SIG Sauer M17

The SIG Sauer M17 and M18 are service pistols used by the United States Armed Forces.
On January 19, 2017, the United States Army announced that a customized version of the SIG Sauer P320 had won the Army's XM17 Modular Handgun System competition. The full-sized model is known as the M17, and the smaller-sized carry model is known as the M18. There are 2 color variants, coyote tan and black, for both the M17 and M18.
Modular Handgun System competition.
When the requirements were formulated for a new handgun for the U.S. Army, one of the tenets of the proposal was that an existing model handgun was desired to fulfill the requirements laid out in the Modular Handgun System Request for Proposal, known as the XM17 Procurement. SIG Sauer submitted a P320 with a number of modifications for the XM17 Modular Handgun System competition.
Modifications include:
History.
SIG Sauer wins the award.
On January 19, 2017, the United States Army announced that the SIG Sauer P320 MHS variant had won the military's Modular Handgun System trials. The P320 is known as the M17 (Full-Size) and M18 (Carry) in U.S. military service. Though the pistol will remain chambered in 9 x 19mm NATO rather than a larger caliber, the contract allows the Army and other services to procure SIG Sauer’s proposed XM1152 Full Metal Jacket and XM1153 Special Purpose ammunition. The ammunition chosen to go with the pistol is a "Winchester jacketed hollow point" round; similar in appearance to the Winchester PDX1 round but with some differences to the design of the hollowpoint petals. The M17 has better accuracy and ergonomics and tighter dispersion than the M9 and will be fielded more widely, being issued down to squad and fireteam leaders.
American special forces/special operations forces operators dual-arm all of its members with a pistol and rifle. Junior leaders in regular infantry units who were previously excluded from carrying sidearms will be given more choices and options in close quarters battle situations under a new policy. All Army units are planned to have the M9 replaced with the M17 within a decade.
U.S. military services adopt the M17 and M18.
In May 2017, the Army announced that the first unit that will receive the M17 would be the 101st Airborne Division by the end of the year. At the same time, the rest of the U.S. Armed Forces revealed they also intend to acquire the handgun, making it the standard sidearm for the entire U.S. military. The services plan to procure up to 421,000 weapons in total; 195,000 for the Army, 130,000 for the Air Force, 61,000 for the Navy (M18 compact version only), and 35,000 for the Marines.
The U.S. Marine Corps is replacing its M9, M9A1, M45A1, and M007 handguns with the SIG Sauer M18 handguns. The M9 and M9A1 were produced by Beretta while the M45A1 was made by Colt and the M007, which was only recently accepted as a variant, is made by Glock.
Although it was initially announced that the U.S. Coast Guard would adopt the M17/18 handgun, the agency announced in September 2020 that they would acquire Glock 19 handguns through a DHS procurement.
In November 2019, SIG Sauer announced the delivery of the 100,000th M17/M18 handgun to the U.S. military.
As part of the MHS procurement, a new source for ammunition was solicited. The two types to be procured are the 9×19mm Parabellum, 115 grain XM1152 Ball and 147 grain XM1153 Special Purpose, now the M1152 and M1153. Olin Corporation (Winchester Brand) has received that award for approximately 1.2 million rounds of ammunition. The ammunition mentioned here in the infobox is Winchester civilian issue.
Assessment recommendations.
The first annual report for the XM17/XM18 Modular Handgun System (MHS) program assessment recommended the Army:
SIG Sauer P320-M17 and P320-M18.
The 2018 SIG Sauer catalog features the Civilian P320-M17 version of the full-sized M17 military handgun. It shows the new model to be in a color called Coyote Tan and is configured nearly identical to the military M17. The P320-M17 stainless steel slide is PVD coated and the control elements feature a black finish like found on later military M17 service pistol batches. It is available with and without an external manual safety and is announced as being limited to a production run of 5,000 units.
The 2020 SIG Sauer catalog features the Civilian P320-M18 version configured nearly identical to the smaller-sized military M18 handgun. Like the P320-M17, it is also based on the pistol used by the U.S. military.