50 Yards: These groups consist of 15 shots each.
Fired with the Hornady 124 gr XTP handload....
Fired with Winchester 115 gr Ball....
Observations: The pistol is very well-made and is very smooth in its operation. The slide is soooooooo smooth in its operation. The pistol's accurate, much more so than this shooter can wring out of it.
So is it worth the high price one pays to get a new one? (This runs between about $1500 and $2000, roughly.)
I see the answer to that this way:
1.) To me personally, it is
not. Don't get me wrong; I LIKE the gun and it works perfectly. Today's zero malfunction rate is business as usual.
However, when one buys into a gun for the long haul, he has essentially bought into a company. SIG thinks a heck of alot of their products. Extra single-stack factory magazines cost around $100 EACH! And they're not gold-plated, just blued! I hate to think what a spare sear, hammer, etc would cost. I bought this gun several years ago when I was financially a bit better off than today; I likely wouldn't pay that price today. One thing I do NOT like at all on the P210 is that its recoil spring and FLGR are captive. I
could get the spring off for replacement, but am much more hesitant to try getting this one apart as it'd be expensive to replace if I mess something up...like the rod. With me, it
could happen.
Also, this gun "bites" me and does so consistently. For the same reason mentioned above, I'm hesitant to "bob" the hammer spur. Today, for example, I used a cheaper way of avoiding hammer bite: duct tape on my hand. In the future, I'll put two or three layers on as the hammer spur eventually chewed through the tape to my paw. Didn't quite bleed, but the skin's broken in a line as wide as the hammer spur.
That said, I've used this pistol to shoot several critters and it's always done its part. Since I've got it, I'll likely keep, shoot, and enjoy it.
2.) If you have the money or just enough "want to" to save and buy this pistol because you just want to own a truly highest quality arm, it
might be worth it; YOU have to make that decision.
That the gun shoots is not a question. I'm not sure which load actually groups best as the error I introduce is so great compared to the gun's consistency, that I might never know, but I DO know this; the thing shoots and shoots well. I
will be using more of the less costly cast bullet load shown in targets above as this gun groups that load well.
I really cannot recommend this pistol for defensive use....at least not for me! The thumb safety, while positive in either its "on" or "off" positions, is just too far forward for me to operate without shifting my grip. If you're well-heeled enough, I'm sure you can have an extension added to the safety, but IF the gunsmith messes it up, I have no idea what a factory replacement would cost.
All of this assumes that SIG-USA is still importing this gun and handles spare parts! Magazine changes are considerably slowed up by the rather strong, butt-located magazine release.
Perhaps just trying to keep this classic just that, the fixed sights have not been improved. They were spot on insofar as regulation's concerned, but still a bit small to use at speed. For my purposes, it really doesn't matter.
Again, I like and am in awe of this pistol, but were I doing it again, I'd likely go with an STI Trojan or an accurized BHP if I had to squeeze 9mm groups down as far as possible.
So there it is, just my view and observations on a really, really well-made handgun.
....and just for grins, here's the usual "dirt expansion tested" Speer 124 gr Gold Dots recovered from mud! Again, it doesn't really mean anything, but I like to see expanded bullets.
Recovered 124 gr GDHPs fired using the handloaded mention earlier...
Here's the P210 with the "Danish Police Grips" mentioned earlier...
Best.
Life's too short, buy the one you want from the git-go 
