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Army Awards Handgun Contract to Sig Sauer
By TexasWarhawk – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link
Via The Army Times, there was much joy in Epping, NH last night:
Half a decade into its search for a new handgun, the Army has chosen Sig Sauer’s version of the Modular Handgun System [a variant of the company’s P320 handgun], according to a Thursday announcement from the Army. The new sidearm will replace the M9 Beretta, the Army’s pistol of choice for more than 30 years.
“I am tremendously proud of the Modular Handgun System team,” said Army acquisition executive Steffanie Easter in the release. “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.”
The contract is worth a little over $500 million.
Published in Guns, Military
Sig’s been on a roll over the last few years. They hired a bunch of people away from Leupold to create their Electro-Optics Division, they enlisted the services of that mad genius Kevin Brittingham (he of “Honey Badger” fame) to start up their silencer division and makeover the MCX/MPX line, they were the first to create a lifestyle brand around a tactical firearm and their ammo is pretty good, too.
If you look at the spec, you’ll see it was kinda created with Sig in-mind. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as the P320 is a darn good little gun that will do the job well.
I love my P320, so a good choice IMO.
One thing I don’t understand is the addition of an external safety. I’ve heard that the military loves frame safeties on sidearms for training reasons – can someone give more details on the reasoning there?
Agree 100%. This is about the best decision we can expect from a DoD procurement. As a long time Berettaholic I’m a bit saddened, but the Sig is a fine pistol. It’s my son’s preferred daily carry.
Another exampleof Sig’s magic is the little P238. It’s so similar to a Colt Pocketlite that they can use the same magazines, but the Colt will beat up your wrist and I can (and have) run 500 rounds through the Sig without feeling a thing. Excellent little carry gun. I don’t know how they did the physics, but it works.
External safeties are very helpful in situations where someone is trying to get your pistol away from you, either by snatching it out of your holster or your hand. That extra second of the bad guy trying to figure out where the safety is has saved a lot of cop lives.
Because the military just cannot let go of the idea that every gun that doesn’t have a revolving cylinder needs a safety that you have to flick off with something other than your trigger finger because, well, BECAUSE!
@Kevin: “That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as the P320 is a darn good little gun that will do the job well.”
I’m going to show my sidearm ignorance and age at the same time. Wasn’t the good ole .45 1911 a good enough man-stopper on the battlefield?
Best gun I’ve ever owned is my Springfield Armory XD-45. Just a fantastic gun. If I’m ever in a difficult situation I hope I have that with me.
I like the Sig as well, but I’m a little surprised they didn’t choose the XD. I’m sure they had their reasons…
My guess is that it is a little difficult to clean. Maybe it doesn’t work well when it’s full of sand. I don’t know.
The 1911 is a great gun and it still pretty much dominates the upper ranks of competitive shooting because it is tremendously accurate (moreso than most shooters can take advantage of). However, there are three things that go against it right now as a military gun.
There is a different dynamic to police shooting situations. When I was a police officer the stats were that in the majority of police shootings your adversary was 3 feet away or closer to you. The Glock became a popular choice because it was point and shoot in that type of situation. So a pistol without an additional safety was an advantage for an officer in a high stress situation.
When you qualified, and in our department you had to qualify quarterly the first step was two rounds center mass in 2 seconds from a holstered position from 2 feet away from the target. You were taught not to extend the pistol towards the target but to fire as the pistol was at your side so the pistol could not be grabbed by an adversary.
There are departments that use the Sig, it is a very good pistol. The Glock was easy to maintain and clean and Glock offered police departments the armorers class for their range instructors as well as for any other officer that wanted to take the course.
Also, the 1911 ergonomics are a problem for anyone who can’t palm a basketball.
I don’t understand why the change. The pistol is hardly ever used to shoot anyone. Most soldiers don’t practice enough to get effective beyond point-blank range. So quality of the pistol doesn’t really matter that much. So why the change?
Three reasons, I think.
Good, practical points. But let’s not underestimate how much the Pentagon loves to play around with new weapon systems.
SIG Sauer? That’s a partnership between SIG of Switzerland and Sauer & Sohn of Germany. It’s replacing Beretta? Of Italy? Germany and Italy – we fought a war against them, and now we’re buying their guns?! Why isn’t our military Making America Great Again? Shouldn’t our soldiers be carrying Colt, Smith & Wesson, Remington, or Winchester?
Quick, President Trump! You must intervene! Americatize those guns fast!
Well now I know what to get my boy for graduation from his military college.
Speaking of. I don’t know if they followed through or not, but I remember hearing about Smith & Wesson rebranding to some outdoor company stuff lat last year:
http://www.investors.com/news/eyeing-the-greater-outdoors-smith-wesson-seeks-name-change/
I say Smith & Wesson is thinking too small. “American Outdoor Brands Corp.”? Why not just go all-out? How about Happy Family Goodtime SmileCorp? Huggybuggy Snuggletug, Co.? Or Lollipop Loveydovey Bunnyworks, Ltd.? I say if you’re going to go for a euphemistic name, you should really go for it…
It’s just the name of the holding company. The guns will still be sold under the Smith & Wesson name.
Probably makes the stock more palatable to investors.
Sig got my money, too. My wife finally caved and let me buy a smaller carry gun for my birthday last year, and I liked the Sig P938 the best.
Durability possibly. Sigs are tough guns. I have two Springfield XD 45’s and love them.
Both Sig and Glock have manufacturing facilities in the US.
Sig handguns are made in New Hampshire. As for Beretta…ahem. The oldest company in the world still operating under the same owners had a factory in Maryland when they got the original contract. When Argentina got all huffy about a locally made handgun for their military, Beretta built a factory there. Which eventually became Taurus, which now makes handguns in Florida. Welcome to globalization. Check your Ricochet activity on your Korean smartphone, climb in your Toyota and go get some sushi for lunch.
Brazil. It was then bought by Taurus.
You’re right. Sorry. Everything south of the Equator is kind of a blur to me.
I still say I want a handgun I can use to beat em over the head with when I’ve run out of ammo. 1911 FTW! ;)
Many antique pistols were designed with precisely that in mind.
There’s unconfirmed rumors from a decently good source that the Army paid $207 per on the guns.
That’s pretty low. Darn close to Sig’s cost, I’d imagine. Sig is obviously counting on making money on the back end, the ammo and accessories, which is smart.
Plus, others will buy them because the military did. Likely at premium prices.
*dingding
*dingdingding*
At this moment, as far as I can tell, there are exactly three reasons to buy a Beretta 92:
Other than that, there’s nothing.
4. There will soon be a lot of inexpensive used ones on the market, and there are tons of aftermarket goodies, holsters, etc.
5. It’s one of the most reliable handguns ever produced.
6. It’s a Beretta, so it’s beautiful.