target". It looks like the current P210-5, that is, with the extended barrel having the front sight attached to it (rather than to the slide), and with a rear sight adjustable for windage and elevation. The frame has a parkerized finish, but the slide is polished and blued (almost black in colour). Cosmetically, the gun is rather rough. The finish is worn and a previous owner glued emory paper to the front strap of the grip and soldered on the previously-mentioned tang extension. He also modified the original grip extensively. I didn't know the current value of a P210 so I asked a gunsmith to modify the trigger guard to give more room for my finger. He didn't do a very neat job of the modification. What I'm leading to is that the appearance of the gun markedly reduces its value. However, it is mechanically sound and it is accurate - which to me, as a target shooter, are the more important aspects.
Still, if I find another such SIG at a similar price, I will give it more respect - maybe even treating it to an overseas voyage :-)
Regards,
Mike T.

[Tycho]

That gun, in original condition, would be somewhere between 3'000 and 4'000 CHF...

[Mike Taylor]

Ouch! As they are prone to say on that TV programme, Antiques Roadshow, " I had no idea".
I'm not sure I really wanted to learn that :-)
Mike T.