THE P320 FIRES UN-COMMANDED
The Sig 320 and M18 were recently investigated by the FBI due to several reports of Sig 320s and M18s in federal service having uncommanded discharges or premature breakages. The FBI has deemed the Sig M18/P320 unfit for duty. Also, other federal institutions such as ICE have issued orders banning the Sig 320 and M18 from service. These agencies have been ordered to replace the unfit pistols with the Glock. OUCH!! Oh wait, Washington state already beat them to it and banned them due to uncommanded detonations in training. Much recently, an Airman with the Air Force Security Forces was killed by an uncommanded discharge by his M18, sparking an investigation into the pistol by the Air Force.
THE BEGINNING OF THE END?
Could this be karma coming back to bite the fed for choosing the lowest bidder before testing the pistols in question? Or is this karma for Sig denying any culpability for nearly a decade and calling the LEOs, that experienced unintended discharges, untrained liars? Or perhaps this is the result of Sig trying too hard to do everything under the sun and say “ta-ta” to quality control? Well, maybe it is all of the above, but all I can say is that I saw this coming a long time ago.
In 2017, a YouTube channel performed drop testing on the Sig 320 which showed the preloaded striker system to be unsafe and incapable of passing a basic drop. It became a huge hit on YouTube to drop the Sig 320 and record it going off. Sig had a VOLUNTARY upgrade program and some users announced that it STILL WENT OFF when dropped.
Sig has also faced issues in the military arena with durability issues and the sight plates coming clean off while firing. Not to mention reports of uncommanded discharges have happened in the military M17/M18s.
DYING ON THIS MOUNTAIN
Sig Sauer USA has made history in their recent statement, stating that they won’t go quietly and that their pistol is just fine. Talk about picking the ugliest hill to die on. Instead of admitting design issues or QC problems, Sig is blaming the police and agents who experienced these failures and said they were caused by ‘operator error’ or poor holster designs. I’m sorry that I’m not sorry, but there is surveillance footage of these things going ‘pew’ without a trigger pull.
Heck, even the holster company Alien Gear agreed to cooperate with the investigation while Sig declined. Strong move, Sig. Below is the quote from the report, thanks to Americanthinker.com
“A reliable test could not be developed at the time of this document to test the effectiveness of the secondary sear notch. However, testing did indicate with movements representing those common to a law enforcement officer it is possible to render the Striker Safety Lock inoperable and ineffective at preventing the striker from impacting a chambered round if complete sear engagement is lost. It is important to note that the Striker Safety Lock, by design, is the last safety in line to prevent an unintended discharge as it is in place to protect against a secondary sear notch override.
While examination of the subject weapon did not independently provide evidence of an uncommanded discharge it does indicate that it may be possible if sear engagement is lost. The disabling of the striker safety lock through movement and friction creates a condition which merits further exploration to fully assess potential risk.
BRF recommends that MSP weigh the content of this report with the outcome of the internal investigation in making its final determination related to the Sig Sauer M18 as an issued firearm within the department.”
That’s not damning or anything, right?
INFLUENCERS SCRAMBLING
I watched the GBRS response to people questioning the reliability of the Sig 320. It would seem that all influencers are following suit and assembling their brand loyalty phalanx. Is it based off money, or ego defense? Regardless, the defense these influencers seem to have made is that the claims of uncommanded discharges are just words and ANY discharge made with a P320/M17/M18 is done by trigger manipulation only. The common source of “evidence” they provide is anecdotal. They claim that they “have several P320s that have never gone off”. That’s cute, but the test confirmed that the uncommanded discharges are caused by the day-to-day actions of LE. That means hours of micro-vibrations from vehicles, banging around and jarring while running and wrestling with people, etc. Last time I checked, these influencers spent hours on a flat range talking to a camera, not doing LE work.
The Sig shills are having backlash from critical thinking fellow gun tubers. I particularly liked the video from Modern Tactical Shooting because her was very balanced and matter of fact in his retort to GBRS’s F bomb-laced defense video. I was saying years ago that Sig ‘as a company’ was a shill’s dream. I was not a fan of the QC issues Sig USA has had since manufacturing of the 22X series exclusively in the US. Every Sig shill on social media seems to have issues with criticism against the pistol. Instead of acknowledging the issues of the past, they play ignorant. Perhaps that is part of the deal. Free guns for pretended ignorance and/or blind support.
I CALLED IT LONG AGO
I remember when small arm solutions put out the video about how the XM17 trials were botched and why the Beretta is a better option. I tend to agree that the Beretta is just fine, but the military armorers are the ones that can’t seem to do their job. Most of the armorers I knew in the Marines always acted like breakages of parts were our fault, as if we were the ones that intentionally broke the parts out of malice. I remember the M9 I was issued that had safety lever springs that were so worn that I could shake the pistol vigorously and the pistol would flop on and off safe freely. “MILITARY GRADE”, right? Even with all that, I would rather see the Beretta M9A4 enter service or the Glock 19X.
WHAT HAPPENS NOW?
I’m hoping to see more LE agencies and the military reevaluate their pistol options. It is never good to just go with the cheapest options and unfortunately, I think this is the biggest scandal in recent gun history. Sig has had a coordinated media defense that has involved false claims and accessory companies making false claims. In their defense, Sig and all the involved companies have invested alot of money to get stacked inventory and place all their eggs into the P320 basket. I get it; the idea that your huge investment is being accused of being faulty, it can damage your image. So do you lie and try to cover the issue underground, or admit an issue and risk a huge loss in popularity and revenue?