When the requirements were formulated for a new handgun for the U.S. Army, one of the tenets of the proposal was that an existing model handgun was desired to fulfill the requirements laid out in the Modular Handgun System Request for Proposal, known as the XM17 Procurement. SIG Sauer submitted a P320 with a number of modifications for the XM17 Modular Handgun System competition. Modifications include:
Slide cut out to facilitate the addition of a reflex sight.
Using spanner screws instead of normal screws to resist disassembly farther than field stripping by non-armorer users
History
SIG Sauer wins the award
On January 19, 2017, the United States Army announced that the SIG Sauer P320 MHS variant had won the military's Modular Handgun System trials. The P320 is known as the M17 and M18 in U.S. Military service. Though the pistol will remain chambered in 9 x 19mm NATO rather than a larger caliber, the contract allows the Army and other services to procure SIG Sauer’s proposed XM1152 Full Metal Jacket and XM1153 Special Purpose ammunition. The ammunition chosen to go with the pistol is a "Winchester jacketed hollow point" round; similar in appearance to the Winchester PDX1 round but with some differences to the design of the hollowpoint petals. The M17 has better accuracy and ergonomics and tighter dispersion than the M9 and will be fielded more widely, being issued down to squad and fireteam leaders. Special forces dual-arm all of its members with a pistol and rifle. Junior leaders in regular infantry units who were previously excluded from carrying sidearms will be given more choices and options in close quarters battle situations under a new policy. All Army units are planned to have the M9 replaced with the M17 within a decade.
U.S. military services adopt the M17 and M18
In May 2017, the Army announced that the first unit that will receive the M17 would be the 101st Airborne Division by the end of the year. At the same time, the rest of the U.S. Armed Forces revealed they also intend to acquire the handgun, making it the standard sidearm for the entire U.S. military. The services plan to procure up to 421,000 weapons in total; 195,000 for the Army, 130,000 for the Air Force, 61,000 for the Navy, and 35,000 for the Marines. The United States Marine Corps is replacing its M9, M9A1, M45A1, and M007 handguns with the SIG Sauer M18 handguns. The M9 and M9A1 were produced by Beretta while the M45A1 was made by Colt and the M007, which was only recently accepted as a variant, is made by Glock. Although it has been announced that the US Coast Guard is also adopting the M17/18 handgun, there are no purchase numbers as yet. In November 2019, SIG Sauer announced the delivery of the 100,000th M17/M18 handgun to the U.S. military.
Ammunition award
As part of the MHS procurement a new source for ammunition was solicited. The two types to be procured are the 9×19mm Parabellum, 115 grain XM1152 Ball and 147 grain XM1153 Special Purpose, now the M1152 and M1153. Olin Corporation has received that award for approximately 1.2 Million rounds of ammunition. The ammunition mentioned here In the infobox is Winchester Civilian issue.
Assessment recommendations
The first annual report for the XM17/XM18 Modular Handgun System program assessment recommended the Army:
Upon identification of the root cause of the double ejections and ball ammunition reliability problems, confirm fixes to both the XM17 and XM18 in future testing.
Work with the vendor to identify and eliminate cause of variability in the manufacture of the trigger group mechanism.
Consider redesign of the slide catch lever or operator training changes to prevent engagement by operators while shooting the pistol.
SIG Sauer P320-M17 and P320-M18
The 2018 SIG Sauer catalog features the Civilian P320-M17 version of the full-sized M17 military handgun. It shows the new model to be in a color called Coyote Tan and is configured nearly identical to the military M17. The P320-M17 stainless steel slide is PVD coated and the control elements feature a black finish like found on later military M17 service pistol batches. It is available with and without an external manual safety and is announced as being limited to a production run of 5,000 units. The 2020 SIG Sauer catalog features the Civilian P320-M18 version configured nearly identical to the smaller-sized military M18 handgun. Like the P320-M17, it is also based on the pistol used by the U.S. military.
Other purchasers of the P320
Denmark has selected the SIG Sauer P320 XCarry model to replace its current m/49 handgun. This was the result of trials in which handguns from Canik, Glock, Smith & Wesson, Beretta were all tested.
The Royal Thai Police have purchased 152,468 P320 handguns.
US
Bismarck Police Department have adopted the P320. The department also tested the Smith & Wesson M&P M2.0, and the Glock 17 and 19. Police Chief Dan Donlin said, "The SIG Sauer, in the majority of opinions, outperformed the Glock," Donlin said. "It provided a lot more overall comfort and handling in the varying hand sizes of our officers," referring to the P320’s three grip module sizes. "The SIG, out of the box, was very accurate. Even our best shooters couldn't believe how much better they shot with the SIG versus the Glock.”
These are not the same as the M17/M18 but are closely related and will be sourced from US factory in Newington, New Hampshire and the German site at Eckernförde.
