I've had my P320 X-Carry for a couple of months now and have been slowly adding parts to it to turn it into my ideal pistol.



First thing that got added within minutes of getting it home were a Romeo1 red dot and Surefire X300U. Shortly after that, I picked up several extended magazine kits from Springer Precision, including Grams Engineering follower and spring kits to bring the 17 round magazines up to 23 round capacity.



Next, I found someone on another forum who had removed the bolt-on magwell from his X-Five so he could play in USPSA Production and Carry Optics divisions. Little quick negotiating and I could now toss a new magazine into this gun from across a room and I'm confident it would seat properly.



Just today, I received the OEM 21 round magazine I needed to make a 27 round "happy stick", also utilizing Springer Precision base pad and Grams Engineering follower.



***Current Status of the Pistol(s):





***Parts List:

Too much to list at this point - Feel free to message me with any inquiries as to what parts are utilized

Mine came with the Romeo 1 on it. What is the mag well? Might have to get that.

It's the magwell that comes on the X-Five, but it can be attached to any of the X-Series grip modules. A lot of competition shooters take it off to make the X-Five legal for USPSA Production and Carry Optics divisions, I bought mine off of one such individual. Currently they're not selling the magwell alone, you have to buy a full X-Five grip module assembly to get it. But according to the Sig customer service rep I spoke to a few weeks ago, they should start shipping the magwell as a stand-alone accessory in the next couple months

"Nemesis? Nemesis to what?"

...Roland



We can't let the Glocktards have all the fun, can we?

Unfortunately this is just a mockup for now as I'll need to take the new threaded barrel to my gunsmith to be properly fitted, but this is what the gun will look like when completed. Now I'm getting excited...

If you use a suppressor height front sight, you're supposed to be able to use the rear notch in the Romeo 1 as back up sights.

I have been looking into that. Sig does seem to be making suppressor height versions of their X-ray sights now, to use on the RX Legion models. The X-Carry comes with X-ray sights as well, and I'd be interested in keeping the combo fiber optic/tritium. I will probably be calling Sig's customer service and asking if they have any spare raised X-ray front posts to add. All in due time...

I would argue that those of us shooting high-cap, dotted and comped 9mm polymer pistols no bigger or heavier than 5” steel 1911s as our everyday carry and competition guns are on the same team, regardless of the name on the slide.

While I’m currently shooting a Fauxland, I would love to get my mitts on a X-Carry with a thumb safety FCU to see what it would be all about.

That looks like a really cool gun, and I hope to hear more about your experiences with it, as well as that of others who go this route.

Cheers!

I couldn't agree more I certainly don't mean to say the original Roland concept or the Glock it was based on are by any means bad guns - Obviously I'm a fan of the compact compensated pistol format.

For me personally, though, the P320 ergonomics just fit and feel better in my hand than a Glock, so this particular gun will be "superior" specifically for me and my purposes. I honestly think a lot more (ideally all of them) G19-sized compact pistols should have the aftermarket support and components available to build them out this way. I do honestly believe a compact 9mm pistol with a dot, flashlight, and short compensator is the ultimate format for a fighting pistol (at least with present technology available on the market).

Thanks for your comments and please do follow along, there's lots more to come!

Great!

I’m very curious to see how these private sector developments influence the M17/M18 program over time- I get it if the comp never makes it to standard military issue, but a military dotted pistol being issued excites me!

The selection of a P320 variant as the MHS program winner was actually a significant factor in my choosing to base this build off of a P320. Before that I was seriously considering a P229 Legion RX. I'm not the kind of person who must have what the military has (nothing against those who do, just not my preference), but the prospect of potential aftermarket support for the standard-issue sidearm of the entire armed forces was too tantalizing to pass up.

That being said, even if third party support for the P320 doesn't ever reach Glock-like proportions, it's still a fantastic platform in its own right and for what I wanted, it's just right

The pistol now has a new home in a Pelican iM3100 case. This is generally a bit large for handgun use, but I wanted something with enough room to store a lot of magazines plus additional grip modules and slide assemblies that I acquire all in one place. This will be plenty large enough for that

That’s hawt.

Tell me about this compensator.  I have zero experience or knowledge of them on pistols.  I’m assuming their function and performance is similar to those on rifles??

Did you get the aftermarket, extended length thumb also?

Sweet pistol!

Similar, yes. The purpose is to mitigate perceived recoil primarily by counteracting muzzle flip. Open division competition pistols have been using and developing comps for decades now for the purposes of faster and flatter shooting, but just in recent years their benefit on more practical/tactical/defensive-use pistols has become more widely understood and accepted.

For a G19-sized polymer/striker pistol, the combination of a slide-mounted red dot, rail-mounted flashlight and short compensator seems to result in an exponential benefit that is greater than the sum of the individual component's benefits

Hectic work schedule has made getting the pistol to my gunsmith difficult, but I'll be dropping it off tomorrow to start the barrel fitting process

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts, I'm interested to add the threaded bull barrel to my X5 and the same comp, but I cannot justify the price of the barrel at this time.

My P226 "Roland"



My P320 X5



I had to throw my old G19 Gen 4 in the mix as well

Looks great! How did you like the comp on the 226? I was originally considering going with a 229 as the base for this project

Oh man, I’d love to see a “Roland” 229 SAO.

Once Sig (presumably) releases the RX version of the 229 SAO Legion, and after I finish up this P320, I may take up just that project myself...Like I said, I had originally seriously considered basing this project on the DA/SA 229 Legion RX, but begged off due to overall lack of aftermarket support and the trigger. With an SAO model in the wild now, though...

The comp works as advertised, both for the P226 TacOps and Glock 19.  There are both from Texas Black Rifle Company, I used the M&P comp for the Sig and it fit into all of my holsters.  I would highly recommended it.  My P226 has trigger work done by Robert Burke, “The Sig Armorer”, it really takes the firearm to a completely different level.  He does all the work on Max Michel’s firearms.

Awesome, thanks for the info! It's my hope that as comps become a more accepted performance modification for duty pistols we start seeing them made for a lot more different platforms. To my knowledge there are companies making specific offerings now not just for Glocks but also M&Ps, P320s, PPQs, VP9s, P10Cs and P07/09s. I imagine sometime soon we will see platform-specific offerings for the Beretta APX and FN 509. Good to know the TBRC comps can be adapted to other platforms as well

TBRCi recommends Silencerco threaded barrels for a flush fit, like you see on my P226 and Glock 19.  Barrels for the P320 full and compact sizes are available, but I’m not sure if their Glock comp would fit into P320 holster.

OP, when do you get your firearm back?

It will be a while, the gunsmith I use is fairly popular locally and has a fairly long list ahead of me. Will probably be in a few weeks

Something else I was just alerted to another forum;

http://www.parkermountainmachine.com/pmm-custom-firearms.html

"Great minds" and whatnot, I suppose...

I'm realizing I may need to ocassionally pointlessly bump this thread while waiting on my gunsmith so this thread doesn't get archived before it's done, so...Bump

Waiting patiently to hear your thoughts

I'm waiting rather impatiently myself...

Old picture from before dropping the gun off with my 'smith, trying out a few different holsters for this beast;



The one pictured above is a Trex Arms Sidecar holster. Doesn't conceal as well as I'd like though - The fullsize grip length plus magwell and magazine extensions combined with my stick-thin build don't play well together...

Other holsters I have are an OWB pancake-style from MIE Productions with a couple of Blackpoint Tactical MAP magazine pouches to pair it with, and I have a war belt holster coming from QVO Tactical. All the holsters I've purchased are either meant for the standard Compact P320 with an open muzzle to accommodate the compensator, or made for the X-Five. So far all holsters I've tried work, even though none I've purchased have been explicitly made for the X-Carry model

Anti-archiving bump...

ETA:



Having options is always a good thing...

Just got the call, the gun will be ready to be picked up tomorrow

Plans changed and I was able to get the pistol today! The loctite on the comp is drying overnight, by tomorrow this beast will be ready to shoot...

Finished. Now the real testing can begin...

Just got back from the range and burning through about 300 rounds, including a mix of 115, 124, 147, in both JHP and FMJ for each different weight. Some things I can report;

- The comp works as advertised - It seems to like hot 124s the best as that seemed to give the least amount of muzzle flip, but it ran all of the 115/124/147/FMJ/JHP rounds just fine as long as I did my part

- The gun as configured dislikes limp-wristing and had issues cycling 65gr Inceptor ARX ammo (I didn't expect it to cycle, I was just using it as an outlier in my testing to see where the limits of the system are). When I gripped the gun properly and used non-gimmick ammo, the gun ran flawlessly

- This is the flattest shooting pistol I've ever owned - The only gun I've shot that was any flatter was a factory stock STI open gun in 38Super, but I didn't expect a minor PF 9mm with a two-port compensator to be better than that

- I absolutely love this gun!

OH one other quick note - I shot the gun to the point the compensator was too hot to touch, but it stayed rock solid right where it was supposed to be. I will keep an eye on it during further testing but as of now it looks like properly cleaning the threads and whichever formulation of loctite Springer sends with the comp is enough to do the job...

My schedule shifted around a bit towards the end of today and I found myself with a free evening, so I decided to head to the range again. This time I focused on shooting only 124gr loads, both FMJ and JHP, and compared the difference between standard pressure and +P loads. In total I shot another 250 rounds in about 45 minutes;

- The gun didn't malfunction once, even with a bit of intentional limp-wristing on my part

- I can shoot this gun more accurately, at a much higher rate of fire, than any other gun I've ever shot before

- It won't surprise anybody that the +P loads worked better with the comp, but what surprised me was by how much - The +P loads shot flatter and felt softer than even the standard pressure loads by comparison

- Once again, the front end of the gun got too hot to touch but the comp stayed rock solid

- I love this gun even more than yesterday!

I think what I need to do is do some testing with a selection of 124gr +P JHP loads and find a couple I like to designate as my preferred hollowpoints. The performance of the gun with that particular spec of ammunition is just absolutely staggering. It is nice to know though that the gun will still function on 115/124/147gr standard pressure ammo for range use

Cool pistol. I bet its a blast to shoot.

The thought of concealing that thing for any length of time is beyond me though. Doing it appendix really makes me shake my head. Its a perfect bedside gun or game gun but walking around for 10-14 hours a day with something the size of a 17 + x300 is beyond impractical for most people I know.

Have you actually carried it much yet? I really like how it turned out. If I ever do a Roland build it will be much like yours.

I have indeed found it preventatively impractical. I haven't carried it a single day because the moment I put it in the holster and tried to conceal it under just about any kind of shirt, I looked like I had a very suspiciously gun-shaped tumor growing under my ribs. This build will be relegated to nightstand duty, range toy, "go-to-war" and (for the exceedingly rare cases I go through with it, if ever) OWB open carry.

My current plan is to pick up a P320 RX Compact, add a compact flashlight like an Inforce APLc, and use that as my carry gun. I'll still get the benefit of platform commonality for training, but will have a much more practically-sized package to conceal

New gun, new callus. I've been dryfiring the shit out of this thing since the second range day. Should be able to get back to live fire over the next two days, standby for another update shortly...

Apologies to everyone for not updating recently, I haven't yet had the chance to get back to the range to do my 124gr +P testing. I will however be going back this Saturday, and to prepare I'm looking for suggestions from everyone on various 124gr +P loads that I should round up to consider. I've got a list running, I will be purchasing at least one box of each of the loads listed and any others that are suggested (provided I can find them on store shelves, of course);

- Hornady Critical Duty (manufacturer part #90216)
- Winchester PDX1 (manufacturer part #S9MMPDB)
- Speer Gold Dot (manufacturer part #23617)
- Federal HST (manufacturer part #P9HST3)

Any other suggestions that I should look for while I make my rounds to the local ammo suppliers?

Well, after stopping by the first two stores in my rounds, I began to realize that for this particular test I would be limited by what I was able to find on store shelves. I purchased a sample of every 124gr +P load I could find between four different suppliers and it still wasn't exactly what I'd listed, but I'd say three different types of loads in that category, plus some Winchester White Box 124gr NATO-spec FMJ, plus two different types of 115gr +P JHP loads (slightly more than 400 rounds in total) should be plenty for a good testing tomorrow;

Just got back from the range and dinner, fired a total of 350 rounds through the gun today bringing the running total to 900 rounds. My report;

- Absolutely zero malfunctions yet again, with all the different hollow points as well as 115/124gr standard pressure and 115/124gr +P rounds

- I'm starting to notice more subtle differences between the recoil of the different bullet weights and different gas pressures. For instance, the 124gr +P has slightly more muzzle flip than 115gr +P, but the 115gr +P loads have a sharper rearward "smack" against my hand

- I could not tell the difference between the Winchester 124gr NATO spec FMJ and any of the 124gr +P JHP loads, including with a magazine with a random mix of the NATO spec and two different kinds of the +P loads

- Due in no small part to the ergonomics of the underling P320 X-Carry frame, I'm able to control the recoil of every load very well and they all settle very naturally back on target without any additional input to the gun from me

- The POA/POI shift through the range of ammo from 115gr standard pressure up to 124gr +P is negligible between 3 and 15 yards - Any small shift that is there is being masked by the natural variance in my own accuracy capability, while still being able to put a full 26-round magazine of every different load I had randomly mixed together into a fist-sized grouping at 10 yards shooting with about .5 second splits

Given this information, the system's stellar reliability across all tested loads, and factoring in various ballistics tests I've seen online, I think I've settled on the Hornady Critical Duty 124gr +P loads as my preferred JHP round, while I'll be using the Winchester 124gr NATO spec FMJ as my primary range/practice ammo. The recoil impulse profile is identical between the two rounds and they both provide for what I prefer in terms of overall muzzle flip, how hard the gun pushes directly rearward back into my hand, and having the dot drop precisely back onto target after the round is fired. I'll be purchasing both these loads in bulk online over the coming weeks, and getting the optic specifically zeroed to the Hornady loads thereafter.



Any day that ends with a blister on your trigger finger was a good day...

Thanks for the update OP. This has been interesting to watch.

Thank you for watching! The build process and subsequent testing has certainly been the most fun I've had with a firearm yet. Half the fun of firearms ownership for me is building guns out to perform the way I want, and this particular project has quickly turned into the most fun/best gun I've ever owned

Happy 4th of July everyone! I'll be celebrating our independence and the freedoms I enjoy as an American citizen the way I normally do, at the range blasting little holes into paper and cardboard. I don't expect to have as thorough an update after today as my last few trips to the range, as I've completed my reliability and ammo comparison testing and I'll mostly just be shooting a bunch of WWB 124gr NATO spec FMJ rounds. If anything new or interesting comes up though I'll be sure to post about it here!

With today's range trip done this gun has just ticked over the 1,200 round mark and not an issue to mention. Well, maybe having to let the gun cool for five minutes because the trigger is too hot to touch might be considered an issue to some...But I'm not too concerned about it!

While I wait on the cases of Critical Duty 124gr +P and WWB 124gr NATO spec to arrive, I decided to purchase a box each of Underwood loaded 115gr Xtreme Penetrator rounds, one box of +P and one box of +P+. I'm slightly curious to see how the oddly shaped rounds feed and what difference in the recoil impulse I'll be able to tell between the +P/+P+ loads. Also of note; it starts to get annoying that JHP loads are generally sold in boxes of 20, when your magazines hold 23 and 27 rounds respectively...

IMPORTANT NOTE: I do NOT intend to use the XP rounds in any real defensive role, nor do I encourage the use of anything other than a well-engineered, reliable, traditional JHP round with a strong track record to be used for standard defensive purposes by anyone else. This is strictly an exercise in personal curiosity. When the gun is not at the range, it will be topped up with the excellent Hornady Critical Duty rounds which have proven performance in real-world defensive applications and have proven themselves 100% reliable in my specific pistol through extensive testing

New Safariland-compatible holster from QVO Tactical - Fit, finish, attachment, and draw are all fantastic. Adjustable retention. I'll have to run it in practice for a while but initial impressions lean towards being able to give a solid recommendation for them

Just got a little extra spending money from selling off a few things, so check back to this thread over the next week or two - It's about to get more interesting...About twice as interesting...

OST

Not sure what that stands for...?

Old School Tag

Means I'm interested in keeping up with this thread.

Thinking of a full size X myself

Oh well thank you for following along! Still a lot more to come from here