In a surprising move, Sig Sauer has quietly discontinued their formal shooting team. Disbanded about a week ago, the “Grey Shirts” team was notified privately and word got out through various social media outlets including a rather moving post by one Eric Wise:

I just wanted to say how disappointed I was to hear tonight that you’ve disbanded Team Sig. For a while now Sig has been represented by a group who weren’t just good shooters, but who really, genuinely seemed to be good people. I’ve squadded with Team Sig shooters and have found them to be incredibly knowledgeable and helpful, both during the match and after the shooting was over.

Putting together the team that you did, with shooters ranging in ability from “really good” to “seemingly super human”, sent a message to the shooting community that Sig wasn’t just interested in national titles or big names but really wanted to take an interest in the sport itself-at all levels.

I know that in today’s economy Sig was probably putting out a lot of money to support their shooters, but I think the greater loss will be felt by the sport after this decision.

As of the time of this writing, the Team Sig Sauer website has been shuttered and the Facebook page is now redirecting to the main Sig Sauer page. In fact, nearly any digital trace of the team has been erased. It is highly likely that Sig made a financially motivated decision in relation to the success of various platforms and the fact that competitive shooting is incredibly expensive. Still, its perplexing to see such a a sudden move as one can easily find a balance between expense and return.

According to a thread on Brian Enos (a competitive shooter’s forum), individual endorsement deals such as those for Lena Miculek will continue per the terms of their respective agreements.