SIG Sauer’s M18, the compact variant of the U.S. Army’s M17 duty sidearm, successfully completed a recent Lot Acceptance Test in which 12,000 rounds—more than double the historical highwater mark of 5,000—were run through three different guns with zero stoppages. The required Material Reliability Testing deems up to 12 stoppages within its acceptable limits.
The pistols also passed the accuracy and dispersion requirements, as well as parts interchangeability mandates. Firing pin indent and trigger-pull measurements were taken to ensure consistency and workmanship standards.
“The results of this testing for the M18 pistol is truly impressive,” said Ron Cohen, president and CEO of SIG Sauer. “The M18 withstood the harsh testing and performance requirements set forth in the MHS contract and has set a new standard for reliability in service pistols.”
The striker-fired 9 mm features a coyote-tan PVD coated stainless steel slide with black controls. It is equipped with SIGLite front night sights, removable night-sight rear plate and manual safety. It is based on the commercially available P320, but the P320-M17—released last year—is a civilian version more closely akin to the full-size military sidearm.
SIG Sauer was awarded the MHS contract for the M17 and the compact M18 in early January 2017. Both the handguns are being adopted by the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. Under terms of the agreement, the company will deliver 480,000 pistols over a 10-year period. To date, more than 20,000 have been shipped to the U.S. Military.
An independent review and analysis conducted for Department of Defense weapons systems agrees with the recent performance testing. “The MHS meets or exceeds requirements for accuracy, lethality, ergonomics,” according to the Director of Operation Testing and Evaluation (DOT&E) Annual Report.
“For this testing the U.S. Army set very high standards for quality and performance, and at SIG we relish the opportunity to meet a challenge and exceed expectations,” Cohen said. “The performance of the M18 not only surpassed the U.S. Army’s testing requirements, its performance was simply outstanding and nothing short of perfection.”
