Thanks, guys, for the education. I had assumed Glock, himself "ran" things but others designed the gun. Always happy to learn new stuff!
Paul Barrett covers a bit of the early design of the Glock 17 that was accepted by the Austrian military in his book, Glock: Rise of America’s Gun. He mentions a couple men who were part of his sessions at Velden in the early 80s, Col. Friederich Dechant and Sigfried Hubner:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0307719952...YYQ3WDPKG3QR0S
Another news story on the P320. Rehashed stuff from awhile ago combined with the lawsuit mentioned in my OP:
https://www.inquirer.com/business/si...-20210227.html
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From my understanding, that is exactly what it was intended to do. I saw Todd G. shooting initial prototypes, and have taken several classes, and thus, several meals with the inventor. Not necessarily to stop the striker from moving far enough to fall, but to signal the shooter "hey...somethin ain't right here". Although in playing with mine with both my Glocks, I can, if I push hard enough, block the striker far enough forward to keep the safeties engaged. That is not normal thumb pressure as I reholster, though. I have taken a lot of people into custody, and have had to "speed holster" many, many times. I do not know for a fact that, in the heat of the moment, with an thumb on the back of the SCD that I will notice the "something's wrong here" message of the SCD, but I like the layer of opportunity to avoid an ND.
I have posted before, started with revolvers, thumb on hammer reholstering (thanks @Mas). Went to DA/SA autos. Thumb on hammer reholster. Went to single action auto, thumb in front of hammer, safety on reholster. Now with Glock/SCD, thumb on SCD reholster.
pat
I think this article is very well done.
At this point in my career I am basically a bureaucrat described as an administrator. The main part of my job is student, employee, and teacher safety. Once safety has been established then teachers can teach and students can learn. With that in mind, I evaluate all new programs and products from a safety aspect first. Both employees and students will sue for everything. Any product that seems dangerous or has a potential to harm is pretty much removed from consideration right off the bat.
I think Sig is going to have a increasingly hard time until they can prove their product safe. Right or wrong the perception is out there that these guns are not safe. The local cops that stop by my school to visit talked about it with me and also said that there is an advertisement for legal representation if you are injured by a P320 in one of the cop magazines they read. Articles like this one will only expose more people to these issues.
If I was a city manager or a police officer involved in buying new weapons for a departments I can't even imagine considering the SIG. At this point any ND, related to the potential problem or not, is going to be litigated. I can't imagine the payout for a second or third year cop who shoots themself or is shot by a non-commanded discharge. If a citizen was shot, legit or god forbid on accident, it would expose the city and department to additional scrutiny. There are enough other good platforms out there that I would not take the risk.
I am not trying to bash SIG at all, but just putting out some random thoughts from someone who is involved in buying lots of stuff for a local government entity and has had to participate in ridiculously stupid lawsuits that we settle.
I really do like the concept of this pistol and hope SIG has an exit strategy.
Just like with a hammer, the only downward pressure on the gun going into the holster should be through the SCD. If you do this correctly, you should have to maintain some pressure on the front strap to control the pistol as it goes into the holster
The only difference with the SCD is how the thumb should be applied. If you just lay your thumb across the SCD, (like you would with a hammer) then it can pretty easily move. The tip of your thumb should contact the very base of the SCD.
I think it is very likely that many of these incidents are negligent discharges, yes. But I'm now pretty well convinced that yes, there is a design flaw with the gun. Something that would likely be a very easy fix....but Sig. I'm convinced enough that I left the house with my 226 on my hip today, not the 320.