The Army’s New $580 MILLION Handgun: The Sig Sauer M17

[KamenRiderBlade]

https://bearingarms.com/bob-o/2017/01/2 ... sauer-m17/

Any thoughts from those who used to serve or those who are into guns?

[southernphantom]

The selection of a handgun with an external safety was a wise one, in my opinion. Striker-fired handguns without manual external safeties have a reputation for a high rate of negligent discharges, especially with users lacking a good grasp of firearm safety (I'm looking at you, Glock). Truly, sidearms are a very low-priority item- the vast majority of the regular Army is not issued a sidearm, and those who are would be better off with a carbine. Simply having an affordable and reliable type is good enough; the particulars are not very important.

The M9 that the P320/M17 is replacing is actually an excellent handgun in my opinion; I shoot M9s about as well as M1911s, but carry an M1911 due to cost and personal preference. Where the Army went wrong was in failing to sustain the existing inventory, and not buying regular batches of attrition replacements. The result was an inventory of worn-out, unreliable pistols that have a reputation for failure to perform properly in combat.

A lot has been made of the modular nature of the M17. In reality, interchangeable backstraps (intended to allow the pistol to fit a variety of hand sizes by swapping a single component) are getting to be fairly common in the industry. The complete modularity of the P320- the trigger pack is the serialized component; new frames, slides, and barrels are just spare parts- is very neat from the point of view of a civilian shooter who wishes to be able to convert a compact concealed-carry pistol into a full-size duty pistol, but I don't see the draw for the Army. At a predicted price of $209 per unit (NOT counting magazines, training, and other incidental or support costs), I don't think they can go too far wrong, and it will certainly be an acceptable replacement for the worn-out M9s.

[F-16ADF]

For a service pistol, I believe a safety is a must. However, for a carry pistol (CPL), generally having a safety "at times" can be unwise. Things happen so fast, you only have a few seconds at best to draw your weapon against a threat. And if you forget to hit the safety.... It can be all over for you. That's why they make holsters that cover the trigger guard for carry pistols.

Sig makes very good pistols (P226/229), rifles not so.

[arian]

At a predicted price of $209 per unit

Damn that's cheap.

[SpudmanWP]

I would imagine that keeping the fire control group as a drop-in unit would help keep production & repair costs down.

Still, $209 is DAMN cheap.. Too bad us civilians will never see it that low.

[durahawk]

I would imagine that keeping the fire control group as a drop-in unit would help keep production & repair costs down.

Still, $209 is DAMN cheap.. Too bad us civilians will never see it that low.

The original source for that seems to be here:
http://legalinsurrection.com/2017/01/an ... ew-pistol/
...but the context of the information sources seem to be pretty vague.

Honestly $207 seems impossibly low for a handgun fully QC'd to military specs. I'd be willing to bet the $207 is just for the fire control units and that the frame/barrel/slide combinations are separate contract line items given the modular nature of the pistol.

[madrat]

Shouldn't they equip the standard service handgun with a laser pointer in this day and age? Military police and other regular carriers of these weapons would benefit greatly, especially if its integrated with the trigger. And it shouldn't really mean a significant jump in price if they buy in similar bulk.

[wrightwing]

I would imagine that keeping the fire control group as a drop-in unit would help keep production & repair costs down.

Still, $209 is DAMN cheap.. Too bad us civilians will never see it that low.

The original source for that seems to be here:
http://legalinsurrection.com/2017/01/an ... ew-pistol/
...but the context of the information sources seem to be pretty vague.

Honestly $207 seems impossibly low for a handgun fully QC'd to military specs. I'd be willing to bet the $207 is just for the fire control units and that the frame/barrel/slide combinations are separate contract line items given the modular nature of the pistol.

That's where economies of scale, come into play.

[SpudmanWP]

So I went to the local gun store to see what I can buy one for (even the civilian version that it was based on)...

Did I mention that I live in California?

Well, I'm SOL as it's a "Law Enforcement only" pistol.