Exclusive Test Fire of the Army’s new MHS pistol, the SIG Sauer M17/18
by Eric R. Poole   |  July 13th, 2017   |  By: Eric R. Poole Photos and video by Sean Utley


SIGSauer M17/M18
SIG Sauer has won the coveted U.S. Army Modular Handgun System (MHS) contract, beating eight notable challengers including submissions from Beretta, FN, Glock and Smith & Wesson. SIG Sauer’s P320-based XM17 (full-size) and XM18 (compact) survived extensive vetting as well as a recent series of objections that Glock made to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). On June 5, 2017, the GAO denied Glock’s protest. SIG won.

The U.S. Army’s selection of SIG Sauer’s P320 is no small achievement. This elite list of chosen sidearms is a matter of historical record, and one that often yields decades of business. Depending on configuration, the pistols will be designated the M17 and M18, respectively, and a modular chassis could mean that these pistols serve troops indefinitely.

The 10-year award is estimated to be worth $580 million. It is extremely important to SIG Sauer’s reputation. In the last 10 years, the manufacturer has enjoyed a series of credibility-boosting successes under the leadership of president Ron Cohen. The company remains on a mission to monopolize many of the categories that currently matter: pistols, rifles, ammunition, optics and suppressors.

The M17/M18 are very similar to the commercially available P320, which retails for $680 and shares most of the same modular characteristics. The M17 features the P320 Carry frame with a full-size P320 slide. The M18 features the P320 Carry frame with a Carry-length slide. Both pistols were spec’d to be tanin color.  Steel components are given a physical vapor deposition (PVD), which is a uniform, durable and corrosion-resistant finish.

A big difference between the P320 and M17/M18 is the pin spanner screws specified by Uncle Sam to resist tampering and disassembly beyond an operator level. Maintenance beyond what’s accessible during fieldstripping and reconfiguration of the M17/M18 is supposed to be accomplished by an armorer. During our test of both models, a spanner-head screw was placed on the back of the slide over the extractor and?to the right of the striker and one opposite of the takedown lever. As this article was written, G&A learned that the pin spanner for the takedown lever was changing because it would prohibit operator-level access to the chassis assembly. Lastly, the M17/M18 will feature a lightweight trigger (with the same curvature as the P320 trigger), an RFID and unique serial number as specified by the U.S. Army.

Per U.S. Army requirements, the rear sight assembly differs from commercial P320 models because the M17/M18 features a removable rear-sight plate with an adjustable orange-colored SIGLite tritium night sight. The steel plate covers and protects the footprint needed for mounting a Leupold DeltaPoint Pro red dot sight, a clue to the forward thinking of the U.S. Army given that red dot sight capability was spec’d in the request.

Since the MHS solicitation did not specify caliber, it is also telling that the military thinks a large capacity 9mm is still relevant despite the calls for a bigger caliber.

GACoverSept2017G&A’s staff can report that SIG Sauer will offer an almost-identical consumer version (sans U.S. government markings) of this pistol.

More information and photos featuring the M17/M18 will appear in the September 2017 issue of Guns & Ammo magazine.


Read more: http://www.gunsandammo.com/military-law-enforcement/test-firing-armys-new-mhs-pistol-sig-sauer-m1718/#ixzz4mpS39qYh

GACoverSept2017G&A’s staff can report that SIG Sauer will offer an almost-identical consumer version (sans U.S. government markings) of this pistol.

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Glock will offer a drop in trigger model in the near future. At that point kit Glocks will have the one thing they need to become the AR15 of the handgun world.

Or, not. I can see Gaston resting on his laurels while the SIG design pulls away.

The "Glock Empire" is much like the proverbial one in the movies. There's a lot of shenanigans behind the scenes, and if there is ONE thing proven by this contract and by the competition, it's that Glock is fleecing their customers with pricing and hype. It's like reading Rolex posts, it's all about the superlative engineering. No, not so much. It's just a pistol invented by a cabinet hardware manufacturer. Glock isn't all that. What happened was a lot of newby gun owners who bought into the tribal association when CCW expanded across the country in the last 20 years.

Colt and S&W used to own the LEO market at one time. Don't get cocky. They all have their time and then the next new thing comes along and they fall off their throne.

HOW long did it take for them to offer a 9mm single stack? And is the .380 truly a pocket pistol? Glock shills are all about it but no, it's not really all that.

Whining about the M17 contract isn't winning. Fail.

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Smith and Wesson will ALWAYS own the US police market. ( circa 1989 )

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The hurt runs deep in this thread when the fact is that SIG went balls to the wall for this contract and Glock just mailed it in so far as meeting the specifications as well as price wise.

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Naw dog, last I checked Glock has a 65% market share.

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The only "innovation" the P320 offers is a swap-able trigger mechanism, the utility of which remains to be determined. I just don't foresee it being the next big thing.

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That was my point.  They were unseated from supremacy in that market.  So too will Glock be unseated and likely this is what will do it.

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In for the shitposting "i h8 glox cuz they populr, and sig won on price but we will dog glox anyways cuz fanboys suck."

And before someone says this is handguns tech, the other side already started this in the 4th post.

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The hurt runs deep in this thread when the fact is that SIG went balls to the wall for this contract and Glock just mailed it in so far as meeting the specifications as well as price wise.

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Look at the HUGE Glock aftermarket.

Stippling, reprofiling, cutting 17s to 19 length. Cutting 19s to 26 length. All are super expensive and destroy retail value.

But when it's a $35 not serialized part there is much more freedom for consumers and manufacturers to do that work (plus mag length doesn't need cutting with the 320,because unlike Glock all their lengths used the same lockup)

Plus, there's lots of potential for the aftermarket to make frames without dealing with licensing.

I guarantee people said the same thing about the AR way back when. But now not only do we have 20". 223, but beltfeds subguns, lengths, freaking soda can launchers.

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I do hope for the sake of all enlisted that will have to use this thing that it doesn't get anyone killed.

I don't like the M9 either but I own one.  I'll own one of these too when it's available to the public.

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Does anyone know the differences, if any, between the pistol submitted by Glock for this award, and the one we can buy?  

Gaston has gotten a lot of free press with this; it might be in his best interest to capitalize on it by offering the model they submitted (if it's significantly different).  EDIT to add: Wow, Charlie_Foxtrot had the same thought I did and posted while I was still typing.  

As part of the pre-award survey, Sig would have to demonstrate to the gov that they have a plan to meet the production capacity which should help them in he civilian market as well.  

It's a win-win all around in my opinion.

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Now here is the important and most telling point.  People buy Glock, Smith or whatever and immediately think they have to dump money into the aftermarket to make it useful.  What sig has done that is so radical is to make a pistol that does not need the aftermarket. It's already changeable, has a fantastic trigger out of the box, and can be customized to the users needs with low cost plug and play factory options.  This is in fact new and radical.  I have been reading the " I just bought " in the Sig forums and have to laugh a little. Buyers have become so used to getting aftermarket triggers that they ordered one before their pistol arrives.  Wasted money becuase the Sig won't need it.  

For the cop market alone this is huge. Qualification 1 serial number, reconfigure to your daily need.

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This might be my first Sig.....

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WTF are you like 12 years old? The little triggers with you hidden fan boys are incredible. There is a fucking reason you see posts like my first one in EVERY dam Sig P320 thread.

Any excuse to bitch at someone anonymously on a forum right? Oh and INB4 you post the "irony" when you could have just ignored my post before going all anonymous tough guy.

I was sold on the P320 before the Gov contract. It was getting good reviews regardless. Glock makes awesome striker pistols but I decided to go a different route.



The easier sight replacement intrigues me as well.

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I'm waiting for someone to come up with a PCC that the fire control module will drop into.

With my luck, it'll be Mako.