And here’s one from SIG directly giving you an overview:
So you get the idea. It’s a pretty cool little pistol for concealed carry! If you are thinking about picking one of the models up and some magazines, the below links can take you to various seller’s web pages:
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Given my work with tactical weapons I guess folks expect me to carry some exotic pistol. My every day carry (EDC) is a SIG P365 that I picked up some time in the early Summer of 2019 from my friend and FFL, Scott Igert who owns Michigan Gun Exchange. I don’t claim to be a concealed carry expert but Scott is. As a retired police officer and trainer, Scott knows his way around firearms.
He and I have known each other for years and he knows what I like. After I got my Michigan Concealed Pistol License (CPL), I asked him what pistol he would recommend given my preferences. He thought about it for a few seconds and then recommended that I take a look at the SIG P365.
The P365 trail blazed the category of micro-compact 9mm semi-auto pistols that was rated for +P ammo. The designers intended it to be very small, reliable and pack a punch. I’d say they succeeded. Yeah, there have been small pistols in the past but they had some very anemic chamberings and/or were low capacity such as the single or double-barrel derringers that could larger calibers.
The P365 has received a ton of rave reviews including Handgun of the Year from Guns & Ammo in 2018, NRA Golden Bullseye Award 2019, Ballistics Best Winnter 2018, 2018 Industry Choice Award and more. The reason is simple – it small, light, reliable and can deliver a hell of a punch.
The Magazines
The P365 has a novel way of stacking the rounds inside the magazine wherein the can fit 10 rounds in a very short magazine. The pistol comes with this 10 round magazine but you can also get 12 and 15 round magazines as well.
My P365 with the three magazine sizes – From left to right: the 15, 12 and 10 round models plus you can see the Desantis #106 Sof-Tuck holster that I have been using for a few months now. I like it more than Kydex because it doesn’t poke me.Here’s a close up of the three sizes of magazines. I own two of each so I have a lot of flexibility in terms of what I am going to carry. That’s Hornady Critical Duty 135gr +P ammo peaking out.
I wear XL-size gloves and the pistol with the 10 round magazine has a very short grip. It’s not comfortable for me and I wouldn’t target shoot with it but it makes for a very concealable pistol. I was told once that the best pistol in the world will not save you if aren’t carrying it for whatever reason – it’s too heavy, it’s too long, it sticks out, etc. My point is that there do need to be trade-offs at times. There are definitely times I carry with the 10 round magazine due to the weight and size reduction.
Here’s the P365 with the 10 round magazine installed.
For me, the 12 round magazine is ideal. It’s just a tad longer and they’ve added a small grip extension to the bottom. This is what I use most of the time because it adds just a bit more weight and size plus I find it far more comfortable to hold.
They do offer a 15 round model and while I may have it as a backup somewhere, it is longer and heavier than what I really want to carry around. I have carried with it but rarely. The nice thing besides the higher capacity is that you basically have a full-sized grip.
Here’s the P365 with the 15-round magazine inserted. Plenty of grip space but it is heavier and longer.
The Holster
I’ve experimented with a few holsters and the most comfortable one I have is the Desantis Sof-Tuck model 106NA8JZ0 – this is the right handed model at it first the P365 and P365 SAS (the model with recessed sights and a ported barrel).
What I like is the softness – it doesn’t poke me when I sit down, bend over, etc. It keeps the pistol secure in my pants and really meets my needs for a basic holster.
Here’s a closer view of the Desantis #106 Sof-Tuck holster and the belt clip.Here’s what I had with me the other day – you see the P365 in the holster with the 12 round magazine, one of the Streamlight 66608 350 Lumen USB rechargeable lights and a Kershaw 1600 Chive pocket knife. In the back are spare mags that were in the car.
Ammunition
What I am using is Hornady Critical Duty 135 grain +p ammo. Yes, it is rated for +P ammo but I wouldn’t shoot it all the time at the range. Critical Duty is not for everyone as it is designed with a degree of barrier penetration in mind. (Hornady has a nice summary on their website if you are interested click here.) I have run a number of types through the P365 including Federal HST 124gr and a variety of 115gr FMJ loads and the little pistol handled them all just fine.
I really want to put one thing out there for you to bear in mind though – always, always, always test your pistol with the ammo and magazines you plan to use. I can’t tell you how many times I have seen a pistol not function correctly due to some combination of magazine and ammo but work perfectly fine with others. Sometimes folks new to shooting don’t realize this and it would be devastatingly bad in a self-defense situation to have your pistol jam when it tries to cycle.
How many rounds should you try? You’ll get a ton of answers on this. Statistics would tell you that at least 30 rounds is a fair sample and going past that is better in my opinion. Some guys will tell you 100 rounds, some will say 200 … they are all right in my honest opinion – shoot as much as you need to in order to become familiar with your pistol and that a given combination of magazines and ammo is going to work.
Also, to put it bluntly, shit happens. Practice clearing your pistol plus slapping in a new mag and continue firing. You just never know and if you’ve not practiced enough you are liable to fumble around under stress.
Again, this is my concealed carry that I entrust my family’s safety to. My Glock stays at home now because the little SIG is easy to carry, reliable and packs a punch. The P365 has proven to be so wildly successful that SIG released a larger XL model plus the SAS that has integral sights and barrel porting. While I don’t have first hand experience with them what I hear is very favorable and I definitely recommend the P365 to folks looking for solid concealed carry pistol.
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This is my AK-V with its quick takedown pin with the standard size 1″ ring installed.
This last time when I placed an order with the machine shop that makes my pins, I asked if they could do custom heavy duty 1/2″ and 3/4″ pull rings from stainless steel with a black oxide finish and they said they could! It cost a fair penny because I needed to order a boatload of each but here they are as an accessory if you want to purchase them … please purchase some 🙂
Here are the three rings side by side. The pins all come with the 1″ standard ring installed.
The 1″ and 3/4″ rings are very beefy. We had to go to smaller gauge wire to do the 1/2″ rings but they should work just fine – it’s really the pin itself that does all the work.
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One of my favorite move lines comes from Aliens when Ellen Ripley says, “I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.” While I would like to do that with mosquitoes, it’s just not an option currently.
Not on the table for mosquitoes yet though it does sound effective. The collateral damage is hard to justify though 🙂
This will be our third year using it and I just applied our first dose the other night – 1oz Talstar per gallon of water and than I go spray it on the bushes, around the buildings, under the eves etc. When I went to buy more Talstar off Amazon, they would not deliver it to my area and never really explained why so I figured I better blog about where to find it and also the My 4 Sons sprayer that isn’t on Amazon any longer.
This is the 3/4 gallon (96oz) size Talstar P Professional insecticide by FMC. I have an acre and a half. I use 10-15 gallons of spray depending on what all I am treating and how heavy I am applying it. That means I use 10-15oz of Talstar per treatment (1 oz TP to 1 oz water).
Buying Talstar P Pro Insecticide
My big problem this year that I wanted to make you aware of is Amazon – at least in my case they will not deliver it to our address. I’m getting increasingly frustrated by Amazon so I now buy it off eBay:
My 4 Sons M4 Sprayer
The next thing I want to do is give you a “one year later” report on the M4 sprayer made by My 4 Sons. I’m happy to report it has held up great and their customer service was exceptional. Note, I definitely drained it completely before freezing weather set in.
This is my actual sprayer the morning of 5/2/2020
Here are some lessons learned on my part and a couple of minor issues I encountered:
I bought way too much hose when all I needed was to just tow it around like a golf cart and spray stuff. I took the extra hose and saved it just in case.
I bought all kinds of sprayer gizmos and all I use is the wand. It has a brass tip, is adjustable and worked just fine for me.
The red elastic straps they provided did not hold up – the tank would fall of the cart. I just went to ace hardware and bought some 1″ nylon straps with buckles and cut them to size. I told My 4 Sons about what I did and am not sure if they changed how they are securing the tank.
One wheel broke and My 4 sons promptly sent me a replacement at no cost
The gasket on the lid was goofy and they sent me an improved model at no cost
This Spring I could not find the battery charger and ordered a replacement part from them. The price was reasonable and on their website – of course I found the original shortly there after.
As mentioned, I’ve already done my first application this year and the unit is doing great – they aren’t on Amazon any longer though. I want you to know they are a reputable firm with a good product and customer service. I would recommend that you go direct to My 4 Sons.
Just to be clear, Talstar will work in any sprayer – it’s pretty much the same viscosity as water so any pump sprayer – manual or batter powered – will work. I needed something bigger because of the size of our lot.
Conclusion
The Talstar P Pro and M4 sprayer are a great combination that I would recommend to anyone trying to deal with mosquitoes. It’s cheaper than a service and way, way more effective than the cheap stuff you buy in a store.
I hope this helps you out.
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PSA has a deal going on through 5/13 (they extended the deal) on the new second generation Vortex Strike Eagle Scopes. The deal includes the optic, a Vortex 2″ cantilever offset mount (their 14919 CME-202 mount to be specific) and PSA is including free shipping. Use Coupon Code: Strike
This is a short post – you might want to snag this deal while you can. I have a first gen 1-6 and really like it. The scope has a great field of view at 1x and helps you zoom in to see things better.
I hope this helps you out.
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By the way, the following are first generation Strike Eagle listings at other vendors so you can compare – I have a first gen 1-6×24 and it has held up great. It’s living on my Beowulf right now so it’s up to you as to whether the new features matter enough:
Interest in the Beowulf round is growing as people buy the low cost 12.7×42 chambered pistols, rifles and kits. 12.7×42 is the metric designation for the Beowulf and is being used by groups wanting to avoid a trademark problem with Alexander Arms.
The Beowulf is one heck of a thumper delivering massive kinetic energy on target from the base AR-15 platform. That’s the remarkable part – it uses a standard AR lower! To give you an idea of the size of the round take a look at this photo. From top to bottom: .50 Beowulf 350gr XTP, 5.56×45 55gr FMJ , 7.62×39 123gr FMJ and a loose 9mm 124gr Hornady HST. The Beowulf sure dwarfs the little 5.56×45 round!
I’ve owned two .50 Beowulf’s and my current one was built using an Alexander Arms DIY kit that allows you to add the handguard and brake that you want. They are built on standard AR lowers so if you have an AR today, it’s just a matter of adding an upper in this caliber or you can do a whole new dedicated build – it’s up to you. I’ve also done a number of posts about my builds in case you want to learn more – click here to see a list.
A Beowulf upper can mate to any in-spec AR lower. This is a Spike’s lower with an Ergo group, Magpul PRS III and Geissele trigger.
This is the 16″ DIY kit. Alexander Arms has done all the fitting for you. It comes with one magazine as well. In terms of the upper kit, I found the machining and parts fitment to be excellent.This is the Timber Creek Heart Breaker and it does a remarkable job of reducing the recoil. It has three heart shaped ports on each side that redirect the blast backwards to propel the rifle forward and reduce recoil. The three circular ports on the top help reduce climb. Seriously, this is a solid brake.
For ammo, there is an increasing variety out there – Alexander Arms makes their own with a variety of loads plus there are other sellers out there with their own offerings. I’ve found the Alexander Arms 350 grain Hornady XTP ammo to be accurate and the XTPs really open up on impact.
The is older packaging. In 2019 I noticed Alexander was using an eye catching color scheme of navy, black and white – same ammo just a different box. The Alexander Arms .50 Beowulfl 350gr XTP ammo is packed 20 rounds to a box and Primary Arms has it in stock.Here’s the whole Beowulf.
This is one of the 30 round D&H 5.56 magazines that you can use to hold up to 10 Beowulf rounds.
This is the very well made 36″ PSA rifle case deal that includes 7 D&H mags.
Conclusion
That’s it for now. I hope you found this helpful and have fun building and shooting a .50 Beowulf.
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Ok folks, quick public service announcement – just read on Business Insider about a manufacturer in Oklahoma, NXTI, who has developed a nano fiber fabric called “Filti” that is 9x better than cotton in terms of filtering and can hit N95 in commercial face masks. It’s a better filter than blue shop towels and is designed to be a filter from the get go.
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For those of you who do not know Journeyman, in more normal times, they produce some great distilled spirits, such as their Humdinger Japaleno that I am particularly fond of. They also have a great restaurant that you may need to wait an hour or two for a table if you make the mistake of showing up without a reservation.
This is one of our bottles. I’d definitely recommend you put it in something smaller for regular use.
Now, I didn’t buy their drum but we did get two of their 1.75 liter packages and we had them ship it to us to keep things simple – they are about a 30 minute drive from our house.
The sanitizer is a liquid – not a gel – and works great in a little spray bottle. I made some of my own hand sanitizer and bought some of these little bottles off Amazon and they work great.
So, this stuff seems to work well. It’s not super sticky nor does it dry out your hands. Washing with soap and water for 20+ seconds is still best but this sure helps when you can’t. I noticed today that Hoosier Brewing is also selling hand sanitizer. I can’t speak to them but it gives you another option.
I hope this helps you out.
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