TIP OF THE SPEAR

Friends don’t let friends own a Sig P320

The Denial of Saint Peter by Caravaggio, c. 1610. A classic painting demonstrating remorse and regret. Read on.

BY: DOC SPEARS

I just got the worst news about a very close personal friend. He was gravely wounded by his own pistol. His own holstered pistol. Nope, nope, nope, don’t even start going there. He did NOTHING to cause it. No, he wasn’t using a SERPA holster (a known disaster of a holster.) He wasn’t even manipulating the pistol. His pistol discharged in the holster without him drawing, much less touching the trigger.

IMO, it’s pure product liability. We’ve heard about it happening with the P320 over and over again. Now, it’s happened to a friend.

I’ve talked to and confirmed from many others in the law enforcement and training profession that it’s a well-known potential problem with the Sig P320; one that continues despite remedies by the manufacturer.

There are approximately 100 known instances of the Sig P320 discharging if dropped. Sig addressed this in 2017 and modified the components. I’m told by those who know, the problem was metal injection molded striker and trigger parts, and that was fixed.

But still we kept hearing from reliable sources about the P320 discharging—not when dropped—but now, in the holster.

I’ve read accounts and talked to at least one cop who got the account from another cop who witnessed it happen—in a room full of other cops—when the pistol discharge in the holster on the officer’s hip.

Now, it’s happened to someone I know personally and well, with whom I would trust my life and my family’s lives. If it matters, my friend is a recently retired federal agent and chief firearms instructor for his agency, as well as being a long time student of ours and an absolutely peerless individual.

As of 2023 there were at least 80 injuries alleged to result from the P320. There have been lawsuits settled, and it’s alleged that as a result the number of incidents may be underreported. As of January 2025, a federal case was proceeding against Sig, with 11 plaintiffs claiming damages from alleged discharges by the P320 without any trigger manipulation.

I hope my friend becomes number 12 in that suit.

In my career at arms I’ve seen many such product safety issues. There was a time when Remington offered a sniper system based on the M700 marketed specifically to law enforcement. I was running a LE sniper class when one of the snipers had his weapon discharge when moving the safety from Safe to Fire.

There was no bad result besides surprise and embarrassment, and it was not the sniper’s fault. He absolutely had not touched the trigger, nor messed with the trigger weight, nor replaced the trigger to one with a lighter weight pull. I’ve seen exactly that kind of unintentional discharge happen by such modifications.

I immediately called a friend, another nationally-known trainer and lead sniper for his metro-sized agency, who’d seen the same. In no time, the word went out far and wide, and most of us BANNED the use of that model rifle in our classes, and also recommended all agencies immediately return the weapons to Remington.

Remington initially denied any such product defect, then relented.

(Note: not all or any M700-pattern rifle has that issue—just that particular Remington model. BTW, I don’t believe in using the mechanical safety on any bolt action rifle for just such a reason. We universally use methods of chambering and preparing to fire that utilize the bolt as the primary safety, but that’s beyond the scope of a blog.)

I’m stunned. Devastated. I’m hurting for my friend, and I pray he makes a full recovery and hope when the time comes, he gets restitution and a mansion out of this. I’m also hurting for my friends who work at Sig.

Don’t blow this off by saying, “That’s BS, Doc! My P320’s the best thing ever!” By the time guys like me have seen a bad procedure; a way of doing something that’s taken as gospel as safe though we’ve proven IT IS NOT; when we’ve witnessed a product fail—IT’S A THING!!!

Wargate readers love the Second Amendment. You have the God-given right to own and carry whatever pistol you choose (at least in my state.) But my recommendation if you own a P320—put it on GunBroker.