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Army Picks Sig Sauer's P320 Handgun to Replace M9 Service Pistol
Military.com ^ | 1/19/2017 | Matthew Cox and Hope Hodge Seck

Posted on 01/19/2017 10:22:37 PM PST by iowamark

The U.S. Army on Thursday awarded Sig Sauer a contract worth $580 million to make the next service pistol based on the company's P320 handgun.

Sig Sauer beat out Glock Inc., FN America and Beretta USA, the maker of the current M9 9mm service pistol, in the competition for the Modular Handgun System, or MHS, program.

"We are both humbled and proud that the P320 was selected by the U.S. Army as its weapon of choice," Ron Cohen, chief executive officer of Sig Sauer, said in a statement to Military.com here at SHOT Show, the world's largest gun show, taking place this week in the city.

"Securing this contract is a testimony to Sig Sauer employees, their commitment to innovation, quality and manufacturing the most reliable firearms in the world," Cohen added.

The Army launched its long-awaited XM17 MHS competition in late August 2015 to replace its Cold War-era M9 9mm pistol.

"By maximizing full and open competition across our industry partners, we have optimized private sector advancements in handguns, ammunition and magazines, and the end result will ensure a decidedly superior weapon system for our warfighters," Army Acquisition Executive Steffanie Easter said said in a press release...

(Excerpt) Read more at military.com ...


TOPICS: Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: banglist; sigsauer
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To: iowamark

Go back to the .45 acp for God’s sake. How many times do we have to read in the paper about shooting several 9 mm rounds into some big determined assailant before they stop the guy? A .45 is a proven manstopper and the military should buy American.
If you can’t handle a .45,meet another job!


41 posted on 01/20/2017 4:08:15 AM PST by ZULU (Particular circumstances can never be used to justify an act that is intrinsically evil.)
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To: iowamark

I have two Sigs, a P226 in .357SIG we bought used that my wife loves and my baby, a P229R in .40 S&W.

Sig offers a military group purchase plan, 50 soldiers from my second deployment (after we debated model and caliber) picked and purchased new P229Rs for less than $800/ea customized with our unit insignia. When I got mine to the range, it shot like a dream.

By far my favorite pistol to shoot. Beats the hell of the old wobbly M1911A1s I shot back in the 80s and the M9.


42 posted on 01/20/2017 4:10:51 AM PST by drop 50 and fire for effect ("Work relentlessly, accomplish much, remain in the background, and be more than you seem.)
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To: ZULU

How many of those “determined assailants” were wearing body armor?


43 posted on 01/20/2017 4:13:53 AM PST by papertyger (The semantics define how we think.)
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To: papertyger

None to my knowledge. A .45 has more stopping power than a 9 mm. Simple physics. F = MA


44 posted on 01/20/2017 4:16:21 AM PST by ZULU (Particular circumstances can never be used to justify an act that is intrinsically evil.)
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To: ZULU

With the military prohibition of using expanding ammunition, .45 beats 9mm.

With modern defensive ammunition, for civilian use there is no practical difference.


45 posted on 01/20/2017 4:25:15 AM PST by Yo-Yo ( Is the /sarc tag really necessary?)
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To: iowamark
Apparently there is a .40 and .45 cal version according to Wiki.

Every chambering can be converted by the user with a caliber exchange kit. The 9×19mm Parabellum, .40 S&W, and .357 SIG chamberings share their polymer grip frame modules and this offers the possibility to interchange these three chamberings by swapping the top end — consisting of the slide, recoil spring assembly, barrel and the box magazine. Due to the significantly larger external dimensions of the .45 ACP cartridge compared to the other P320 chambering options, the .45 ACP chambering uses slightly wider .45 ACP specific polymer grip modules with an enlarged magazine well.

46 posted on 01/20/2017 4:39:13 AM PST by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
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To: Yo-Yo

The prohibition was lifted in 2015. FMJ is now relegated to training while HP will be standard issue.


47 posted on 01/20/2017 4:39:13 AM PST by antidisestablishment ( We few, we happy few, we basket of deplorables)
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To: LumberJack53213
folks with small hands


48 posted on 01/20/2017 4:40:41 AM PST by Fightin Whitey
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To: iowamark
It was a shame when the Corps chose the Barretta 9mm over the Sig P226
but I was happy none the less because I couldn't hit the broad side of a
barn with my 1911 draw from the armory...qualified expert the first time
out with the Barretta. That being said I now own the P226 chambered in
.40.
49 posted on 01/20/2017 4:43:28 AM PST by major_gaff (University of Parris Island, Class of '84)
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To: Tolkien
Sig Sauer is my sidearm of choice. P250.

Likewise

50 posted on 01/20/2017 4:44:50 AM PST by PGalt (HOORAY Mr. Donald J. Trump)
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To: major_gaff

Why not the 1911? Because it is 2017, not 1917. Higher capacity amongst a host of other things is why the 1911 is gone for good. Nice guns but we no longer use a 1903 Springfield either.


51 posted on 01/20/2017 4:48:39 AM PST by JayElBee
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To: ZULU

Stopping power has more to do with hitting your target than ballistic physics. 9mm, 10mm, 357 cal, 40 cal, and 45 cal will stop someone if placed correctly. I’d be happy to carry any of the pistols in the competition.

The problem isn’t any of the weapons; it’s the procurement process. There are how many modern pistols manufactured today, and a COTS solution wouldn’t work? SF carry whatever weapon is suited for a particular job, and every one is COTS (sometimes with mods). If that’s good enough for DELTA, it should be good enough for a grunt. Spend the money saved on ammunition and range time and that will make more difference than any caliber question.


52 posted on 01/20/2017 4:51:50 AM PST by antidisestablishment ( We few, we happy few, we basket of deplorables)
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To: The KG9 Kid

It seems to me that Sig designed this weapon specifically to compete for this contract. Some other features that probably helped in selection include being ambidextrous, and it can be disassembled without tools, and round in chamber indicator...all throwbacks to the selection process that got the M9 its contract.

I think the high center of gravity is going to be a given. When I was in the army, we were often warned about not letting the slide cut the web of skin between thumb and finger...meaning that apparently this had happened to somebody along the way - a lot of soldiers come ‘off the street’ with zero experience with handguns, and really the range training isn’t frequent enough to gain a lot of familiarity. There’s also the issue of trying to hold the pistol with gloves on. So they will always keep a tall grip.

I just wonder what its nomenclature will be - M320?


53 posted on 01/20/2017 4:57:19 AM PST by lacrew
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To: Bratch

The biggest flaw in the M9 that Senator Ernst identifies is more about the bullet than the pistol. I don’t understand why we still adhere to using ball rounds vice hollow points. Pushing a tiny round though an enemy and only creating a modest-sized wound channel seems way too risky when you’re fighting so close that you’re using a pistol! Shot placement obviously becomes paramount when you’re handicapped by your bullet and the old prejudices against dum dum rounds.


54 posted on 01/20/2017 5:08:04 AM PST by elhombrelibre (Cogito ergo sum a conservative pro-American.)
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To: iowamark

The article states the Sig in 9mm was chosen.
What’s the point?
I thought the whole idea of looking for different sidearm was a new caliber.
If they are sticking with 9mm, a mistake IMO, stick with the M9.
I’ve never fired a Beretta though I’ve heard they are nice. My complaint with them is their size v caliber.
Get a caliber that starts with 4.
Or 357 Sig?


55 posted on 01/20/2017 5:09:34 AM PST by Vinnie
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To: glock rocks

Sig , which I am a major fan of as I own a LOT of their products, P220, P226, P239, P227, two AR pistols in 5.56 and 300blk etcetera made a major blunder IMO thinking Hillary was gonna win . They dumped a bunch of garbage on they’re customers by thinking the evil black rifles were gonna be banned and wanted to get some coin before Hillary did such.

The most recent purchase, a few months before the election, was the AR pistol in 300blk. Horrendous POS slapped together from every scrap, cheap, screwed up parts they could collective make money off of quick. Trigger was so bad everyone I showed it to thought the safety was still on., charging handle was dragging to the point it wouldn’t completely let the bolt go forward. The bolt components , cotter pin , etc were just the cheapest of cheap , real rough.

When I called customer service they started in on me with comments like “well those are mil-spec triggers and thats normal” . “Well there is gonna be a break
in period” . “Well YOU have to understand” Etcetera.

Having spare parts for the POS I replaced the trigger with a geissele SSG trigger, and AAC suppressed bolt carrier, JP enterprises buffer and spring and a Raptor charging handle. Best 800 dollar upper, lower, grip, barrel and arm brace money can buy from Sig that was the most unsafe, unusable piece of crap NIB I have ever seen them sell. Customer service sucked bad being the first and only time I’ve ever had to call em.

Basically rebuilt the damn thing before I put a round through it.

I’ve carried AR’s, M16’s, variants of since age 18 in my military career, private ownership, and issued as a contractor to today in my mid 60’s and never have seen such a piss poor product passed down the pipe from what had been till now a great manufacturer.

Carry a sig pistol daily as its old , quality , tested and trusted, Reliable.

But something is very wrong at Sig right now ..... trust of basic quality control is gone for me. Will never recommend them again as many of my local dealers are reporting multiple customers returning the pistols and AR’s for replacement or repair.

Old Sigs ..... great products, only one issue with em in past 30 years was my P220 broke a transfer bar under the right grip while I was trying some hot cor-bon 45 in it..... my fault as either cor-bon was too hot back in the day or a design flaw in the transfer bar . Our armorers, having never had to replace that many transfer bars, blamed the cor-bon ammo.

Hope they get they’re manufacturing and quality control poop proper before they issue to the troops.

My own opinion only based on decades of experience. Your mileage may vary......


56 posted on 01/20/2017 5:18:12 AM PST by Squantos (Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everyone you meet ...)
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To: ZULU
None to my knowledge. A .45 has more stopping power than a 9 mm. Simple physics. F = MA

Not when it has to go through a modern ballistic plate, first.

I wouldn't give a tinker's damn for a 9mm's chances either, but at least an ap version DOES exist.

57 posted on 01/20/2017 5:57:52 AM PST by papertyger (The semantics define how we think.)
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To: central_va
Apparently there is a .40 and .45 cal version according to Wiki.

Unfortunately, the .45 version is NOT interchangeable with the other chamberings....

58 posted on 01/20/2017 6:00:29 AM PST by papertyger (The semantics define how we think.)
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To: lacrew

I’d also though about the military shooter probably more often than not wearing GI gloves, as gate security forces and guard duty personnel will be expected to. Yet another layer of stacking tolerances which will throw off accuracy with a full grip and lower hand web purchase. The .45 ACP Glock 21 is usually too big for most shooter’s grip, and a holding a Glock 19 wearing gloves makes it feel like a Glock 21.

One curious addition is the pronounced beavertail on a striker fired pistol. I understand the geometry of the Sig 320 was developed from a hammer-fired Sig model and I wonder if they really considered its necessity.

The only thing I really know about the new Sig 320 service pistol is that it apparently met all the US Army requirements in the specification bid sheet. Now its left to be seen if those requirements weren’t dubious to begin with. I’d probably struggle to make a list of requirements which satisfies husky US Army Delta Force warriors as well as tiny female USAF military police who have little doll hands.


59 posted on 01/20/2017 6:04:19 AM PST by The KG9 Kid
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To: JayElBee
Raise you hand if you think you chances for survival would be better if, God forbid, you got hit with a .45 vs. being hit with a 9mm round?

I don't see many hands...


60 posted on 01/20/2017 6:10:48 AM PST by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
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