by Joseph P. Tartaro | Executive Editor
In early June Glock got some bad news followed immediately by two pieces of good news.
The bad was that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) had denied Glock’s protest of the Army’s award of the Modular Handgun System (MHS) contract to Sig Sauer.
Further details about the GAO’s rejection of the protest were not available as this issue of TGM went to press. However, the core of Glock’s protest was that the US Army did not complete the testing outlined in its Request for Proposal (RFP) before awarding the MHS contract to Sig Sauer based only on limited initial testing.
Glock said that during this initial testing, there were no significant differences between the Glock and Sig pistols based upon the technical factors that were evaluated. In fact, Sig Sauer was awarded the MHS contract prematurely based upon price.
The remainder of the testing outlined in the RFP that was not conducted was intended to competitively evaluate the two proposals based upon more comprehensive and stringent testing. This testing would have measured the service life, safety, reliability, and accuracy of the pistols in use while being fired by the warfighters.
“By not completing the testing on both proposals on a competitive basis, the Army never determined which pistol would better meet the warfighter’s needs,” said Glock Vice President Josh Dorsey. We are confident had the Army completed the testing, the Glock 19 would have outperformed the Sig P320, as it had in recent testing conducted by a leading federal law enforcement agency which resulted in Glock being awarded that contract.”
Within 24 hours, the Smyrna, GA, company received the first of two pieces of good news.
In the first, on June 7, the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management of the Republic of the Philippines declared the Glock 17 Gen4 as the winner of its solicitations to buy new service pistols for the Philippine National Police. Glock won this solicitation against competition from Sig Sauer and a local manufacturer.
“The Bids and Awards Committee of the Procurement Service set a global standard for transparency and professionalism through the manner in which the testing was performed pursuant to this solicitation,” said Glock Asia Pacific’s Managing Director Sven De Souter.
“The endurance tests performed were some of the toughest in the world: 20,000 rounds of ammunition had to be successfully fired through a single pistol, without any failures or stoppages, and without having to change any parts. The Glock 17 Gen4 successfully passed this testing twice, with two different pistols. In the interest of full transparency of the entire solicitation process, all tests were performed in public. The PNP will not only have the most reliable pistol on the market, but will also be the benefactor of extremely low pistol maintenance costs,” De Souter added.
Less than a week later, Glock got more good news, when its Model 17 Gen4 in 9mm was chosen as the next generation sidearm for the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and will be replacing their current Sig Sauer P229 in .40 caliber pistol. The contract will be fulfilled through Glock’s Canadian law enforcement distributor, Rampart Corp.
Canada’s OPP is one of North America’s largest law enforcement agencies with more than 6,200 uniformed officers, 3,100 civilian employees, and 800 auxiliary officers. It provides essential services that ensure the safety and security of the people of the Province of Ontario and is responsible for policing over one million square kilometers of land and waterways. The OPP further provides frontline policing services to more than 320 Ontario municipalities and patrols over 126,000 kilometers of provincial roadways. It has many specialized units, including drug enforcement, aviation, explosive disposal, search and rescue, canine, and emergency response.
Just a few days before Glock’s good news. Sig Sauer got a dose of its own, proving that there is still a lot of competition in the small arms marketplace.
On May 27, Sig Sauer announced the selection of the striker-fired P320 pistol as the sidearm of choice for the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office.
The sheriff’s department, located along the Central Coast of California, was founded in 1850 and stands as one of the oldest law enforcement agencies in the state. Today, the agency is comprised of more than 700 regular employees and more than 200 volunteers.
“After extensive testing, we selected the P320 in both 9mm and .40 and were impressed by its accuracy, reliability and modularity,” said Commander Sol Linver. “We were literally one week away from selecting a competitor’s pistol when SIG Law Enforcement Representative Tony Levatino visited us. We couldn’t be happier with our selection of the P320, and look forward to a long and rewarding relationship with Sig Sauer.”
“We are proud to add such a well-recognized agency as the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s office to the fast-growing list of law enforcement agencies adopting the SIG P320,” said Tom Jankiewicz, executive vice president, Law Enforcement Sales.
USCCA/PDN partnership
The United States Concealed Carry Association (USCCA) recently announced a new partnership with Personal Defense Network (PDN) and training expert Rob Pincus.
This collaboration will allow USCCA to provide more training opportunities to their members and the firearms community at large. PDN offers affordable, effective, expert reality-based training in an easy-to-use online format to anyone interested in self-defense.
“With a mission of providing the very best training, the United States Concealed Carry Association will be able to provide even greater defensive firearms knowledge to our members through this new partnership,” said Tim Schmidt, president and founder of the USCCA. “This training will be based on an efficient Intuitive Defensive Shooting Program developed by Rob Pincus, with whom we are excited to work. We are additionally excited about the road it paves for future collaborations that will help ensure the USCCA is continuing to meet — and surpass — the incredibly high standards the members of our community both expect and deserve. That includes providing the best information and training from top experts in the firearms industry.”
“I am incredibly excited about the collaboration that Personal Defense Network and I are launching with the United States Concealed Carry Association,” said Pincus, executive director of PDN, owner of I.C.E. Training Company and a renowned industry training leader. “I am proud to announce that I will be serving as an advisor to the USCCA’s Training Division and that we’ve already begun the process of developing new curriculum for the USCCA based on my approach to Defensive Shooting Instruction.”
“Over Memorial Day weekend, my training team and I put leaders from the USCCA Training Program through an intense, three-day Defensive Firearms course,” Pincus said. “I promise that you can look forward to great educational content, as well as special training opportunities, as a result of this collaboration. PDN is the leading online source for firearms training; the USCCA, along with an extensive education and training division, offers the most comprehensive legal and financial assistance for responsible American gun owners who are forced to defend themselves with their firearms.”
Appointments & Elections
Ducks Unlimited (DU) elected Texas native Rogers Hoyt Jr. as its 44th president during the organization’s 80th national convention in San Antonio, on June 3. Hoyt succeeds Paul Bonderson Jr., who now serves as the chairman of the board.
In his acceptance speech, Hoyt said he will focus on growing and strengthening DU’s volunteer-led fundraising event system, encourage more of DU’s more than 700,000 members to advocate for sound public policy that benefits waterfowl and their habitats, build on DU’s growing youth education and engagement programs, and see that the $2-billion Rescue Our Wetlands continental campaign reaches its ambitious goal.
Next year’s DU national convention will be held in Indianapolis, May 30 – June 2, 2018.
Ruger recently announced three executive appointments: Sarah F. Colbert as Vice President of Administration, Robert J. Werkmeister, Jr. as Vice President of Marketing, and Michael W. Wilson as Vice President of Mayodan Operations.
“Over the past few years, our team has shown that we have many high performers that are not only instrumental to our success, but also are key drivers of our future,” stated Christopher J. Killoy, President and CEO. “Sarah, Rob and Mickey are three of those high performers and we are excited to promote them into roles that will help them continue to strengthen our team and drive success for years to come.”
Introducing the Ruger American Rimfire Stainless
Sturm, Ruger has introduced its American Rimfire® Stainless in three popular calibers: .22 LR, .22 WMR and .17 HM. These new Ruger American Rimfire models feature a 416 stainless steel barrel, bolt and receiver. Hand-buffed from end to end, the satin finish is highlighted by the contrasting black thread protector, bolt release, stock and one-piece Picatinny scope base. The 18” cold hammer-forged barrel free-floats in the lightweight synthetic stock and is finished with a 1/2”-28 threaded muzzle. The Ruger American Rimfire rifle also features the renowned, patented Ruger Power Bedding® integral bedding system, Ruger Marksman Adjustable™ trigger and ultra-reliable rotary magazine. The modular stock system helps to adjust the rifle fit to the shooter by allowing for different comb heights and lengths of pull. MSRP $429.
