Some more interesting numbers about guns, and the military

The entire U.S. military is in the process of replacing their now mostly decades old Beretta made M9 pistols (in service since 1985), with the SIGArms manufactured M17 and M18 (full size and compact variants of the civilian P320)... A process going on since the beginning of 2017, and expected to be finished by the end of 2022... though most likely there will be some spillover into 2023.

What's really fascinating to me though, isn't what they're buying...

...The M17/M18 is an excellent self defense firearm, for both duty and concealed carry, with a lot of advantages over the M9, and even the other P Series based pistols it will mostly be replacing (the SIG P226/228/229 based M11)...

...It's how many pistols they're actually buying... 

...Or rather, how few...

Including all active duty, reserve, and national guard components, we have around 3 million people in uniform... A little less than one percent of our population.

However, the ENTIRE pistol replacement program, expected to replace every standard service issue pistol (excepting perhaps 20,000 other earlier M11 pistols still in use by some selected units across all branches, and a few thousand model 1911 pistols in use by some special operations components), will encompass appx. 422,000 pistols.

Meaning that somewhere between one in six, and one in eight servicemembers, are actually issued a sidearm.... Which is pretty similar overall to the ratio of officers to enlisted personnel, though it's certainly not a 100%  overlap (many officers and enlisted never touch a pistol... or rifle for that matter... after or outside of qualification. Many enlisted carry them every day as part of their normal duties)

But it's a good reminder, that for the military, pistols are not "serious weapons" for the most part... Outside of certain special operations contexts, they're secondary or even tertiary weapons, used for self defense... Enabling someone to survive, and get to a rifle, or a radio.

Also, it's a good reminder of how TINY the actual military market is, compared to the civilian firearms market in the United States.

The DOD is acquiring approximately 85,000 pistols a rear, for 5 years. 

In the last five years since the P320 the M17/M18 are based on has been on sale, SIG has sold more than 150,000 per year of them to the U.S. civilian market alone. 

...That's more than 1.5 times the total number they will sell to the armed forces... 

For one single model of pistol, from one manufacture. 

There were more than 25 million sales of firearms through federally licensed dealers last year... About 5 million of those were new centerfire handguns. 

Meaning, Americans buy more than 10 times as many handguns, as the entire U.S. military has in total, every single year. 

...Oh and the same is true for rifles and shotguns by the way, except considerably more so... 

EVERY... SINGLE... YEAR...

And yet gun banning geniuses still trot out that silly old mantra "You can't resist tyranny with rifles and handguns"... As if the last almost 20 years of continuous warfare wasn't clear proof otherwise...

Oh Great, Another one... And Another One... And Another One...

Looks like along with Smith and Wesson adding a piston model to their three year old AR line, SIG is getting into the piston AR game.

From American Rifleman and The Firearms Blog:

...The Sig 516 is the new AR. Here's a picture for you, but don't tell anyone because it doesn't exist.

Since we're talking about a new gun, here's what you need to know:

1. It's piston operated and has an adjustable gas regulator similar to the Ruger 556.
2. It has an ambidextrous safety.
3. Comes with Yankee Hill folding rear and front sights.
4. It's an AR.
...

It had been previously announced (see the firearms blog post above) that they would be producing select fire versions, it wasn't clear that they'd be selling complete civilian legal rifles. Now the NRA is unofficially saying they've confirmed it, with a December order date.

Looks like they're following the SR-556 mold, in adding premium parts to commodity forgings etc... I see at the least flip down front and rear sights (looks like Sampson, or Yankee Hill. NRA says Yankee Hill, but I can't find confirmation) , a decent rail system, ambidextrous safety, an ergo-grip with plug, a Crane SOPMOD clone stock, and Magpul mags.

Given the relative market failure of their home designed piston 5.5.6 rifle entry (they've sold as many as they've put together, but compared to AR's...) I wonder if this is them throwing in the towel on the SG-556... Of course, they actually share many parts and pieces, so maybe they'll keep them both going.

Better pics here at the M4 forums: http://m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=37970

In the promo poster on M4carbine you can see an ambi mag release as well, and looking closer, the sights may be from Troy, contrary to the NRA report. I think the rails are (or at least licensed), and they may have sourced or licensed both from the same. Of course they may not have, just to avoid being too close to the SR-556.

Oh and the firearms blog just today posted that Stag Arms is popping out a piston AR as well.

Not much detail yet, but it seems primarily notable in that the list price is $1185, only a few dollars more than their non piston models of equivalent configuration; and several hundred dollars below the list price of every other piston AR I know of.

Valour-IT Project Gun - Chapter 1

Well, the first step in my restoration and upgrade of a West German Police (in service date of 1979) SIG-Sauer P6 (A.K.A. p225 for the American Commercial market) has been accomplished.

I managed to snag a set of these grips off eBay for the relatively reasonable amount of $78 plus $5 shipping:

Yes, that is relatively reasonable for grips for this gun; and besides they are really nice looking walnut.

The next step will be to acquire a short trigger (trust me, it GREATLY improves the feel, and the reach, even for big handed guys like me), and a lighter hammer spring. The factory spring is 21 lbs, and is completely unnecessary. You can go down to 17lbs without any issue in reliability; and again, greatly improve the trigger feel.

Now I want input from my readers, and importantly my potential bidders, on what kind of sights to install.

My thoughts are as follows:

XS Express Sight

XS BigDot

TruGlo BrightSight (these are cool, because they use both tritium and fiber optic)

Heine Straight 8

Standard Trijicons

or Meprolights

Note: all are night sights, keeping with my general philosophy on defensive pistols. Really, they're all good choices, just a matter of preference.

Next decision, what to refinish it with, and what colors. Wheee, it's like Barbie for gunnies.

Hallelujah, praise the lord, and pass the ammunitions

From Global Security:

"The US Special Operations Command [USSOCOM] issued a solicitation in August 2005 to obtain commercially available non-developmental item (NDI) Joint Combat Pistol (JCP) system, Caliber .45 (ACP). The Program (which absorbed an earlier Future Handgun System program) will use full and open competition to fulfill the JCP requirement. The JCP will be delivered in accordance with specification entitled "Performance Specification Joint Combat Pistol" to be provided with issuance of the solicitation. Two configurations of the pistol will be required. One configuration will have no external safety and the other configuration will have an external safety.

The Combat Pistol System consists of: a Caliber .45 pistol and its ancillary equipment including: Magazines (standard and high-capacity); Suppressor Attachment Kit for operation of the pistol with and without sound suppressor; Holster; Magazine Holder (standard and high-capacity); Cleaning Kit; and Operator's Manual..."

I've been saying this was coing for a while now, first it goes to SOCOM, then we may see general issue. The Contractor grapevine has been buzzing that the RFP was written just for HK to get the bid, but we'll see.

Oh but this requirement... I mean DAMN:

"When fired from a rest, at a range of 50 meters, the mean radius of a 10-shot group fired from the JCP shall not be greater than A) 3.15 inches or B)1.8 inches over baseline ammunition performance, whichever is less (T). Baseline ammunition performance is defined as the average mean radius plus two sample standard deviations of three 10-shot groups fired from a test barrel at 50m."

That's serious match pistol performance. COnsidering it's expected to have an MRBS (Mean Rounds Between Stoppage) or 2000 rounds, that's gonna be tough. Theres only one .45 pistol I know to have done that, with that level of accuracy, and that's the Springfield FBI model.

Then theres this:

"The JCP shall have a standard magazine capacity of no less than eight [8] rounds (T), greater than eight [8] rounds (O) of .45 ACP ammunition. The JCP shall also have a high-capacity magazine of no less than ten [10] rounds (T), fifteen [15] rounds (O), of .45 ACP ammunition."

Hmmmm... somebody is either thinking HKP2000/USP Compact, a SIG P220, or a 1911...

and these two narrow it down further:

"The JCP length, with standard barrel, shall be less than 9.65 inches (T). The JCP width shall be less than 1.53 inches (T).

The JCP shall function in double action/single action (DA/SA) or double-action only (DAO) including Striker-Fired Action (SFA) (T). The JCP should have a modular action mechanism that allows reconfiguration at the unit level without modification to the weapon’s major assemblies (O).

All DA/SA pistols shall have a consistent trigger pull of eight to ten [8-10] pounds on Double Action, and a consistent trigger pull of four to six [4-6] pounds on Single Action and all DAO pistols shall have a trigger pull of five to eight [5-8] pounds (T). All pistols shall have a trigger pull that is consistent within one [1] pound from average pull (T). When pressure is applied to the JCP trigger and then released, the trigger shall reset to its forward-most position, even if the pistol is not fired (T). The operator shall be capable of pulling the trigger, without shifting the firing grip."

Uhhh yep, looks like a SIG or an HK to me, and HK is "owed" a major military contract. Actually the more you read, the clearer it is that this was indeed written for HK to win. Read the whole thing.

HT: River Dog