"Sig’s P320, The Army’s New Handgun, Is In Hot Water..." Topic

… After Multiple Reports Of Safety Defects.

"Since winning the U.S. Army's coveted Modular Handgun System competition back in January, things have been less than smooth sailing for Sig Sauer. First, Sig's primary MHS rival Glock lodged a protest with the U.S. Government Accountability Office in February, which was subsequently thrown out. Then in May, Steyr launched legal proceedings to sue Sig for patent infringement.

Sig's problems worsened last week when online rumors broke suggesting that the P320 was prone to accidental discharges when dropped. Two videos have since emerged that show the Sig pistol firing when dropped. The first shows the pistol discharging when landing on its magazine base…"
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Amicalement
Armand

Yep…

Actually the M17 isn't susceptible to the same issues the P320 has, due to an engineering change made during the acceptance process.

The X5 models are also immune to the issue (different FCU/trigger), AFAIK, but I'm still glad I sold my two compacts a while ago!

TheWhiteDog is quite correct. The M17 has different fire control components that render it drop-safe; it also has a manual thumb safety in all its forms.

I still prefer 1911s, though.

"Most police agencies don't make records public, but those that do reveal disturbing data. In a four-year period (2012-2015), the New York City Police Department reported 54 accidental firearm discharges, 10 involving SIG Sauers. Los Angeles County reported more than 80 accidental discharges between 2010 and 2015, five involving SIG Sauers. From 2005 to January 2011, the San Francisco Police Department reported 29 accidental discharges (a time when it issued SIG Sauers as its primary sidearm).

Accidents aren't limited to police in New York City, Los Angeles or San Francisco.
– In 2002, a San Fernando police officer dropped his SIG Sauer, causing an accidental discharge that killed him, refuting claims the trigger must be pulled to fire the gun.
– In 2008, an officer in Connecticut accidentally discharged his SIG Sauer while holstering it.
– In 2011, a security guard in St. Louis dropped his SIG Sauer, unintentionally shooting someone.
– In 2012, a New York transit officer accidentally discharged his SIG Sauer while holstering it.
– In 2014, a federal air marshal in New Jersey unintentionally shot himself while handling his SIG Sauer service weapon.
– In 2015, a Pennsylvania state trooper and firearms instructor accidentally killed another trooper with his SIG Sauer while conducting safety training.
– In 2016, a tactical response training instructor near Sacramento dropped his SIG Sauer, firing a bullet into a student's truck.
– In 2017, a sheriff's deputy in Michigan accidentally discharged his SIG Sauer, striking a schoolteacher in the neck.

Even at SIG Sauer's own training academy in New Hampshire, the arms manufacturer has admitted to accidental discharges causing injury in both 2016 and 2017."

Obviously, the only real issue is the rate of accidental discharges compared to the rate of other firearms, but the record does give you pause.

Also, Kate Steinle may have been killed by an accidental discharge of the .40 SIG, given that the bullet hit the ground 90 feet from her and ricocheted into her back.

@emckinney

Most of those would actually be classified as a "negligent discharge", not accidental. Those have very little to do with the engineering of the weapon, and much more to do with bad training and improper handling.

The OP is referring to an actual engineering deficiency in the Sig P320, which utilizes a different design than the Sig P226 or P229, being the more commonly used Sig police sidearms. The P320 is striker, rather than hammer-fired, and doesn't have an integral trigger safety like comparable models (Glock, S&W M&P, XD, etc)

Lately, I've preferred the versatility of CZ's Omega trigger system, allowing for a switch from traditional double-action to single-action with a manual safety.