Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Shooting the Compacts

In one of the recent "365" threads, a question came up on how well the Sig P365 shot and LocalDirt obliged with a pic of a very nice group from 10 yards.

That got me to thinking about how well I could shoot the compact semi-auto's that I have. I have shot them all at various times, but never in a comparison against each other. So, after last week's temps in the single digits, today seemed like a great day to go out and shoot with it being a balmy 60 deg.

I had a couple of hoodlums watching me, which made me a little nervous. Made for a good "shooting under stress" scenario:



I decided to keep it fairly simple and shoot each gun at 10 yds. The 10-shot groups were not shot rapid fire, but they weren't slow either. Just slow enough that I was squeezing the trigger just as soon as the front sight was coming back to where I wanted. So, fairly quick shots.

First up was the M&P Shield 9mm. It has Trijicon HD sights and a 7 +1 mag in it, so I had to stop to reload to get all 10 shots:



Then came the G43 with XS Big-dot sight and a +2 extender. It's always shot low for me since installing these sights:



Then was my daily carry p365 with factory night-sights and the 12-rd mag:



Then last was my Kimber Ultra in 45 ACP (7 +1) with factory night sights



As this picture shows, they are all roughly the same size. I shoot the p365 a little better than the rest, plus it is 12 +1 in roughly the same size as the rest. One of the reasons why it is my preferred carry gun. And no, the idiot mark on the Kimber is not from me, came from a friend who unfortunately tried to clean the gun for me after borrowing it to try it out.



How many of you routinely practice with your compact sized guns? I have to admit that I don't too much lately. I shoot full sized handguns a lot, but it's good to shoot your carry gun regularly as well.
Except for the Kimber in 45, all of the rest were 9mms. I don't have any 380's and don't personally have a need for one.

I'm interested in seeing some targets from other compacts, so feel free to post what you've got and how well it shoots for you. I don't mean for this to be some kind of competition, just meant to encourage some fun and getting outside to shoot.

I shoot my G27, Walther PPS M2, Shields (45 and 9) a decent amount, but a few years ago went to pretty much carrying G19 sized 99% of the time.

S&W M&P 2.0 compact (4" model) AIWB, 3 o'clock, or OWB. One usually works.

I compete (USPSA) with a 5" M&P.

KISS works better for me, so I quit having a "carry rotation"

RyanTX, that's some nice shooting.

I like them big dot sights.

Thanks LD.

Goalie - I also quit the "carry rotation" several years ago. The P365 actually replaced (for daily carry) a G19 that I carried for years. The other guns were ones that I picked up over the years to try, but in the end, they just didn't have the on-board capacity that I wanted. The p365 with the 12rd mag and the spare 15rd on my belt was the first "compact" to unseat the G19 as my daily carry.

It's probably been a few years since I've shot the G43 and Shield, but it was "compact day" at the range for me, so I decided to have a little comparison to the 365.

I shoot a 320 X-five in USPSA carry optics division, so for familiarity sake, I switched the trigger in the p365 to a Gray Guns straight trigger.

Good shootin!

Nice shooting! Would you mind to show some pictures holding each of the guns in your hand/hands? How do you carry them? What kind of holster?

I shoot my shield very well, really surprised me first time I took it out, can bounce a Gatorade bottle around at 25 yards with it. In fact, I just got rid of my last glock and picked up the 2.0 m&p compact 9mm also. My wife has the full size and shoots it well. I guess its the grip angle smith is using but I swear where you point it goes, almost like shooting a well fitting shotgun...never been able to do that with a pistol before. We are really liking the smiths these days.

I'm leaning towards picking up a 365 sas also if I run across a good deal.

I'll try to get some later when I can get my son or wife to take the pics, but it's just. a standard thumbs-forward combat style grip. The main thing is trigger time. I generally shoot 2 USPSA matches a month and also shoot for practice at least once per week. Pre-ammo and components shortage, I would generally shoot more than that.

I haven't been carrying the Shield or G43 at all. I carry the p365 in a Vedder Light tuck IWB holster. Can't say enough good things about that holster and how comfortable it is.

Good shooting and thanks for sharing! The 365 is a great pistol 👍.

Vedder holster company is first rate.

Nice thread. Is that grip tape on your 365?

It's a set of Talon Grips. I've got some of their really aggressive (similar to skateboard tape texture) on my USPSA guns and they've held up perfectly and work great. So, I thought I'd try a pair of their standard (more of a rubbery grip) and I really like them on the smaller guns.

https://talongungrips.com/gun-grips/pistol-grips/sig-sauer/p365/

Those guns fit my hand well, but are on the smallish side.

That tape should make them stick in the hand perfectly. Thanks.

Nice shootin'... I don't shoot any longer until I can at least replace what I have on hand with 'normal' priced stuff.. Same for the reloads. But last time I renewed my CC license I used my Kahr P-9 and easily qualified at all distances..