The SIG P320 X-Five has gotten P.H.A.T. (Pretty Hot and Tempting) with the introduction of the new Legion; in the SIG Sauer lineup of firearms, the Legion Series is the top of their line. The firearms that make up the Legion Series are designed to be “mission” specific, full-featured with the best of parts and accessories. The P320 series of firearms has seen great success since its introduction, being selected by the Army as the new sidearm as well as by several law enforcement agencies. The P320 has many variants in its lineup and has also seen its share of success in the competitive shooting world in the hands of Max Michel, Daniel Horner, Lena Miculek, Mason Lane and Phil Strader, the Pistol Production Manager for SIG.
The P320 X-Five was introduced two years ago and was a competition-specific designed version of the 320. A new grip module with a weighted insert, longer slide with lightening cuts, optics-ready, and a host of updated features made it very popular in Production and Carry Optics divisions. When introduced, Strader hinted that this was just the beginning. This year at SHOT Show, Strader was again hinting that something “big” was coming that would be a game changer. Now, we hear this about a lot of things in this industry and sometimes companies live up to it. SIG has been hitting home runs with new offerings, and many have been game changers; take for example the P365, the popular MPX, the MCX rifles and their entire lineup of optics and ammunition.
The new X-Five Legion first answers the current trend in competition handguns that heavier is better. The weight of the Legion is 41.7 ounces (without the supplied magwell, 43.5 ounces with magwell), achieved with the innovative TXG tungsten-infused Xgrip module. The TXG grip module is the first of its kind in the firearms industry with the patent-pending process that has the weight of steel and the flex of polymer. This combination reduces muzzle flip by up to 50 percent.
One of my issues with the P320 and other polymer-framed guns has always been balance. The light weight of the frame with a heavy top end just never seemed to balance in my hand and feel right, especially with the higher bore axis of the SIG. The added weight of the new tungsten-infused grip module as eliminated this feeling, the balance on the X-Five Legion feels right. You are not only getting a better balanced gun with the added weight but you retain the recoil feel of a polymer-framed gun.
The P320’s striker-fired design, like most handguns, is designed around duty and civilian self defense use. They are intentionally heavy and have a longer reset. For competition use, the desired trigger is a lighter pull with a shorter reset. The X-Five Legion is now up to 30 percent lighter with the new skeletonized trigger that is being used. Still a flat trigger at a 45-degree for better engagement, the reduced weight is very noticeable. The reset is positive, still a little longer than what I have been using. I was able to borrow a M17 version of the P320 to use when comparing, and the trigger on the Legion is much improved over it.
Another competition-specific pistol touch that you get with the X-Five Legion is an upgraded recoil system with a solid steel guide rod. The gun comes installed with a 14-pound 1911-style spring, and also includes a 12-pound in the box. This is a very nice feature, especially for those who like to “tune” our recoil system to the ammunition that we are shooting. My first trip to the range to sight the gun in and get a feel for it was with the factory-installed 14-pound spring which is designed for the hotter factory loads that many will buy off the shelf at their local store. I let Strader know that I was impressed with his new pistol and he asked if I had changed the spring out; he told me that I would want to if I was going to be using “competition ammunition.” So the next time out I swapped out to the 12-pound spring and was using 150-grain Federal Syntech and SIG 147-grain Match Elite ammunition; the difference in the spring swap was very noticeable.
The Legion lineup from SIG all comes in the signature gray finish, a dull flat gray that looks good on this pistol. The slide is PVD finished and has the Legion markings on the rear optic plate where the Dawson Precision adjustable sight is installed. The rear sight is protected and sits into the raised platform that makes up a removable optic plate and is mated with a Dawson fiber optic front sight. The Dawson front sight is installed in the dovetail, sits .250 tall, and has my preferred size blade of .090 width. Green and red replacement rods are supplied to allow you to swap them out of the carbon steel Dawson Sights. The slide on the X-Five Legion is cut like the standard X-Five with lightening holes through the slide, and generous front and rear cocking serrations. This model is optics-ready for the new SIG Romero1Pro optics to mount directly to the slide. The footprint of the Romero1Pro is the same as the Leupold DeltaPoint Pro and can also be directly mounted to the slide. Companies like Springer Precision are making available other mount plates for different styles of red dots to use on this new model.
The X-Five Legion, like the standard X-Five, comes with a 5-inch carbon steel bull barrel, ambidextrous slide release, and the magazine release can be swapped to right- or left-side operation. The TXG Xgrip module has the M1913 accessory rail and also has the removable grip weight like the standard X-Five. The solid steel grip weight is located in the inner portion of where a mainspring housing would be on a hammer-fired gun. This hunk of metal adds to the weight of the gun, and helps to balance it better in your hand and control recoil. The TXG-Xgrip module with steel insert is 14.8 ounces compared to the grip module of the M17 that was 3.6 ounces. The TXG-Xgrip without the added weight of the steel insert is 13.3 ounces. The P320 is a modular design, with the fire control unit being the serialized part. You can swap slides, barrels, grip modules and change up calibers just by removing the fire control unit with the take-down lever, and build out different variants of P320.
This TXG-Xgrip is an available accessory that can be purchased from the SIG online store. This grip module is legal, since the P320 X-Five Legion is an approved model for Carry Optics and Production. A word of caution however—in Production you have only 4 ounces of additional weight that can be added to your firearm, so if you have a P320, the weight of that model will be taken from the model on the slide and can only weigh plus four ounces. For Carry Optics Division, it is a total maximum weight of 45 ounces with empty mag and optic. You will get bumped to Open by adding 14.8 ounces of weight onto your current P320 model if you add this grip module.
The X-Five Legion ships with three magazines, each one having a Henning Group anodized aluminum basepad for a 17-round total capacity. There are several models of base pads available to increase the capacity if you want to shoot Carry Optics and maintain the 141.1mm magazine maximum measurements. The Henning Group basepads are nicely checkered, have the Legion logo on them and are easy to remove by depressing the retention plate through the hole and easily sliding the basepad on and off.
My first trip to the range was about 300 rounds of shooting the X-Five Legion with various ammunition, including the SIG ammunition, some Federal and some handloads to function-test the gun. Out of the box, the gun ran with all the different loads, 115-grain, 124-grain, 130-grain, 135-grain, 147-grain and 150-grain without any issues. I also was comparing my times on some basic drills to my current Carry Optics setup, the Walther Q5 Steel Frame. I was shooting the SIG with iron sights, but my times were consistent with each and so were the hits—which I was surprised at, considering I have been shooting the Walther since getting the Steel Frame in April exclusively, and I have really only been shooting Carry Optics since trying to focus on a front sight eludes me. Next stop with the SIG was a local match and the first time I have shot Production Division in over two years. I managed to shoot 78 percent of a local Open GM shooter, but I don’t think he had a very good match.
The next trip to the range was to chronograph the SIG ammunition and do a little practicing with it. Bill DeZarn made the trip with me to the range to help with chrono and to shoot some of the ammunition that SIG sent. We ran through about 300 rounds that day, some drills and then just some shooting. I did a little accuracy testing at 25 yards with the SIG 147-grain Match Elite ammo and even with blurry front sights and just using a gun case as a rest got really impressive results. That evening I made it out to the local indoor range Carry Gun Match that uses Hit Factor scoring, scored all minor and everything is shot with the gun starting concealed. You show up with the gun on that you are going to use, and stay hot throughout the match. Stages are usually a specified number of shots on targets from specified positions. I shot the X-Five Legion using a carry holster from Comp-Tac that secured the pistol and under just a short-sleeve button concealed it very nicely.
Additionally, I was able to make it to the Central Indiana Practical Shooters Special Classifier match, took a Production Division win, but all the local heat was at the Illinois Section Match. I let several of the local guys shoot the X-Five Legion after the match and everyone said the same thing, the balance was great, the weight felt right and the gun was easy to shoot.
Is it the gamechanger that Strader said it would be? Yes, it is. With a MSRP of $899.99, the gun out of the box has the features desired by competitors; it has the weight and balance of steel-framed gun, but the recoil management of a polymer frame. It is ready to compete from the box, nothing additional is needed. You can go from Production Division to Carry Optics, or use it in 3-Gun, Steel Challenge, or other competitive shooting sports very easily. You can basically build out any type of P320 you want by moving the fire control unit around and set up different configurations. SIG continues to impress with everything that they are doing, from sponsoring matches and adding so many new and innovative products.
Article from the September/October 2019 issue of USPSA’s FrontSight magazine.
