Law Enforcement Technology

AUG 2017

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F IR E A R M S TA C T I C S GUNS, GEAR, TRAINING AND BEST PRACTICES Lindsey Bertomen A retired police of ficer and militar y small arms trainer, Lindsey Ber tomen has taught shooting techniques for over a decade, in addition to teaching criminal justice at Har tnell College in Salinas, California. Of f the clock he enjoys competing in shooting spor ts, running and cycle events. He welcomes comments at lber tomen@letonline.com. 24 Review: Sig's P320 Handgun and Air Pistol Counterpart Purchase these together for a sound training program construction, except the P250 has an external hammer, not a striker. Both models have a modular fire control system that is contained in a single chassis. Users can move the chas- sis from one interchangeable grip module to another. Thus, the P320 can go from sub- compact to a full sized "tactical" model from a simple field strip. I've been in the industry long enough to remember the last time there was an Army contract selection. I knew that all of a sudden, everyone would be scrambling to have a hol- ster that fits, and the accessory and aftermar- ket wheels would be turning. I was actually on the SIG Sauer range at SHOT Show when I heard the news. I had just been shooting a P320 and a P320 CO2 pistol. I flagged down the media rep for SIG Sauer and asked how quickly I could get one. I got, "It's too early to tell," which was reasonable. I found out later that the P320 was almost impossible to acquire in California because of the legislators in Sacramento. Modularity My whole purpose with getting a modular gun that can be configured in so many ways was so my wife would always know what she could get me for Christmas: new accessories for my P320. Modularity rules when it comes to hand- guns. W hen I was assigned to train soldiers in handgun qualification, it was evident that not every soldier could get their mitts around an M9. I was always assigned soldiers whose fingertips could barely touch the front of the trigger after attempting to obtain their master grip. The truth is, one size does not fit all. The P320 grip modules can be purchased with different grip circumference sizes, affording a custom fit for each shooter. The W hile I was at SHOT Show 2017, the Army announced their selection of the SIG Sauer P320 as their hand- gun. The 10-year contract included both the full sized and compact ver- sions of the P320. I had to test one. The SIG Sauer P320 is one of the most versatile handguns in the history of firearms manufacturing. It is a striker-fired system whose entire firing mechanism is contained in a single chassis. It is the only serialized part of the gun. This chassis, a complete fire control system, can be moved from frame to frame, and converted to any of four calibers. The conversions are cheap, and complete new frames can be as inexpensive as $44. The P320 has been around since 2014. Its predecessor, the P250, is similar in The Sig Sauer P320 Air Pistol (at right) replicates many features of the P320 (left), such as realistic blowback and a comparable weight.

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