Sig Wins Big in Australia and Canada

Both the Australian and Canadian military have been using the Browning Hi-Power to fill their respective sidearm needs for generations. Both British Commonwealth countries followed the lead of London, which used the same well-traveled and dependable 13+1 shot single action 9mm throughout most of the Cold War.

Well, Britain replaced the BHP with Glock back in 2007 and since then both the Australians and Canadians have been looking at retiring theirs as well. In a probably historic one-two punch, both ended up going Sig Sauer P320 for their new handgun requirements, announced within days of each other last week.

The Australians will use an FDE P320 XCarry Pro variant, decked out with a Romeo Elite red dot and Foxtrot white light. Meanwhile, the Canadians will buy up to 9,000 undisclosed P320 models and dub them the C22 in local service.

The move leaves just India and Indonesia as the primary military users of the old Hi-Power, and both of those countries have been making them domestically under license since the 1960s. Hey, if it ain’t broke, right?

By Michael Crites

Michael Crites has served as executive editor of AmericanFirearms.org since 2016 and previously held positions as associate editor and range correspondent dating back to 2000. He discovered his passion for precision shooting at age 12 during his first visit to his grandfather's shooting range, eventually earning an Expert classification in three different shooting disciplines before age 18. During his studies at University of Wyoming, he earned four varsity letters on the collegiate rifle and pistol teams, serving as team captain for three consecutive years. He became the first UW student to complete the NRA Range Safety Officer certification while maintaining full-time student status. He graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in Sports Communications. His diverse career has included roles as Range Safety Coordinator for the National Rifle Championships in Camp Perry 2001; editor-in-chief, Precision Shooter Quarterly; series editor, Modern Firearms Handbook collection; managing editor, National Shooting Sports Foundation Newsletter; editor, Competitive Shooter Magazine; operations director for Western Arms & Ammunition Co.; senior editor for the Shooter's Reference Annual (Cheyenne); content director for The Firearms Report, published by the American Shooting Coalition in Billings, MT; firearms correspondent for Hunting & Shooting, produced by Outdoor Sports Media Group in Jackson, WY; and publisher for Wyoming Shooting Sports Journal in Casper. He has contributed as a regular columnist for American Rifleman (NRA Publications), technical editor for Precision, a publication of the National Bench Rest Shooters Association (Phoenix, AZ); and as firearms specialist for the Gun Owner's Annual. As a digital content creator, he has written more than 400 articles on AmericanFirearms.org, developed shooting technique coverage for the Brownells Shooting Blog (Montezuma, IA) and Federal Premium "Range Notes" platform (Anoka, MN), and served as lead content strategist for International Defensive Pistol Association (Berryville, AR). Beyond Tactical Firearms, his current endeavors include content development for the Wyoming State Rifle Association (Cheyenne, WY) and technical manual production for High Plains Publishing of Laramie, WY. He has contributed to the 12th, 13th, and 14th editions of Modern Sporting Rifles Guide and edited The Complete Guide to Tactical Shooting and Competitive Shooter's Reference Manual (Gun Digest Books).

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