SIG .45 ACPs issued to US Army

[Raven Armament]

I was at my day job yesterday and the new guy was talking to someone else about his time in the Army being deployed overseas and some of the weapons. Timeframe would be in the last decade, as this individual is maybe 30yo at the oldest (and that's pushing it).

He said the Army issued him a SIG .45 ACP and no one carried the M9. Also claimed the Corps issued Glock 17s and that's when my radar went off, as well as another coworker who was in the Marines. I left it alone, rather than call him out at break time.

I don't know his MOS, but from his demeanor, he doesn't seem like the SF type or anything similar (I've known a few and they just have a different demeanor about them), but I don't like judging someone because you never know.

So do any of you current or former soldiers know of any part of the Army issuing SIG pistols at all, let alone .45 ACP? I know the SIG 226 is or was in the arsenal of the Navy.

[JHC]

I've been wrong before but IMO it's not a good sign about "the new guy".

I occassionally worked around a pretty outlandish sales exec who within minutes of meeting you told you he was Marine Force Recon in Vietnam. We talked guns some and he lavished the praise on his favorite, a Sig P226.

Once out in a group, over beers he got into dueling war stories with another Navy vet; a submariner. They went toe to toe, starting a story to top the others before each could finish their last.

Then the sales exec jumped the shark. "And this VC shot me in the lung with an AK47 and I killed him with my Sig! And I still have that pistol today." Then I startled, and asked "You mean that Sig P226 you are so in love with?" "Yep, that's the one, it saved my ass."

I STFU. It didn't matter, I didn't have to be the one. But check the date the SigP226 was frakking invented. Or did the Force Recon use them in the late stages of Vietnam?

Stuff like that happens.

[oldtexan]

I retired from the Army in 2001 but then worked as a defense contractor (training support stuff) for another five years, so my info is 2006 and earlier.

I know that the Army and others services issue/issued a version of the 9mm SIG 228, with the military designation M11. It was originally intended IIRC as a weapon for aircrew and others needing a pistol more compact than the M9.

I have no knowledge of any SIG .45 pistol being issued by any DoD element, but I wouldn't say definitively that it hasn't happened.

My guess is the most likely explanation is that your source was telling "war stories".

An old joke in the Army goes something like this: What's the difference between a fairy tale and a war story? A fairy tale starts with "Once upon a time..."; a war story starts with "There I was; this is no sh#t".

[KalashniKEV]

I STFU. It didn't matter, I didn't have to be the one.

That's always best.

I just heard an "SF Nam Vet" story-

"I carried a captured AK-47 because the M16 was such a POS when it was fielded."

I nodded my head... but then he had to add:

"I ran it with M14 bullets- because the Russians designed it that way! Then, eventually, you couldn't get M14 bullets anymore, so I HAD to switch!!!"

Rock on, OG...

[okie john]

When I was on active duty in the mid 80s, I had a buddy who did a rotation as a general's driver/chogey boy at SOCOM HQ. They issued him a P7 of all things.


Okie John

[mrosamilia]

Chris Kyle states that he carried one during his time in Iraq in his book American Sniper.

[Raven Armament]

A SIG as in the M11 or as in a SIG .45 ACP? IIRC he was a SEAL so the M11 would make sense. I could see specialized units having more of a choice, but my coworker made it seem like he was a GI infantry private.

[mrosamilia]

P-220 45 ACP. He states that after his TRP was hit by a frag "saving his leg" e switched to the P-220.

[JHC]

P-220 45 ACP. He states that after his TRP was hit by a frag "saving his leg" e switched to the P-220.

He made it pretty clear those were both his personally owned pistols too IIRC.

[loupav]

P-220 45 ACP. He states that after his TRP was hit by a frag "saving his leg" e switched to the P-220.

Wow! I think even I would go out and buy another 1911 after that!

I'm a second generation office rat, so I have no real world combat/street experience, but even I know BS when I see it. But it's not worth it to me to call it. I just nod my head and go on about my day.