Engineering:SIG Sauer M17

Short description: US military service pistol

M17/M18
Standard issue M17 with 21-round magazine inserted
Type	Semi-automatic pistol
Place of origin	United States
Service history
In service	2017–present
Used by	United States Denmark
Wars	Global War on Terrorism War in Afghanistan
Production history
Designer	Tim Butler
Designed	2017
Manufacturer	SIG Sauer, Inc., Newington, New Hampshire, U.S.
Produced	2017–present
No. built	200,000
Variants	M18
Specifications
Mass	M17 834 g (29.4 oz) M18 737 g (26.0 oz)
Length	M17 203 mm (8.0 in) M18 183 mm (7.2 in)
Barrel length	M17 120 mm (4.7 in) M18 98 mm (3.9 in)
Width	35.5 mm (1.40 in)
Height	140 mm (5.5 in)
Cartridge	9mm NATO
Action	Short recoil-operated
Feed system	17 or 21-round box magazine
Sights	self-illuminating iron sights for low-light conditions

The SIG Sauer M17 and M18 are service pistols derived from the SIG Sauer P320 in use with the United States Armed Forces. On January 19, 2017, the United States Army announced that a customized version of SIG Sauer's P320 had won the Army's XM17 Modular Handgun System competition. The full-sized model was designated the M17, and the shorter length carry model, the M18. The guns have subsequently been adopted by the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, United States Air Force , and Space Force. The pistol replaces the Beretta M9, as well as several other handguns across the services. There are two color variants, coyote brown and black, for both the M17 and M18, though almost all have been produced in brown.

Modular Handgun System competition

Standard issue M18 with 17-round magazine inserted

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

• Slide cut out to facilitate the addition of a reflex sight; this is the slide from the RX Series.
• Ambidextrous thumb safety.
• Loaded chamber indicator.
• Improved slide sub-assembly to capture small components when disassembled.
• Improved trigger "mud flap" to prevent foreign debris from entering the pistol action.
• 120 mm (4.7 in) barrel length in full-size M17.
• 98 mm (3.9 in) barrel length in carry-size M18.
• Chambered in 9mm NATO; unable to adopt other calibers or frames because of the spanner screw on the frame's chassis.
• A 17-round standard magazine, with an optional 21-round extended magazine available.
• Steel components are given a physical vapor deposition (PVD) corrosion-resistant finish.
• Using spanner screws instead of normal screws to resist disassembly further than field stripping by non-armorer users.

The Modular Handgun System has self-illuminating tritium sights for low-light conditions, an integrated rail for attaching enablers and an Army standard suppressor conversion kit for attaching an acoustic/flash suppressor. Every M17/M18 handgun is test fired before leaving the factory with 13 rounds -- three to break in the weapon and ten to test accuracy.

History

The XM17 prototype with 17-round magazine inserted. Brown triggers, levers and catches were used only early in production.

SIG Sauer wins the contract

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 modified P320 was subsequently designated the M17 (Full-Size) and M18 (Carry) for U.S. military service. The M17 has better accuracy and ergonomics and tighter dispersion than the Beretta M9 and will be fielded more widely, being issued down to squad and fireteam leaders. US special operations forces operators are all dual-armed with a pistol and a 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 US Army primarily ordered the M17 version, whilst the Air Force and Navy opted for the M18 version as their standard service pistol.

In 2019, the Marine Corps selected the M18 to replace several pistols. While the other services had previously primarily fielded the Beretta M9 and M9A1, the Corps also planned to replace its M45A1 and M007 pistols with the M18. The M45A1 was made by Colt and the only recently fielded M007 was made by Glock. The Marines began rolling out the M18 in 2020.

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 Gen 5 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.

Ammunition

Though the pistol remained chambered in 9mm NATO rather than a larger caliber, the contract allowed the Army and other services to procure SIG Sauer' s proposed XM1152 Full Metal Jacket and XM1153 Special Purpose ammunition. The ammunition is a "Winchester jacketed hollow-point" round; similar in appearance to the Winchester PDX1 round but with some differences to the design of the hollow-point petals. One round is a standard 115 grain ball, designated the M1152, the other is a 147 grain Special Purpose round designated the M1153. Olin Corporation (Winchester Brand) received a contract to produce approximately 1.2 million rounds of the ammunition.

Assessment recommendations

The first annual report for the XM17/XM18 Modular Handgun System (MHS) program assessment recommended the Army:

1. Upon identification of the root cause of the double ejections and ball ammunition reliability problems, confirm fixes to both the XM17 and XM18 in future testing.
2. Work with the vendor to identify and eliminate cause of variability in the manufacture of the trigger group mechanism.
3. Consider redesign of the slide catch lever and other operator training changes to prevent engagement by operators while shooting the pistol.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier pistols

Day and night variants of the ceremonial M17

Tomb Guard carrying one of the two polished ceremonial M17s in July 2021

On October 11, 2018, four ceremonial M17s built by Sig Sauer's Custom Shop were presented to The Old Guard for use by the Sentinels who guard the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. Each of the four pistols bears a specific name and theme engraved on the pistol's dust cover: Silence, Respect, Dignity, and Perseverance. "Silence" and "Respect", are highly polished with brown wood handgrips, used for daylight hours, while "Dignity" and "Perseverance" are matte black pistols with black wood handgrips for night duty and bouts of inclement weather. All four guns use an aluminum frame, rather than the polymer plastic of the standard M17, while the controls are the standard matte black. The rear slide cocking serrations of the regular M17 are replaced with "XXI", a reference to the twenty-one steps the guards take on their patrol in front of the tomb, as well as the 21-gun salute. Various materials of significance are incorporated into the pistol. The wood grips are crafted from wooden planks removed from the deck of the USS Olympia, the ship which carried the first Unknown Soldier to the United States in 1921. Marble dust from the tomb's restoration is also sealed in a glass vial and used in place of the front tritium sight. The M17s only have engravings in one area of the pistol, on the sight plate, which features an engraving of three Greek figures, Peace, Victory, and Valor.

Serial numbers

The pistols are serialized with a unique set of serial numbers that incorporate items of significance to the Old Guard: "LS" represents line six of the Sentinels' Creed, "My standard will remain perfection"; "02JUL37" to signify the first 24-hour guard posted at the Tomb of the Unknown on July 3, 1937; and "21" to signify the 21 steps it takes the Tomb Sentinels to walk by the Tomb of the Unknown and the military honor of a 21 Gun Salute.

Magazines

Tomb Sentinels carry loaded weapons, with the 21-round magazine inserted into the pistol. The magazines are customized, and feature an aluminum base plate engraved with the names of the Greek figures featured on the Tomb of the Unknown – Peace, Victory, and Valor – and include a name plate on the bottom of the magazine engraved with the Tomb Sentinel badge number.

SIG Sauer P320-M17 and P320-M18

An airman fires an M18 with 21-round magazine inserted

In 2018, SIG Sauer released a civilian market variant of the handgun called the P320-M17. The firearm is nearly identical, albeit lacking the tamper resistant takedown screws, and available with or without an external manual safety. 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. A commemorative edition was also released, called simply the M17 Commemorative, produced in the exact specification of the original gun delivered to the army, including brown trigger and controls, the same choice of magazines selected by the military, and delivered in a plain cardboard box rather than the normal SIG Sauer hard sided black plastic case, just as military pistols were packaged. Production of the M17 Commemorative was limited to a run of 5,000 units.

According to SIG Sauer, 9mm NATO (a commercial +P overpressure variant) 124 grain loads released in 2018 out of the SIG P320-M17 have a muzzle velocity of 365 m/s (1,198 ft/s) and muzzle energy of 535 J (395 ft⋅lbf).

In 2020, SIG released the P320-M18 model for civilians, which features the same adaptation of the military configuration, this time with the shorter carry size M18.

Users

• United States
  • United States Army
  • United States Navy
  • United States Marine Corps
  • United States Air Force
  • United States Space Force

External links

• P320-M17 webpage
• US ARMY 101st AIRBORNE fire the M17 MHS (SIG SAUER P320) (Video)