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P320 X5 Thread


BASE772

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Well, I've been shooting mine for a couple of weeks now and am not at all impressed.  Overall, I'd give it a C+ at best.  Reasons are:

  1. Gun is big, bulky and doesn't handle very well.  Slide profile is probably 30% larger than what it needs to be, especially for a 9mm.  Instead of cutting holes in the top of the slide, why not make the slide narrower and remove some more material from the sides, etc. so the gun handles better?
  2. Trigger is crap, even for a striker fire gun.  I'm not expecting a sub 2# 1911/2011 trigger.  But for this price point, they out to provide a half decent trigger and not require additional time, money and effort to sort that out.
  3. The grip shape is crap as well.  Feels like you're holding a bar of soap.  Why not give it some shape and maybe a small palm swell like the M&P?  Texture is also lacking.
  4. The front sight is too narrow.  Particularly considering the size of the rear notch.  Guess it may be ok for some people, but I've seen a number of other complaints about this and everyone who's shot mine agrees it's too narrow.  Not a big deal, but it's another $39 +shipping to replace.

On a positive note, the quality and attention to detail is good.  And the gun functions 100%, even with sub-125 pf loads.  Next steps are to address the trigger and sights, add a 1911 style guide rod and lighter spring, and put some more rounds through it.

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Finally got to shoot my X5 after picking it up on Friday. After reading some posts about the slide not going fully into battery or not locking open when the mag is empty, I took 6 different types of factory ammo of 115, 124, and 147 gr with power factors from 132.2 up to 145.5. Did not have any problems with ejections or battery, but the slide did not lock open after firing the PMC 115 gr rounds with a 132.2 PF. Only had time to put a total of 60 rounds through the gun (10 of each) and maybe after it breaks in some it will handle the PMC ammo as well.

 

I also think the front sight is too narrow for more liking. Have spoken to Dawson and they are going to make more front sight variations. They can custom make whatever I want for an add'l $10 and said it will take 4 -5 weeks. I also realize I definitely need some rougher grips so I am going to order them from Springer. Does anyone have any experience with Springer's extended mag release? Pretty sure I will be buying that as well.

 

Would love to hear the pros/cons of the Red Hill Tactical and CompTac holsters for the X5. I need a holster and mag pouches. Open to recommendations. I am not a good enough shooter to need/benefit from $60 Race Master mag pouches.

 

Thanks

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I have a RHT holster on order and if delivery times are accurate, it should be here any day now.  I will post info on that once I get it.  Re: mag pouches, I had Racemaster pouches for my 2011 setup and replaced them with the Racer pouches.  The aluminum vs. plastic for the body isn't really a factor.  The only reason I see to go for the Racemasters is if you want the additional adjustment from the ball mount.

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On 5/19/2017 at 7:00 PM, troupe said:

I think the biggest thing that is holding me back is the trigger.  I did not expect the mush to be so much.  I know it is a striker fired, but it has to be cleaned up some and the reset be shortened some.  Any one that has the GG work done, chime in.

I have 2 320F FCU's with the GG competition package. One has the GG flat trigger and pulls at 2lbs 7oz and the other with GG curved is right over 3lbs.  The take up is great, it's starts smooth, hits a wall, then a sudden break at 90* with the flat trigger. The curved starts the same and mine seems to roll off the back wall, which I like on the curved trigger.  Grayguns appears to have gotten their turn around time to 2 weeks!  Get in the Queue now and it won't be long. It's definitely worth getting the GG trigger job and avoid the headaches of attempting to get sub 3# and risk ruining or losing safety features that are kept with the GG package. Hope this helps. 

IMG_3930.JPG

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1 hour ago, LHshooter said:

Finally got to shoot my X5 after picking it up on Friday. After reading some posts about the slide not going fully into battery or not locking open when the mag is empty, I took 6 different types of factory ammo of 115, 124, and 147 gr with power factors from 132.2 up to 145.5. Did not have any problems with ejections or battery, but the slide did not lock open after firing the PMC 115 gr rounds with a 132.2 PF. Only had time to put a total of 60 rounds through the gun (10 of each) and maybe after it breaks in some it will handle the PMC ammo as well.

 

I also think the front sight is too narrow for more liking. Have spoken to Dawson and they are going to make more front sight variations. They can custom make whatever I want for an add'l $10 and said it will take 4 -5 weeks. I also realize I definitely need some rougher grips so I am going to order them from Springer. Does anyone have any experience with Springer's extended mag release? Pretty sure I will be buying that as well.

 

Would love to hear the pros/cons of the Red Hill Tactical and CompTac holsters for the X5. I need a holster and mag pouches. Open to recommendations. I am not a good enough shooter to need/benefit from $60 Race Master mag pouches.

 

Thanks

I have the springer extended mag release on all of mine. I love it. I have short thumbs and had a hard time reaching the mag stock mag release on a MD grip with out changing my grip. After I put the springer extended mag release its in the perfect spot for me now. 

As for the RHT vs Comp tac. It's not even a fair comparison. The RHT offers 2 layer holsters which are super stiff and strong. His molds are spot on and has some pretty awesome color options. Mag pouches from RHT are great. The comp tac I had a few years ago was super flimsy and I felt it was going to rip right off the hanger while working on draws. 

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Having put abut 700 rds through my XFive now, here are my findings.

 

General: I have read numerous complaints about its tightness. To me that is a plus, not a negative. After all, one of the promises was its accuracy. Yes, it is very accurate. I have shot only hand loads through it. Some loads would not reliably run in the gun, due to their lack of pressure to fully extract and eject rounds. As the magazine capacity was diminished it got better. A very, very firm grip helped too. After increasing powder charge a tad, it became 100% reliable, and the increased loads were still under 130PF. With lighter loads, fewer rounds in the mags help, as does a very firm grip.

 

Battery: I never encountered a failure to go into battery during normal firing of the gun, excepting the failure to extract and eject as mentioned above with low PF loads, which obviously prevent the battery condition. If you attempt to ease the slide forward, it likely will not go into battery. I have installed a GG guide rod so that I can control which recoil spring to use. The GG guide rod came with a 15 lb. I am running a 14 lb, which works fine with my hand loads. If I bump the loads up a tad, then I will experiment with the 15 lb spring, or even run the factory captured spring/rod assembly. During normal firing, I am sure it will strip a round off the follower, chamber and go completely into battery with an even lighter recoil spring.

 

Accuracy: With my hand loads, my 65 year old eyes and the .90 front sight it is a challenge to really get the sight picture, I like. Having said that, I have fired many groups under 2.5" at 50 yds with this gun, simply shooting prone. I think the gun will shoot 1.5 - 1.75" at 50 yds with the right ammo, the right eyes and the right talent behind the trigger.

 

Hand loads used: I have tried Zero 115 JHP old stye, Zero 125 JHP Conical, Hornady 125 HAP, Bayou 124 TCG, Bayou 120 TCG. The same mild powder charge of WST was used across the board. No changes to powder charge and no changes to OAL die setting, but there was slight variation in OAL due to slightly different bullet noses. They were pretty much 1.075 +/- .005. I knew all the loads would be soft (120 +/-PF) so I wasn't concerned. All the jacketed loads were too soft to run the gun with more than 2 or 3 rounds in a mag. After, I kicked the load up by 2/10ths it ran flawless. (Except for the 115 gr bullets. They still needed more powder to make them 100% with topped off mags.)  Magazines locked back etc. After the increased powder charge, my 125's JHP were running about 1000fps and the 120, 124 BB were running 1050 - 1020 fps respectively. I did not chrono the 115 JHP. All very accurate, all had more potential with some tuning for the specific bullet/weight/material. Maybe a different powder too. I had, and like WST for .38 Spl and .38 Super. That is why it was used.

 

Trigger: I am a revolver guy, so I found the trigger quite acceptable, but I have replaced it with Gray Guns Straight Face PELT. Before it was in the low to mid 7 lb range with Lyman Electronic tester, depending on where the rod was placed on the trigger. After the GG PELT trigger it dropped considerably. Way lower than expected or advertised. I do not know if this was because I "over wrestled" the spring into place or because of the way which I lubricate, or was I just lucky. (I use a dab of STP on contact surfaces of trigger, and on slide rails during warm weather.)  After the PELT, the same trigger weight test results ranged from right at 4 to about 4.5 lbs. I had some break below 4 lbs. For me, if a revolver or DA, or a striker, I just "keep the trigger moving" and it works well for me. But again, I am a revolver guy so a 6-8 lb trigger is what I am used to, which has to be moved almost half an inch. So the Sig 320 trigger was fine to my feel. I commit to the trigger and keep it moving until it breaks.

 

Sights: I am a patridge front sight guy. The  fiber optic is coming off, and a wider patridge is going on. Solid click adjustments on rear. Good sights IMO.

 

Grip: Too slick for my taste. Added skateboard tape. I have seen the pre-cut tape kits, but I need tape added to the smooth area of the back of the grip. The pre-cuts only cover the existing textured areas.

 

Magazines: I have not used the 21 rdrs. I bought 4 17 rdrs and had to modify the the base pads so that they would clear the magwell. A bit of a pain, but after I got the first one done, which gave me a template to how much, and where material had to come off, it took less time to do 3 than it did the first one. 

 

Holster: Red Hil Tactical ordered, not yet received

 

Closing: As I said, I am a revolver guy. If I could only have one handgun, it would be a 4" S&W .357 magnum revolver. Either a Model 586, 686 or 19 or 66. However, if  one of those were not available, and I could only have one, then the Sig 320 XFive is rapidly winning me over. It is that good, so far, IMO.

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I just saw where Patrick Franks of USAMU fired a 1916 with a 320 XFive as his second gun at 2017 Bianchi Cup. This should adequately address how exceptional the gun is as a Production platform, and speaks volumes as to his talent.

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Battery: I never encountered a failure to go into battery during normal firing of the gun, excepting the failure to extract and eject as mentioned above with low PF loads, which obviously prevent the battery condition. If you attempt to ease the slide forward, it likely will not go into battery. I have installed a GG guide rod so that I can control which recoil spring to use. The GG guide rod came with a 15 lb. I am running a 14 lb, which works fine with my hand loads. If I bump the loads up a tad, then I will experiment with the 15 lb spring, or even run the factory captured spring/rod assembly. During normal firing, I am sure it will strip a round off the follower, chamber and go completely into battery with an even lighter recoil spring.


Are you using a GG guide rod front a full size? I don't think the x5 version is out yet as far as I know.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

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31 minutes ago, f2benny said:


Are you using a GG guide rod front a full size? I don't think the x5 version is out yet as far as I know.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
 

The GG guide rod used was full size. It came with a 15 lb spring from GG. 320-F as I recall.

Edited by Allgoodhits
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2 minutes ago, Allgoodhits said:

The GG guide rod is out for the XFive. It came with a 15 lb spring from GG.

dumb question: It reaches to the same length as the barrel? I know the full size guide rod will kind of work but it seems risky if it's not sticking out of the hole at rest. 

I know Bruce had been working on it but didn't think it was released yet. 

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40 minutes ago, Allgoodhits said:

I just saw where Patrick Franks of USAMU fired a 1916 with a 320 XFive as his second gun at 2017 Bianchi Cup. This should adequately address how exceptional the gun is as a Production platform, and speaks volumes as to his talent.

It's interesting to note that NRA has declared the X5 Production legal with the magwell attached.

It does require modifying the factory 17 round base pads to work with the magwell, however.  

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Here is where I am at for Carry Optics. Grayguns trigger kit installed and running a tungsten guide rod with a 14lb spring. I have a small indoor match tonight that will be the maiden voyage for the guide rod and the texturing. 

Edit: I just made two changes. I dropped in an FCU with a curved trigger and took off the extended magazine release. I was doing some dry fire with the extended release and kept dropping the mags by accident. I had been running the extended release and a large grip so it's hard to say whether the change is because of the grip size or the new design of the grip module itself. The X5 magazine release is the same size as stock but it's easier to reach. 

 

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Edited by alma
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11 minutes ago, alma said:

It's interesting to note that NRA has declared the X5 Production legal with the magwell attached.

It does require modifying the factory 17 round base pads to work with the magwell, however.  

I was at the Crawfish Cup in Lake Charles, LA in April 2017when the topic was brought clearly to light. The XFive will fit in the USPSA Production Box with mag well attached, however not with 21 rd mags which come with it. Modified base pad 17 rdrs will fit in magwell, and within box when inserted. I saw this as a no brainer, since there is nothing in NRA AP rules which stipulate anything other than all magazines used in Production must be the same and they must all fit in the box. I "thought" the issue would be meeting the "readily available to the general public" language for Production in NRA AP Rules. There is no "number" requirement, just "readily available to the general public". The NRA was convinced this is the case, thus approved. I have an XFive, but I have yet to see one, on a shelf in any gun store. It is an exceptional, out of the box $1,000 gun fore sure.

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58 minutes ago, alma said:

dumb question: It reaches to the same length as the barrel? I know the full size guide rod will kind of work but it seems risky if it's not sticking out of the hole at rest. 

I know Bruce had been working on it but didn't think it was released yet. 


I just called GG and they do NOT have a guide rod for the X-5 yet!

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3 hours ago, alma said:

dumb question: It reaches to the same length as the barrel? I know the full size guide rod will kind of work but it seems risky if it's not sticking out of the hole at rest. 

I know Bruce had been working on it but didn't think it was released yet. 

My error, it is GG 320F  (full size, not X5 guide rod. Yes, it is a tad short, but works fine with no binding or snagging.

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7 hours ago, MrTuna said:

I ordered Talons because I want raparround vs grip panels. Maybe I should try my GGI guide rod after I am done breaking it in with some warm 124gr FMJ. 

The exact length GG guide rod is not yet available for XFive. I am using the GG 320F guide rod. It does not quite reach the opening of the guide rod housing at the muzzle. Yes it works. Is it smart, may be yet to be determined? I hand cycled it many dozens of times. No snagging, no perception of any "hitting". So far 250 - 300 rds with the 320F and 14lb spring. YRMV.

 

Are Talons available with sandpaper type texture, or just the rubbery feel?

 

Thanks!

 

MJ 

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41 minutes ago, Allgoodhits said:

Are Talons available with sandpaper type texture, or just the rubbery feel?

 

Thanks!

 

MJ 

 

The Talons are available either way. I just ordered two sets of the granulate for my X5 grips.

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Springer has some nice grip tape, but I did silicon carbide grit on mine, same as I did my last few 320's. Im on day 31 of waiting for my RHT holster and have another match this upcoming Saturday. Was hoping to have it for then, but haven't heard anything about shipping yet. Bladetech, with bottom opened up, works well enough for now though. I'm sure the quality will be worth the wait though78f9ca923bc5fa19296a3a3d5677a9c7.jpg

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I know Robert King at Red Hill Tactical has been working hard to get those holsters out. He just brought on more help and ordered another X5 so he can do more at once. Hopefully the wait won't be much longer. 

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