Walt Sherrill
Member
This has been discussed elsewhere here on the S&W Forum.
It may be more than just a seeming lack of demand.
My son is a NC State Trooper. The NC Highway Patrol has been using .357 SIG weapons for a number of years. Several years ago they switched to the S&W M&P in .357 -- and soon after began to have problems with their weapons. They weren't widespread, but they happened often enough to concern some of the management team, including senior officers who experienced the problems when they periodically qualified.
I never heard all of the details... or if I did, don't remember them, but they seem related to some very aggravating and inconsistent feed issues. My son never personally experienced any issues.
S&W sent down their engineers and specialists, worked with the NCHP's weapon specialist, and even took some weapons back with them, but were unable to resolve the issues.
S&W took back the weapons and some time later S&W discontinued the .357 versions of the M&Ps. The NCHP switched to the SIG P229s in .357 SIG and there have been no problems with those weapons. This whole event got a good bit of coverage in local and state news.
We may see a S&W .357 SIG semi-auto again, one of these days -- but it'll probably be with a newer model or a subtly different M&P. LEOs like the .357 SIG round, feeling that it does a better job of penetrating windshields than other rounds. (Most NC State Troopers have also been issued M-16/ARs and I suspect THAT weapon would be the weapon of choice, if they know they may have to fire on a moving vehicle and have time to get the AR out of the trunk.)
It may be more than just a seeming lack of demand.
My son is a NC State Trooper. The NC Highway Patrol has been using .357 SIG weapons for a number of years. Several years ago they switched to the S&W M&P in .357 -- and soon after began to have problems with their weapons. They weren't widespread, but they happened often enough to concern some of the management team, including senior officers who experienced the problems when they periodically qualified.
I never heard all of the details... or if I did, don't remember them, but they seem related to some very aggravating and inconsistent feed issues. My son never personally experienced any issues.
S&W sent down their engineers and specialists, worked with the NCHP's weapon specialist, and even took some weapons back with them, but were unable to resolve the issues.
S&W took back the weapons and some time later S&W discontinued the .357 versions of the M&Ps. The NCHP switched to the SIG P229s in .357 SIG and there have been no problems with those weapons. This whole event got a good bit of coverage in local and state news.
We may see a S&W .357 SIG semi-auto again, one of these days -- but it'll probably be with a newer model or a subtly different M&P. LEOs like the .357 SIG round, feeling that it does a better job of penetrating windshields than other rounds. (Most NC State Troopers have also been issued M-16/ARs and I suspect THAT weapon would be the weapon of choice, if they know they may have to fire on a moving vehicle and have time to get the AR out of the trunk.)
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