The new Spectre series from SIG, in a nutshell, is the proven P320 platform and the P365XL sent to the SIG Custom Shop for some ZEVish style custom work.
Some of you will love what SIG has done as far as the style, and some will hate it. Different strokes for different folks, as the saying goes. Either way, SIG is pretty much back-ordered on all their pistols so if you like what you see here you better start looking for one.
We have two pistols here to shoot. The SIG P320 XCompact Spectre and the SIG P365XL Spectre. Both are 9mm. The XCompact Spectre combines a Compact grip module with an X-Carry P320 slide and barrel. SIG’s naming convention is confusing. However, one way of keeping this straight is remembering that the Compact grip holds a flush-fitting 15 round magazine and the X-Carry P320 slide/barrel features a 3.9 inch barrel. The XCompact is hybrid of the two. A Glock 19 also holds a flush-fitting 15 round magazine and has a 4-inch barrel. So, this XCompact is essentially the same size as a Glock 19.
SPECTRE SLIDE CUTS
The custom shop did some custom cutting of the slides and both pistols have similar cuts in the slides. The serrations on the sides are bigger and wider than stock models, which I think is more attractive.
There is an extra bevel cut on the side of the slides and the top of the Spectre slide has a large X cut that goes all the way through so that you can see the barrel.
Overall the cuts are attractive and they’re going to make your gun unique and different. They will however fit in the same holsters without issues.
SLIDE FINISH
The finish used on the slides is what SIG calls a distressed battle worn finish. Usually, my guns end up looking this way after several years of hard use and it’s kind of a cool look.
Both the XCompact and the P365XL Spectre feature night sights with tritium and a removable plate for mounting optics on the slide.
CUSTOM SHOP GRIP
Both Spectre models feature SIG Custom Shop laser engraved grip modules which is a fancy way to say they’re factory stippled with a laser. I must say this is my favorite feature of both pistols and the one that makes the most difference when shooting them. The texture isn’t painful or overly aggressive but is noticeably easier to hold or grip the gun under recoil.
SHOOTING THE SPECTRE’S
We’ve done lots of testing on the P365XL and the P320 in past reviews. They’re both fantastic pistols. Factory ammo is hard to come by so I shot reloads through both pistols. I mostly plinked on steel from about 10 yards all the way out to 50 yards. I had no malfunctions with either pistol in the 50ish rounds I put through each of them.
The trigger on the Custom Shop XCompact Spectre was substantially better than my personally owned XCompact. I asked SIG if the Custom Shop did something special to it. Apparently, they don’t. It does however come with the XFive flat-faced skeletonized trigger rather than the P320 trigger.
I personally own a non-Spectre P365XL and an XCompact and I was really digging the Custom Shop stippling on the Spectre’s. I could break out the wood-burning tool and stipple mine but it won’t be perfect like the laser stippling. I shot them all side by side and it’s easier to hold on to the laser-stippled grips without a question.
SIG P365XL Specs
Product Line: P365 XL Spectre
Caliber: 9mm
Barrel Length: 3.7″
Overall Length: 6.6″
Width: 1.1″
Height: 4.8
Capacity: 12+1
Magazines Included: 2
Finish: Distressed
Weight: 20.7 oz
SIG P320 XCompact Specs
Product Line: Spectre P320 XCompact
Caliber: 9mm
Barrel Length: 3.9″
Overall Length: 7.4″
Width: 1.3″
Sight Radius: 5.8″
Capacity: 15+1
Magazines Included: 2
Weight: 26 oz
Finish: Distressed
Overall the Spectre P365XL and Xcompact are attractive, functional, and useable. Does anyone “need” fancy slide cuts? Probably not, but nobody needs designer clothes or shiny paint on their car. The truth is these are cooler guns than your off-the-shelf P320 or P365XL. I think they look fantastic and if I didn’t already have too many guns I’d seriously consider buying them.
I couldn’t find an MSRP anywhere but believe you should be able to pick them up for about $1000.
Click HERE for more info on the P320 XCompact Spectre
Click HERE to learn more about the P365XL Spectre
I own the 365XL Spectre, with the nitrite finish and gold barrel and trigger. I’m not even close to being a firearm expert but I do love this gun. Yep, it’s way overpriced and 99% of the people in the market for a 365 XL will do just fine with the traditional model, at half the price. But I will say as an IWB carry gun, this one practically leaps into my hand – the grip does make a big difference – and I also like the gold and black finish. Like any XL, the balance, weight, and straight trigger make the gun feel great in your hand. I can get off accurate shots quickly, and that is what a carry gun is all about.
Too many guns? What’s that…?
I guess these will interest some, but the second I saw them, I went on to the next article. I wouldn’t consider them at all at pretty much any price.
Sometimes we buy a gun and after a while decide to sell it or trade it. I suspect it would be difficult to do so with a distressed looking gun.
We’ve all seen that one used gun sitting in the display case for months because its beat up.
Would like to see a 365 the size of a 320 C.
What would the point be of a P320 sized P365 be? I honestly don’t understand that statement at all…
I agree Jason your spot on! Maybe they would appeal to me if they had a nice black nitride finish, I would also like it for the added protection. One thing I can’t stand is making unnecessary holes in the slide for unwanted gas escaping in your face especially if you have to shoot it in an enclosed area.
Sig recently released the X carry Spectre with 3.9” slide and x carry grip module that uses the 17 round flush mag and will accept the weight and magwell funnel from the legion 320
Forgot to mention the x carry Spectre also has Nitrite finish on the slide and has TIN gold color on barrel and trigger
I don’t want to buy PRE beat up gun finishes..they do the same thing with guitars now, neither one makes any sense to me. For decades people judged the Condition of used guns mainly by the way they LOOK! To ME these guns would start out worth at least 50% LESS than a NIB without the beat up finish.
Thanks, but no thanks.
Brain dead people have been paying big $ for jeans with pre made holes/rips in them for quite some time. Still can’t figure that one out.
jason is right, i saw that also. its backwards
XCompact grip modules hold 15rds and is what is on the XCompact Spectre. XCarry grip modules (like found on the XCarry Legion) hold 17rds.
I take it the optics cut is only for Sig optics?
The P365 will fit any of the micro red dots except for the trijicon RMRcc because they made a new footprint, but the RomeoZero will fit, the Shield RMS-c, SMS-c, the Swamp Fox Sentinel, the holoson 407k/507k x2 all fit.
the P320 has a great cut, it’ll fit practically any optic on it’s own or with some sort of filler plate, the Romeo1Pro fits natively, along with the Leupold DeltaPoint Pro. but theyre also drilled and tapped for Trijicon RMR pattern, so a cheap filler/sealing plate later and it’ll fit the most popular optics choices.
FYI – If the XCompact utilizes Sig’s “P320 FLAT SKELETONIZED ENHANCED STAINLESS STEEL TRIGGER” it can, per their their website, result in “A 30% trigger pull weight reduction compared to the stock P320 trigger.” I recall reading that the “enhancement” is not that it’s skeletonized, but that it has a slightly different geometry.
If you check a factory curved trigger the pull weight is 6lbs. Change that to the flat x series trigger and it drops to 4 lb 8oz if the skeleton trigger is used it drops to 3lb 8oz. The reset on the flat x series is little shorter than the skeleton. Both the solid flat and skeleton trigger have a lot of take up that can be limited fairly easy and cheap and the small amount of over travel can be eliminated with an bushing or a small spring slid over the stop pin.
You have the Xcompact backwards. Xcompact has a 15rd flush magazine the xcarry has a 17 rd magazine. The Xcompact has a 3.6” barrel the xcarry has a 3.9” barrel. So it appears to have an Xcompact grip with a xcarry barrel.