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Background
As many of you know, for the last few years I have carried a P226 Elite religiously. To me, the P-Series from SIG Sauer is biblical and some of the best handguns to use daily. When the 320 was released to market a few years ago, I was interested, but it seemed like another standard service pistol. I have no issues with guns that are common but prefer something that’s out of the ordinary. It has to be completely reliable, so I held off when it came to the 320 because I didn’t have much experience with them.
Specifications
Once the 320 X-Five came out though, it was game over for me. The gun was totally stripped down and redesigned to be an upgraded version of the standard 320. Starting with the sights, the standard 3 dot sights have been swapped to a fiber optic front sight and blacked out adjustable rear sight. The slide is longer than the traditional full size 320 handgun and has a series of lightning cuts. The 320 X-Five has an optic cut for a Romeo 1 as well. The frame has been totally redesigned for the 320 X-Five making it a lower profile than the standard model. The new frame also has a beaver tail so the shooter can get a higher grip on the handgun. The Trigger is a Grey Guns licensed flat trigger as well instead of the standard curved trigger.
The final difference between the X-Five and standard 320 is the flared magwell. The flared magwell comes standard on the full-size model. The standard 320 full-size handguns come with two 17 round magazines where the 320 X-Five comes with four 21 round extended magazines. Without the magwell, the X-Five can easily accept standard 17 round magazines. I carry the X-Five without the magwell to have a lower profile grip. At the range though, the flared magwell makes for extremely fast reloads.
The First Range Day
Heading to the range with the X-Five is where this gun really shines. The flat trigger makes a very clean crisp trigger pull that has a nice break with a tactile reset. The green fiber optic I have on the gun is extremely easy to pick up and connect rounds on target. This gun makes me feel confident in my abilities and makes it very easy to hit what I want. The 21 round magazines are nice for the range days and give the gun a nice balance when shooting. I shot a few hundred rounds one afternoon on a Texas Start and I was very happy with how well the X-Five tracked targets. I enjoyed shooting the X-Five but it really came to life when running the gun on a Texas Star. The X-Five does really well with being balanced and quick to move.
Second Range Day/ 1,000 Round Test
After the first range trip, I wanted to put more rounds through the gun and really get a feel for the X-Five. I didn’t pick a great day to go out and it ended up raining all day. We have a very thick clay in certain parts of the state and the range became very muddy as the day went on. I ran transition drills and shooting from cover. My X-Five was covered in this thick clay by the end of my range day. The handgun overall was dirty after its first 1,000 rounds. Despite the terrible conditions and round count without cleaning, the gun continued to chew through all the ammo I fed it. Now don’t get me wrong, I know this isn’t a full-blown torture test. I did not cover the gun in mud to see how it functioned but ran the gun despite the conditions outside.
Observations
The best comparison I can make is if Robocop was remade today, and they needed to pick a new handgun for him, I would say it has to be the 320 X-Five. The gun is insanely easy to put rounds on target and transitions are a breeze. Everything on the 320 X-Five has been dialed up and improved from the standard version. From the moment you pick the gun up, you can immediately tell this is a very different beast from the standard model. The flared magwell is tough to conceal carry with but at the range, it makes quick reloads a dream. I would do manipulation drills all morning with the gun just to put a smile on my face when changing magazines.
Overall Impressions
Overall, I’m very happy with the SIG Sauer 320 X5. In the words of Carnik Con, “The gun runs like Forrest Gump.” I plan on running the gun more to see if things change. I’m happy to say though, so far it’s a slam dunk for me. I will update this in 6 months and let you guys know the status of the gun. If you have any questions or comments don’t hesitate to write it down below or shoot me an email. Stay safe out there.
