GUN TESTS GRADE: A

$579

SIG Sauer’s slightly larger version of the very popular P365 is called the P365XL, which adds another 0.6 inch to the barrel and lengthens the grip frame just enough to add two rounds to the capacity of a flush-fit magazine, bringing the total available to 12 in the mag. SIG recently introduced a 15-round magazine for this pistol that is available through their website at SIGSauer.com. That could bring total onboard ammo capacity to 16 rounds in a small package.

Many of the desirable features of this pistol remained unchanged. The slide is stainless steel with a Nitron finish. There are very functional cocking serrations front and rear on the slide. The extractor is external, and other controls are large enough to be easily activated while being small enough to stay out of the way. X-RAY 3 Day/Night sights are standard issue. The front sight is not fiber optic but is still very visible. The sight body contains a tritium lamp that glows green in the dark. The lamp is surrounded by a green plastic insert that our tests showed to be very visible in the sunlight. The rear sight also has two tritium lamps in a metal body that can be used as a flat surface suitable for slide manipulation in an emergency.

The slide is milled out to allow the mounting of a red-dot sight. The cover for that milled slot is attached by two screws accessible from the bottom of the slide. When those two screws are removed, the cover-plate comes off, along with the rear sight, as two separate units. Please note the installation of a red-dot sight requires the removal of the rear sight. If you mount a red dot on the P365XL, you will not have a dedicated rear sight. The Shield RMSc has a cut in the rear of the sight body that allows a rear sight/front sight to co-witness while the red dot is installed. This same slot can also serve as an emergency rear sight. We tested the effectiveness of the slot and it worked fine at 7 yards, but not as well as the standard rear sight.

There were a few more improvements we really like. The first was changing the curved trigger to a flat trigger like those used in SIG P320X models. The geometry of the flat trigger creates an almost vertical break point for the sear release and gives the shooter a bit more leverage. We found both of those points to aid our shooting with this pistol. Next was the slight lengthening of the grip frame. A majority of people should now be able to get most of three fingers on the grip, which also helps in controlling the pistol under recoil. Like many other polymer-framed pistols, the magazine well on the P365XL is beveled to help the rapid insertion of a new magazine. The P365XL goes beyond that point and actually flares the magwell to make an even bigger opening. Our calipers show this only added a very acceptable 0.1 inch to the width of the pistol. This is still a very thin firearm. Though one of our very few complaints is that it is thin to the point where a Picatinny rail would not work with the design. A proprietary rail is on the forend, but that can limit available accessories.

Every illuminated sight will be used in widely varying circumstances and differing amounts of ambient light. Changes in available light on the target change the amount of light throughput required from the sight. The bright light that is required to see the dot in direct sunlight will almost blind the shooter trying to use that sight later in the evening. Dot sights have to adjust the amount of light thrown on the glass. One of the ways to do this is manually by the shooter, which is fine in a competitive situation. That may not be so great for a defensive encounter. What if the shooter is moving from sunlight into a dimly lit room and doesn’t have time to fiddle with the rheostat? The Shield RMSc senses the light available at the target and changes the beam intensity. The only problem we really noticed with the programming was when we would stand in a lighted area and point the sight at a more dimly lit target. The beam did not get dim enough and bloomed a little bit on the target. We could still see to hit the targets just fine.

Our Team Said: The SIG P365XL did almost everything well. It functioned every shot, first try. Accuracy was excellent, with its average group only being .06 inch larger than the winning Hellcat. Speed and accuracy on the drills was outstanding, with the P365XL winning two of the four drills and coming in second place on the other two. Our group of testers preferred the P365XL’s trigger. But we did not like having to remove the rear sight to mount the optic. We shot a 15-yard drill with five shots from the low ready. We did the drill once with the iron sights and then again utilizing the red dot sight. The SIG P365XL does not maintain its rear sight with the optic attached, so we had to use the channel provided on the Shield RMSc sight. The SIG posted the slowest time on this drill without the red dot and the fastest time with it. We’ve seen too many things go wrong and would prefer to have that rear sight.

Written and photographed by Joe Woolley, using evaluations from Gun Tests team testers.

Value Guide: 9MM Luger Handgun Rankings