The Original CZ Forum
GENERAL => General Firearms Discussion => Topic started by: EPEEIST on July 20, 2019, 04:00:45 PM
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I have been an early adopter of the original 365. I bought mine in Feb 2018 and dodged the problems the early guns had. When I finally got my XL I thought my luck had ran out from the moment I picked up the box.
My FFL is a Glock guy. Like a lot. I think he owns at least one of every model of every generation. We trade barbs back and forth quite a bit about it. Needless to say when I picked up my new gun, lifted the case off the counter and the hinge pin fell out along with half the contents of the box, it made his day.
Once I had my booklets and mags up off the floor, made a comment about "at least Sig boxes don't shoot their owners" and got the gun unwrapped it did not get much better. The trigger was horrible. To the point that I broke the gun down right there to see if it was packed with metal fillings. Gritty in the take up, and then four distinct "walls", each stiffer than the last before it finally broke at a bit over 7 pounds.
I took it home and set about doing a complete take down and inspection along with my prefered oil replacing the factory crisco on every moving part and a few minutes of polishing the hi spots on the striker, sear, trigger bar and safety plunger. Better after that, but still bad compared to my original. It appears to just be tolerance stacking from all the MIM parts. I would fervently hope I was at the extreme end of acceptable overall deviance from spec, but I have no way to know for sure and I doubt Sig would release that type of manufacturing data even if I were willing to do the math and measuring to see where my gun fell on the spectrum.
As far as size goes, this gun feels good in my big hands. I wear a 10.5 or XXL glove and it still feels good. It is hard to appreciate just how small it is until you compare it to other "compact" guns. Which I did, with two of my favorites. In the attached pics you can see it cozied up next to a 229 and a CZ 75 Compact, both of which were winter carry guns for me in the past.
https://imgur.com/RF6p42z
https://imgur.com/dzdrumP
https://imgur.com/JSLKGfO
https://imgur.com/ifZsakv
In addition to its lightweight and small size, on the plus side of the column I can confirm that the gun will mix and match fully with its little brother. If you are one of those folks that want an XL frame or slide on a 365 opposite, no worries other than finding someone to trade with. Besides just swapping the parts out, I also confirmed it shot fine all legoed up with different uppers and lowers. Speaking of the next day...
I have to admit I was prepared to not like this gun but I wanted to put some steel on target before I decided to pass it on to someone with lower standards like a Glock shooter, or someone looking to move up from a Hi-Point (which comes with a better trigger, it was really bad) and soldier on with my 365 until GG came out with an XL frame.
I had noticed during my handling the first night that the slide release wouldn't, so I loaded a mag overnight, and packed up my range bag for the morning. For testing I would be shooting steel at 10 and 20 yards consisting of a plate rack, dueling tree and two IPSC torso targets with head swingers.
Ammo consisted of Federal +P+ 115 that I run in my SMG's, IWI 158 FMJ that I keep around for the same reason, Remington HTP defensive 115 JHP's, some Blazer 147 FP's that I run in my Steel Challenge guns and some powder puff handloads that are 100 grain plated over a below minimum charge weight I use to punch paper. Those of you good at math will no doubt notice that's more than the 250 I said I put through it, but I put a mag of each through the guns while uppers and lowers were swapped around and don't really count them as part of the break in number since my 365 has well over 3k rounds through it already.
https://imgur.com/Fdjg1zg
I put in the loaded mag from the night before, walked up to the 20 yard line for the plate rack and tried to drop the slide with the release. I could not do it with my shooting hand, but did get it to work with my off hand.
Lining up on the rack, I noticed the rer sights are subtly different. The are a bit taller and more square than the original ones on my early 365. For me this was a very welcome change as the "rounded" sights get blurry on me. I breezed through the plate rack going 6 for 6 with the Blazer 147's and then walked forward firing on the man plates. Very controllable, much less snap than the 365 and easier to shoot both quickly and on the move. I was amazed how much difference the longer slide and recoil spring made in the shootability of the gun.
As I loaded up and shot through the ammo I had brought out with me, everything got better. After a few mags they slide would drop with a full mag from a firm press on the release, the trigger got better, and while it did get hot, it was about where my P7 is after 50 rounds at 250 rounds.
I had no malfunctions, everything ran, even the powder puff loads and normally I run those in a gun with a 10 pound spring! The only thing that was snappy and unpleasant to shoot were the +P+ rounds but I expected that going in. Obviously I was popping steel and not shooting for accuracy, but as long as I did my job the gun hit what it was aimed at. The grip is so thin for me that it wants to turn a bit in my hand and it naturally is a bit off center, but if I correct those "me" specific problems, the gun is stupid accurate.
Taking it home I broke it down for cleaning and noticed no wear. Once I clean off the funk from a few hundred rounds it will look brand new again.
https://imgur.com/l6p8uqF
I have an IWB with space for a dot and a TLR6 coming from Neptune. Once I have that, I think this will be my new carry gun. I run the 12 rounders anyway, and at 6'5" I can pretty much conceal carry a Desert Eagle.
As to the trigger, it is getting better so I hope it will continue to smooth out, and it is now acceptable if not as good as my original. If GG brings out a sear an/or spring upgrade I will give those a whirl.
I was prepared to be disappointed what with the box issues, MIM machining issues and a general desire for Sig to stop hiring blind monkeys for their QC inspectors. However the inherent goodness of the design won me over in the end. My advice is to buy it and run it before you make a decision. I am glad I did.
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Just a follow up post. I broke 500 rounds with it this weekend, and have yet to have a malfunction with any type of ammo.
The trigger has continued to improve. It is no longer noticeably different than my original 365. I added two small rubber washers (from old CZ grips ironically) to where the pin goes through the sub frame and grip module and it is now nice and snug for the first pull.
It has become my daily carry with a TLR6 laser/light combo and houge grip sleeve in a Neptune IWB kydex holster. Really happy with it, and I can't wait to shoot it next to the P10S.