Sig P320 fires itself
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There's a series of claims that a Sig Sauer P320 accidentally discharges without operator intervention.
~ Aristotle Sabouni
Created: 2022-11-08 |
Boostick Tactical  |
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The Sig P320 cannot fire without the trigger being pressed unless this failure happens first |
While the mechanics make it seem impossible, there are multiple claims that the gun just shoots itself. But virtually all the people making the claim, do not want to get in trouble for the accidental discharge, and/or are looking for a lawsuit against Sig. (Vested interest in it "not being operator error"). But investigations into their claims, fall short on convincing. Examples:
- Brittney Hilton of the Bridge City, TX, Police Department. Claims that her duty weapon (a Sig Sauer P320) discharged by itself, and shot her in the leg. was inside her purse in a Serpa on-body holster when it went off.[1] Sig Sauer examined the gun on behalf of the police department and determined that “a foreign object entered the trigger guard (causing) the pistol to discharge.” Which based on the loose fitting holster, does seem like a possibility.
- Somerville, MA Officer claims that he "carefully" wrapped his gun in a towel (with one chambered) and was carrying it in a gym bag, and it went off. This is not a safe way to carry a gun. And it seems more probable that something pushed the trigger, than the gun went off by itself.
- South Carolina Retired office Office suffered an accidental discharge while inside the bathroom of a Chick-fil-A. The gun went off as he was exiting the restroom -- but he was waistband carrying (without a holster). This is not a safe way to carry a gun, especially a safetyless gun.
- Loudoun County, VA Sherrif had a case settled. But testing showed the damaged holster would only have suffered such damage if the firearm was partially out of the holster, at an angle, when the gun fired.
- Pasco County, FL school security officer claims his P320 went off as he was leaning against a wall in the cafeteria. School video cameras showed the guard fidgeting with his gun. The officer was eventually terminated.
- Tampa, FL reserve officer claims he was shot with an accidental (unexplained) discharge from a right-handed gun with the gun holstered (hitting him in the left ankle). There was a casing on the ground and the gun in battery, neither could happen if the gun was holstered when fired.
- Exiting Cruiser An interviewed officer claimed his gun went off as he exited his cruiser. But there have been numerous cases where if a left-handed officer exits a cruiser, the seat buckle retracts, and can land inside the holster, causing an accidental discharge when the officer turns to exit the car. Ohio state police deduced this (after an event), and had the buckle relocated to reduce the safety risk.
- Thomas Ahern was performing a routine function (test) of his P320 when it fired and hit him in the leg. But why would anyone function test their firearm with a round in the chamber? And why would they do so when it’s pointed at an extremity?
- Gunter Walker Claims his P320 fired on its own “when he placed the weapon down on his nightstand", shooting him through the palm of his left hand. Why would anyone put a loaded handgun down with their palm in front of the muzzle?
- Texas gun shop manager Claims a P320 fired “as he cleared the weapon, blowing off one of his fingers. The weapon was out of battery when it fired.” What was his finger doing over the muzzle when clearing? (Or at all). And how does it fire out of battery? If the slide is back, the casing will disintegrate, and the velocity of the bullet is greatly reduced.
| Grey Wolf Armory |
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Counterpoint: explains how he thinks it could happen (via fowling). But Glock and others have the same problem here. |
Conclusion[edit | edit source]
| 🗒️ Note: |
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| There was a 2017 Dropping issue that's separate. If you drop a sign, some of the internal parts had enough weight that it could fire a round in the chamber. Those can be voluntarily fixed/upgraded by the factory, with lighter parts. |
So while the P320 is getting a reputation for this -- that's most likely because it's one of (if not THE) most popular weapons for the Police/military and civilians. (Glock's were starting to get this reputation, before more forces moved over to Sig).
- 325,000 officers and in almost 2,200 police departments across the country, plus the military (over 300,000 in service) and civilian markets (over 2 million).
- Yet, in all the testing, and cases, no one has ever exhibited or even rendered a hypothesis as to how this can happen. They seem to claim that “it just goes off”, often without it being manipulated. Tools are not possessed. This does not make sense.
- The mechanics seem to hint that what people are claiming is not possible. It would require a Firing Pin Block failure, a firing pin sear catch failure (primary and secondary), and something around the triggering.
- On top of that, the weapons that have been claimed to have fired spontaneously, have been torn down. None of them showed a mechanical failure that could have made it possible for the weapon to fire on its own (or out of battery). The firing pin sears, the firing pin block and triggering mechanisms all appeared in tact.
- On top of that, virtually all these cases are with cops -- not military and not civilians, which have far more interaction with the guns -- which seems to hint at a lack of caution that comes with having a gun on you, and shifting it around all the time. With familiarity often comes complacency
So after looking at this? I'm not buying it. YMMV. But it seems highly implausible to me that a gun will defeat multiple safety mechanisms to fire itself, and then all the mechanicals of the gun are in proper order when the investigators investigate.
The solution? Make sure to get a gun with a physical safety, and train on it.
🔗 More
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🔗 Links
- https://www.lawenforcementtoday.com/dear-america-guns-dont-shoot-themselves-poorly-trained-people-do/
- https://boomsticktactical.com/2021/09/04/sig-p320-failures-that-cause-it-to-fire-uncommanded/
- https://abcnews.go.com/US/detective-sues-sig-sauer-holstered-p320-handgun-killed/story?id=79605906
Tags: Guns
