Glock. Sig. meh....
Posted on 05/21/2016 8:23:42 AM PDT by Iron Munro
DADE CITY — There's an arms race taking place in law enforcement as weapons manufacturers battle each other for the lucrative right to arm officers.
The Pasco County Sheriff's Office is the latest beneficiary of that duel.
Last year the agency said goodbye to its old .40-caliber Glock 23 handguns and recently finished equipping its deputies with .40-caliber SIG Sauer P320s. That's because sheriff's officials said SIG Sauer offered to replace their entire arsenal at no cost, sealing the deal.
That's a victory for the New Hampshire gun manufacturer over its Austrian rival Glock. Both are among the world's top producers of handguns, but Glock has been a major player in the law enforcement market, especially here in the Tampa Bay area.
Sheriff's officials said that on top of being free, the SIG Sauer pistols are safer. SIG Sauer gave the agency about 770 new handguns, which have a retail price of about $600 apiece.
Glock quoted the Sheriff's Office a range of $80,000 to $200,000 to upgrade the agency to new Glock 35s, officials said. If Glock had matched the SIG Sauer offer, sheriff's officials said, they probably would have stuck with Glock.
"That's a very fair assessment," Special Operations Capt. James Steffens said at a Friday news conference, where deputies showed off their new sidearms.
It makes sense why SIG Sauer would give away their product while Glock wouldn't, said Dennis Kenney, criminal justice professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. SIG Sauer could make more money later, if it can get more agencies to buy its firearms.
"The police market for handguns is pretty substantial," he said Friday. "And if (SIG) could point to some agencies that use their guns and like them, it's a good testimonial."
The decision to update Pasco's arsenal was made in 2013, said sheriff's spokesman Kevin Doll, even though most of the agency's Glock handguns weren't very old. The last large gun purchase was only two years earlier, in 2011.
The SIG Sauer pistols offer a safety feature that the Glocks don't, but sheriff's officials said it played no role in their decision. They don't require pulling the trigger to disassemble for cleaning.
Both the subcompact Glock 23s that patrol deputies carried and the full-size Glock 35s that SWAT deputies used require pulling the trigger. If a round were accidentally left in the chamber, the result could be catastrophic.
Sheriff's officials said they didn't know how many times one of their deputies accidentally discharged an agency Glock while taking it apart.
Pasco deputies started carrying the new guns in November and the rollout finished in March. Even though they were free, the Sheriff's Office spent about $56,000 on upgraded sights that glow in the dark at night.
The decision by the Pasco County Sheriff's Office leaves one less major law enforcement customer for Glock in the Tampa Bay area. Last year, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office also moved away from Glock and adopted the FN FNS-9 pistol. The Tampa Police Department equips its officers with Smith & Wesson M&P40 handguns.
However, the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office has been using Glock 21s since 2004 and has no plans to switch, said Sgt. Spencer Gross. The St. Petersburg Police Department also uses Glock 21s.
Kenney said he understood why Glock didn't want to take a loss in trying to outbid SIG Sauer.
"I understand why Glock would say no," he said. "They're already established in the market and giving away weapons is probably not a good business decision. SIG less so."
The cleaning thing is just an excuse.
The fact is SIG is having to GIVE AWAY their guns in order to get lawmen to give up their Glocks. That’s the real story here.
I am not a Glock guy, but I understand why lawmen like them: they are reliable. The only more reliable pistol is a revolver.
For a lawman, confidence that his gun will shot the first time and every time—no jams, stovepipes, or misfires—is of vital importance.
The article reads like it’s Glocks fault their deputies don’t follow procedures correctly. I wonder if that carries over to other areas.
My original P229 in .357Sig along with it’s aftermarket drop-in Bar-Stow .40cal barrel is one my favorite treasures I ever purchased in my life.
Glock. Sig. meh....
I love my Kimbers.
Our local police (All 8 of them) carry Kimber 1911s in .45 ACP.
My idea is the Sigs and Berettas are the most reliable pistols out there.
Glocks are probably just as good but they had some early reliability problems. They were eventually found to be the fault of a certain run of mags and that was corrected.
Actually all of them are about as reliable as a mechanical device can be. That is assuming good ammo.
Yep. No comparison.
I’ve tried Sig before and really didn’t care for the way it felt in my hand. I carry a Glock 23 and it feels just fine. Not as good as my HK USP Compact 40, but it’s reliable and inexpensive.
Agree.....
IF I were in the market for a new handgun, I would GLADLY pay $30 extra for Sig to GIVE good guns to more law enforcement groups.
It’s tough to outbid `free’.
I'd say both you and CNN need to learn the difference between Austria and Australia!
Is criminal baiting allowed in Texas?
“If a round were accidentally left in the chamber, the result could be catastrophic.”
The gun works as designed but that’s classified as “catastrophic”.
Austrian.
Gaston Glock.
Austrian.
Gaston Glock.
“I’ve tried Sig before and really didn’t care for the way it felt in my hand.”
I felt the same way the first time I held a 1911. It was like holding an axe handle.
My first handgun was a Ruger Single-Six, `plow-handle’ grip. My first center-fire was a Browning Hi-power. Very nice from the get go.
Yeah, we Americans have an almost German ‘function over form’ mentality adopting striker fires. But my favs remains CZs with hammers, so I’m old, so what.
The Brits switched over in 2013 to Glocks, believe they used Brownings for a long time. US Marine SOG switched to Glocks last year.
Yeah, grips are important to me too. Stodgy Glock finally got with the program offering interchangeable grips with Gen4, but the Glock 19 Gen3 felt good to me right away.
No gun porn pitchers, what’s the problem here ..... ?
I'd graciously accept one too...
Does Sig Sauer have anything like a Glock 30s? If so then I’m all ears!
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