Sig P365 Review by Alien Gear Holsters
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Alien Gear Holsters Reviews The Sig P365
As the year has drawn to a close, let's go over the hottest gun of last year in this Sig P365 review. A lot of people are still wondering if it's THE carry gun to get, as it promises a lot.
Does it live up to the hype? Is it THE MOSTEST PERFECTEST CARRY GUN EVER?!
The truth? It has a lot to offer. It does do what it's advertised to do, without doubt, and carrying one in a will make for some easy concealed carrying for sure. Does it reinvent the wheel, though? Is it pistol perfection personified? One hesitates to hype anything that heavily, but If it isn't then it'll do 'til the perfect pistol gets here.
The Sig P365 Magazine Is What Turns The Trick
As the year has drawn to a close, let's go over the hottest gun of last year in this Sig P365 review. A lot of people are still wondering if it's THE carry gun to get, as it promises a lot.
Does it live up to the hype? Is it THE MOSTEST PERFECTEST CARRY GUN EVER?!
The truth? It has a lot to offer. It does do what it's advertised to do, without doubt, and carrying one in a will make for some easy concealed carrying for sure. Does it reinvent the wheel, though? Is it pistol perfection personified?
Let's Be Honest: The Sig P365 Magazine Is What You're Buying
So, the nitty gritty is that what makes the gun special is the Sig P365 magazine. It uses a novel design to allow close to full-size capacity in a very far from full-size gun.
The typical double-stack magazine staggers cartridges from top to bottom, tapering the feed lips so just one round is fed out of the top. After it's pulled out, the next one to the right or left assumes the position at the top of the magazine. A single stack magazine, by contrast, feeds straight up.
The typical double-stack magazine also requires wider grip for obvious reasons. The typical 1911 magazine is 0.541 inches wide. A Shield 9mm magazine is more like 0.5 inches wide. The typical double-stack compact 9mm magazine is about 0.75 inches wide, depending on make and model, which requires the frame and the slide to be wider in order to correctly feed from the magazine to the chamber.
The Sig P365 magazine, however, is a hybrid of the two as the upper half of the magazine is single-stack but staggers in the lower half of the magazine. Since the frame and slide don't have to be widened as a result, the pistol can be kept to minimal width.
As a result, the pistol has svelte dimensions, with a 3.1-inch barrel and standing 5.8 inches long, 4.3 inches tall and only 1 inch wide at the frame. The lightweight polymer frame keeps unloaded weight at 17.8 ounces.
Should that seem a bit small (it is) there is also a Sig P365 12-round magazine available from Sig Sauer, featuring an extension sleeve and a pinky rest. This adds about another 3/4" to the height. The base 10-round magazine can be had with a flush or pinky extension baseplate. It ships with one of each.
The Tactical Elephant In The Room: Sig P365 Problems
We might as well get it out of the way and mention that there have been some Sig P365 problems. Every mechanical system is going to have teething problems no matter who makes it.
Go ahead and Google "Glock recall." Even Gaston Glock's guns have had hiccups, no matter what fanboys on the internet like to say. Does that mean Glock makes bad pistols? Far from it; plenty of people pack every day.
A few early production run models had some issues, with reports around the interwebs of problems with the standard night sights, firing pins and factory springs that prevented the pistol from returning to battery. This usually indicates a lower spring weight than is normally recommended.
However, the reports have slowed from barely a drip to something that somebody that a friend of a friend knows read on the internet. Sig Sauer even offered to fix the gun for free if owners had a problem or just wanted a preventative fix.
Since you (probably) aren't even seeing the early production run guns in your local gun shop anymore, you aren't likely to have any problems.
Look, the same thing happens with almost anything at all. Smart phones have the same thing happen all the time; that's why tech publications always advise you wait six months to a year to buy a new model of phone, and why you're supposed to get the mid-cycle refresh edition of a car instead of the new version.
Sig P365 Review
The dimensions and capacity were mentioned above, so let's walk through everything else for this Sig P365 review.
The grip is slim but comfortable, with a nice palmswell at the back much like a bevy of other pistols. There are no backstraps, but rather the P365 has three textured panels that are grippy without being raspy, like those we found in our . There is an undercut the trigger guard and a thumb relief on both sides of the grip. The short shelf of the end of the slide doesn't allow for the highest of grips, but such is the nature of micro/subcompact pistols. There's also a bump on the front of the grip, which is almost kinda-sorta like a finger groove but not entirely.
Controls are left-side only, though the magazine release button can be swapped to the right side for southpaws. The release catch is a triangular button, though it doesn't travel perfectly horizontally. It travels down and into the gun, which takes a few minutes to get used to but isn't terrifically complicated. You also have a slide release and a takedown lever, and that's it.
The frame has a rail for mounting accessories, though it is a proprietary design instead of a standard rail, which would be too large. Thus, a laser or light must be Sig P365-compatible. Do make sure to check first.
The slide has fore and aft slanted serrations, with an external extractor that serves as a loaded chamber indicator. There is also a witness hole at the rear of the barrel on top of the slide as well. Sig Sauer's XRAY3 day/night sights sit at the front and back, and both are drift-adjustable. They are low-profile, but quite useable. The slide is slightly beveled for a smooth draw but still having Sig Sauer aesthetics.
The barrel is matte stainless steel, and a dual captive recoil spring steel guide rod. That makes a difference, as perceived recoil from the P365 belies the light weight and diminutive size. It's rated for +P ammunition, though whether you'd use +P in a "micro compact" is up to you.
The trigger is a nesting design with an outer hull and inner blade, so it does have a two-piece trigger design. This gives you the standard three passive safety system found on many striker guns. The trigger itself has a light pull - usually around 5.5 pounds, yours may be more or less - and smoothish travel which is a touch on the long side and a decent break with a bit of stacking.
Is it the best go-pedal in the world? No, but it's not bad either.
MSRP is $599, but you'll find it for more like $500 in stores.
Is it worth it?!
Pretty much! Build quality is solid. The capacity for the size is unmatched. You get night sights as standard, which is unusual. It's comfortable to hold, more comfortable to shoot than the size would suggest, and more accurate than you'd think to boot.
For me, personally, I would carry it only with the 12-round magazine if I were to buy one. It's too small for my hands otherwise, though you may either not care about that or have daintier mitts so it fits you better. It is by all accounts an excellent pistol; you could not go wrong buying one.
Get out there and pick one up! Handle one. Shoot one. If it tickles your fancy, if you're accurate with it and you feel like it's the gun for you, get it! If you don't, that's fine too. There are plenty of great pistols out there. The Sig P365 is certainly one of them.