Review Your Concealed Carry Firearm

Welcome to the family Vincent and carry on brother.

Glock 43
Likes:
Concealment.
AIWB carry.
Reliable.
Lightweight.
Large selection of aftermarket accessories.
Dislikes:
Large selection of NEEDED aftermarket accessories (sites, grips, pinky extensions).
Magazine capacity (Standard 6rd mags).
After 50 rounds on the range it’s no fun.
Shooters with large hands won’t like it.

2 Likes

Update. Itlooks like in Europe, they’ve got a new slide for the Q4 Tac that has the rear sight separate from the optic mounting plate.

While it’s not available in the US, the Shield RMSc that they use to show it off seems to have an integrated rear sight that can be used if you also use the Shield’s own low profile mount plate.

Love mine too brother

1 Like

Current EDC is a S&W Performance Center M&P 2.0 CORE w/ Trijicon RMR Type 2 in a Tier 1 Axis Elite holster. Absolutely love this gun (outside of cleaning the ported barrel :unamused:) This gun is the 4.25" barrel and I have no issues with printing with the appendix carry holster, even in board shorts and a t-shirt. This is my first RMR equipped handgun, it took some getting used to, but I have acclimated to it very well and have great presentation and shots on target times after a lot of practice. Now it feels a little like “cheating” when using the RMR versus transitioning back to my other non-RMR guns.

If I need to go deep cover or if I feel the need to just pocket carry, I switch to my Walther CCP.

5 Likes

That is a sharp looking gun brother

2 Likes

92FS Beretta. Great pistol with a good record of going boom when you pull the trigger. The only downside is unless you are Andre the Giant its hard to conceal.

4 Likes

My current carry setup is a Sig P365XL NRA edition. I carry at the appendix position in a LAS Ronin 3.0 IWB holster. I have been carrying this setup for the past 3 months and overall am happy with the firearm.

Review
Size - I am a slim guy at 71" and 161lbs. The Sig P365XL has a slim and comfortable profile that I can easily conceal no matter if I am wearing a pair of scrubs on the way to work, a light T-Shirt, or button down shirt. Paired with the LAS Ronin 3.0, it virtually disappears and minimally prints during a windy day when wearing a light T-Shirt. The one drawback to its slim profile is that it is slightly small for my hands. Not really an issue, I just had to slightly modify my grip to improve my accuracy and comfort with it. Grip length is perfect for my hands and I am able to get a full grip, including my pinky. The texture is not overbearing and I have had no issues with my hands slipping, even when wet. Overall I do like the grip texture and do not anticipate having to modify the grip texture at any point in the future.

Finish - There have been some negative reviews on the coyote tan finish of the NRA edition, mainly with premature slide wear from holstering and unholstering the firearm. I have carried this firearm daily, in the Arizona heat, placed it in and out of my EDC bag, and fire it at the range at least 1 time per week and put an average of 50 rounds per trip through it for the last 3 months. So far the finish has held up well and is showing no signs of wear.

Trigger: The trigger does leave something to be desired. Not that it is a bad trigger, just not what I am used to. I prefer the stock trigger of the Glock compared to the stock trigger of the Sig. There is more slack in the trigger prior to hitting the wall and upon reset, the trigger has a dull and soft click. The wall is well defined though and has minimal travel once you pull through the wall. My model did come with the factory flat trigger installed, which I do like. With training though I have become used to the trigger of the P365. Eventually I may look at upgrading if better options come out in the future.

Night Sights: The SigLite night sites on the P365 are plenty bright and are easily found in low light conditions. The front site has a defined green ring that makes for faster target acquisition in brighter conditions.

Magazines: The NRA edition of the P365XL comes with (2) 12 round magazines and (1) 15 round magazine. As with any Sig magazine, these are well constructed, feed well, and should last for many years to come.

Accuracy:
So let’s be frank, this is a sub-compact, slim and light weight carry gun. You are not going to win any marksmanship competitions with this firearm. I have seen quite a few reviews around the web where people have complained about poor grouping. Yet when you look at their targets, for combat style shooting, the groups are great. Whether shooting slowly or under a double tap or rapid fire situation, I am able to keep all of my shots in the Alpha Zone with the occasional “flyer” into the beta zone at distances ranging from 5 to 15 feet. In a defense situation, I do not anticipate having to fire my weapon at distances greater than that, If so, I am falling back and attempting to evade the situation and hopefully fighting my way to my AR15 in my home or my car. When shooting out to 25-30 feet though, I am able to get on target. For a sub-compact firearm, I feel the accuracy is on par for its size and weight.

Issues: With the early model of Sig P365’s, there were issues associated with them. The striker would drag on the primer, there were FTF and FTE issues, problems with the night sites, light primer strikes and failure of the slide to go into battery. I have not experienced any of these issues with mine. It has gone bang every time and eats any ammo I put through it. In the first 100 rounds, I did have some issues with the slide not locking back after the last round, but since then I have not had any issues.

Overall Review:
I have mentioned Glock a couple times in this review. I am a Glock fan and was leaning toward the Glock 43 or the 43x. I could not find a 43x in stock so had only a Glock 43 to compare the Sig P365XL to. When comparing the two pistols side by side, I just preferred the overall feel of the Sig. It felt better in the hand, I like the Coyote color, the fact it came with 3 mags instead of two, it had factory installed night sites, and had a higher mag capacity than the Glock. Dollar for dollar, in my opinion, the Sig was just a better purchase. In fact, my wife, who is also a Glock fan, liked the Sig P365XL so much that I ended up purchasing one for her and she carries hers daily as well. I believe Sig definitely has a game changer here and has created a great, easily concealable, accurate, and affordable carry option. So far I have been happy with my purchase. Most importantly, I trust that this gun will allow me to protect my life and my families life should the need ever arise.

7 Likes

Welcome to the family brother

1 Like

@ThatGuy. Welcome to the Community. Fantastic review. :ok_hand:

2 Likes

Terrific review sir. Welcome to our Community. You will like it here.

2 Likes

Awesome 1st post! :+1:

Edit: You’ve inspired me to write a review of my Sig P938.

Pluses:

• Came with factory night sights that make finding it in the dark very easy (the rear sight is not covered by holster). They clean up and shine bright every time they seem to have dimmed a little over the last three years.
• Conceals easily except that one time I tried carrying it in a new position. It was me being uncomfortable with the new position that gave it away – not the gun’s fault.
• Light enough to carry on hip all day
• Small enough to slide into rear pocket with Galco leather pocket holster
• Shoots where I point it with or without the pinky extension 7-round magazine
• Like you said about your P365, it’s not going to win any shooting competitions, but has combat accuracy out to 10 yards or so

Minuses:

• Just an ugly gun! Not a high priority since I carry concealed and only I have to look at it.
• It came with rubber grips that shot great but rubbed my side so hard I could not hip carry 2 days in a row. I live in Florida and carry with the grip against bare skin.
• Fixed the rubber grip issue with a pair of VZ Grips Elite Tactical Carry G10 grips
• Base on the 7-round extended magazine slides up when dropping on the floor doing reload drills. When the base slides up it does not engage the release/retention mechanism and just falls out when racking the slide to chamber the new magazine. I have trained myself to always push it in with my thumb on the very bottom, just to be sure it seats properly.

Edit: It is a P938, not a P930 as I originally typed.

3 Likes

@ThatGuy made great inspiration on me as well. I’ve reviewed this thread… and found I don’t carry my EDC I wrote about last year.
As a beginner I was impressed about striker fired PPQ. I carried it and loved it. However after few weeks or so I found myself not very comfortable carrying it without any passive safety (unfortunately that was my “beginner’s worry”)
So hammered fired handgun was my next step (keeping thumb on the hammer gives comfort while re-holstering). Additionally I had been in love in 1911 :blush: - CZ75 Compact was a natural choice.
Here it is - CZ75 P-01 Omega (yes - this is 1911-ish for left handed shooters)

Pros:

  • aluminium frame with replaceable grip panels
  • perfect barrel length - 3.6" (3" was always too short for me)
  • ambidextrous safety / decocker levers ( I can swap between safety and decocker)
  • ambidextrous mag release
  • best ergonomics ever (grip fits great with proper panels, feels very similar to ECDx9 or P229 Legion)
  • low bore axis (slide mounted inside the frame - like P210)

Cons:

  • factory 3dot sights (they say -night… but these are fluorescent)
  • factory rubber grip panels
  • factory rubber mag base plates
  • need some sanding and polishing work

Fortunately all cons can be fixed with cheap money and 2 hrs work.

5 Likes

Welcome sir, great review!

2 Likes

Jerzy since you have been awarded the “dry fire master” is this your dry fire tool as well?

2 Likes

Hahaha… I’ve almost forgotten about this award :grinning:
Yes of course - SA/DA handgun is a perfect tool for dry firing and my CZ does a great job with laser cartridge.
Few months ago I discovered that laser flashes my basement BR30 flood light bulbs, so I got extra six 4" laser targets on my walls. :+1:

2 Likes

Thank you to all for the welcomes and kind words. I am excited to be apart of this community.

3 Likes

I’m with you @Robert8. I too like the external safety. My daily carry is a Sig 938.

1 Like

I rotate between 3 carry guns, depending on weather and what i am wearing. I would give all a 4 star. Springfield 911 in 380, Sig P938, and just started carrying a STI Staccato C 3 months ago. All 3 are SAO, and low capacity, which is why i only give 4 and not 5 stars. I used to carry S&W Shield in 9mm and 45. During “stress test” from concealed carry draw and fire on target, my accuracy was mediocre. I tried SAO 1911 style, and could hit the A zone everytime under stress, so decided to switch from striker fired to SAO. disadvantage is i had to dry fire 1000 times to make dropping the safety a built in habit. I practice with laser bullets several days a week, so i think i will remember the safety in a real life scenario. The Springfield 911 took alot of break in and polishing before i considered it carry-reliable. The P938 and Staccato C have both been flawless since new.

3 Likes

@ThatGuy. You should copy your review into this thread:

and help @David80 to find his carry handgun.

2 Likes