U.S. Marine Corps to Adopt M18 as Official Duty Pistol

The U.S. Marine Corps will adopt the M18 as its official duty pistol, according to a SIG Sauer press release. The pistol is the compact variant of the U.S. Army’s Modular Handgun System (MHS).

“The Marine Corps announcement to put the M18 in service with the Marines is a very exciting development for SIG Sauer, and a true testament to the success of the MHS program,” said SIG Sauer President and CEO Ron Cohen. “The Marine’s 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.”

The M18 is a 9 mm, striker-fired pistol featuring a coyote-tan PVD coated stainless steel slide with black controls. The pistol is equipped with SIGLite front night sights and removable night sight rear plate, and manual safety.

The M18 recently successfully completed a MHS Material Reliability Test, which consisted of firing three M18 pistols to 12,000 rounds each for a total of 36,000 rounds in accordance with the MHS requirements. Comparatively, the U.S. Army’s legacy pistol was tested only to 5,000 rounds, making the test duration for the M18 pistol 2.4 times greater than that of the legacy pistol. In this testing, the M18 experienced zero stoppages despite being allowed up to 12 stoppages. Additionally, the M18 passed a parts interchange test, and met stringent accuracy and dispersion requirements.

“The success of the MHS program is the direct result of the indisputable performance and superior quality of the M17 and M18 pistols, and the commitment and dedication of the men and women of SIG Sauer to those that serve in the defense of freedom,” said Cohen. “We are very proud, and humbled, to have earned the trust of every branch of the U.S. military through their acceptance of the MHS program and adoption of the M17 and M18 pistols.”

Currently, the M17 and M18 are in service with the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard. The Marine Corps will begin its acquisition of the M18 pistol in 2020.

For more, visit sigsauer.com.

Additional Reading:
In the Company of Soldiers: The US M17 and M18 Modular Handgun Systems  
M1152 and M1153: The Army's New 9 mm Luger Loads  
Tested: SIG Sauer P320 M17 Pistol