2019 Handgun of the Year: SIG Sauer P365

"...it was with great fanfare that SIG unveiled a new pistol at SHOT Show 2018, a model designed to fit this same niche; a tiny and slim striker-fired, service-caliber semi-automatic—only the new SIG Sauer P365 would have a double-stack magazine.

“Big deal,” was my initial thought, “So do the Glock G26 and the P320SC.”

Ah, but this thing is the size of the little single stacks, all slim and svelte, but with a full 10-round capacity in a flush-fitting magazine.

Mind. Blown.

The first experience shooting it was like watching clowns pile out of the tiny car at the circus. Surely it was going to lock back, empty. Any shot now… But no, it kept going. Ten rounds don’t seem like a lot when compared to full-size service guns, but the SIG Sauer P365 is slightly smaller than its chief competitors, yet holds a whopping 66 percent more ammunition, despite using flush-floorplate magazines. As I type this, the test gun is on the desk near me, next to my own G43, and I’m just gobsmacked at their relative sizes."

Throughout the rollout of the SIG Sauer P365, consumers have noted a few odd occurrences with the gun, such as the pistol's tendency to leave primer swipe on the cartridge. However, Keel noted that this phenomenon was of little concern, since the effects of early unlocking would produce more symptoms. "...On a tilting-barrel, recoil-operated pistol, early unlocking would be accompanied by shotgun-pattern groups that exhibited lots of vertical stringing, and the SIG Sauer P365 did nothing of the sort. It’s been my experience that this is more or less endemic to small guns with high slide velocities. As long as the striker nose is robust, which SIG seems to have corrected after a flawed initial run, there’s no danger to durability."

Each SIG Sauer P365 measures 5.8 inches long, 4.3 inches high and 1 inch wide. The gun weighs 17.8 ounces and has a total capacity of 10+1 rounds. The suggested retail price on the pistol is $599.