In general, the new hotness in expensive firearms isn’t going to matter that much to a penniless hermit. In fact if it weren’t for a Forgotten Weapons video I was on with Ian going on 3 years ago I might not know there was even such a thing as a Sig P365. Miniature 9mm pistols don’t interest me that much in any case, though I did notice while shooting the ones in that video that the P365 seemed to be ahead of the pack in that particular niche. Partly it’s just an old target shooter’s prejudice for a non-crap trigger.
I met Ian for the first time in – well hell, nearly a year I think – and he showed me his new concealed carry pistol. In the interest of taking pictures of everything with one of my new toys, I had the notion of comparing new and old school notions of what makes a good compact pistol.
My own is – well, kinda dorky and old I’m afraid…
Roughly the same overall dimensions, though he’ll have an easier time hiding the butt – which holds two more rounds of more potent ammo – than I do. Personally I like a gun butt big enough to hang onto, not that it’s necessarily going to do a lot of good with the Mak’s minuscule sights. Someday I want to spend some serious time with an optic-equipped pistol, it seems as though it ought to be a really good idea if the optic will survive getting smashed back and forth on the slide – which people say they do. I’d get serious about finding one for my S&W if that wouldn’t really screw up the holster situation, but it would.
I can’t really speak for the Sig, having only put a couple of mags of ammo through one a few years ago, but I can say that the Mak is surprisingly easy to shoot instinctively; it points really well, and though the blowback action doesn’t spare you any recoil it also weighs probably twice what the Sig does, and in 9mm Para the Sig definitely has some recoil.
Getting back to crap triggers: The Mak definitely has one, at least in double action, while the Sig’s trigger is remarkably crisp and drama-free. Ironically that spoils it for concealed carry in the eyes of a lot of people, there being a school of thought that a concealed pistol’s safety actually ought to be the long hard trigger pull. I don’t know, maybe. I see what they’re saying, but I think I’m just going to have to conclude that if a person is shopping for a little carry pistol of recent design, it’s good to have choices. Ian went with a nice trigger and a mechanical safety. Having come up shooting 1911s, I think that would probably be my choice as well.
The 365 is just about the perfect carry pistol, IMHO.
I bought a P365XL with the Sig Romeo Zero optic a while back. If I can ever dig out of my current hole, I plan on learning the gun and transition away from my Ruger LC9S Pro (lord, what a name for a pistol). The red dots are better for old eyes than iron, and even though I have a lot of lasers on pistols, they are less than satisfactory much of the time.
Just went back to watch that video. I think I saw it before but at the time I never recognized you. You never told us you lived next door to Ian! I learn a lot about firearms from him. We don’t have much for a carry law up here in Canada but if we did, I would carry a Para 45 ACP, not a 9mm.
Ian’s latest interest solves the problem of the RDS slamming back and forth on the slide – the Laugo Alien.
The RDS is mounted on a sort of island within the slide, and doesn’t move with it.
Of course, there is always a catch, and a $5000 price tag is a big one!
So did LL arrive, and is the SS problem solved for now?
Mark: Yes! Working on a care package post now.
I bought an East German Mac back when the Berlin Wall came down and it has remained my favorite carry pistol here on the farm all these years . The trigger in double or single is sweet at least on mine . Might be cause I keep it clean and well lubed and have put tens of thousands of round through her popping varmints over the last forty years or so. When we have a family target fest , which is often , all the ladies want to shoot the Mac . I think when I die I’m taking it with me .
Buddy of mine, well, he’s a bit paranoid. Has punch out panels on the inside of every door frame, with a Makarov in every one. He’s a high end luthier, usually has about a half-million dollars worth of guitars in his care. 9×18 insurance
The Mak’s gotta F A N T A S T I C upgrade in springs available from Wolff Springs (FEG) and they are cheap.($30 for the whole kit) they are not too terrible to replace, although the extractor spring took a little doin to figure out. You will love that MAK after doing a spring job on it. Recoil is nicer, and the trigger will be amazing.