You know the saying about Sigs:
And today, well, today we have another example:
While the video was just released to the media, the incident happened on March 18 at the security gate for insurance provider USAA at their San Antonio location. The guard, Chuck Surles, wasn't injured.
From CBS Austin on Saturday:
'One of my co-workers, Chuck Surles, came out of the guard shack, and after he exited, his gun just went off,' said fellow security guard Matthew Gill.
Gill recalls feeling a burning sensation on his face from flying shrapnel. He says his corporal was also hit with a small piece of metal.
Gill says the P320 fired without a trigger pull — and this wasn't the first time. He says he was warned about the pistol when he joined USAA, citing a 2021 incident where another officer was shot in the leg. He also mentioned a third discharge at a firing range in September of this year.
In the video, you can see that Surles rests his right hand on the grip of the gun, but the gun is holstered. Unless there was something caught in the trigger guard, like a piece of clothing, a gun should never go off when it's inside a solid holster.
Sig Sauer has had no shortage of calamity involving the P320 handgun, the company's civilian version of the M17 they're producing for the U.S. Army, due to design flaws in early production. Shortly after its introduction in 2014, the gun got a reputation for firing when dropped, but even after Sig fixed that critical issue, people have made videos to show that the gun can still fire on its own.
To be fair to Sig (and to satisfy the gun nerds), people have demonstrated that you can do the same thing on other striker-fired guns, even the reliable Glockity Glock. 👇
As the trigger is pulled, the sear that keeps the spring-loaded "striker" from moving forward and hitting the bullet's primer begins to be disengaged. If you pull the trigger slightly and then start shaking the gun, you can get the sear to disengage early and the weapon can fire.
The question with the P320 is how far that trigger has to travel in order for the gun to go boom when shaken. On a Glock, for example, you have to disengage the trigger blade, hike the trigger back a fair amount, and then squeeze the slide to get it to "accidentally" fire.
(In essence, you have to be an idiot who is purposely trying to get yourself shot.)
Another critical issue often discussed in gun forums is Sig's apparent reliance on parts made overseas, especially in India. Could "tolerance stacking," or the number of allowable variances in parts before a product fails, be the problem?
(You never want substandard parts on a gun that's pointed at your "parts").
Sig is facing lawsuits (we've reported on that here), but made things worse in March 2025 after making a social media post defending the P320 that got trolled into oblivion. Many police departments have moved away from the P320 after similar discharges, though many discharges involve negligence and poor training when officers are not trained on carrying modern striker-fired weapons.
Whether or not this new video was user error or Sig's fault, Sig's competitors certainly are enjoying the opportunity to dunk on them!
P.S. Now check out our latest video 👇
