Why P320 is so popular outside of pistol-forum

[Zman001]

M17-18 became the standard across all 4 services after the most stringent selection process ever undertaken

This is completely incorrect. The Beretta M9 went through trials twice. The m17/m18 didn't even complete 1 trial.

And the few cops I've asked about their 320's, weren't exactly happy with their new guns.

[edison]

Legion weighs 42 oz without the removeable magwell, has adjustable sights and a trigger Glocks could only dream of. Its purpose made for SSP / Production competition, or CO competition. Glocks barely exist in that space any more (same for M&P actually), and literally can't make the same weight without illegal modification. Recent equipment surveys have them almost completely absent now.

Are you talking about the equipment survey at USPSA nationals?

[TCinVA]

Again: The 320 is being marketed aggressively, especially to institutional users. Sig is following Glock's old business model for marketshare.

The 320 has been through some rigorous testing...where it had significant issues. The FBI contract is likely the largest. All the scuttlebutt I heard coming out of the FBI on that was highly favorable until all of a sudden it wasn't due to serious issues that arose in testing and viola: The Gen5 Glock got the win.

It's worth noting that the FBI, the USSS, and the CBP awards were made after some pretty thorough testing...and all went to Glock.

The 320 has some significant potential advantages over Glock. An entire industry of reworking Glock grips hasn't materialized for no reason. The Glock is an ergonomic nightmare for most people's hands. The Sig's use of an easily replaceable frame that a fire control chassis slips into is brilliant. It's the execution of it that leaves much to be desired, and that's where Sig has been for a number of years. They've been willing to innovate but did so with significant problems in delivering on the final product.

The S&W M&P is a superb design that had serious problems from the jump because of S&W's troubles delivering a proper end result. It took them until version 2.0 to address serious issues like the inconsistent lockup problem. Had they fixed that up front and not had a number of other problems along the way, who knows where the M&P might be right now.

[Rc217]

I have a p320 variant and the Wilson Combat grip module and a flat face trigger renewed my interest in it. The fcu concept allows the user to significantly change the feel of the gun without permanent mods or going through an ffl. It is definitely debatable how big a deal that is, and I definitely understand just having another firearm instead of switching things around. What about the fcu makes it to where you can serialize it as the “gun” and would there be a way for Glock to do that and maintain their simplicity? I would love to be able to drop a Glock fcu into various aftermarket modules without having to go the p80 route or buy other serialized parts.

[Spoon Dog]

A changing of the guards is hardest for the most entrenched.

All great things must first wear a terrible mask....

Now that we had a few massive hate fests in this forum, such as "Would you trust P320", how about we reconcile with the fact that civilians love them some P320?

I'm just back from a pistol class where I ran P320 Full Size. I only have that gun because the front strap of G19 cuts painfully into my fingers as I start to apply the grip. The cross-section of the grip on my P320 is more round at the front, so it does not hurt no matter how tight I grasp it. Before getting it, I considered putting a good bead of JB Weld on the front strap of my G19, then filing it into a desirable shape, but I decided that I wasn't handy enough to make that project a success. I fired a bit north of 1300 rounds in the class, and dry-fired perhaps a third of a half of that amount, and my fingers are fine.

But another thing I noticed is the invasion of P320 of various kinds among the students. Most still have Glocks, but I'd say P320 is at least a quarter. It wasn't like that just a year ago. Well, I had a Glock back then too.

I overheard other students discussing this and the ergonomics was the main topic. Glock users had calluses and tender spots. One guy's fingers were in band-aids all over. Another one reported to class on the second day wearing gloves. SIG users were feeling smug, I'm sure. The second topic was the complaints about the price of SIG magazines. I brought ETS magazines to the class, but to the disappointment of many, they aren't drop-free in my gun. Nobody seemed to care much about the difference in the trigger feel.

I didn't see any malfunctions aside from one Glock user having light strikes, but it was cured by a change in ammunition. Well, 1300 rounds per gun is not much. But it is safe to consider P320 reliable enough for civilian use.

I'm afraid P320 is here to stay. Even if nothing else, adoption by Army is going to see to that.

[LockedBreech]

The sig hate mob mentality goes mainly to the demographic change this forum has seen in the past 3-4 years, this place used to be small, very small in membership numbers, and those numbers were comprised I'd guess of about 85% professional users, LE, national and regional level competitors, industry insiders and seasoned instructors.
That has flipped, maybe not fully the other way but around 75% of todays PF membership is civilian hobbyists looking for and sharing EDC information on today's pistols, and we know how powerful the mob mentality can be in forums, if you dont pile on the sig hate threads with your own licks, your not gonna be one of the cool kids, even worse if you come out as a sig defender.

I've never gotten the impression that anyone at PF gives a shit about being "cool" - certainly I don't, that's why I like it here.

I think we joined around the same time and while I've noticed plenty of new faces I still see "shoot more, buy less" as the answer to most questions, which tells me we're still culturally pretty sound. I'm certainly a better shooter because of PF.

I'm responding to this mainly because I've been pretty vocally one of the anti-Sigs here, but I'm certainly not thoughtless or hive-mind about it. I enthusiastically endorse the SP2022 still, and if the QC issues ever smooth out I want an M18.

[zaitcev]

I would be all over a p320 compact if it was hammer fired.

If a hammer-fired P320 Compact were all you wanted, it would be very simple to make one, just expensive. Buy a few P250 parts, buy a MUP-1 fixture, use the fixture to drill a couple of holes, swap the P250 parts into your Compact and voila: you have a hammer-fired P320 Compact. In fact, the extra holes do not prevent you going back to striker if you want. But I suspect that you actually want a DA/SA P320 Compact instead. The latter is impossible unfortunately.

[Runt1122]

Mike Glover, retired special forces, seems VERY impressed with his new Sig P320. This guy has seen more combat than we can imagine, is an instructor today, and incredibly humble.

[Joe in PNG]

Its the army pistol. Thats quite attractive to lots of people

Also, most people don't shoot much, and they definitely don't worry about the companies reputation.

If people cared about actual use & reputation, Uncle Mike's & Serpas wouldn't be as popular.

[Alpha Sierra]

Its the army pistol. Thats quite attractive to lots of people

Also, most people don't shoot much, and they definitely don't worry about the companies reputation.

The 320 becomes more and more popular in USPSA carry optics and production every passing month. They (we) shoot A LOT as a general rule. Probably more than most tac timmies, I would bet.

Most people don't worry about the "reputation" of the company that made their pistol because it's irrelevant if theirs runs. They're not interested in virtue signaling or tilting at windmills.

FTR, I neither have nor want a 320. I shot one once and it sucked.