Before the 9mm became America’s default self-defense cartridge, the concealed carry market was an afterthought, consisting of lightweight handguns that fired small cartridges or scaled-down duty pistols with a wide girth. The 9mm is powerful enough for efficient use of expanding bullets. And while nothing takes the place of marksmanship and shot placement, 9mm compliments efficient delivery.

Following the trend toward concealed carry, the single stack or slimline 9, including the long-awaited Glock 43 gave shooters an efficient, powerful and easy-to-use-well handgun. Those wishing to prosper in this market had to present an improved pistol. SIG Sauer handguns have withstood exhaustive testing via the militaries of the U.S., France and NATO, as well as being standard issue for multiple U.S. police forces. And SIG’s premier concealed carry pistol, with an improved trigger and 10-round magazine capacity, is the SIG P365 9mm.

Best Features of the P365

The P365 is a great blend of good features, from its stainless nitron-coated slide to its smooth but not too light trigger. And with its redesigned magazine release allowing rapid manipulation, plus the ease of cleaning and maintenance, the P365 is an outstanding handgun in every way. As a bonus the P365 features a modular design. This allows the chassis to be interchanged with various grip frames. SIG invites the use of aftermarket grip modules and trigger groups.

An efficient upgrade is the XL version. This pistol features a longer grip frame and slide. While the original P365 is the most popular and a great shooting pistol for most uses, it doesn’t shoot as well as larger guns. By adding a slightly longer grip frame and longer slide with attendant 3.7-inch barrel, SIG made this pistol shoot much easier. The P365 XL is also available in the Spectre version, a customized pistol offered in several versions. An XL frame allows a 12-round magazine. It is possible to obtain an XL type grip module and fit this module to the original SIG P365 giving shooters with larger hands a viable choice.

However, SIG went the opposite direction with the SAS, a very smooth pistol without sharp edges of any type and a bold single-dot night sight. For completely snag free carry the P365 SAS is a superb choice.

What’s New on the P365

Recently, SIG took the popular and flexible P365 to a new extreme — a modified version for the .380 ACP cartridge. I am not a fan of this small caliber; however, there is no denying its popularity. The .380 ACP is a good fit in the P365. This compact and tractable piece holds 10 rounds of ammunition. The pistol is mild to fire. Accuracy and reliability surpass most pistols of the type. The SIG P365 .380 ACP is going to prove to be a popular handgun.

Also available is the P365 XMACRO. This is a fresh design that at first seems to simply be a SIG XL with a longer grip. But the long slide isn’t an XL slide. The slide actually features a barrel with a length of 3.1 inches; the same as a standard P365. The rest of the slide is taken up with a dual-port compensator. By directing gas upward, the compensator results in less recoil energy delivered to the shooter. Though the velocity advantage of the 3.7-inch barrel XL is lost, many will find this an acceptable trade off. And the XMACRO features a 17-round capacity magazine. This is quite a pistol on every count. The XMACRO is easily the most pleasant of the P365 pistols to fire and use … and the most accurate as well. Its sight radius makes for rapid target engagement and enhances hit probability.

Some shooters may prefer the deep concealment advantages of the SAS and others find the SIG P365XL the best compromise of size and weight. Whichever you choose, the P365 is a formidable defensive tool.

Source:

SIG Sauer: SIGSauer.com