1978 Browning BDA 45 (SIG P220)

[1srelluc]

I found this one at a local pawn shop this morning....It's in .45 acp.

It takes the same mags as my SIG P-220 even though this one had a heel mag release instead of a button release.

Browning imported them from West Germany between '77 and '80.

The P220 was initially imported to the United States as the Browning Double Action (BDA) and then as the Sigarms P220.

The P220s sold under the Browning Arms Company marque in the United States c. 1977–1980 had the heel-mounted magazine release lever until Browning discontinued it from its product line in the early 1980s; the discontinuation from the Browning product lineup was due to its poor sales and its then-'space age' appearance.

These particular P220s (or Browning BDAs) will have the stamping scroll which reads 'Browning Arms Company Morgan, Utah and Montreal PQ' on the left hand side of the slide and 'SIG-Sauer System Made in W. Germany' on the right-hand side with the serial number scrolled beneath.

The Browning version has the sides of the slides polished and blued. The frame is aluminum. The handgrips have Browning on the right side only. On the right side of the slide is the serial number. The Browning BDA 45 shown in the photographs has a production series number starting with 395.

Some units were adopted by Huntington Beach Police.

- Wiki

 

[Lockback]

I found this one at a local pawn shop this morning....It's in .45 acp.

It takes the same mags as my SIG P-220 even though this one had a heel mag release instead of a button release.

Browning imported them from West Germany between '77 and '80.

View attachment 1190757



The P220 was initially imported to the United States as the Browning Double Action (BDA) and then as the Sigarms P220.

The P220s sold under the Browning Arms Company marque in the United States c. 1977–1980 had the heel-mounted magazine release lever until Browning discontinued it from its product line in the early 1980s; the discontinuation from the Browning product lineup was due to its poor sales and its then-'space age' appearance.

These particular P220s (or Browning BDAs) will have the stamping scroll which reads 'Browning Arms Company Morgan, Utah and Montreal PQ' on the left hand side of the slide and 'SIG-Sauer System Made in W. Germany' on the right-hand side with the serial number scrolled beneath.

The Browning version has the sides of the slides polished and blued. The frame is aluminum. The handgrips have Browning on the right side only. On the right side of the slide is the serial number. The Browning BDA 45 shown in the photographs has a production series number starting with 395.

Some units were adopted by Huntington Beach Police.

- Wiki

I had not one but TWO of those back in the day.
Terrific handguns. I kind of wish I'd kept at least one but as I recall they didn't reliably feed hollow points. And back then I was constantly trading/buying/selling guns.

 

[1srelluc]

I had not one but TWO of those back in the day.
Terrific handguns. I kind of wish I'd kept at least one but as I recall they didn't reliably feed hollow points. And back then I was constantly trading/buying/selling guns.

Yeah, this one will likely become trade fodder by and by.....I'm into it cheap enough.

The BDA 45 has moved into the collector realm now. Nobody really wants anything with a heel release these days but they like them due to the limited import numbers, West German manufacture, and the Browning name.