Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Change in EDC Philosophy?

Don't have exactly that comparison but hopefully this is close enough. I haven't really shot the P365 out to 25 yards, I may have done so once or twice but don't have those targets. I do take the Compact pistols out to 25 but again don't have a full range of comparison targets. Will show what I have and discuss afterwards.

1. P365XL using Speer 124 GDHP, standing aimed fire at 15 yards. The holes in the middle were at 7 yards, the 5 at 12 and 2:00 in the 9 ring were fired at 15 yards.




2. P365 "XX" - XL slide on a 365 grip frame, this is what I carry now. 10 shots standing aimed fire at 15 yards, S&B 124 FMJ.




3. Glock 19, 10 rounds standing aimed fire at 15 yards. I think these would be S&B 115 FMJ but I forgot to write that down.




4. Not a G19 but a same size pistol. Sig P320 X-Compact, or rather another of my hybrids with an X-Compact grip and a 3.9" Carry slide/barrel assembly since the standard X-Compact barrel is only 3.6", shorter even than the 365 XL. Two groups with Speer 124 GDHP and S&B 124 FMJ over sandbags at 25 yards. This was to check sight settings, I have since moved the sights to get the groups to center.

Using a G34, P320 full size or M&P 2.0 full size 5" I can generally get 3-4" groups standing aimed fire at 25 yards.




Looking at 1, 2 and 3, at 15 yards the 365XL and Glock 19 are about the same for me. Looks like a few more flyers with the 365 but the overall group sizes are very similar. Also, except for that one flyer with the Speer 124 GDHP you can see it groups much better than the S&B. It sure cuts prettier holes.

On #4, at 25 yards that whole group is about 3" although most of the holes are in 1 1/2". But let's be honest and include the flyers so it's a 3" group. I mostly shoot the compacts and full size pistols at 25 yards just to verify their zero at that range.

I have read either here or somewhere that in a shooting you are, at best, only half as good as you are on your worst day at the range. Given that, I'd certainly take a COM shot with the 365 or Glock out to 25 yards. I might try a head shot at 15 yard with any of them, 365, Glock or anything else if circumstances warrant it but unless I was calm as ice and had time to aim I wouldn't absolutely count on a first round hit.

As is said, you get the fight you get, not the one you want. These targets highlight the desirability of always going for a COM shot no matter what the range, and only trying to hit a small moving target like a head if that's the only shot you have.

They also show the desirability of knowing exactly where your pistol hits at various yardages. Looking at the 365 groups in #1, POI coincides with POA at 7 yards but is 2" high at 15, it gets about 4-5" high at 25. POA in this case is to set the top of the front sight dead in the middle of the X. . The G19 with the same sight picture shoots under the dot on the front sight or pretty much right at the top of the sight. I've been using the top of the front sight as my sight picture for some 55 years now so that's where I'll keep my sight picture.