Sig has responded to the drop test concern on the P320 pistol series with the following statement and upgrade package on a voluntary basis available next Monday 8/14/2017.
Original post below
SIG SAUER Issues Voluntary Upgrade of P320 Pistol P320 pistol meets requirements for industry and government safety standards;
performance enhancements optimize function, safety, and reliability.
Newington, NH (August 8, 2017) – The P320 meets U.S. standards for safety, including the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) / Sporting Arms Ammunition Manufacturers’ Institute, Inc. (SAAMI®), National Institute of Justice (NIJ), as well as rigorous testing protocols for global military and law enforcement agencies.
The design of the SIG SAUER P320 overcomes the most significant safety concern in striker-fired pistols today: the practice of pressing the trigger for disassembly. This can be performed with a round in the chamber which has resulted in numerous incidents of property damage, physical injury, and death. The disassembly process of the P320, however, uses a take-down lever rather than pressing the trigger, eliminating the possibility of discharge during the disassembly process.
Recent events indicate that dropping the P320 beyond U.S. standards for safety may cause an unintentional discharge. As a result of input from law enforcement, government and military customers, SIG has developed a number of enhancements in function, reliability, and overall safety including drop performance. SIG SAUER is offering these enhancements to its customers. Details of this program will be available atsigsauer.comon Monday, August 14, 2017
The M17 variant of the P320, selected by the U.S. government as the U.S. Army’s Modular Handgun System (MHS), is not affected by the Voluntary Upgrade.“SIG SAUER is committed to our approach on innovation, optimization, and performance, ensuring we produce the finest possible products,” said Ron Cohen, President and CEO of SIG SAUER. “Durability, reliability and safety, as well as end-user confidence in the SIG SAUER brand are the priorities for our team.”For more information on SIG SAUER, please visit us atsigsauer.com.
Andrew Tuohy who originally started Vuurwapenblog is now the leading mad scientist at Omaha Outdoors. They regular post test footage and their in house evaluations of different OO products.
Tuohy has always struck me as a more dispassionate observer than most with a meticulous scientific methodology.
Find whole article here but in short the P320 pistols they tested (4) passed the standardized drop test criteria. It was on an accidental drop that the firing was first observed and the drop was at a non standard angle. They repeated the test at the observed angle at could consistently get the pistols to fire. One gun with a lower mass trigger (not lighter trigger pull weight) had fewer issues leading to the conclusion that the falling mass at that angle actually can fire the gun.
Sig Sauer has stated the P320 pistols do not have a drop safe issue (and by standardized testing they are correct) and state in their manual that ANY dropped pistol can fire (also correct mechanically)
This could be especially troubling as the P320 is slated for widespread adoption in with US Military and several LE Organizations.
What do you think? Isolated quirk or design change needed?
Personally I never had an issue with my P320, but I never dropped it.
