400 ROUND UPDATE ON SIG P365 AND CHRONOGRAPH TEST RESULTS

As some here may already know from previous posts I did a few weeks ago, I recently bought a Sig P365. Today I was out at the Range shooting it some more and I have now surpassed the 400 round mark with absolutely no problems or malfunctions of any kind. I have shot at least 7 different kinds of ammo, standard and +P velocities and everything I stuck in the magazine worked perfectly (even when mixed up). At this point I think I will make this my EDC and put my M60-7 in the safe for now. I very much like the 11 rounds it carries on-board and the fact that loaded to capacity it weighs almost exactly what the M60-7 does loaded with less than half the ammo. I have no problem carrying it in the DeSantis Nemesis Pocket Holster I bought for it and I find it quite easy to shoot even with +P ammo. Recoil is about half as much as my Chief's Special loaded with Buffalo Bore 158 grain LSWCHP +P's and find the little pistol extremely accurate.

Today I chronographed 3 Factory loadings including the one I will carry for SD. I've settled on the Speer Gold Dot "Short Barrel" 124 grain +P and you can see the results below.

Today was 50ºF and the barrel of the Sig P365 is 3.1" long. All ammo was Factory and all 124 grains. The velocities were the average of 10 rounds each and shot through the Chronograph at a distance of 3-4 feet.

American Eagle FMJ, 124 grain, standard velocity.
Avg. Vel. = 985 fps.
Foot Pounds of energy = 267

Speer Gold Dot 124 grain, standard velocity.
Avg. Vel. = 1037 fps.
Foot Pounds of energy = 296

Speer Gold Dot 124 grain, +P velocity (short barrel version).
Avg. Vel. = 1120 fps.
Foot pounds of energy = 345

As far as felt recoil is concerned, it was almost impossible to discern the difference between the standard and +P versions of the Speer Gold Dots. The American Eagle FMJ had slightly less felt recoil but only a little. I could have shot this pistol all day long with any of the ammo I've tried so far!

I much prefer the 124 grain ammo and it shot POA=POI whereas the 115 grain fodder seemed to print an inch or so low for me out of this Pistol. Shooting the +P's one handed was not a problem and quick follow up shots were easy and accurate. I've not yet tried any 147 grain ammo but will get around to it soon I think.

So as of now, I'm quite pleased with both the Pistol and the Gold Dot Short Barrel +P carry ammo. I will continue testing and report any pertinent info as it comes up. Just wanted to update the original post and keep those who are interested, informed & updated.

SEE POST #12 UPDATE FROM 02/04/2022

Thanks for the update and your post was very timely. I'm in the final stage of selecting a compact 9mm and the P365 is on my short list. One of my biggest concerns was the velocity achievable from a 3.1" barrel but the performance of the Gold Dot +P falls in the range I was hoping to achieve.

Goldstar225;

Just wanted to add this:

Until I bought this Sig P365 I owned NO plastic or Striker Fired Guns. Quite honestly, I never thought I would! About a month ago I was with a friend who just picked up his new Sig and we shot it down at the Range - I fell in love with it! Before purchasing one for myself I did extensive reading and digging into the first two issuances (won't call them generations) and all their problems and failures. Yes, there were some serious problems such as Firing Pins (Strikers) breaking, Trigger Springs failing, and a weak recoil Spring issue as well. I also made several phone calls and spoke to the Tech Guys up in NH at the Sig Factory that fully admitted the initial growing pains and failures. They assured me to my satisfaction that they fixed all the major problems and so I decided to get one. So far (400 rounds in) I could not be happier! We'll see if my affection for this little Pistol continues with use over time, but if they really have solved all the issues I predict this model Sig WILL BE the model all others try to better. This model might solely be the model that buries the Glock 43. Time will tell, but as of today, it will be my EDC.

NOTE:

Even though the failures I mentioned above were major failures, fixing the problems was very simple and quick! With ANY new "game changing" design comes a few tweaking issues and Sig reacted and fixed the problems very quickly so they really lost no momentum!

Thank you very much Chief, and ditto what Goldstar wrote. I bought the Speer non-short barrel 124g +p, as it was readily available, and works well in short barrels. The Ammo Quest 3" barrel chrono results were close enough to yours to validate them for me.

My wife and I shot hers for the first time the other week. We put 200 rounds through it without a hiccup. I must say she shot it better then me, but that changed when we were shooting my old Norinco 1911. Overall I wouldn’t mind having one myself. Thanks for the data I’ll be sure to let my wife read it also.

chief38 said:

As some here may already know from previous posts I did a few weeks ago, I recently bought a Sig P365. Today I was out at the Range shooting it some more and I have now surpassed the 400 round mark with absolutely no problems or malfunctions of any kind. I have shot at least 7 different kinds of ammo, standard and +P velocities and everything I stuck in the magazine worked perfectly (even when mixed up). At this point I think I will make this my EDC and put my M60-7 in the safe for now. I very much like the 11 rounds it carries on-board and the fact that loaded to capacity it weighs almost exactly what the M60-7 does loaded with less than half the ammo. I have no problem carrying it in the DeSantis Nemesis Pocket Holster I bought for it and I find it quite easy to shoot even with +P ammo. Recoil is about half as much as my Chief's Special loaded with Buffalo Bore 158 grain LSWCHP +P's and find the little pistol extremely accurate.

Today I chronographed 3 Factory loadings including the one I will carry for SD. I've settled on the Speer Gold Dot "Short Barrel" 124 grain +P and you can see the results below.

Today was 50ºF and the barrel of the Sig P365 is 3.1" long. All ammo was Factory and all 124 grains. The velocities were the average of 10 rounds each and shot through the Chronograph at a distance of 3-4 feet.

American Eagle FMJ, 124 grain, standard velocity.
Avg. Vel. = 985 fps.
Foot Pounds of energy = 267

Speer Gold Dot 124 grain, standard velocity.
Avg. Vel. = 1037 fps.
Foot Pounds of energy = 296

Speer Gold Dot 124 grain, +P velocity (short barrel version).
Avg. Vel. = 1120 fps.
Foot pounds of energy = 345

As far as felt recoil is concerned, it was almost impossible to discern the difference between the standard and +P versions of the Speer Gold Dots. The American Eagle FMJ had slightly less felt recoil but only a little. I could have shot this pistol all day long with any of the ammo I've tried so far!

I much prefer the 124 grain ammo and it shot POA=POI whereas the 115 grain fodder seemed to print an inch or so low for me out of this Pistol. Shooting the +P's one handed was not a problem and quick follow up shots were easy and accurate. I've not yet tried any 147 grain ammo but will get around to it soon I think.

So as of now, I'm quite pleased with both the Pistol and the Gold Dot Short Barrel +P carry ammo. I will continue testing and report any pertinent info as it comes up. Just wanted to update the original post and keep those who are interested, informed & updated.

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This is great.

Anyone have data on the P365XL To compare?

I have the 365XL. Just a shade under 1500 rounds and so far no issues.
I absolutely love the gun.
My daughter bought the 365 sas against my advice. I found the sights to be atrocious at best. Almost impossible to line up in a hurry. It made two range trips and got traded in for a 365X which is basically a 365XL frame with the 365 slide and barrel. After shooting it, that may well become my second one. I was duly impressed with it.

I bought my 365 in 9/2018. They had been out long enough that all the problems must have been resolved, as I have put something over 1000 rounds of mostly all handloads, both JHP and Powder coated and have yet to have any failures to function of any kind.

I wasn’t happy with the accuracy of my 365 last time at the range.
I only had blazer 124gr std velocity to use and I was concentrating on my M&P 9 compact 2.0 since I had recently adjusted the sights and my Shield 45 since it’s my winter ccw.
It wasn’t holding groups too well at 7yds with that ammo.
I’ll take some different ammo and concentrate on it next time starting at 5yds. I know it will shoot better than it did( or maybe I should be saying better than I did).

I have about 500 rounds through my 365XL that I bought this time last year. Don't have much free time to get to the indoor range for more. It shot 115's, 124's and 147's without a problem. Blazer brass, Federal, and most recently, the Winchester 1152. The 1152 shot a little low, the 147's a little high. Magazine is loaded with Federal punch 124 JHP, as it seems to hit where the sights are, and is a great HD round.

Thanks for sharing. I’ll add that my P365 shot 115-grain Hornady Critical Defense 1,047 fps, which I calculate to be 280 ft-lbs.

UPDATE 02/04/2022

This thread is 3 years old and because it just popped up again I wanted to post my current thoughts.

My P365 now has around 4,000 rounds through it and is still performing perfectly well. After testing lots and lots of different carry loads I have chosen the Federal HST 124 grain standard velocity round for SD. It is incredibly reliable, accurate and POA = POI in my gun. From all the limited testing I can do as a "regular citizen" I have found it perform about the best I can expect any 9mm too - which is really really well!

Although Sig has since come out with new variants of the P365, I still prefer the original with the 10 +1 round capacity, no manual safety, flat magazine plate and curved trigger. The larger size barrels and larger mag's are a bit too bulky for pocket carry and still feel the 11 rounds it holds are quite adequate for my needs and situations. Still think it's the greatest advance in an EDC Micro 9.

IMHO adding size, weight, bulk, lasers, flashlights, external safeties, extended mag's, etc. defeats the original purpose and design as a micro carry gun!

Here's some info for those of you with Sig 9mm pistols. I have a 365xl and a p226. To understand your gun and how they shoot best its helpful to slug the bore. My 365 xl has a bore diameter of.355 and the 226 has a .3565. I shoot only cast bullets and have found that the guns shoot best with a bullet .002" over bore diameter. They also shoot best with a hard cast bullet, by that I mean one with a Brinell hardness capable of withstanding a fairly hot load. For my guns I try to get the hardness around 17BH. My 2 loads I have been mainly using are Bullseye (4 grains) and HS-6 (6 grains) with either the Lyman 358402 mold or the RCBS 9mm124-cn mold. If you are interested here are a couple of articles that have application to any cast bullet shooting- scroll down on the first article-
Cast bullet alloys, characteristics of CB alloys, maintenance of CB alloys
Heat treating cast bullets and lead - antimony - arsenic alloys
Finally, if you want to add a little more firepower to your 365 check this out, easy modification and they work wonderfully- P365 - P365 XL -P365 X Archives - MagGuts

I have the original size and the X, both with safeties. The X has a RomeoZero.

Well over 500 rounds though the original - I stopped counting at 500 - with no failures other than the slide not locking back on an empty magazine. And that only happens when I’ve been remiss and not cleaned the gun at a reasonable interval.

I recently traded a non safety version of the X for the version with the safety. I’ve only shot it enough to zero the red dot.

I shoot the X best though the trigger isn’t yet as nice as the original’s, the the original with 12 round mags and the grip extensions, then the original with the pinky hanger magazine and the flat base magazine the worst. But group sizes are all plenty acceptable at self defense ranges.

The P365 was and remains revolutionary.

Also have an XL closing in on 1500 rounds. No issues and an overall excellent gun.

I am glad this thread resurfaced. I recently jumped on the P365 wagon in an effort to replace my G42. Tired of spending more money on a smaller caliber. I’m very interested in the modularity of this platform. Time will tell if I utilize it as much as I think I will. I have a slide at Maple Leaf FAs getting cut for a RMRcc that I intend to carry IWB and another on it now for pocket carry. Thanks for all who posted data here. I find it very encouraging.

Very hard to beat overall. But you can try.

Size, weight, capacity, accuracy, sights, etc.

Was a diehard revolver carry person. A 642 with 5 shots and a custom 3” full lug.327 K frame just built by Andy Horvath. The K frame was bulky and somewhat heavy but carried a 3” Kimber K6 for a couple years. Never thought a striker fired semi auto would come into my life.

A lot of friends recommended the 365 and the LGS had a used one with 4 mags so I bought it. The 365 is an easy pocket carry gun in winter and easy to conceal in summer. The 12 rounds are twice the .327 capacity of the K frame. Added a safety to mine, easy job. Doesn’t seem to recoil much and is accurate at 50’ at the indoor range I belong to. I now have a new great carry gun, Larry