OK, so why not just make the M-17 without the 'tamper-proof' arrangement a regular part of the lineup?
quote:
Sig Sauer To Offere Commercial Version Of Army's New Sidearm Matthew Cox, Military.com 12/9/2017
Sig Sauer, the maker of the U.S. Army's Modular Handgun System, intends to sell a special, commercial version of the full-size MHS 9mm pistol. "We are planning to do a limited release of about 5,000 of the Army variant of the M17 for the commercial market," Tom Taylor, Sig Suaer's chief marketing officer and executive vice president for commercial sales, told Military.com. "The timing is not finalized yet, but it looks to be late spring."
The Army awarded Sig Sauer the MHS contract worth up to $580 million in January. The service launched its long-awaited MHS competition in late August 2015 to replace its Cold War-era M9 9mm pistol. The selection of Sig Sauer formally ended Beretta's 30-year hold on the Army's sidearm market. The 10-year agreement calls for SIG to supply the Army with full-size XM17 and compact XM18 versions of its 9mm pistol. The pistols will become the M17 and M18 after they are type-classified.
Each commercial MHS will be serialized and serialized matching coin as well as a letter of authenticity from the CEO of Sig Sauer, Taylor said. Sig Sauer would likely be able to sell more than 5,000 of these pistols, but Taylor said, "we just wanted to make it really special...And once they are out there, the owners will be privileged to own the actual gun."
The commercial version will be almost identical to the Army-issue, full-size MHS, except it will not have the anti-tamper mechanism for the striker action, nor will it have the special coatings on some of the the internal parts that help it maintain lubricity under harsh conditions, Taylor said. The Army MHS comes standard with a frame-mounted thumb safety. The commercial version will be available with or without the thumb safety, depending on customer preference, Taylor said.
Sig Sauer has not yet decided on a price tag for the endeavor. "It's high in demand, but if we price it too high, they will say 'I really want it, but it is just too expensive."
In addition to Sig Sauer, Glock Inc. told a German publisher in August that it plans on selling its MHS variant on the commercial market as well. Glock, FN America and Beretta USA, makers of the current M9 9mm pistol, all lost to Sig Suaer, but selling their versions of the MHS may allow them to recoup the money they invested in the high-profile endeavor. Richard Flur, head of international sales for Glock GmbH, based in Wagram, Austria, told Stephan Dorler, managing director of European Security and Defense, a publication based in Bonn, Germany, about Glock's plans to sell its version of the MHS on the commercial market. A Glock official in the U.S. said, however, there is no timeline yet for such a plan.
You can sing me songs all day long about marketing, but I'm hard pressed to see how this makes all that much sense as anything except a quick dip in the profits pool. Why wouldn't SIG make the lubricity coating standard, at least on some models? What makes an FDE paint job so exotic that they can't make it a regular feature on one variant of a model that SIG clearly plans on making one of its biggest sellers?
And what's the freakin' point of making a civilian version of a military pistol in limited numbers? Do they have a lot of coins and "letters from the CEO" that they need to get rid of?
Posts: 27291 | Location: Deep in the heart of the brush country, and closing on that #&*%!?! roadrunner. Really. | Registered: February 05, 2008
That's great, but why waste time? All they have to do is just give the 320F a paint job, the lubricity treatment, and a thumb safety, then put the damned thing in the standard lineup and they'll sell a lot more than 5,000 of them. They'll find out quickly enough what price the market will bear.
Posts: 27291 | Location: Deep in the heart of the brush country, and closing on that #&*%!?! roadrunner. Really. | Registered: February 05, 2008
I was just at the LGS and wondering when the M17/18 would be released publicly.
I like the X5's and would like a pre-milled red dot capable pistol, but I don't want to have something that only fits a Sig red dot. The M17/18 appear to have a cover plate for a red dot mount, but I'm not sure what it's designed for - Trijicon RMR would make the most sense though.
So now it's going to be a P320 Legion of sorts. Great.
Lets not forget that Sig is selling these to the gov't for a little more than $200 each. So when the limited edition, authentic (well, almost), US Army M17, starts selling for $800 (no discount because they are "rare") they may get snapped up.
And the next year, there will be another "limited run" in rainbow titanium, because the Army is all inclusive now...
Posts: 4701 | Location: Indiana | Registered: December 28, 2004
^^^ I'm tempted to agree with you, but it didn't seem to have much of an effect on prices for 320s that were already on the market. Given that the 'Army' set up was the fix for the 30 degree drop, though, one would think that an 'Army' 320 would inherently address any perception problem that may exist.
quote:
I'm not sure what it's designed for - Trijicon RMR would make the most sense though.
Well, the Army bid was for a 'system', so it may be some Romeo or another. I agree that the RMR would make more sense.
Posts: 27291 | Location: Deep in the heart of the brush country, and closing on that #&*%!?! roadrunner. Really. | Registered: February 05, 2008
So if it doesn’t have the same internals, what’s different about it? Sounds like it’s a normal 320 but with a certificate that it was one of a batch of 5,000 normal 320’s?
Well, its in FDE and it has a thumb safety. Of course the FDE has already made it to the market on some Compacts, and SIG has long promised that versions would be available with a thumb safety. But other than that....yeah.
Posts: 27291 | Location: Deep in the heart of the brush country, and closing on that #&*%!?! roadrunner. Really. | Registered: February 05, 2008
Sounds more like a marketing gimmick to get rid of what they had left over from the contract guns.
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5000 pistols is only going to make a small dent in the loss from the upgrade.
Imagine how quickly M11 marked P228s would have gone. Hell, the M11-A1 is selling on that marketing, and the Mk25 did will too.
Will a civilian M17/18 become a collector? Only time will tell, but I'd say there's actually a pretty good chance. Not crazy like a P7M8 Jubilee or anything, but I do think you'll see collector prices for unfired NIB M17/18 in 20-30 years.
I'm not interested myself, but I don't think 5000 will sit very long.
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A brown P320 with a pointless thumb safety and a "takedown inhibitor." Why would I possibly want that? My "normal" P320 is more appealing in every way, and likely cheaper.
Posts: 8541 | Location: In the Cornfields | Registered: May 25, 2006
Originally posted by 92fstech: A brown P320 with a pointless thumb safety and a "takedown inhibitor." Why would I possibly want that? My "normal" P320 is more appealing in every way, and likely cheaper.
Agreed. Firearms are no different than any other product in that the bulk of the market is comprised of uneducated consumers. "This is what the military uses" will sell a turd on a biscuit for a premium.
Originally posted by gtmtnbiker98: They need to recoup from the P320 recall. That had to have hurt the bottom line for FY 2017.
Yup. Pretty crystal.
Maybe. But this is Cohen's SIG Sauer. SIG does variations. LOTS of variations and limited runs. They probably would've done this even without the financial ramifications of the drop safe issue.
Look how many people got/get all excited about owning an "M11," and and buy an "M11-A1." An M11-A1 is absolutely NOT an M11, but the fools still part with their money over that bit of marketing nonsense.
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Posts: 12591 | Location: Nomad | Registered: January 10, 2003
