Monthly Archives: October 2018

Sig Sauer’s new M17 Part 6 Part 5 Part 4 Part 3 Part 2 Part 1

Training Day

By Dennis Adler

The Sig Sauer P320 M17 was taken to task in a training simulation and delivered on center mass accuracy from multiple shooting positions. The rifled steel barrel and pistol operation make the M17 suitable for training out to actual combat distances of 15 yards (45 feet), which is generally pushing the limits for a blowback action CO2 powered pellet pistol.

This is what the P320 M17 ASP is built to do, allow real world training with a pellet-firing blowback action CO2 pistol at actual close quarter combat distances. I shot this entire final test at a minimum of 45 feet from the Law Enforcement Targets cardboard B-27 silhouette. This target provides a center mass area of 6×9 inches containing the 9, 10 and X rings. Any hits inside that area and the 8 ring score 5 points.

The M17 ASP has an internal barrel length of 4.68 inches and a sight radius of 6.6 inches. Shooting tests were shot from various positions such as dropping to one knee (shown), lying down and shooting up at the target, from a kneeling position at right and left angles to the target, and moving from left to right firing in short bursts.

Shooting exercises

I ran several training exercises including drawing and firing (from a UTG tactical vest holster); shooting short bursts from a kneeling position at right and left angles to the target (noted as RA and LA on the target); I practiced reloads, dropping and rolling over onto one side to fire from a ground level position (noted as prone on the target), moving across the target’s path and rapid firing (indicated by either RF or M on the target). All shots were fired using a two handed hold. I expended two CO2 cartridges and the overall test consisted of 80 rounds of H&N Sport Match Green alloy pellets and two B-27 targets. The ambient temperature for the field test was 49 degrees with no wind. read more

Sig Sauer’s new M17 Part 5 Part 4 Part 3 Part 2 Part 1

The P320 in military dress

By Dennis Adler

Sig Sauer pistols and rifles are among those used in the U.S. by local and state law enforcement, the military and federal agencies. The P320 is carried by the second largest police department in the U.S., the Chicago PD, also the Dallas PD carries the Sig P226, and the Texas Department of Public Safety (Highway Patrol, Texas Rangers, CID and Executive Protection Bureau), has adopted the P320. Sig Sauer pistols ranging from the P226, P228 and P229, are used by more than 20 U.S. state and local law enforcement agencies, as well as the U.S. Secret Service, Department of Homeland Security, U.S. military investigative services (NCIS, Army CID, Air Force OSI,) Air Marshals, and of course, the new U.S. Military standard issue sidearm is the P320 M17. read more

Sig Sauer’s new M17 Part 4 Part 3 Part 2 Part 1

The P320 in military dress

By Dennis Adler

Were it not for the unusual M17 CO2 magazine, this could be a pair of U.S. Army M17 9mm pistols. Sig has made the airgun a visual match for the centerfire pistol and a dual purpose shooting sport and training gun in one.

This is where Sig Sauer’s purpose of designing and manufacturing CO2 training guns based on their centerfire models comes to realization; or, as they used to say in the auto industry, this is “where the rubber meets the road.” Everything Sig Sauer has done from the P226 ASP, introduced in 2016, through the P320 ASP introduced last year, to the new P320 M17 ASP, has been a deliberate investment in design improvements and innovations executed with Sig Sauer precision. Consider that the P226 ASP used an established (as in not invented here) 8+8 rotary stick magazine; a year later the P320 introduced an innovative rotary pellet magazine with a 20 round capacity, and in 2018 Sig unveils the first self-contained CO2 pellet pistol magazine combined with a blowback action version of its new U.S. Army P320 M17 semiautomatic. The timeline for this is impressive, but the end result, the M17, speaks volumes about what Sig Sauer has accomplished in two different fields of handgun design and manufacturing in a relatively short span of time. read more

Sig Sauer’s new M17 Part 3 Part 2 Part 1 Part 4

The P320 in military dress

By Dennis Adler

You can bet that Sig Sauer’s designers are proud of this air pistol. There may have been some less than enthusiastic reactions to the P320 pellet model, but there is no way to look at or handle the M17 that leaves you wanting for more, unless you just have to have a slide that locks back on an empty magazine and an adjustable rear sight. The M17 checks all the other boxes and get a bonus for absolutely authentic looks.

Blowback action air pistol designs and operation vary from as close to an actual blowback action centerfire pistol as possible, like the Umarex Walther PPK/S, to thoroughly accurate J.M. Browning short-recoil, locked-breech designs, like the Umarex HK USP, and internally contained, frame-mounted firing mechanisms (usually with stick magazines or reversible 8+8 pellet magazines) like the Sig Sauer Max Michel and Spartan 1911 models, or Umarex Beretta PX4 pellet pistol. The latter designs, if they have an open slide and barrel lug interface, only expose the top of the internal firing mechanism, rather than the top of the magazine when the slide goes back or is locked open. This configuration, used in the Sig Sauer Max Michel and Spartan 1911 models, formed the basis for the P320 M17 ASP’s internal design, but the definition of “basis” here is simply that, it was a starting point not the end result. read more

Sig Sauer’s new M17 Part 2 Part 1 Part 3 Part 4

The P320 in military dress

By Dennis Adler

The Sig Sauer P320 ASP (left) laid the foundation for future designs with its excellent polymer frame and basic slide design. The next level up is the M17 which adapts the frame, less the now unnecessary removable backstrap panel for inserting CO2. As this view shows, the M17 has significant improvements including a full slide and barrel lug interface for the blowback action slide, and a match to the centerfire model’s black finish removable rear sight optics cut that allows direct mounting of optics to the slide. The optics cut was part of the Army’s MHS requirements. Unfortunately, the CO2 model’s is not removable.

The role of the M17, as both a military pistol and as a blowback action CO2 pellet-firing air pistol, is very different than that of the Sig Sauer P320 models they are based upon. There are noteworthy differences in the centerfire and CO2 models, beginning with safeties. The P320 centerfire pistols do not have them.

The Sig Sauer P320 CO2 model comes in coyote tan similar to the M17’s finish. One of the most arguable features of this blowback action model was adding the mandatory safety to the left side of the frame. This alters the look of the pistol from the centerfire model. Also note the one-piece slide, ejection port and barrel lug, a single casting to reduce manufacturing costs but another gig for the gun’s authentic look.

All problems solved in the looks department with the slightly more expensive 2018 Sig Sauer P320/M17 ASP. The obvious differences include the manual safety matching the MHS requirements for the military version, and the correct profile white dot sights. The centerfire guns have Sig-Lite night sights.

The Sig Sauer P320 CO2 model, in complying with air pistol safety requirements, added a manual safety on the left side of the frame. Sig designers placed it where a manual safety would go, so technically, it is still a training aid, just not for a P320. Overall, placing it where a safety would normally be positioned on a semi-auto, rather than some obscure place on the right side of the frame as some air pistol manufacturers have done, was a better choice. The M17 does have a manual ambidextrous safety, so that issue is eliminated with this new model which is 100 percent accurate to its centerfire counterpart. read more

Sig Sauer’s new M17 Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

The P320 in military dress

By Dennis Adler

This is where the history of blowback action CO2 air pistols begins to change. Sig Sauer has not only stepped over the threshold of a door that no one had opened before, they also built the door. The M17 could be a game changer for the future of blowback action 4.5mm pellet-firing pistols and that’s a lot to say in an opening statement, but I have had my hands on this pistol for over a month waiting to tell its story. We begin with the P320.

Is this a 100 percent understudy to the centerfire M17? Not entirely, even Sig Sauer, which appears to be able to design and manufacture new airguns at an impressive rate, can’t change the physics of a pellet-loading semi-auto, even one with an integral 20-shot rotary magazine and CO2 loading system. And it still comes in the unusual but sturdy Sig Sauer packaging which gives the gun plenty of storage protection.

The Sig Sauer P320 ASP is a full-size duplicate of the P320 Nitron centerfire version, left, which is one of the P320 configurations I had tested for Combat Handguns. The CO2 model has a full length dustcover accessory rail to mount lights and light laser combinations for training practice, but comes with the compromises that have been corrected for the most part in the new M17 ASP.

The Sig Sauer P320 CO2 model was introduced in 2017 and was not the epiphany in pellet-firing blowback action CO2 models air gunners were hoping for. But I have a somewhat different perspective on the P320 CO2 model than most, having tested and evaluated the centerfire P320 modular handgun system that evolved into the M17 back in 2016. I knew that when Sig Sauer got into the airgun manufacturing business to build training guns that it could never be the equal of a P320; yes some airguns are the BB-firing version of their centerfire counterparts, including the Sig Sauer WE THE PEOPLE 1911, but when you are talking a pellet-firing semi-auto, you are not going to achieve the same goal, at least not for the price of most blowback action CO2 models. There had to be compromises and Sig Sauer chose wisely for the most part developing a P320 CO2 model that could serve the basic needs of the design for training and still be an enjoyable and affordable recreational air pistol. Not everyone will agree with me on this but the P320 was a means to an end, a stepping stone for a company that moves quickly. read more