BREAKING: Immigration & Customs Enforcement Adopts the SIG P320 Modular Handgun
The rumor we reported on earlier appears to now be official: Immigration and Customs Enforcement has adopted the SIG P320C as their next service handgun. News of SIG’s win was confirmed by a post on pistol-forum.com containing a leaked screenshot of a new article on ICE’s internal website, with the headline ICE Picks a New Service Handgun.
The contract, probably worth well over ten million dollars, has its origins in a 2015 Request for Information (RFI) issued by the agency. Speculation surrounded the RFI that it was tailored specifically for SIG – although the specifications were not so unambiguous that some didn’t speculate S&W as the favorite! In this case, SIG was defending their previous contract: The P320 will be replacing the agency’s old P229 DAK handguns, also from SIG.
A contract like this one, which would normally be the biggest news of the year for a gun company, is overshadowed by SIG Sauer’s recent win of the massive US Army Modular Handgun System contract, worth an estimated $580 million dollars. However, the Immigration contract win is still very significant for SIG Sauer in another way, as two wins at major US government contracts in the span of a month is a huge boost to the brand’s reputation.
Nathaniel is a history enthusiast and firearms hobbyist whose primary interest lies in military small arms technological developments beginning with the smokeless powder era. He can be reached via email at nathaniel.f@staff.thefirearmblog.com.
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I laugh at the crap I see in some of the blogs. Its obvious those who talk about kick backs when it comes to small arms have a fundamental misunderstanding of how the process works. Handguns are a "tiny" expense in the overall scheme of government acquisition. If you knew the prices the government pays for these weapons through the contracts you would see that its the companies that are taking it on the chin. But they do so to garner notoriety especially if the agency has a robust acceptance process. Landing these contracts boost their commercial sales which is really where the money is in the weapons world.
Sounds like to me, some serious money's (bribes) are changing hands here. The one with the highest bid won.
I have been a firearms instructor and range master, both California DOJ and Federal DOJ for over 45yrs. and help train thousand's of people every year.
Only failure I see in Glock's is when some garage gunsmith messes with his firearms and puts parts in backwards.
On the other other hand, Sigs have a history of grip screws falling out, sights falling out and other pins and screws falling out. I am a certified armor with Glock and Sig. firearms so I am not just blowing smoke.
Our Military and Federal Officers must have complete faith that their firearms will work when needed. Right now that that is not true. They should not have to resort to a quick repair or field strip.