“Gunmaker Sig Sauer filed a 5-count lawsuit against a French company that makes Airsoft guns claiming patent infringement and a failure to pay royalties for use of Sig’s name and logo.” seacoastonline.com reports. “The suit was filed . . . against Cybergun, which on Friday, Feb. 10 had 15 products on its website with Sig brands.” So SIG’s gone sour on Cybergun. It may have something to do with recent police shootings of replica-wielding citizens, like today’s foxnews.com story out of Oregon.

Two shootings involving police and replica guns in a 9-hour span are under investigation in Oregon’s largest city.

The shootings in northeast and southeast Portland Thursday left a teenage robbery suspect dead and a homeless man critically wounded, according to local media reports.

Police said Quanice Hayes, 17, and Don Perkins, 56, were armed with “realistic-looking” replica firearms when they were shot.

As usatoday.com reported when Boston banned replica guns from public spaces, there’s been a big ass backlash against the BB guns . . .

In 2015, lawmakers in Florida, Indiana, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New York, Ohio and Washington introduced legislation creating or amending imitation firearm statutes, according to the NCSL. A number of places, including California, Kansas, Puerto Rico and Washington D.C., already have law on the books regarding imitation firearms . . .

“I see very few reasons for anyone to buy a replica hand gun,” Boston City Councilor Frank Baker said.

Good thing Councillor Baker’s not in the replica gun biz. Like . . . SIG SAUER. Who manufacture (in Japan) and sell pellet versions of the P250 and P226 (above). And .117 caliber recreations of their MPX and MCX rifles. And all the ammo, scopes and bits you need to make them work.

So no, SIG isn’t unhappy with replica airguns per se. Quite the opposite. In fact, I’d expect SIG to start building more SIG airguns in-house-san, as owners of “proper” SIGs learn the joys of mastering their manual of arms with legal replicas. Void where prohibited by law, of course.

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22 COMMENTS

  1. I’ve said this before: as much as I can appreciate the usefulness of airsoft guns for training, that training is the only valid use I can think of. Airsoft battles aren’t scored on how realistic your gun looks, it’s about hitting your opponent before he hits you. I really can’t imagine why these things can’t be made to be less appealing to those damned kids and thug wannabes that keep shoplifting them.
    Lets make them all pink. Still handles like the “real thing” for training and the idiots who can’t put their pants on correctly won’t want to carry them.

    • Why? So stupid, awful people don’t get themselves shot? And for quite a few people, airsoft isn’t just training, but recreation in its own way, and immersion is a significant part of that. I would also ask what you would propose, specifically, in terms of maintaining ergonomics for training purposes while making them look less realistic. Paint them bright pink? Yeah, what’s a can of black spray paint cost? Federal law already mandates that they ship with at least a quarter inch of the muzzle be colored blaze orange.

    • Start painting them pink and the criminals will start painting their real guns pink to get the drop on law enforcement.

  2. This is how the liberal lefties get things rolling by Banning BB guns. When I grew up in the late seventies we had all kinds of toy guns some of them actually we’re pretty cool they took magazines that held the caps and they actually cycled. They even had a shotgun that broke down and ejected the spent casings. Those all went away in the late eighties gun control and lawsuits. Just more BS gun control.

    • And then it picked up again in the nineties with airsoft. And the airsoft market has been booming in the last 5 years or so. Seriously, look into it a bit. There is some VERY cool stuff on the market.

  3. “I see very few reasons for anyone to buy a replica hand gun,” Boston City Councilor Frank Baker said.

    Take a powder Frank Baker. No one cares what you think. A passing interest is a good enough reason. Your useless opinion is a good enough reason. I want one now.

    Oh, that MPX and MCX in .117 caliber is mighty tiny!!!

  4. I say sell the damn things! Let the stupid criminals buy them up. When the concealed carriers and popo keep blasting the sh– out of them, they’ll warm up to concept that it makes no difference if it’s real or Memorex, they will get shot or shot at regardless of what their gun shoots. So go ahead and carry fake Sigs and such, mine is very real.

  5. They’re great for training and airspft is loads of fun. Why do they look/feel real? Simple: they’re based on the real thing. They have many uses- learning the ins n outs of the real weapon- many function very similarly/identically; practicing drills; teaching people safe firearms handling; training simulation/force-on-force; I can probably think of some more. I fully understand how they could be abused, and how dumb games win dumb prizes. That said, you can do dumb things with just about anything. Moral of the story is as an old First Sergeant I once knew said: “Don’t do dumb shit. If you have to ask, then it’s dumb shit.”

  7. *sigh…*
    Okay.
    I not hyperventilating anymore…
    Airsoft guns are made to be realistic looking because…thats what people want to buy (SHOPLIFT!)
    Admittedly, they have a certain appeal, they handle like real guns ( “Do the controls really work?! I gotta see this!”). Some that are made of metal even feel similar to real guns (Does it really?!!! I gotta tear this box open and find out!). They come in basic black because it keeps production cost down and makes them seem more real (“My homies are gonna FREAK when they see my pull this out!”). So it’s understandable why some people would gladly pay money for a training tool like this….
    *straining… losing… control…*
    YES, YOU IDIOT!!! IT LOOKS JUST LIKE THE PHOTOGRAPH OF THE PRODUCT THE
    MANUFACTURER PRINTED ON THE BOX!!! YOU DON’T NEED TO TEAR IT OPEN!!!
    Now get out of my store and pull your pants up on your way out!!!
    G*d damn, I hate stocking those things… but I will guaran-damn-tee all of you this: I have only once, ONCE I TELL YOU, ever sold an airsoft gun to someone who actually said they wanted it for TRAINING!!!
    *huff… wheeze…*
    I need a drink…

    • You either need a new location or a new business. And just because somebody doesn’t explicitly state they’re buying it for training doesn’t mean they’re going to carry it around like a real gun. They could simply want to shoot their friends in the ass randomly or annoy their dog, and quite frankly that’s their right.

  8. I have no problem with replicas but I do have a problem with the media when they describe someone with such a replica as ‘unarmed’ vis a vis a use of force encounter.

    • Do they?
      No sarcasm, I just really want to know if the media has been doing that… if so, shame on them.

      • Not exactly, but what I have seen is many stories that say something like “A man armed with a toy bb gun was shot and killed by a customer at a gas station with a concealed carry permit.” Implying that the ccer should have not shot him cause it was obviously a toy. If the perp happens to be 19 they also call him a teenager.

      • Absolutely. A cop in Ohio popped a 12 year old with a realistic toy after he pointed it at him. The family wants big bucks for killing a defenseless boy.

  9. I brought a sig 228 airsoft back from Japan in the 90s along with an electric m16. I had 500 round mags for the machine gun. I sold them both for a profit to a NJ dealer who I am sure made a pile on them. No orange tips or anything else.
    The store in Japan was a hoot. You could test them in the back. They had hop up services capable of tripling the power, I saw a demo where a plastic pellet went through a galvanized trash can.
    I put the guns in my luggage and nervously flee out with them since they were legal and this was pre 911. I saw the X Ray image and jeez it looked scary but they said nothing.
    We had some great battles with airsoft. Eyegoggles were the only safety gear, no hopped up versions allowed. Fun times.

  10. There is no way they should be banned, that is the thin end of a very slippery slope. But, if you’re using one during the commission of a crime, don’t be surprised if you get shot! After all, the criminal wants his victims to believe that the weapon is real to gain compliance so shouldn’t really go crying to mama when the cops (or an armed ‘victim’) take the threat seriously.

    What’s sad though is that back in the day, kids could play war, or cowboys and Indians running around having fun out doors with no one batting an eyelid. Now with all the PC SJW cr*p, that seems to have gone and if a kid has a toy gun, there is a huge amount of indignant outrage. Maybe it’s a sign of getting older, wistful reminiscing!!!!

  11. OK, this article needs some clarification/correction. Sig is selling* .177″ (4.5mm) rifled lead pellet firers, not airsoft which are 6mm smoothbore plastic BB firers. In addition there are .177″ smoothbore metal BB firers often referred to as BB guns even though airsoft are also BB guns… Confusing.

    Cybergun are a French company, they don’t make replica guns but buy them off other manufacturers, don’t play nice with others and are reputed to be a bit shady and bullying of others doing the same thing. So it probably couldn’t happen to nicer guys.
    Compare them to their German equivalent Umarex who commission officially recognised airsoft replicas of Walther and Heckler & Koch. There’s also the Danish company ASG who seems to have a burgeoning relationship with CZ.

    Seeing as I’m a Brit I actually have an airsoft “Cybergun” P226 which is really a Taiwanese KJ Works, it’s realistic weight with all the controls working as per the real thing, the mag/gas reservoir is a realistic weight and from what I can glean it strips down similarly.
    The Sig C02 powered blowbacks like all these and metal pellet firing BB guns cannot be stripped, some controls are moulded in as is the ejection port moulded closed into the slide and the mags are plastic sticks. Frankly having owned one and seen them all they are neither fish nor fowl, they don’t fire as much more accurately than airsofts and aren’t useful enough to justify having any practical use – if you want to practice your drills get Gas Blow Back (GBB) Airsofts. If you want a good repeating air rifle get one.

    • Head or neck shots to pigeons and squirrels 30 yards max are the most I can hope for with my .177 FX – but that’s set for the British limit of 12 f/lb, yours are higher powered so maybe could do better I hear. But you’re right .177 is indeed tiny (although if I could own a 9mm I’d be very happy), anyway you guys don’t need to make do with airguns…
      Anyway Sig’s .177 are much less accurate and powerful, they’re basically toys and the 226 wouldn’t trouble even a squirrel, I shouldn’t think the MCX is that much better although I’ve only seen it not shot it. (The magazine is actually disguising a tiny belt feed! Belt fed CO2 pellet gun! Weird)
      For you Americans these things maybe an alright tool for training, although airsoft gas blowbacks offer much more realism albeit even less power than SIG’s CO2 powered stuff.

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