We just got this announcement from SIG. It’s a pretty big deal for them and Denmark isn’t the only recent adoption of the P320 X-Carry.
Newington, N.H. (June 25, 2018) – SIG SAUER, Inc. is pleased to announce the Danish Ministry of Defense (MoD) has selected the SIG SAUER P320 X-Carry to replace their standard service pistol covering the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Special Operations Command (SOCOM). The Danish MoD is the ministry within the Danish government charged with ensuring peace and security, both nationally and internationally, and is comprised of the Danish armed forces, the Danish Defense Intelligence Service, and the Danish Emergency Management Agency.
The procurement process for the Danish MoD’s new standard service pistol lasted four weeks in which the Glock 17 Gen 5, Beretta APX, Canik TP 9 SF, and the SIG P320 X-Carry, were tested under all possible conditions and varying circumstances that the pistol would be used. Testing for accuracy, night shooting, and field testing were conducted by the Army, Navy, Air Force, and SOCOM. Additional drop, penetration, and precision testing were conducted by various selected experts for each of the contenders.
“By far SIG SAUER’s P320 X-Carry outperformed the competition throughout our rigorous and stringent testing process,” Tom Elvius-Brisson, Chief of Weaponry Branch, Danish Defense Acquisition and Logistics Organization. “The P320 X-Carry pistol is the modern firearm we were looking for to support our soldiers. The P320 X-Carry has a larger magazine capacity, comes reflex red-dot ready for sighting, and has the ability to incorporate a suppressor – all extremely important features to our soldiers for their sidearm today and are all features which were missing on the current pistol in service in the Danish Defense.”
The P320 X-Carry is a modular, striker-fired pistol with a serialized trigger group available in varying grip sizes and adaptable to multiple calibers. The standard service P320 X-Carry pistol that will be issued by the Danish MoD comes with an enhanced X-carry polymer grip, flat trigger, extended beaver tail, extended removable magwell, and a deep trigger guard undercut. The pistol will come standard with XRAY 3 Night-Sights with the option to easily interchange reflex red-dot sights. The intuitive 3-point takedown requires no trigger pull for disassembly, and safety features include a striker safety, disconnect safety, and optional manual safety.
The SIG SAUER P320 X-Carry will replace all pistols currently in service across the Danish Ministry of Defense.
“At SIG SAUER we are committed to manufacturing and providing firearms for the global military and defense community that surpass expectations in quality, performance, and safety. We are very proud that the P320 continues to be the top choice by military and law enforcement from around the world as their standard issue pistol.” added Ron Cohen, President and CEO of SIG SAUER, Inc. “It’s an honor to earn the confidence of the Danish Ministry of Defense, to support their mission, and to strengthen our partnership through this selection of the SIG SAUER P320 X-Carry.”
Denmark is the first European NATO country to officially select a SIG SAUER P320 series pistol as the officially issued standard service firearm. The MOD contract will be serviced by our partner in Denmark, CT Solutions ApS.
Tags: Sig Sauer
Seems like I am reading about another organization going with the 320 every couple of days. I wonder at what point Gaston and Co start sweating their years long market domination.
Probably when the Sig delivers a product that actually works out of the box. How many times has Sig scored a large contract just to follow up with issues, or having the contract pulled all together? I want the P320 to succeed but have no faith in the company behind it.
Hate just to hate, but for all the real innovation in the P320 series, doubtful it is shaking the Earth.
DOD is the big launch customer and, as we all seem to know, has a history of backing a horse that was already dead, i.e. the M9 had more SEAL training one-shot stops in the first two decades of service than actual adversaries put down. Nobody objected to recalls and total fleet replacements as long as the Maryland congressional delegation keeps their Beretta jobs.
SIG made a big play for the DOD payday and it paid off. The rest of the contracts they are winning are pretty limited to date, especially for something that is a full-fledged Glock killer. The 4000-gun Texas DPS contract is potentially substantial, but Smith was crowing about their M&P win until the initial issue of craptacular guns cost them the contract. That dwarfs Oklahoma and Hawaii contracts, some of the larger contracts for a four year old P320.
That is coming from the owner of two SIGs. The P320 should rule the world, if it didn’t have a morally compromised manufacturer who willfully concealed a faulty product.
They also in the final stages of the DHS contract which, initially, covers a few significantly large agencies but should allow further purchasing by other agencies.
I’m not saying it will be a Glock killer, and I don’t disagree with your assessment of management, but I see having a 2-pistol system where Glock and the P320 are both the 2 most valid choices. Sort of like how the AR15 is THE rifle type, and even other very good rifles don’t enjoy the adoption or support that it has.
I don’t blame anyone for being hesitant to go SIG, but to ignore the inroads they’re making would be foolish.
I used to think “It’s all over if Glock releases a modular fire control!”… But the same reasons Glock hasn’t done that are the same reasons it wouldn’t work for them. They would release one grip, they would offer two slides, neither what customers are asking for, they would find a way to release a modular gun with no modular options (Ruger American, Beretta APX, Steyr L9, etc etc).
You’re right that a 2-pistol system would be great. Reality of BIG ARMY isn’t that though. And expecting Glock to suddenly deliver what they should have been incrementing on for years is also unlikely, and at this point too late.
Army chose the P320, and that’s unlikely to reverse itself. Best thing now would be for Army, DHS, Police, the Danes here and others to force SIG into making the gun better. I find it funny how many of the arguments presented here were echoed in gun stores about the M9 which turned into a really decent gun in the end.
I meant 2 pistol system, not for the Army, but for the market as a whole. Sorry if how we have a 2 party political system, plenty of people vote outside those 2 parties. But if we’re honest with ourselves there’s only the 2 relevant ones.
That slide release looks interesting.
I owned a German SIG 226 that I bought from my Father that was a great handgun that performed flawlessly with amazing accuracy, on the other hand I bought a U.S. made SIG 229 about 5 years ago that was a complete POS they had numerous issues. I could not sell that turd fast enough. I will stick with Glocks, both personally and at work, they have never failed me, ever.
I owned SIG P320 40cal for a short time. Just as the P250 I once had the grip in all sizes is too round for good control in left handed shooting where the torque generated by the rifling twists the pistol out of your grip, requiring adjustment of grip. Right handed the torque twists the pistol into your hand. I have noticed that torquing only on the250 & the 320. Other pistols I have owned have not exhibited that characteristic.
I currently own Springfield Armory XDs Gen 2, Kahr CW380 & Walther P99 that do not exhibit that severity of torquing firing left handed.
I will also report that none of the Glocks I owned had the torquing issue. I believe the rounded grip to be the real issue,
“I once had the grip in all sizes is too round for good control in left handed shooting where the torque generated by the rifling twists the pistol out of your grip”
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You’d probably like the X-series grip then. Much more square. Feels thinner and nicer to me.
I could care less about the armchair procurement experts or glock vs sig fans.
But I do find it super interesting that the Danes selected basically a competition handgun. Interesting this photo seems to show the “old” barrel not the new X-series barrel / MHS barrel. Old design ramps up to the slide at the top, new one is flat across and the slide steps up. Makes me wonder if this is the MHS slide, P320 consumer barrel, and X-Carry slide cuts!?
The number of versions and variations that SIG has points to the development still on going and in flux. Makes me hesitant to jump in.
There are basically more AR variants than people on this planet. So, considering that SIG builds these guns to what they customer wants, is IMO a benefit to the system.
I don’t know if it has the X-Carry cuts. To me it looks like they took the X-Carry gun and threw an MHS slide on it. As for the bbl i wouldn’t read a ton into it yet, it may be a mock-up and not the actual end product.
The Danes are transitioning from the P210, so a 9mm competition gun makes a bit of sense.
The trial P320 as shown in this video posted previously on SSD does not have the X- Carry cuts. https://ssdaily.tempurl.host/2018/04/12/danish-armed-forces-begins-fielding-sig-p320-x-carry/