New P365.

[Trey Veston]

I ordered the P365 TacPac which comes with a manual safety and three 12-round magazines. Been lurking on a P365 forum and reading about the teething issues for awhile.

Sig apparently made some small and quiet changes and they are good to go. My new pistol has a born on date of 12-17-19, so it has the latest upgrades.

Fondled it and the Hellcat and the Hellcat felt a little better, but I liked the trigger of P365 better. I also liked the option of having a safety.

So I ordered the P365 and it arrived last week at my FFL, then I had to wait for the background check to clear, which it did so I went over and picked it up this afternoon.

I had already ordered a couple of holsters for it and a Hogue slip-on grip since the grip was just a little too small for me.

Got it home and took it apart and was amazed at how clean it was inside. Most new pistols have a fair amount of metal shavings, grit, and assembly lube still in them. I read that some of the issues with the P365 were thought to be caused by excessive white grease in the striker channel left by assembly.

Mine had zero trace of any such assembly grease and zero amount of debris. Cleaned it up and applied CLP where needed, then installed the new grip and did a bunch of dry-firing and slide racking.

I'm really impressed with this thing so far. The grip and 12-round magazines make it feel perfect in my hand and it points very naturally.

Not enough light to get to the range today, but going tomorrow and will hopefully have a good report.

Only negatives so far is that loading the last couple of rounds in the magazines is a challenge. I loaded the first mag by hand, then the other two with my Upula loader. However, it won't work with the 12th round; there just isn't enough room for the bar and the last round. It has to be put in by hand, and it is hard.
Also, with the 12th round in, the slide is very hard to rack. With only 11 rounds, it's comparable to other compact autos. With 12, my girlfriend couldn't rack it. I've read that some folks just go with 11 rounds since they lack the hand strength.

Trigger is still short and crisp, but heavier than I thought it would be. It feels much lighter than the just over 6lb pull results that I was getting with my trigger gauge.

It works with my existing Remora holster that I used for my XDS, so that's nice. I also bought a TEGE polymer OWB paddle holster (I just had to reach down and check if I still had it on, it's so comfy...), and a leather IWB holster from Winthrop. Both seem to be working pretty well. I also need to order a new shell for my Alien Gear Cloak Tuck 3.5.

I still can't get over just how much smaller it is than my old carry pistols. Even the XDS. I took a ton of pics of it...

Fresh from the dealer:



Initial detail strip and swipe of a Q-Tip showing how clean it was with no shavings...




New Hogue grip installed..



In the new Winthrop leather holster...



Size comparison to other carry guns...

 

[MikeInOr]

When I buy a brand new pistol I will rack the slide on it a few hundred times before taking it out for the first time. I find this helps settle a brand new gun in.

Have fun with your new P365 and let us know how you like it!

 

[bluejeans]

Glad to see you went for it. I’ve been drooling over the 365xl for a while now but haven’t bit the Bullet yet.
On racking with 12 in the mag... is there a reason why you wouldn’t lock the slide back first, insert fully loaded mag, the drop the slide chambering a round? This is how I always do it with other guns... subsequent mag changes will also be from slide lock position. Or is it because you’re trying to get 12+1?

 

[BoBo522]

Glad you are pleased with your purchase. I’m up to three P365s now - one for EDC, one range toy, and one for testing mods. I agree that the 12-round mags feel the best, though I will occasionally go with a flush 10-round to better facilitate pocket carry. Use an Uplula and muscle that 12th round in, then leave it for a few days. It will get easier to load with use, as will racking a full mag. Let us know how your first range visit goes!

 

[jmr40]

I've had mine for a few months and it lives up to the hype. No malfunctions of any kind and accuracy is excellent. I also opted for the one with a safety. The lack of a safety on many guns doesn't bother me, but the trigger is light enough on this one that I feel the safety is an asset. And it is a well designed safety.

I use the 10 round mags carrying IWB, the 12 round mags OWB depending on the situation.

The mags get easier to load after a while.

 

[Sovblocgunfan]

I bought the P365 TacPac too! Mine came with the 3x12 round magazines and a 10 round magazine, and no thumb safety.

the magazines will sort themselves out with use.

i love my pistol-it’s a great shooter. And i think you’ll really like yours too.

 

[TomJ]

I bought them when they first came out and experienced a number of issues, most importantly frequent light strikes. Sig recently replaced my P365XL with a more recently manufactured one. I was going to sell or trade it as soon as it was delivered to my FFL, but the owner at the FFL who's also a gun smith recommended I give it another try as he just returned from Sig's armorer school and they had made a number of changes. I'm glad I took his advice. It has 700+ rounds through it without a malfunction attributed to the gun (one failure of the slide to lock upon shooting the last round in a magazine and once the slide released when I inserted a magazine, both likely caused by me). I also have a Hellcat, which I carry when I need something more concealable. Both are great, but between the two I shoot the P365XL better.

 

[94045]

The light strike issue has multiple causes.
1. Dirty Striker Channel.(Sig for some reason drenches these pistols before shipping and it needs to be cleaned in initial cleaning.
2. Weak recoil spring / guide. They have a 2500 round service interval. They wear out faster if you run heavier bullet weights, NATO or +P ammo and slower if you run 115 gr range ammo.
3. Dirty Rails.

The pistol allows a little margin for fully in battery and disconnecter function. The pistol can drop the sear while still safe but the slide just the slightest amount out of battery. This will result in light strikes, especially with ammo such as WWB that has a reputation for being just slightly harder to fire.

My pistol rails will get dirty enough after 350-400 rounds of WWB to start getting light strikes. I can run 600 rounds (Most I've run in one session) of S&B NATO without issue. I give the pistol a quick field strip and 2 minute decarb every 250-300 rounds if I'm running dirty ammo and I get zero light strikes.

PS (1) 10-Round Flush, (1) 10-Round with Extension (Although the ext only makes it a full two finger for me), (2) 12-Round, (2) 15-Round.

 

[Walkalong]

I have shot hundreds of rounds, more than 400, between cleaning with my P-365, no issues. I did give it a thorough cleaning when I first got it. Maybe my reloads are just cleaner.

 

[Trey Veston]

Took it to the range and it was able to meet my criteria of 2" or better 5-shot groups at 25 yards. No malfunctions of any kind and recoils was surprisingly mild. Very Happy!

 

[Trey Veston]

The bad thing about the P365 is that it's so small, that drawing from concealment is very difficult. And the safety is very stiff and too far back for my thumb to disengage it without shifting my grip. This is not good.

I practiced a little bit today drawing and firing from concealment and the goal is 5-rounds in three seconds and in a 5" circle. Couldn't do it. With the safety on, it took me a full second longer to disengage it and re-shift my grip before firing. And the groups were 6.5" to 7". Even drawing and firing with the safety off, the smaller P365 is just harder to get a good purchase on when drawing.

The two holsters I was using were both great for carrying and concealing the firearm, but really hindered speed.

My last two attempts at drawing and firing from concealment:

 

[Trey Veston]

No evidence of striker drag...

 

[94045]

I have shot hundreds of rounds, more than 400, between cleaning with my P-365, no issues. I did give it a thorough cleaning when I first got it. Maybe my reloads are just cleaner.

I don't doubt it. 150 rounds of WWB leaves more carbon than 600 rounds of S&B NATO.

 

[JR24]

Too bad about the safety, always a concern for me if a gun has one that's not exactly in the same spot as the 1911, which works perfect for my hands/reach/muscle memory.

Th primary reason I haven't liked CZs as much over the years, their only real flaw IMO.

That said, I'm not sure the 365 needs the safety of you have a good holster, especially one you can clip on after you safely holster.

 

[Lennyjoe]

I opted for the version without the safety. Rides in the back pocket with an Uncle Mikes pocket holster. Easy to draw, hold and fire for me.

 

[sparkyv]

I've had mine for a few months and it lives up to the hype. No malfunctions of any kind and accuracy is excellent.
The mags get easier to load after a while.

Couldn't have said it any better.

I opted for the version without the safety.

I too, prefer no safety.

 

[Trey Veston]

Another range session today, with my stepdad. He's been interested in the P365 and wanted to shoot mine, but he's been wintering in Arizona. He drove up for the week to take care of some business, so we headed to my dad's range and did some shooting.

He brought his current EDC, a Ruger EC9S, to compare. We burned through a couple of hundred rounds and I brought some different defensive loads I cooked up to see how they did. It was windy and raining, then snowing, then hailing, which is par for the course in Idaho, so no 25 yard bench rest shooting. All groups shot off-hand at various distances and speeds.

Dad loved the P365 and was amazed at the capacity. He'd fondled them in gun shops, but never with the 12-round magazine and never one with the Hogue grip I installed. He said it was amazingly comfortable.

After shooting both guns, we agreed that the Sig was more refined, more accurate, had a better safety lever, and the clear winner for EDC. He's going to order one with the TacPac ASAP. But, we both agreed the little Ruger was a fine pistol and had a little better trigger. And a little easier to conceal with it's slim grip. It conceded to the Sig in capacity and refinement, and accuracy.

I shot this target at 7 yards, off-hand. Shot the Ruger first at the bulls eye, then shot the Sig to the left, then aimed at the first hole, which is the highest one of the group. You can see that the Sig is just a little more accurate in my hands. It was for my dad as well.



These targets are from evaluating some defensive loads. Both were 124gr with 5.5 grains of Ramshot Silhouette. The smaller group is using Hornady XTPs and the larger one was using Speer Gold Dots. Both groups were shot off-hand at 20 yards.



I figure 2" groups at 20 yards off-hand is pretty good for a defensive pistol.

Both pistols performed flawlessly with no issues.

 

[Old Dog]

Glad to see more guys climbing aboard the 365 bandwagon. Some may remember some of my past posts, over the years, disparaging polymer-framed, striker-fired pistols, but I'll tell you this, the more I carry and shoot my 365s, the more enthused I get about these things. I haven't been excited about new pistol platforms for years, but I think these pistols have revolutionized not only concealed carry, but raised the bar as far as our expectations on performance of little-bitty handguns …

 

[Walkalong]

My boss recently took his daughter who had never shot before to an inside range and she shot multiple guns. The one she shot the best was the P-365. They both liked the gun. Might be one in her future, boss has been shopping prices, asking about the XL s well. I want n XL myself one of these days.

 

[Reinz]

Too bad about the safety, always a concern for me if a gun has one that's not exactly in the same spot as the 1911, which works perfect for my hands/reach/muscle memory.

Th primary reason I haven't liked CZs as much over the years, their only real flaw IMO.

That said, I'm not sure the 365 needs the safety of you have a good holster, especially one you can clip on after you safely holster.

I just bought a 365 myself. When presented with the choice of a safety I immediately thought no. But decided to test the triggers first since I will be carrying in a pocket holster.* Since the trigger throw was short and light (for a pocket pistol) I opted for the safety only BECAUSE it Was positioned like a 1911.

* Even though the trigger is covered by the holster, I’m just being cautious due to Mr Murphy lurking about.