New Guy From WA State

Hi all, looks like a great community to be part of. Like some other folks that I saw introduce themselves, I’m an old Army guy that first learned to love the 1911 in Basic Training (1985, if you’re keeping score). I was a Tank Crewman, serving in 11th ACR, 1st AD, 9th ID, I Corps, and 24th ID over the years. Our primary personal weapon was the M1911A1, which was eventually replaced by the M9 (basically a Beretta 92FS).

Ever since then, I’ve owned at least one 1911, including a Colt and a Ruger. Love the Ruger SR1911. About 2 months ago I bought my first Sig after my wife had decided to adopt her own pistol, a Sig P320 X-Carry RXP. Between that event and ammo prices, I decided to see if I could get us both shooting 9mm for our primary defensive guns.

Since I have plenty of full size pistols (all 1911's), I figured that my first foray into a striker fired polymer gun would be something for EDC that was able to be deeply concealed. Tons of research, hands on at LGS, and shooting at a couple ranges, let me compare and contrast the Kimber R7 Mako, Springfield Hellcat, S&W M&P Shield Plus, Sig P365 and P365xl. Eventually, I settled on the P365xl. I'm 2 range trips and 250 rounds in and really like this little gun. I did change out the grip module for the one from Wilson Combat and like the gun even more. I'm about ready to start carrying it, in a We The People IWB holster.

Other hobbies include grilling and smoking, traveling with my wife and kids, hanging out in the backyard, and reading …. Especially political/military thrillers (currently hooked on Jack Carr’s stuff), Science Fiction (especially military sci fi), and Fantasy (preferably older stuff like Tolkien wrote).

A few pics of the P365xl, some before and some after the grip mod change.

Just put the new grip module on


P365xl and a Kimber, hanging out in their WTP holsters


Little guy hanging out with wife's P320


The day I brought it home