The U.S. military has been thinking about trading up from their hodgepodge of 1980s era handguns to something a little more modern and modular. At the moment there is an array of different guns in service, from the Beretta 92FS to the SIG SAUER Mk25 to the venerable Colt 1911 and compact versions for the criminal investigation units. Simplifying their arsenal and ensuring interoperability even across branches of service would make acquisition, maintenance, personalization, and even sharing ammunition in combat far easier than today. The Modular Handgun System competition aims to do just that, and SIG SAUER just started showing off their entry in the competition at AUSA this week . . .
Thanks to an article by Rob Curtis over at GearScout, we have our first look at the new handgun. Using the SIG SAUER P320 design as the base, the MHS entry also seems to sport a manual thumb safety in addition to the striker mechanism.
Given the way the competition is being billed, it seems like SIG’s P320-based entry would be a shoe-in. In fact, that was one of the driving motivators behind the design of the firearm. The serialized part is a small removable aluminum stainless steel chassis. The components can be then re-configured for almost any kind of firearm you could want. Moving from a 6″ 9mm competition handgun to a 3″ .45 ACP concealed carry gun is as easy as pie, and replacing major components is a snap as well.
The main competitors are still apparently using built-in chassis systems, where the metallic chassis is permanently molded into the grip of the handgun. That makes changing grip sizes nearly impossible and severely limits the dimensions of magazines that can be used, as well as increasing the replacement cost should something happen to the grip. Drop a GLOCK from a helicopter and a cracked magazine well means the whole thing needs to be replaced. Do the same with a P320 and all you need to swap out is the grip. For $25-ish.