“If it’s not hailing, you’re not training.”

FX Hummel and his wife review the Sig Sauer P320 in this video, using an interesting variety of “tests,” ranging from pushing or pulling the shooter before he engages the target, shooting while dumping water over his face (in case he’s mugged while being waterboarded?), and yes, shooting during a storm while hail is coming down.

It’s certainly interesting, but it certainly isn’t a scientifically valid way to test a firearm, as amusing as it is to watch.

One thing that I did find very interesting was Mrs. FX Hummel’s critique that the grip of the P320 is too wide for her tastes, if somewhat serviceable. While it is only her personal opinion, it hints at a possible major problem from the pistol in coming Army trials. A variant of the P320 has just been introduced for the U.S. Army’s Modular Handgun System (MHS) trials to replace the Beretta M9.

One of the KPPs (Key Performance Parameters) of the MHS is that the Army wants a grip that can correctly fit the widest number of soldiers as possible. Realistically, they’d like a pistol that will fit the 5th to the 95th percentile, and ideally, they’d like one to fit the 1st to the 99th percentiles (everyone but the smallest of fairies to the largest of mountain trolls).

While part of the P320’s modularity is different size grips, I don’t think that maintaining a massive inventory of different grip sizes is what the Army had in mind when they spoke of “modularity.” They were most likely think about one universal grip size, in different grip lengths for regular service and concealed use. Whether or not this becomes a serious issue will be seen in due time.

As for the term “Glock Killer,” I’m starting to doubt if anyone using the term actually knows what it means.

A “Glock Killer” isn’t going to simply be the handgun that is more technologically advanced than the Glock (of which there are many) or more durable (of which there are a few) or which is more reliable, accurate, etc. A legitimate “Glock Killer” will not be identified by its features, but will only be identified by marketshare, after the fact. The “Glock Killer” will be the one that starts willing the majority of Glock’s current business in agency contracts, followed by substantially eroding Glock’s civilian market. I don’t see that happening in the next few years.

The Sig P320 seems to be an interesting pistol and I’d eventually like to get my hands on one. I don’t intend on doing that anytime soon, however, as that would require to put down the Walther PPQ 5″ that I ran through Gunsite’s legendary 250 Pistol course, and which I haven’t cleaned yet after 1,400 rounds, and only lubricated once around the 1,000-round mark.