Under the expansive leadership of Ron Cohen, SIG SAUER released a series of airguns that mimicked their ballistic brethren. As my teenage years ended during the late 14th century (or thereabouts), meh. SIG’s new ASP20 is its own thing: a suppressed, single-shot, easy-cocking, breech-locking, Advanced Sport Pellet (ASP) air rifle with an adjustable ASP MatchLite trigger. (Press release below.) I need one because . . .
Backyard gun range! Not to mention this seems a suitable firearm to shoot any of the numerous local coyotes hungry enough to jump a few fences and snack on a schnauzer. I guess it’s a case of ASP and ye shall receive . . .
Newington, NH (January 9, 2018) – SIG SAUER is pleased to introduce its new high-performance, ASP20 break barrel air rifle. Available in .177 and .22 calibers, this suppressed single-shot, Advanced Sport Pellet (ASP) air rifle delivers down-range power and accuracy with the lightest cocking effort in its class, making it ideal for hunting small game.
This SIG break barrel air rifle also features the airgun industry’s most advanced trigger system – the smooth, crisp and adjustable ASP MatchLite® trigger. SIG SAUER engineers designed this completely new, two-stage adjustable match-grade trigger system to perform better than traditional airgun triggers on the market today.
The ASP MatchLite trigger is ultra-smooth in its operation and can be adjusted to break at one of eight different pull rates – from 2.5 to 4 pounds – allowing users to select the break that’s most comfortable for them. The trigger breaks at 4mm, regardless of the pull rate selected.
SIG SAUER’s proprietary GlideLite™ cocking mechanism [ED: insert Austin Powers snigger here] in the SIG ASP20 makes it significantly easier to use than other break barrel rifles. The ASP20 cocks at 33 lbs. versus the standard 48 – 52 lb. cocking force typically found in competitive products in this power range.
The action of this air rifle is larger in diameter and shorter in length than most on the market. This brings the pivot point closer to the body, not only making the air rifle much easier to leverage but also more balanced and easier to shoot accurately.
Exceptional accuracy is another hallmark of the ASP20 which is the first SIG SAUER airgun to be built in the United States. SIG’s proprietary breech-locking system precisely aligns the barrel to the action, ensuring consistent accuracy. SIG SAUER also rifles its own barrels for the new ASP20 at its New Hampshire headquarters.
“The ASP20 is unique – a true game changer in the break barrel market with its unrivaled trigger systemand cocking mechanism – and it is the first airgun built at SIG SAUER’s state-of-the-art manufacturing facility here in New Hampshire,” said Joseph Huston, Vice President and General Manager of the SIG SAUER Airgun Division. “We have adapted many of our firearms technologies in the design and production of the ASP20. The reliability and durability is unrivaled, and it’s incredibly fun to shoot.”
The ambidextrous safety of the SIG SAUER ASP20 is located outside the trigger guard, not inside. The safety location makes it easy to engage using either the right or left hand.
Velocity vs. Muzzle Energy
Powered by a gas piston, the .177 caliber ASP20 delivers 20 foot-pounds (ft-lbs) of energy with muzzle velocity of 1021 feet per second (fps) using a 8.64 grain lead pellet while the .22 caliber delivers 23 ft-lbs of energy and a muzzle velocity of 841 fps with a 14.65 grain lead pellet.
A common misconception among many is that high muzzle velocity makes for a better air rifle. In actuality, foot-pound muzzle energy is a more accurate gauge of the power of air rifles than the speed at which a projectile comes out of the barrel. Down-range accuracy and retained energy are better with a heavier projectile leaving the barrel at subsonic speed rather than an impractically-lightweight projectile leaving the barrel at a supersonic speed of 1400+ feet per second.
The .177 caliber ASP20 air rifle is ideal for hunting small game such as squirrels, crows and rodents while the .22 caliber model is well suited for hunting slightly larger animals such as woodchucks and groundhogs. The ASP20 has a SIG SAUER rifled steel barrel and is available with either a synthetic or wood stock. The SIG SAUER Whiskey3 ASP 4-12×44 Adjustable Objective (AO) riflescope, designed to handle the extreme bi-directional recoil of air rifles, will also be available for the ASP20 in May 2018.
MSRP:
.177 Wood Stock, Suppressor              $489.99
.22 Wood Stock, Suppressor                $489.99
.177 Synthetic Stock, Suppressor         $399.99
.22 Synthetic Stock, Suppressor           $399.99
Whiskey3 ASP 4-12×44 AO riflescope   $359.99
For more information on SIG SAUER airguns, visit www.sigsauerasp.com. Follow SIG SAUER on social media, including Facebook at www.facebook.com/sigsauerinc, Instagram at www.instagram.com/sigsauerinc, and YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/user/sigsauerinc.
About SIG SAUER, Inc.
SIG SAUER, Inc. is The Complete Systems Provider™, leading the industry in American innovation, ingenuity, and manufacturing. SIG SAUER® brings a dedication to superior quality, ultimate reliability, and unmatched performance that has made it the brand of choice among responsible citizens, and many of the world’s most elite military, government, and law enforcement units. SIG SAUER offers a full array of products to meet any mission parameter, from handguns and rifles to ammunition, electro-optics, suppressors, ASP (Advanced Sport Pellet) airguns and accessories. The largest member of a worldwide business group of firearms manufacturers that includes SIG SAUER GmbH & Co. KG in Germany and Swiss Arms AG in Switzerland, SIG SAUER is an ISO 9001: 2008 certified company with more than 1,700 employees. For more information on SIG SAUER, any of its products, or the SIG SAUER AcademySM, log on to www.sigsauer.com.
Ugh, $90 for a wood stock? Whatever, now which caliber is best for that wily coyote?
Get a CMMG Anvil.
Unfortunately, this is TOTALLY illegal in my state, New Jersey.
Why? Because it’s “suppressed.” An air rifle that’s quiet, the horror!!
Apparently, New Jersey thinks that Mafia hit-men are just itching to get their hands on a single-shot .177 air rifle to use in gangland executions, or something like that! Or maybe drive-by single-shot air rifle shootings?
And this is with our current Republican governor — just imagine what will happen when Democrat Phil Murphy takes office this year, a guy who’ boasts he’s “never seen a gun control law he wouldn’t sign.”
My wife and I are stuck in NJ for our employment, sadly.
When I was a resident of the People’s Republic of NJ many many years back a good family friend who was a decent LEO said that high school kids used to shoot out car windows with high velocity pellet guns. I’ve got a 1976 vintage Crossman .22 CO2 pistol and I suppose that it would be possible to do such a thing although I’ve never tried. According to the friend’s story a state rep lost a window to that type of vandalism and decided that BB and pellet guns were dangerous weapons. So by law all air guns are classed as firearms. My wife bought the Crossman for me in 1976 as a Christmas gift in New York state which at the time didn’t have any restrictions on pellet guns. That’s probably a serious crime according to New Jersey but we moved out in 1980 and only visit for weddings and funerals. Last Christmas I bought a Gamo .177 Silent Cat at Academy Sports and walked out of the store with a fairly powerful air rifle. The only paperwork I needed were some portraits of dead presidents.
we have a couple old mkii’s. when the seals went south (40yrs later) i obtained replacements from mac1 airgunner. one of his oring kits comes with a replacement valve that ups the velocity maybe 50fps. nice guy, interesting products.
I got a .177 air rifle when .22 rimfire became unavailable. Haven’t shot my rimfires in years.
A quiet pellet rifle could be a game changer in a shtf scenario.
So who made it for them? Umarex?
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You must not have read the press release. it says that it is “first airgun built at SIG SAUER’s state-of-the-art manufacturing facility here in New Hampshire,”. I for one like Built in the USA.
“first airgun built at SIG SAUER’s state-of-the-art manufacturing facility here in New Hampshire,”
OK, nice, but does Sig have a (European) corporate history with air rifle manufacture?
I’m thinking in terms of reputation, reliability and spare parts availability, here…
SIG’s new ammo and optics divisions seem to be doing just fine. I see no reason why Airguns would be any different.
20 foot-pounds of energy with a .177 BB is not a coyote gun. Maybe for maiming small chirping birds or squirrels, but a .22LR would be better all around.
Anyone that has much shooting time with a modern day air rifle know their capabilites. I consistently and humanely kill squirrels with a single shot to the head with an RWS 34 T06 in .177 caliber from 40 yrds. and under. The air rifles of today are not the old single cock Daisy bb guns of yesterday, they are lethal platforms that fill a niche in suburban and rural areas when a .22 lr firearm is not a viable option.
Both woodchucks AND groundhogs eh? Interesting.
I bet it’s good for whistlepigs, too…
Not thrilled with break barrels. I take issue on cocking the rifle with the barrel. Yeah they are cheaper, but make a PCP rifle and I’ll take a look.
Ironic how peoole claim the speed of a 9 mm makes up for the weight of a .45. Yet in this article it claims weight is the power factor. I’ve always been a big fan of air guns, great training aids, I’ve killed at least 1/2 a ton of rabbits with them, and a bunch of squirrels. Squirrels are harder to kill. The best Ive done was a opossum, used a bb in an old crossman 760, don’t bother with the new 760’s they won’t pump up the power. I have used .22 air guns and the weight of pellet does make a big difference although I don’t like the trajectory as much as .177. … A person I knew shot his brother in the neck with a pellet and he bled to death before he could get to the hospital. Coyotes probably would be tuff to bring down, not saying it couldn’t be done, more then likely just educate the coyote. I’d like to see them turn on the after burners on that ppfftt though.
https://www.airgundepot.com/sam-yang-dragon-claw-air-rifle.html
You might be interested in this then
That’s a bit much. Besides my Marauder in .22, I also have a Eun Jin Sumatra 2500 in .22 As air rifles go, the thing is a cannon. It has damn near the same energy as the pussiest .22 short fired out of a little plinker gun.
For air rifles, that’s a lot. Bad thing about it is that’s it’s not suitable at all for backyard squirrel control. Way too much power and way way too loud. I could never use it. Everyone within blocks of me can hear it.
The suppressed barrel of my Marauder is way better suited. As it is now, pellets pass through squirrels with 20 ft lbs. 50-60 is endangering people.
i have german made dianas, a .177 underlever and a .22 side lever. the smaller will squirrel; the larger will possum and skunk (run like hell). they were both less than this msrp but current pricing would be almost identical. break barrels always seemed like an obvious candidate for droop, but i now know some that have been cocked a bajillion times and are still way (way, sir!) accurate.
so this seems like an excellent new alternative. if they become available for around 300 (sig often has their replica airguns marked down) i’ll get one for the boy.
sure beats anything at the hardware or sporting goods store from china. by most accounts the spanish stuff is pretty good.
It’s not as pretty as my Beeman R1, made in W. Germany by Weirauch. It has the Rekord trigger, which is the smoothest of anything I own.
There are some Air Arms rifles I really like…but justifying the cost is a little hard to do.
Where do these companys get there research and development when building an air rifle a 2.5 lb trigger is no where near the most advanced lol most match grade triggers in the airgun world are under a pound break wight. Tgese companys need to talk to real airgunnersand ask us what we want to see in a air rifle.
.22 cal. gas piston break barrel for $140, approx 900 fps, std lead. The difference? About $350. Having a suppressor on an air rifle would be right up there with a damper to lessen the recoil.
Thanks for the great review John !!! I’ve been keeping my eye on the ASP20 since they first showed up, I REALLY like the fact they’re made right here in the USA and if I would ever buy another break barrel airgun this one would be at the top of the list !!! I’m pretty much hooked on my pcp’s but I always wonder how well guns would shoot my castings, I’d say if the JSB 18.13’s shot good from it I’d be willing to bet my 19.6 grain would too.
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