Sig 365XL First Impression

[HCM]

The only con that I can see, is no type of safety, not even a trigger safety. p

The tab safeties found on triggers from Glocks to modern bolt action rifles are a form of inertia drop safety not a “trigger safety” in the sense you are implying. Based on the way the P365/320 trigger works (direction of trigger bar movement) a tab inertia safety would not be effective on the P365.

On another note. Keep in mind that there is a novelty or honeymoon effect when shooting a new pistol platform. Essentially due to the unfamiliarity you unconsciously pay more attention to applying your fundamentals shooting producing better than normal results. However it’s the novelty vs the new platform actually being superior.

Did your shoot the P365XL under any sort of time pressure? This is where the advantages of of full sized guns vs smaller guns distinguish themselves.

[Ichiban]

SKU: 365XL-9-BXR3-MS

Or go after-market.
https://osagecountyguns.com/sig-saue...nv-nogrip.html
https://osagecountyguns.com/sig-saue...conv-grip.html

[Sauer Koch]

First comment Sauer is that my father ran shorthairs, my younger brother runs shorthairs, I use to run shorthairs, my best friend - after hunting over my shorthair no longer hunts over labs, but hunts over shorthairs.

Now, after we have laid that foundation. I have several Glocks - think more than you need. I have a specific application - think behind a desk environment and I need it to conceal very well indeed. For a guy who has carried a Glock since 1995, is this thing a better mouse trap for an every single day carry?

I always go back to the sentiment that says: I've never met a man, who was in an actual gun fight, that wanted a smaller gun with less ammo. Thant sentiment has deep roots with me.

With current affairs, I happen to be in the market for something that conceals better than most, but has some capacity if pressed into a situation that is more than a lone mugger in the parking lot.

I had to edit this post to talk about safeties. Jeff Cooper said many years ago that the safety lies between your ears, and it' not something you hold in your hands. The safety button doesn't make a gun safe. I tell many people that muzzle direction and finger on or off the trigger makes the gun safe. After 15 plus years of working with Glock's, finger disciple is key and I don't want another motion to make my tool of choice go bang. As the kids say: You do you, and I'll do me.

A long time ago, in force on force applications, a safety that one had to manipulate, was the definition of why you got shot, before the guy that didn't have to manipulate a safety. Today, I would personally never consider a firearm that I had to manipulate a safety before going "BANG".

Off soapbox, back to your regularly scheduled program.

Yes, I agree with the 'more ammo, the better' approach, but I was intrigued by the slimness of the 365, with 12 rounds.
I also agree with the issue of a thumb safety, and what all can go wrong there. Coming from a few years of shooting TDA Sigs, the LEM was an easy and similar platform. In an hectic moment of needing to draw quickly and shoot, working a safety could be a problem, and I don't think I want to go down that road. Like a TDA, the pre-travel of the LEM gives me a bit of chance to back out of the trigger if needed, so this seems to be a great compromise; no button/lever to disengage, just extra distance of the pull to be sure I want to fire. If it's an absolute 'I need to shoot' then it's simple, like a SFA.
That being said, I don't think those that shoot guns with manual safeties are crazy, it's just something you must train for, and like any platform. If HK made a gun the size and thickness of the 365, with an LEM trigger, I'd be ALL OVER IT! But I know better than to hold my breath on that happening.
I think you may enjoy shooting one, but whether or not you'd want to buy one, I don't know?

The tab safeties found on triggers from Glocks to modern bolt action rifles are a form of inertia drop safety not a “trigger safety” in the sense you are implying. Based on the way the P365/320 trigger works (direction of trigger bar movement) a tab inertia safety would not be effective on the P365.

On another note. Keep in mind that there is a novelty or honeymoon effect when shooting a new pistol platform. Essentially due to the unfamiliarity you unconsciously pay more attention to applying your fundamentals shooting producing better than normal results. However it’s the novelty vs the new platform actually being superior.

Did your shoot the P365XL under any sort of time pressure? This is where the advantages of of full sized guns vs smaller guns distinguish themselves.

Great points! I'll assume it was just the novelty effect at play, as you said. It was a very interesting experience, no doubt, and I would like to shoot one again, just to see what the result would be.
I simply shot it to see how it felt under recoil, and was going for accuracy; but I did shoot one 10-round mag at a moderate pace at the B8, and I seemed to keep everything within the hole I created, so that was a pleasant surprise. I agree that under pressure from a timer is the real test, but I wasn't set up for that.

thanks for all of the comments, it was fun, and there are several things to consider as to what's the right gun for 'you'.

[Clay1]

Yes, I agree with the 'more ammo, the better' approach, but I was intrigued by the slimness of the 365, with 12 rounds.
I also agree with the issue of a thumb safety, and what all can go wrong there. Coming from a few years of shooting TDA Sigs, the LEM was an easy and similar platform. In an hectic moment of needing to draw quickly and shoot, working a safety could be a problem, and I don't think I want to go down that road. Like a TDA, the pre-travel of the LEM gives me a bit of chance to back out of the trigger if needed, so this seems to be a great compromise; no button/lever to disengage, just extra distance of the pull to be sure I want to fire. If it's an absolute 'I need to shoot' then it's simple, like a SFA.
That being said, I don't think those that shoot guns with manual safeties are crazy, it's just something you must train for, and like any platform. If HK made a gun the size and thickness of the 365, with an LEM trigger, I'd be ALL OVER IT! But I know better than to hold my breath on that happening.
I think you may enjoy shooting one, but whether or not you'd want to buy one, I don't know?

Thanks for the comments. I just wanted to highlight this point about others that shoot firearms with safeties. My comments were based on my personal training and the comments were about MY experiences shooting Glocks for many years. I think if you are a person that shoots a firearms with safeties, shoot them all with safeties. If you train with a gun with no external safety sometimes and shoot other guns with safeties sometimes, the muscle memory or your go to autonomous reaction can get confused.

I've just been shooting firearms with no external safety for so long the transition to going to an external safety isn't for me. If you are willing to do the work with a different platform, that's another whole personal decision. Just this past year, I switched from many, many years with open sights to an optic. The transition was challenging at first, but I'm never going back to the other system. It was a commitment with many rounds down range to use that platform effectively.