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In a follow up to the earlier post about Sig P365 options here is a dedicated piece on the Maskas Precision XXL slide and barrel which gives the little P365 a 4.1" barrel for real 9mm performance.
What Is It? Maskas Precision is a brand I was not familiar with before, but they produce a number of slides, barrels, and other parts for the Sig P365XL and now their new "XXL" size. The designs are tasteful in my opinion with functional texture and options for windowed or non-windowed slides.
The example we have is an XXL non-windowed version with a 4.1" barrel. The barrel is fluted to help reduce weight. This new length of P365 slide uses the P365XL recoil assembly. At the time this was written the slides are shipped bare and will need a slide completion kit ($99.99 from Sig). Our sample came equipped with sights from Angry Bear Arms ($48.25 from Angry Bear Arms)
Why? is a natural question to ask. If the Sig P365 is so popular because it's small, why would we want to give it a longer barrel and slide? Aside from aesthetics, I can think of thee major practical reasons.
Longer slides tend to make for a more comfortabel shooting experience. Longer slids tend to cycle a little slower and make for a more comfortable and controlable recoil impulse.
Longer slides make for a longer sight radius. This makes aiming precisely easier and allows for finer control. I realize many prefer to shoot with an optic, but for a serious carry option I've yet to be convinced that a red dot is reliable enough to not also take into consideration using the irons in the event of a failure.
The most important aspect for me: ballistic improtance. SAAMI specifications for 9mm ammunition made in the US is based upon the use of a 4" barrel. As a result most common defense ammunition you find is loaded to perform optimally from a 4" barrel. Sig, and others have created specialty loads which can perform with less velocity and energy, but why compromise?
Aim easier, shoot more comfortable, and hit the target harder. More barrel simply makes sense.
Do we know if it's any good? To find that out of course required range time. I adapted some of our nromal range protocol to get a feel for the Maskas Precision slide and barrel by effectively reviewing it as a complete gun.
A warmup comparison with a P365XL grip frame and slide followed by initial thoughts with the Maskas Precision XXL slide.
What's For Dinner™ to see how the slide and barrel feed and function including the following loads:
65gr Norma Frangible
70gr Federal Frangible $31.99 / 50 direct from Federal
115gr Hornady American Gunner $18.34 / 25 at Global Ordnance
115gr Blazer Aluminum-cased FMJ $11.99 / 50 at True Shot
124gr Federal Premium Tactical HST $39.99 / 50 at Target Sports USA
124gr PMC SFX $24.69 / 20 at Sportsman's Guide
130gr Federal Syntech PCC $28.99 / 50 direct from Federal
138gr Federal Syntech Defense $48.99 / 50 direct from Federal
147gr PPU Defense Line JHP $23.74 / 50 at Sportsman's Guide
165gr AMMO, Inc /stelTH $24.99 / 50 at Palmetto State Armory
Range Ammo was Browning 115gr FMJ $15.19 / 50 at Ammunition Depot
Sights & Recoil control on the Titat Great Outdoors 6" spinner target
Practical Accuracy of five shots form seven yards.
A look at the velocity and resulting muzzle energy changes using two different loads of ammunition through four total variants of P365 barrels.
The process was lengthy, but can be seen in the video below.
On the range, especially when paired with the Icarus Precision Macro grip module, the Maskas Precision slide and barrel ran great. There were some slight hangups with Federal Premium 124gr Law Enforcement HST, but not with any other loads which tells me those rounds may have been slightly out of spec, or perhaps running the setup dry as I did (worst case scenario) was robbing it of just enough energy to not feed that load.
I really wanted to install the DPM Systems spring kit because I know what a difference that makes with a regular P365 XL, but didn't want to take the test too far out of what just the Maskas Precision parts were doing.
The XXL video was so long because of the science I wanted to explore. We know that up until 10-12" 9mm continues to gain velocity and as a result muzzle energy. I wanted to see how the XXL barrel contributed to that, but knowing each load of ammunition has a different burn rate, and combined with other factors it's not fair to measure those speeds with just a single type of ammunition. In attempt to show both that there can be differences and find out what we're gaining with a 4.1" Maskas Precision barrel I chronographed five rounds from two different loads through all four Sig P365 barrel variants that I had on hand. While the video shows every shot fired and some basic computations, here are some visuals that help explain the gain.
This first chart shows us the calculated muzzle energy of both loads through each barrel length. We can see that the Sig P365 ammunition is less powerful than the Browning ammunition and that explains why it's also more pleasant to shoot from the smaller platform. However, with the Maskas Precision XXL barrel we get more energy from Sig's 365 ammunition than the hotter Browning ammunition generated from any of the shorter barrels.
These result ssurprised me. It appears the gain of going from an P365 to a P365XL is not as great as going from a P365XL to a Maskas Precision XXL. The ported P365 SAS was the lowest level and so not included in this chart as it wasn't a "gain". We also see that although the Sig P365 ammunition was intended for a shorter barrel, it really seems to take off with a 4.1" barrel.
Lastly we have an average between the two loads of the muzzle energy percentage gained over the next step down. The P365 ported SAS was the baseline and sow was excluded, but we can tell that the gain by not porting a 3.1" barrel is almost as much as moving from a 3.7" to a 4.1" barrel.
The conclusion we can make from this data is a reconfirmation that more barrel is better, and that the jump from 3.1" to 3.7"did not produce as much gain with these two loads as 3.7" to 4.1". Pressure build isn't linear and it could also be that Maskas Precision, as a smaller afterarket company can afford the time to produce higher-quality barrels than a massive manufacturer trying to turn out magnitudes more quantity.
If you move to a Maskas Precision XXL slide you will experience smoother recoil while delivering more energy on target and ensuring proper performance of a broader range of ammunition.