Sig Sauer’s high-capacity, micro-compact P365 took the gun world – particularly the concealed carry community – by storm when it launched in January 2018. It had many competitors playing catch-up and, you could argue, birthed the rise of the double-stack micro 9mms that are now offered by nearly every major firearms manufacturer.

Still, many new guns hit the market with pizzazz and the heavy marketing hand of a large company like Sig Sauer. Quite a few of them simply fizzle out or become just another option. Few redefine an entire category of firearms and send competitors racing for an answer.

Read More: Guns.com Original P365 Review
 

Sig P365
As a sort of disclaimer – really more of a supporting note – I own and routinely carry this original Sig P365. While the gun has evolved, the original has served me well and is not leaving my personal collection any time soon. (Photo: Paul Peterson/Guns.com)
 

The P365 has shown some serious staying power and remains one of the most popular carry guns even with all the competition now flooding the market. A lot of that simply goes to the fact that the original P365 offered a 10+1 or 12+1 capacity of 9mm in a small, reliable, shootable, and highly compact package. The gun wowed the market for a reason, and people wanted it.

But I think even more credit might be owed to Sig Sauer’s proven record of evolving their guns quickly to gun owners' demands. In just over three years, Sig Sauer created a plethora of options in a handgun that was already designed to be highly modular.

Evolution Built Right Into the Design

 

Sig P365 in front of a P320
Here you can see the P365 next to a relatively small, for it's line, P320 Compact. (Photo: Paul Peterson/Guns.com)


What Sig Sauer did to make their P320 one of the kings of the compact/full-size handgun world, they simply repeated inside the much smaller P365 – modularity. Almost piggybacking on the P320’s success, the P365 offered a similar platform to its larger brother. There’s even a somewhat similar shape profile to both guns. But the real key was the removable Fire Control Unit and general modularity between model types and sizes.
 

Sig Sauer P365 Fire Control Unit
The P365 Fire Control Unit can be easily removed and is the technical "firearm" portion of the gun. (Photo: Paul Peterson/Guns.com)


This gave consumers a family of guns – not just a line – to build their collection on for everything from concealed carry and competition shooting to military service. Grips, barrels, and slides can all be swapped out and, sometimes, shared between models. What stays the same is that clever FCU, which is also the legal “firearm” portion of the handgun.

So, what started as a wild change to the micro-9mm world actually began with the ability to grow. It’s almost like they reverse engineered the most recent P365 variant to make the original, which would be a clever engineering feat (not to mention a marketer’s dream product). The prospects for future releases they could bring to hungry gun buyers could go on for years. Well, that actually has happened, which would bring me to the next thing Sig did very well.

Sig Sauer Simply Refuses to Stop

 

Sig P365
From optics and straight triggers to changes in the grip and slide length, Sig Sauer continued to offer new options. (Photo: Paul Peterson/Guns.com)


When consumers demanded more night sights, the P365 offered them right out of the box. More aggressive grip textures with front and rear slide serrations? Sure. Higher capacity and an extended magazine option? Same thing.

The original P365 hit a lot of consumer demands right off the bat. I say that now, at a time when most Glock 19s still roll out with polymer, white three-dot sights and a grip angle and texture that is a hot topic for debate. Then, as if they planned it – cough – Sig quickly started to roll out new variants and options that answered other popular customer demands.

A manual thumb safety was added as an option, quickly followed by an extended 15-round mag that gave the little P365 the same capacity as your standard Glock 19 or Sig P320. As an interesting side note on that 15-rounder, Sig made sure to also note it would be compatible across the entire line of pistols…including some future ones that were on the way. 

Then there was the interesting entrance of the P365 SAS – or Sig Anti Snag. Returning to the Sig P365’s roots as a highly concealable pistol, the SAS took it a step further and removed just about anything that could possibly be snagged on the gun. That included the traditional front sights, which dropped down inside the slide itself. 
 

Sig P365 SAS
The P365 SAS removed nearly every snag point, including the normal sights, for concealed carry. (Photo: Paul Peterson/Guns.com)

By the time demand moved into the world of flat triggers and optics cuts, Sig had an offering for both. Or, if you preferred, you could still grab a curved trigger and skip the optics cut in the slide for various models. They created a version with a longer barrel length and slide in the P365XL. For shooters looking for just a longer grip for more shootability, Sig again answered with the P365X

As demand grew for pistols that not only hosted an optics cut for a red dot but actually already had the optic, they launched the P365X RomeoZero. In many ways, Sig Sauer was just listening to what people wanted and answering that question quickly with a product that was easy to adapt for the market. 

Then they rolled into much more customized guns. Just about every single month, it seems like there is a new model or additional extras for the P365. 

P365X RomeoZero
This P365X RomeoZero extended the grip and added an optic. (Photo: Paul Peterson/Guns.com)
 
P365XL
While the P365XL elongated the slide as well. (Photo: Brian Jackson/Guns.com)


Whether it’s the Sig Spectre P365XL released late last year, or its even newer brother, the P365XL Spectre Comp, or the even newer .380 ACP variant, Sig has proven it has very little interest in standing still when it comes to developing, modifying, accessorizing, and then redeveloping the P365 line. 

From an outsider’s view, it really just looks like Sig Sauer is rolling out new versions in the order of popular demand – to include the newest P365-380, which finally breaks the chain of 9mm variants more than three years after the first gun hit the market. I think they did this successfully by starting with a gun they already knew they wanted to change. They didn’t start by making the “perfect” pistol. They simply started with a platform that worked and was easily changed.

Where Does Sig Take the P365 Next?

 

P365XL Spectre Comp
The very new P365XL Spectre Comp takes it even further with a ported slide. (Photo: Sig Sauer)


The obvious marketing answer is that Sig will keep its eyes on what the market is showing will work. But that’s a bit of a cheat. Their new P365-380 line certainly has tons of room to grow, given it currently only has the base model. Plus, I would certainly like to think there is a way to get more .380 ACP into a gun that holds the same capacity in 9mm. More work with compensators and the ever-growing suppressor market could also be a space for new variants. 

The term “game-changer” gets overused by pretty much every marketing push for a new gun or model. But the P365 really was a game-changer. The real question is, what’s the game it changed? At first, I assumed it was the world of micro-compact semi-autos for concealed carry. But then Sig continued to expand the height, length, weight, and capacity of the gun. 

I’m not sure when a P365 stops being a P365, but I’m sure that line exists. If they start adding a revolver cylinder, I am going to cry foul. Either way, the P365 is not leaving the gun scene any time soon. 

revolver barrel loading graphic

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