It’s probably not what you think…years ago I wrote a piece about the Glock 19 and how it had become, for good or ill, the 21st Century K Frame. You can read that essay here.
The Ruger LCR, (which I’ve been using for years and have written about here and here) truly does everything the J frame can do, but with a few distinct advantages. First, no safety lock to contend with. There’s been anecdotal reports of the lock failing on S&W revolvers of recent manufacture, and although I’ve never seen it myself, my mentor Tom Givens has and it completely immobilized the gun until the lock could be turned off. Next, is cost. LCR’s are less expensive and even in the odd political climate, they’re still quite inexpensive.


But even though the LCR is a capable weapon, and would really work in well for personal defense missions, the technology has changed and there are new technological innovations in even just the past few years that bring new capabilities to the CIVILIAN DEFENDER in need of a personal defense weapon for concealed carry. Enter the…

SIG P365. Thought by many to be the pinnacle of self-defense weapons, the relatively new technology has many great features. Most notably is the size which despite it being smaller than even a Smith Shield, it carries more rounds (standard capacity magazine holds 10 rounds) and it also has great ergonomics that allow it to actually be shootable. Add to that a weird, but usable trigger and great sights, and you have an interesting entry into the practical carry gun realm.
Like most new guns, there were some teething issues. I didn’t jump on the P365 train initially. I test-fired one at my annual police department qualification in 2018, and had no issues running through a steel plate confidence course. The recoil impulse was quite pleasant, despite the gun’s diminutive size. It shot to the sights and was as, “easy,” to shoot as a full size duty pistol.
Reports from my friends having issues with their P365’s gave me pause. I didn’t want to commit to a platform that had so many issues. Some people had problems with accuracy, primer deformation from the striker impact/metallurgy issues. And others complained of the sights not staying put. All things that I hope worked out over time. It’s probably useful to note here that I pay little attention to what the gun media promotes as, “absolute reliability,” because a 50-200 round range session, most often on a climate controlled range, with high quality performance ammo isn’t a very good barometer for using a gun under real-world conditions. I want to see how guns work in actual use…students bring them to class dirty, sweaty, and improperly lubricated. They load them with crap ammo or poor quality remanufactured ammo. THOSE are the conditions I want to hear about. Because many of the guns we think about as being the, “benchmark,” guns WILL PERFORM QUITE ADMIRABLY under these same conditions. Glocks, Smith & Wesson M&P series, as well as some CZ’s, HK’s and other reputable pistols.
I waited until May of 2019 to purchase the P365, and I found the NRA Special Edition sitting lonely on one of the LGS’ shelves, NIB. I handled and function checked it, then slid my driver’s license to the salesman to begin the purchase. The little pistol has repeatedly performed with aplomb, through 1000 rounds of (pre-pandemic) American Eagle 115 FMJ and 200 rounds of SuperVel all-copper hollow points. The little gun shoots right to the sights, and works as well in my big hands as it does in the medium-larged sized hands of our 15 year old.






So there you have it…several of the features that I feel are worthwhile about the SIG P365, and why it has supplanted the J frame that has been a regular feature in my carry arsenal since the 1990’s. The real majesty of this pistol is the magazine. The SIG P365XL is slightly larger, but can carry an impressive 15 rounds using an extended magazine, that still doesn’t look or feel unwieldy. This continued reduction in overall size envelope of carry pistols used in the PDW role, begs the question, will, “full size,” 9mm carry pistols that also hold approximately 15 rounds become superfluous? Just like the N frame revolver gave way to the more compact and lighter/shorter K (and later L) frame revolvers, with no discerbal loss in real performance/capacity, will, “reduced design,” carry pistols become the norm for all except for uniform carry? Time will tell, but it’s an interesting trend.
With a list of real-world users like the SHIVWORKS Collective, and who I believe is the most innovative firearms designer of our generation (Chris G. Barrett of BARRETT FIREARMS MANUFACTURING) adopting the SIG P365 for hard use, anyone who has a need for a full-caliber concealment piece should consider the SIG P365. A, “RULE ONE,” gun (that is, a gun that allows the user to not violate RULE ONE OF A GUNFIGHT…”have a gun”) in the past used to be a J frame at best, and maybe a Ruger LCP .380, Keltec P32 or NAA .22 Magnum Mini-Revolver at the other end of the spectrum, but the P365 opens the performance gate to a class of weapons previously not usable in that same size. Although it had some growing pains at first, the P365 will probably go down in history as the concealment piece that changed the game.
THANKS FOR READING! FTC Disclosure- I have no financial interest in any of the companies mentioned and I am not receiving any compensation for this article.