I did a whole lot of tough talking recently about my dismal luck with the P320 Compact. I've had three to date, and all three had problems. The first two had major FTF/FTE problems, and the third had barrel chatter so bad it trashed the hood of the barrel. I ditched the last one after my no confidence vote on that particular pistol. Three guns in a row left a bad taste in my mouth.

I went as far as saying in the last six months that it would be a while, if ever, before I owned another P320 Compact. A conversation with a friend kinda kicked my pride in. I've got lots of friends and there are lots of people on SF that have had zero issues with the 320c. So, why not give it another chance.



300 rounds of Blazer Brass 124 down range today. My 13 year old son shot his G19 on some practice type stages. I think he is getting the itch to compete. It was a great afternoon. A really great afternoon. So far, so good with the latest (fourth) 320c.

There are probably better lubricants, though.

I picked up one of these recently, mostly because it was on sale plus night sights, and also have 300 rounds through it, all trouble-free.

Glad you had a good day with the P320C. Mine have all been good to go.

4th time could be a charm.

Mine was fine (9MM with the lightened slide), but while it was easy to shoot, the size / ergos were just meh.

Are you able to find any 9mm compact-specific (15-round) magazines? Greg Cote, TGS, Midway, Gunmagwarehouse and a couple of others I can't remember at the moment either don't show them at all or are out of stock.

One outta four ain't bad.

Luck of the draw sometimes. I have a P320C 9mm from January 2015. Never a problem.

Also the early Gen4's with BTF. I have a Gen4 G34 and G19 with the original "defective" RSA's and extractors that purportedly were causing the problems. Didn't request replacements from Glock like a ton of shooters did. Never a problem with them either.

I strongly suspect that the Gun Gods have a special set of dice up there for each gun purchased. If they roll snake eyes you're screwed.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
Are you able to find any 9mm compact-specific (15-round) magazines? Greg Cote, TGS, Midway, Gunmagwarehouse and a couple of others I can't remember at the moment either don't show them at all or are out of stock.

I wonder if most are going to the M17 contract?

Mine is about five months old...about 1K rounds through it. Here are the only issues I found:

1. I have a Kaboom around round 600 or so. (Case ruptured cover the feed ramp. It blew out the extractor but otherwise the gun was OK. I popped the extractor back in and it's been 100% reliable since...

2. Started shooting low, so I replaced the front sight (it had the #6 front which I replaced with a #8.). I thought the gun was still shooting low (3" at 15, 6-8" low at 50 yards...). When I did shooting from a rest after some input from here at SF and it was right on...

What I learned...

The P320 was strong enough to withstand the case blowout, and the steel frame of the FCM protected my hand.

Second, the trigger pull is different enough from my Glock that I drop my shots if I'm not paying attention.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
Are you able to find any 9mm compact-specific (15-round) magazines? Greg Cote, TGS, Midway, Gunmagwarehouse and a couple of others I can't remember at the moment either don't show them at all or are out of stock.

Check here: https://sigforum.com/eve/forums...0601935/m/1470058792

Says he has 12 in stock.

Is that a black barrel?

Well you're persistent - I'll give you that!!

------------------------

I'm glad you're having good luck with your latest P320C and I hope it continues to be trouble free for you. I'm four for four with my P320's so I can't complain.

I started out with a P320F 9mm about three years ago (I wish I would have had it for the Practical Fundamentals class in New Holland, Pa a couple of years ago instead of the P226 DAK). I mostly use it for action pistol and IDPA. I've got about 3K rounds through it, and probably dry fired it another 5K times. I haven't had much time to shoot lately or the round count would be much higher. So far I haven't had a single issue with it and I'm keeping my fingers crossed it stays trouble free.

I added two P320C 9mm's about 2 years ago, one that's strictly a carry gun and the other for teaching, and for my wife to use as a range gun. Those two have also been trouble free with at least 2K rounds through each one.

I bought my latest P320 about 4 months ago. It's a full size .45acp which I carry every day at the gun shop / range where I work. It has just under 1K rounds through it without any issues. It's the softest shooting 45 that I've ever shot, and it's a tack driver. Everyone who has shot it has come away very impressed with it - even the Glock guys!

We get and sell many P320's, mostly 9mm Compacts. Lately I'm starting to notice that some have much better triggers than others. I've also noticed that some guns field strip - including removing the FCU, and go back together much more easily than others. I can't help but wonder if the military contract and their popularity is causing the quality of the newer P320's to suffer, or be more hit and miss. Interestingly, we've had a total of 5 or 6 P320's chambered in 45acp and all of them have had exceptionally nice triggers. All of them field stripped and went back together much more easily than some of the 9mm's that we've gotten lately.

That being said, in the last 6 months we've sold 25 to 30 P320's. The majority have been 9mm Compacts and we haven't had any of our customers report or come back with any issues. The one and only problem was with a magazine that had a chipped follower which caused the slide to not lock open when the mag was empty.

Moving forward, time will tell if the military and LE contracts will affect the quality of the new production P320's.

quote:

Originally posted by blindref:
......Lately I'm starting to notice that some have much better triggers than others. I've also noticed that some guns field strip - including removing the FCU, and go back together much more easily than others. I can't help but wonder if the military contract and their popularity is causing the quality of the newer P320's to suffer, or be more hit and miss.......

IMO, it's just the nature of a mass produced product. Plus min-max tolerances.

I ALWAYS buy handguns from my LGS...not Internet. I want to try the trigger and inspect the gun before purchasing. All animals are not created equal.

To repeat my oft repeated story, I was looking for a Gen4 G34 a few years ago. Went to my LGS. Politely requested they bring out every G34 in stock, not just the one in the display case, four guns total. Inspected and tried triggers on all four. One was markedly better than the others. Bought it.

Got in the habit back in the 1970's with revolvers. Nearly everything I bought were S&W's. Plus a couple of Colt Diamondbacks and a Python. I action tuned all of the S&W's after carefully selecting them, about 30-35 of them over the years. Probably spent more time ordering tools from Brownell's than with my wife, er ex-wife. Each gun had it's own personality when being tuned as well. Some were great triggers and required a few hours. Some were good triggers, but required days. I worked with each gun as an individual specimen rather than an action type.

My father was a machinist who worked on nuclear submarines. I learned not to expect perfection in manufactured products.

I do enjoy feedback from SF members who work in gun shops. You guys have much wider range of products to form judgments on than an individual like myself.

It's unfortunate that it comes down to the luck of the draw; fortunately in the bigger scheme there far more good than bad. You just had a run of unfortunate dogs that no one could've anticipated. Though now that you hit on an apparent winner, if I were you I'd think it time to buy that Mega Millions ticket.

I just had the P320c we spoke about in the "slide differences" thread back to the range last week, still running 100%.

The new Trijicon HD's are dead on even though the front that came installed was a #6 and the HD I installed was a #8. I'm creeping up on 1K rounds, no evident Bbl chatter yet.

I do want to try a small frame rather than the medium I've got on it now.

quote:

Originally posted by Fredward:
There are probably better lubricants, though.

AND better "Extra Virgin Olive Oils". Really do wish that the US would implement and enforce real standards on ingredients like this because in the US "Extra Virgin" could probably be slapped on a quart of Motor Oil.

As for the 320 I find it interesting even though I have absolutely no real need for another handgun.

^^^^
Haha I thought the same thing. I prefer the Gaea Kalamata but I'll use California Olive Ranch in a pinch.

I have a very early 320c OD green and it has been flawless through about 2k rounds. I think I gave about $450 with NS and two mags from Bud's new a few years ago. The only thing I added was the newer flat takedown lever; the fat ass original drove me nuts. I love the feel and it is very accurate. With my buddy's trigger scale he measured about 7.5 lbs but it absolutely does not feel like it.

Still, if I am carrying polymer I'll choose the G19. It's just that much smaller.

quote:

Originally posted by RHINOWSO:

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
Are you able to find any 9mm compact-specific (15-round) magazines? Greg Cote, TGS, Midway, Gunmagwarehouse and a couple of others I can't remember at the moment either don't show them at all or are out of stock.

I wonder if most are going to the M17 contract?

That is a good idea, however SIG doesn't make the P320 magazines in house, the M17 contract uses all full size magazines (full size and carry models), and SIG has hidden behind the false veil of "busy with contracts" for every excuse behind the P320/parts delay, even long before the Army contract. It is as if SIG has forgotten everything they have learned about expedient production. Then again, SIG of today has absolutely no meaningful relationship to SIG Sauer, and even less to the original Swiss company. We are talking about a stamped steel FCU, injection molded plastic grip shell, and milled slide (along with outsourced magazines). All of these are things SIG has done for more than 10 years (starting with the P250, which the P320 is based upon), yet we still have magazine shortages, parts shortages, and delay after delay. At least SIG has been consistent with their singular excuse: "we are busy fulfilling LE/MIL/GOV contracts."

quote:

Originally posted by drabfour:


Check here: https://sigforum.com/eve/forums...0601935/m/1470058792

Says he has 12 in stock.

Thanks. Giving him a try.