The Sig Sauer P320 RX Review

Before we begin, let’s set some baselines to see if this review will be relevant to you.

1. I primarily shoot Glocks.
2. This was not a scientific, standards base, control group study. It is my opinion based on the things that are important to me.
3. I am a nobody but I train a lot. Here is my story :
   Lifelong martial artist (TKD, Muay Thai, BJJ), no LEO or military experience (save being an Air Force brat), NRA pistol instructor (who isn’t?). I have received previous training from George Wehby of BlackBelt Tactical, Matt Jacques of Victory First, John Murphy of FPF Training, Chris Sizelove of 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Aaron Brumley of Solo Defense, Steve Fisher of Sentinel Concepts, Greg Ellifritz of Active Response Training, Pat Goodale and Wayne Fisher of PFT Training, and private training with Al DeLeon of the State Dept’s MSD unit. I shoot anywhere from 200 to 400 rounds a week. I try to compete three times a month. I train BJJ 2 to 3 times a week. Strength & Mobility training twice a week.In addition, I am also a contributor on PrimaryandSecondary.com and a moderator on three of P&S’s Facebook groups. I have learned, broke bread, shared drink, asked questions and (carefully) expressed my opinion with many professional pipehitters without getting my ass handed back to me.

So why is a “Glock guy” doing a review on the Sig Sauer P320RX?

As I mentioned before I compete in USPSA matches about three times a month. As a devourer of media and a pretty friendly guy (if I do say so myself), I meet a lot of people. One of those people is Alma Cole of Team Sig. After a few online conversations, he agreed to do his amazing silicon carbide grip work on my ATEi/F3 Tactical Glock 17 that I use for the Carry Optics division in USPSA. We quickly became friends and he has given me much advice on my game in the P&S Firearms Competition group. So when a thread started about the new Sig Optics line, he thought it best that a red dot shooting, Glock loving, non-Sig, Tactical Timmy that likes to compete should give an unbiased review. After he failed at finding a more qualified candidate, he asked me if I would like to do it. He didn’t need to ask twice.

Why should we care about this gun anyway?

There are a number of reasons why this gun package could be significant in the market. Let me list some from my point of view….

1. It is the first gun package to offer the gun pre-milled, with suppressor height sights, AND the optic in one package.
2. It is offered at an MSRP of $799. This is significant when many mini red dots alone are close to that price.
3. The gun is specifically fitted for the optic. It is not a one size fits all with adapter plates solution like the M&P CORE or the Glock MOS. This promises for a tighter fit and better MRDS life than these “looser” fitting options.

First the gun…..

I am not going to go to in depth about the P320. There is enough info about this gun that I do not need to go into detail. Here are what I think are some highlights about the pistol.

• It points simply. The grip angle is similar to a 1911.
• The trigger is fantastic. This sample was fitted with Bruce Gray’s flat trigger. It did have stock internals though. This was probably my favorite part of this gun.
• The “high” bore axis did not impact the recoil management of the gun. It shot very flat. Personally I feel people just need to get over that and learn how to hold their gun. That said I have been told my recoil management isn’t too shabby so your mileage may vary.
• I had the full size grip in the gun to compare it against my G17. In the beginning, it felt much bigger than my Glock. This was a non-factor performance wise.
• The factory grip was sufficiently tactile. I did not wish for an aftermarket stippling job right off the bat.
• I have a very high grip and often a Glock will not lock back on empty. The location of the slide catch/release is further to the rear and locked back every time on empty. Furthermore, actuating the slide release on reloads did not require any practice adjustment coming from a Glock.
• I do not like the BIG takedown lever on Sigs. This is minor and did not affect performance. Some use it as a thumb rest while shooting. I found it mildly distracting.
• The mag release position and actuation was also intuitive and required no practice for fast reps.
• The suppressor height sights were of solid construction. They were easily viewed through the optic but were not distracting.
• The gun produced a 96 score on a 25 yard B8 100 point drill.
• The gun produced a perfect 50 score at 6 yards on Dot Torture.
• Drawing from a Raven Concealment VG3, I was able to produce a low of a .98 1 shot draw on a 7 yard IPSC target in the Alpha.
• A FAST drill was accomplished at 4.93.
• A 1 reload 1 drill was accomplished in 3.0 seconds.
• All drills were done from AIWB concealed.
• There were no malfunctions in this 600 round test. The ammo used was either Lawman Speer 124 gr or M882 124 gr 9MM.

Now the Optic…..

The Sig Romeo 1 MRDS that is included with P320RX is what sets this package apart. Like I said before, its price point of 799.00 deserves attention. IF the MRDS is durable, it could be a game changer.  This particular optic was a test optic. The round count was unknown but was an early production prototype. So here are my thoughts.

PROs:

• The weight of the optic is negligible. It does not throw the balance of the pistol off in the slightest
• The brightness settings of the optic are very serviceable. The lowest setting for indoor, precision shooting was clear. The highest setting was also clear on the brightest of days outdoors.
• The window and FOV is large. Bordering on Deltapoint large.
• I am told the red dot has an auto shut off feature. It goes to sleep after a certain amount of inactivity and then immediately turns on when any motion is detected. I left the dot on the whole time of my 2 week test. I never noticed the dot going off. I never noticed a lag of any sort.
• The battery compartment is on top of the optic. This makes changing the battery simple and negates the need to reconfirm the zero.
• The windage and elevation adjustments dials are easily accessed. The clicks were tactile and easily recognized. I did not adjust the zero on this optic. I merely clicked it 2 one way then back. It was zero’d at 25 yards.  It was extremely accurate.

So are there any cons to this optic? Well just one. A typical durability test for any MRDS is the ability to rack the gun off the optic. Racking the gun off the MRDS may be necessary to clear some malfunctions, load the gun during one handed manipulations, etc. It can also show the durability of the optic if the gun is dropped. The gun was racked off a plastic table with just enough power to rack the gun with confidence. The optic survived the first nine racks with no problem. On the tenth rack it developed tiny “splinters” near the glass borders.

Upon further inspection and shooting, the cracks did not affect the sight picture, the clarity of the dot, and did not change the zero.  To be clear, 300 more rounds were shot after the splinters developed and the glass did not start to spider web.

So why did this happen? It appears that a portion of where the front of the glass apexes ever so slightly protrudes past the hood. So if hit at a certain angle, the glass would take the brunt of the impact. After I let Alma know what happened, he then let Bruce Gray and Sig know. In surprisingly short order, Sig came back with the following response:

“Sig Electro-Optics are always in a continuous improvement mode, that a larger lens shroud is in development for the Romeo1 and will be brought to market as soon as possible, hopefully by Q1 of 2017”

So it looks like the problem was already recognized yet not implemented in this early model. I am impressed that Sig takes the lines of communication between it and its competition team members, the media, and the public very seriously.  In addition, this crack would have been covered under Sig’s limited lifetime warranty. Besides, the stand alone optic has an MSRP of around $375. It is not a $600 Trijicon RMR. Please take this into consideration when setting expectations.
Final thoughts…..

Despite the minor issue of the splintered glass, I was very impressed with the Sig Sauer P320RX. It performed reliably and accurately. Manipulating the gun will be intuitive for anyone who trains with striker fired pistols on a regular basis. The optic’s ergos and controls were also easy to figure out and manipulate.

So would I recommend this pistol and MRDS? To a person looking to get into an MRDS equipped pistol but not quite sure if the juice is worth the squeeze….absolutely. What about USPSA Carry Optics division? The gun is perfect for it with nothing else required of the gun to be successful. Would I be OK if they used it as their EDC pistol? To that I would also answer yes. This may surprise some due to the splintered glass but the red dot did function flawlessly despite it. Finally would I be OK to recommend this as a professional duty grade pistol? This is outside of my lane and my opinion does not matter. I will comment that the professional segment would be probably better served to see what the new shroud looks like on the revamp.

And finally….would I consider changing from my Glocks to the Sig P320RX? LOL….no. I have too much time and money invested in my Glocks to make a change. That being said, if I was at a match and my Glocks magically disappeared and Alma threw me his gun, I wouldn’t hesitate to take it and burn the stages down.