We all know that Sig upset the subcompact apple cart by introducing the P365 concealed carry pistol. The P365 was designed around a new double-stack 10-round magazine, offering unprecedented capacity in a very concealable package. It single-handedly killed the previously robust single-stack 9mm market. My Walther PPS was my main EDC gun until I got a P365XL. Now the PPS mostly gathers dust. Sometimes it gets to play backup gun.
Speaking of the P365XL, follow-on P365 variants boasted even more capacity with their 12-round mags. Even better, those mags will also run in the original P365. I recently ordered some of those mags for my P365XL and was surprised when they automatically came with a grip extension for the P365. You can tell how much attention I paid when I hit “add to cart.” But no big deal because these mags work with either gun. I just don’t need the grip extension, nor does it work with the X or XL variants. But we’ll cover the extension while we talk about the mags because it’s a nice inclusion.
My P365XL is my primary carry gun, so it gets a lot of range work. So do the magazines. I only have six mags, so I’m making a decided effort to expand my pool. Probably like most of you, mag changes figure into many of my drills, so those mags get knocked around. I’m constantly dropping them on the gravel-lined ground while I train. I’ve had the Sig for just over a year now, so that’s a lot of mag changes. They get dinged and dirty, but they’ve always come right back and run like I expect them to.
Mag Specifications
The proprietary Sig Sauer mags aren’t cheap, but they are well made. Here are the basic specifications:
- Capacity: 12 rounds 9mm Luger
- Double stack
- Nitride-coated steel body
- Polymer floor plate
- High-tensile steel spring
- Heat-treated, anti-tilt polymer follower
- Factory drilled and numbered witness holes
- Extended grip floor plate for P365
- Flush floor plate for P365X and P365XL
A Great Design
As noted, Sig Sauer first designed the 10-round P365 magazine. Then they designed the pistol around it. Kind of makes me wonder why someone didn’t think of that sooner. Maybe they did, for all I know, but Sig knocked it out of the park. Then they added two rounds for the X and XL guns. I love my Walther PPS M2, but its maximum capacity is 8+1. My P365XL is 12+1 AND the Sig is smaller than the PPS. No knock on the PPS. It’s just a different approach to a different philosophy.
I like that the 12-round mag works with the original P365, but the way it hangs out of the mag well looks goofy and could possibly snag on clothing. Sig addresses that with this grip extender. Note that it’s a grip extender, not a magazine extender. It’s meant to improve your grip with the 12-round mag. The two extra rounds are already included. The extender is textured exactly like the pistol’s grip, so it’s almost seamless. It’s a very nice feature.
The only issue I have with the extender is that installation isn’t exactly intuitive, and instructions aren’t included. I had to find a YouTube video. But it was easy enough once I got that straight:
- Remove the extender’s floor plate.
- Remove the magazine’s flush floor plate.
- Hold the mag spring down while pressing the extender’s sleeve onto the mag’s bottom until it’s snug.
- Insert the extender’s floor plate, making sure the follower’s lug fits in the plate’s center hole.
The process may sound simple, and it really is. But it’s not readily apparent just from looking at the extender.
Magazine Performance
These are quality mags, as you’d expect. They’re solid and they work. I’ve never had a single feeding issue with my P365XL. That will obviously happen at some point, but I don’t think it will happen because of faulty mags. Unless, perhaps, I wear them out, which does happen, even to the best mags. Magazines are commodities to be used. Buy some more.
The only issue I’ve had is magazine ejection, and that isn’t the mags’ fault. The P365’s mag release button is smaller and less positive than I like. I want a button that I can hit with ease, and I want the mags to launch out of the mag well. Some guns do that better than others. The Sig doesn’t do it as well as I’d prefer. But, again, that’s the gun, not the mags.
The mag springs are very strong, to the point of needing a mag loader to fill them up all the way. I always download my pistol mags by one round, but I usually fill it up and then rack the slide to chamber the first round. I like that robust spring. The follower also seems very solid. Polymer followers are polymer followers, but this one seems a bit more solid than others. Maybe because the spring keeps it tight against the feed lips. I can’t say for certain. But it has never failed to lock the slide back when I’m empty. Nor has it ever prematurely dropped the slide when I insert a fresh mag. I’ve had other brands do that on occasion.
A Great Product
If you design your gun around the mag, the mag better be good to go. The P365 mags are definitely good to go. They are well constructed, and they work. We all know that an autoloading firearm is useless if the mags don’t work. You won’t have that problem here.
Sig designed a magazine that revolutionized the concealed carry market. It’s obvious that it wasn’t just a gimmick. So, do yourself a favor and pick up a few, or a few more. It’s cool that you can expand your P365’s capacity just by getting a new mag, while also extending your grip. What’s not to like?
