Originally Posted by
psalms144.1
I've owned all three. I'll try to run them down as well as I can:
1. Mini-Glocks - owned a G43 and G43X. Own neither at this time. Both were generally pretty "snappy" with duty recoil (nothing terrible, certainly not +P through an airweight snub bad), and the near complete lack of texturing on the grips made them very "squirmy" in my hand - especially when my hands were wet/sweaty. On the up side, they're modern Glocks - I didn't fuck with them or run anything but standard capacity OEM mags, and they were both 100% reliable. Sold both, the G43 to fund a P365, and the G43X to fund a P365XL.
2. P365 and XL - owned both, still own the XL. The "gold standard" in size efficiency at this point - Sig really sprinkled the 365 with pixie dust to get it as small as it is and still run with 10+1. The grip texturing and contour are better, in my hands, than either Glock, but the P365 grip was SO small that it got to be tough to shoot at speed in my not enormous hands. The P365XL feels like it was MADE for my hand, perfect feel, fit, and size. Unfortunately, it's SO small that my strong hand nearly completely encloses the grip, so there's darn near nowhere for my support hand to anchor except against my strong hand fingers. This feels "funny," and I definitely notice it in rapid shooting drills. I strongly prefer the feel of the original curved trigger over the XL's "straight" trigger, but that's just an opinion. Both are acceptably accurate, and slightly "softer" shooting than the Glocks. I strongly dislike the XL's optic mounting system that deletes the rear sight completely, and, as I'm sure others will chime in, the magazines are rust magnets.
3. Shield and Shield Plus - owned both (the 2.0 Shield in both 9mm and .45), still own the Plus. I find the grip texturing on these to be just right - on the older 2.0s I took a sanding block and "smoothed" the grips ever so slightly (a couple of light passes, nothing more) on the left side of the grip (the one against my bare skin under a t-shirt). The original 2.0s felt "rectangular" in the hand, very much like holding a 1x2. The Plus grip's slight increase in girth makes it feel and anchor much better in the hand. I have noticed no "wiggle" or "snap" to speak of with the Plus in the limited amount of shooting I've been able to do with mine, and it's by FAR the "softest" recoiling of all of the models listed. The Plus is large for capacity - only very slightly smaller than the XL that holds 12+1 in a flush mag. Spare magazines are unobtainium, and the only factory optics mounting option is on a high priced "Performance Center" pistol with a bunch of "features" that turn me off.
At this point, of all these pistols, the only I still own are the 365XL and the Plus. I prefer the Plus - so much so that it and a 507K are at Maple Leaf customs getting direct milled/mounted. Once it's back and I've thoroughly vetted the combination, I'll probably get rid of the 365XL.