AgCMT said:
DannyDuberstein said:
The only one posted on this thread. The stories are often dismissed as "surely they pulled the trigger somehow" - as evidenced by this thread. The video of how easily it happens doesn't lie.
There is little doubt that this is a major issue for Sig, but it does not easily happen. It is extremely rare for a modern pistol to misfire like that.
This is a case of not all 320s go off in holsters, but all guns going off in holsters uncommanded seem to be 320s.
I have delved deep into this over the last year or so from an engineers perspective, both build wise and manufacturers AND have the experience of carrying a sidearm as a duty weapon and truly understand what that term means.
The video I referenced seems to be the most likely case for now from what I can tell. The problem is that SIG pistols don't always align with other typical modern pistols and the 320 is no different. It utilizes a fully cocked striker under tension at all times. So when you pull the trigger, you are simply releasing the spring. It makes for a great trigger, but also finicky in way. They built in several safeties but they are failing in certain circumstances.
The big issue, per that video and from my own testing on my own 320, is how little margin of error is needed to hit those circumstances that could create an situation where an uncommanded discharge could occur. All he did was use a nail to take up the free play in the trigger to get to the point where the trigger meets the wall. He measured and it was approx. 1mm from rest. Which matches mine. At that point, the gun becomes compromised and outside vibrations can initiate the firing sequence and drop the striker AND defeat all the safeties. He demonstrated and repeated several times. I was able to drop the striker several times myself. Didn't bother testing with primed cases. I have my answer to my personal satisfaction.
Now, yes, this situation is rare comparatively speaking across every 320 every made. But this is where the duty gun comes into play. This platform is the official sidearm of the US military and tons of LE organizations in N. America. There are millions of these in the hands of people. Hundreds of thousands of them who have no choice. Then when you talking about the build quality of the 320s, there are simply not that great. Many internal parts are MIM, parts are sourced from all over the place, the slide slop is egregious, etc. Stacked tolerances are a thing and when you can create a situation when your sidearm gets the lightest hair trigger in the world, it becomes a problem when you have millions of possible chances every single day.
So you have the scenario of a hair trigger that can go off just by bumping the gun and then you have the environments that this gun is being asked to be placed into. Literal warzones and in street fights with thugs. Thousands of rounds through and in and out of holsters over and over. Over years and years. Tolerances loosen up. My first M9 was so bad I could fire with the safety on. You know what the armorer told me? Just don't carry condition one. That was the official fix they had for me. For a frontline grunt patrolling and living outside the wire every single day. And I HAD to carry it.
Point is, yes it is rare across the full spectrum of number made and issued. But that number is so huge the absolute number of UCs is still going to be high enough that it is unacceptable to military leaderships and civilians and why we are seeing SIG taking such flak. Mix that with the shadiness of how they won the initial contracts and how their PR have handled all the incidents to date prior to the Airman losing his life.
