Sig P250 trigger assembly

It’s been said every man has his vice. For some it’s women, while others turn to gambling or booze. My particular hang-up is one with no support group. I’m a custom-gun junkie.

Most shooters derive pleasure from simply purchasing a new firearm, whereas I view it as phase one—a potential Fitz Special, or a blank canvas upon which to create a functional “Man From U.N.C.L.E.” carbine. Much like journalist Hunter S. Thompson could conjure thick flights of bats during an ink-blot test, a new gun is just the beginning of endless possibilities to me.

The act of personalizing a gun and making it my own has always been a satisfying fix, akin to a high-roller letting it ride on a roll of the dice. The moment I was bitten by the custom-gun bug, I could relate to the other addictions. I became infected by an article that dealt with a convertible 1911 in 9 mm and .38 Super. I decided then and there to have one of my own, with one improvement—I wanted mine to be a tri-vertible in 9 mm.38 Super and .45 ACP. Move over Dr. Jekyll, there’s a new mad scientist in town. Perhaps my lust was a byproduct of inhaling too much gun smoke over the years, but my great plan came with hitches. In particular, there was a small matter of having to swap ejectors when converting from 9 mm to .45 ACP. After researching the matter for many months, a solution finally presented itself in the form of an article from American Rifleman. Armed with the answer, I sent my pistol, conversion components and a copy of the article to a custom gunsmith. A year passed, but the result was worth it. I had a unique pistol worth more than $2, 000, a sum tidy enough for an impressive single-malt inventory.

Luckily the features found on today’s handguns make customization much more affordable and easy. The current buzzword used to reference this phenomenon is modular—defined as “a self-contained unit or item that can be combined or interchanged with others like it to create different shapes or designs.” Semi-autos with multiple backstraps are good examples. While the concept of custom firearms is by no means new, adding the modular aspect to the mix takes the notion to a whole new level.

There is a new pistol on the market by Sig Sauer that makes such a feat markedly easier, while serving to re-define what a custom firearm truly is—gunsmiths beware!Historically the term referred to a commercially manufactured pistol or long gun reworked by a gunsmith to an individual’s specifications—no longer. Sig Sauer’s P250 empowers shooters with many skills of a gunsmith. The result is a 100-percent custom pistol with a revolutionary modular design that addresses the needs of civilian, law enforcement and military shooters. It differs from traditional custom semi-autos, such as my tri-vertible, as a result of unlimited changability—meaning you can undo your changes. Originally marketed in 9 mm, the P250 is currently also available in .40 S&W, with plans to add .357 Sig and .45 ACP within the coming months.