Pistol Review: SIG Sauer's M18 - The Chosen One

SIG Sauer made worldwide news in 2017 as they won the U.S. Military's Modular Handgun System trials with a modified variant of its P320 handgun platform.

Two models of the pistol were selected for military service: a full-size M17 and a compact M18. The U.S. Army selected the M17 as its primary duty handgun with the compact M18 only serving in select roles. However, the M18 gained the favor of the U.S. Marine Corps and they quickly adopted it as their primary service pistol. Just recently, at the end of 2019, SIG Sauer announced a consumer variant of this compact gun in the form of its P320-M18.

Spec-wise, the SIG Sauer P320-M18 is the same gun adopted as the service sidearm of the U.S. Marine Corps. The gun is constructed with a stainless-steel chassis that sits inside of a flat-dark-earth polymer grip frame, and the slide is also machined from stainless steel. The barrel is machined from carbon steel and features a nitride finish to protect it from wear and corrosion.

Just as the M17, the M18 also passed incredibly rigorous and highly competitive review processes, ensuring is capability, durability, and reliability.

The P320-M18 includes SIGLITE night sights and also features a removable slide plate that allows for the mounting of compatible optics, like SIG's Romeo1Pro.

The handling while shooting is exceptional. The M18 fits the hand like a fitted pair of gloves and provides a firm, tactile grip while firing. In regard to the trigger, it breaks at approximately 6-6.5 pounds. While that may be slightly more than we are generally accustomed to, the trigger press is very short making for excellent speed and rapid reset.