SIG Sauer P365

Features

The SIG Sauer P365 is a striker-fired pistol that operates on a short-recoil system. It features a stainless steel slide with a black Nitron finish, paired with a stainless steel frame and a polymer grip module. Both the front and rear of the slide are serrated to aid in manipulation.

The standard chambering is 9x19mm Parabellum, and it is approved for use with +P ammunition, using offset double-stack magazines. The polymer grip can accommodate double-stack magazines holding 10, 12, 15, or 17 rounds. A .380 ACP version was released in February 2022.

The magazine release is a triangular button positioned on the grip at the undercut of the trigger guard. According to the manufacturer, the P365 has the lowest bore-axis ratio of any handgun currently in production. It comes standard with Tritium XRAY3 Day/Night Sights, which are green three-dot night sights made of steel and can be used to cycle the slide for one-handed operation; aiming is done via combat sighting. The package includes two 10-round magazines—one flush-fit and one with an extended finger tab—along with the stainless steel frame and polymer grip module.

Below the barrel, a proprietary rail is found on the P365, P365x, and P365xl models. Accessories such as red and green lasers and a light are available for this rail, and adapters exist to convert it to a standard rail for wider accessory compatibility. Disassembly requires no tools and does not involve pulling the trigger.

Comparisons

The P365’s grip houses a stainless steel fire control unit, much like the one found in the P320. Its striker firing mechanism is also very similar to the P320’s. The short recoil locking system is the SIG Sauer design, originally developed in 1975 for a Swiss Army contract by the Swiss Industrial Group. This system is a significant improvement over the Petter-Browning system used in the French Modèle 1935A, which SIG had licensed from SACM in 1937 and employed in the P210, but it is not the same system.

When compared to the P290, the P365 is a bit larger and offers a lighter striker trigger pull, ranging from 5.5 to 6.5 pounds-force, whereas the P290 has a 9-pound-force pull. The P290RS can fire again without cycling the slide, but it requires a long, double-action-only trigger pull. The P365’s takedown method resembles the P320’s: with the slide locked back, a lever is turned down to release the slide from the frame. A P365 equipped with the optional 15-round magazine stands 0.46 inches taller than a Glock 19 fitted with its standard 15-round magazine.

Variants

The P365 XL arrived in June 2019, sharing the same fire control unit as the original P365 but with a larger grip that takes flush 12-round magazines, a flat trigger, and a longer slide and barrel. Its rear sight can be removed to mount a red dot optic. Slides and frames across variants are swappable, so the XL’s longer slide and barrel can fit a standard P365 frame, and vice versa. An Anti-Snag (SAS) version came out in October 2019, offering an optional ported barrel and slide, no front sight, flush takedown and slide catch levers, and a rear fiber optic sight that sits flush and embedded.

P365X

Aside from being slightly shorter in height, the SAS matches the original P365 in dimensions and weight. In 2021, SIG launched the P365X, borrowing the XL’s flat trigger, removable rear sight that can be replaced with an optic mount, and a longer grip for flush 12-round magazines, but keeping the shorter slide. At first, it was sold only with a preinstalled RomeoZero red dot. A .380 ACP variant, with or without a manual safety, was announced in February 2022.

P365-XMACRO & XMACRO COMP

Later that year, SIG introduced the larger XMACRO, which holds 17 rounds, measures 5.2 inches high and 6.6 inches long, and has a 3.1-inch barrel. After releasing a new XMACRO with the 17-round grip module paired with the P365 XL’s slide and barrel, SIG renamed the original to XMACRO COMP. In January 2023, the P365-XL COMP ROSE and P365-380 ROSE appeared, part of the ROSE by SIG Sauer program created with Lena Miculek to support female shooters.

The Legion variant, announced in October 2023, features a grey finish, a grip module with removable panels, a pre-installed magazine well, a removable slide plate for a red dot, and comes with three 17-round magazines where permitted. Through SIG Custom Works, Spectre variants of the P365 XL have been released. The first P365XL Spectre, from June 2021, had a distressed finish and an X-shaped cutout on the slide. An updated version in October 2021 added a gold barrel and a skeletonized flat trigger.