P365 Range Report - if folks haven't had enough already

[Snoopy47]

Given my "life style" I think I fall into the realm of porcupine or skunk. I am NOT a sheep dog. I'm a 50 something semi retired dad with kids younger than 10. I'm not running towards the sound of gun fire.

I do have a designated CCW shooter's pistol (Les Baer 1911) and I'm a surgeon with it, but I'm not lugging around an all steel combat capable 1911 all day.

My current "grab and go" is a 5 shot snub nose. I wanted something with more umph and capacity. I'm a competitive shooter, and won four of my eight Glocks. I will shoot the P365 well. As a range master of a private range I'm always at the range, and I get as much trigger time as I can crank through the reloading press. I can shoot the 365 al day long relative to the G43.

If I carried a Hi Point I'd be precise with it, and have flushed out any reliability problems.

Regarding proficiency with firearms, I am all the things 99% of CCW holders are not. I am not a "tactical guy". Just know how to shoot a pistol very well.


That all said though everyone has perfectly valid points. I don't think anyone new to CCW or especially new to shooting can expect to have a perfect match first time out. A new shooter is going to quickly be turned off by micro compacts. And they are not going to want to practice with it.

That 147gn HST ammo I put through it has a serious kick to it. I sure has heck wont be making that my practice ammo.

[k1dude]

That 147gn HST ammo I put through it has a serious kick to it. I sure has heck wont be making that my practice ammo.

The interesting thing I've discovered with Federal HST, is I don't own a single pistol that shoots it well. It's 100% reliable, but the groups are huge! I'm talking 6 to 8 inches at 10 yards from every pistol I own. Other SD ammo I have is fine, but not HST. I have 115, 124, and 147 grain HST and the story is the same with all 3.

[Snoopy47]

after a few hundred rounds the trigger is around 5lbs sometimes less, sometimes more on Lyman trigger pull scale.

[DJD100]

I've reported over on Sig Talk, so I'll report here are more neutral ground.


CON:
The P365 is incredibly hart to operate. Racking the slide, dropping the slide with the slide lock, filed stripping it, or holding the trigger down while racking the slide after a dry fire are all incredibly hard. All these things are 10 time harder than my G43. The SIG Talk folks are more less trying to explain this way, but the reality is , no guys, you better think about this gun for a petite person or elderly person before you commit to a purchase let alone a CCW committal.

So much the point I was thinking: "is this thing broken?"

No it's not broken. It's a function of being so small and needing springs to counter the lack of mass with the laws of physics.

Anything I might complain about is already covered with a internet search and discussed ad nauseam. It all hinges around the mechanical design and the disconnector.

Magazines are $50 each (the cheap ones).

NEUTRAL:
Out the Door, all in double taxes and fees. Under $700
The slide is ready for RMR footprint optics. No conversion plate is needed. My Holosun 507K X2 went directly on (providing you have the correct length screws).

PRO:
9mm 10+1 capacity and red dot ready relative to it's size. It trumps Glock, period. I've not tested or looked at other micro compacts. So I suppose it's semantics and preference between those. I purely went with SIG over other micros because they have shooting matches now like Glock, and I want to win me some SIGs.

The Trigger is around 6lb which is half that of my hammerless sub nose 5 shot SPL.

The Trigger is superior to my G43 in that the G43 trigger safety lever digs into my hand upon recoil.

I don't leave the range shooting the SIG thinking "OK, that's enough of this thing, it hurts to shoot". I leave because I've used up all the ammo I brought.

My range is set up at the closest for 25 yards. I can hit an 8 inch plate all day long at 25 yards with it.

When I mounted my Holosun in the garage I used the Iron Sights as a reference to get started, and only ended up clicking two clicks to the right to zero it in perfectly out to 25yrds.

Range experience:

I challenged my P365 by loading it up with Federal 147gn HST to 10+1.

Not one problem at all right out of the gate.

I have a PET LOAD for my G43 for Glock Matches. It's the softest load that will cycle my G43 with stock/OEM springs. Given the difficulty racking the P365 I thought this ammo might fail. IT DID NOT. It worked perfectly fine.

*************
The Micro Compacts really are a game changer for those of us limited to three pistols on the CCW. Everyone with a CCW should seriously consider a 10+1 capacity micro compact as one of their permit listings.

I can shoot this as well as anything else it's size, and I can shoot it well enough to reach out to 25 yards. It maxes out the California permitted capability. It is Red Dot ready. It is on par with concealability anything in it's category and one truly has to size down to something like a derringer get any smaller.

I've found that switching to a P365 Spectre Comp slide and RSA mitigated the hard racking complaint, and even more so with a RDS installed (I'm almost 71).

My problem with the stock P365 was gripping the little slide to rack it in positions excepting cross-wise in front, and the heavier Spectre Comp slide and it's lighter RSA did the trick. I can easily rack it in all positions with either hand now.

Also, if anyone is having that problem the P365-380 is much easier to rack as well.