Marine Corps Fields Sig Sauer M18, First New Handgun in 35 Years

The United States Marine Corps (USMC) is now issuing the Sig Sauer M18 to Marines – the first new handgun USMC has issued in 35 years.

The Washington Times reports that the M18 replaces “all other sidearms, including the M9, M9A1, M45A1 and M007.”

An immediate benefit of the M18 is a consistent trigger, compared to the Beretta M9 trigger that was single action/double action. That means the M9 trigger was sometimes short, sometimes long. The M18 trigger is the same every time.

Another benefit of the M18 is the modular system, which uses “interchangeable components” to personalize grip size to better fit the hand of an individual Marine.

On June 19, 2019, UPI reported that the M18 “was developed through the Army’s Modular Handgun Systems program.”

At the time of the UPI report, the M18–and another variant, the M17–were already “in service with the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard.”

Sig Sauer CEO Ron Cohen reacted to the Marines’ announcement of their adoption of the pistol by saying, “The Marine Corps announcement to put the M18 in service with the Marines is a very exciting development. … The Marines’ procurement of the M18 brings the adoption of our Modular Handgun System full circle, as this means, beginning in 2020, either the M17 or the M18 will be officially in service with every branch of the U.S. military.”

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.