Wilson Combat Upgrades the SIG Sauer P365 to the Ultimate EDC Pistol

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Wilson Combat is a company that has continued to grow and evolve over its 45-year history. This willingness to adapt to ever-changing customer demands is no doubt one of the secrets to the firm’s success. Best known for building and accessorizing custom 1911s, Wilson Combat has increasingly focused its attention on other platforms. The latest addition to this collaborative lineup is the WCP365, Wilson Combat’s take on the popular SIG Sauer P365 micro-compact handgun. It is an impressive and capable little pistol. The P365 has been immensely popular since its release in 2018. The handgun has been a game-changer, combining a compact size with amazing capacity and surprisingly good shootability.

In my opinion, the P365 has been the most market-disrupting handgun since the Glock hit the scene in the 1980s. Its introduction sent the rest of the industry scurrying to match its capability, and numerous handguns inspired by the P365 have hit the scene over the past five years. No factory gun is perfect for every shooter’s needs, a fact that has created a vibrant market for aftermarket accessories intended for this handgun. To its credit, SIG Sauer has continued to push the boundaries of the P365’s capability and, as of this writing, the company’s website lists 20 different versions. Wilson Combat had its own ideas on what the ideal P365 might look like, and out of that the WCP365 was born. These handguns begin their lives in a SIG Sauer factory, but they receive their finishing touches at Wilson Combat’s Arkansas facility.

Wilson Combat receives the handguns with the slides unfinished, allowing the company to create its own profile. The end result is a handgun that shares stylistic cues with Wilson’s version of the P320, the WCP320. At first glance, you know it’s a Wilson. There are several versions of the WCP365, and they’re available with various optic-mounting capabilities, sight configurations, grip lengths and fire-control parts. Due to the modularity of the P365 design, all these variants are more or less interchangeable. My test sample was a WCP365 with the action-tune upgrade and Trijicon RMRcc optics cut. The slide on every WCP365 is CNC machined with Wilson Combat’s distinctive and functional X-Tac cocking serrations at both the front and rear. Angled cuts are made at the top edges of the slide, and the flat top is serrated. All the edges are beveled so that the only sharp edges you’ll find are on the sights, where they should be.

The slide is marked with both SIG Sauer and Wilson Combat logos. After machining, the slides are finished with a black diamond-like carbon or DLC. DLC has quickly built a reputation as one of the most desirable firearm finishes on the market thanks to its abrasion and corrosion protection. Best of all, it is incredibly thin, so it does not interfere with the fit of precision-machined components. The WCP365 incorporates a 3.1-inch, integrally ramped SIG Sauer factory barrel, and it wears a matching DLC finish. Optics-ready versions are available and, as mentioned, mine was cut for the RMRcc. Shield RMSc-compatible versions are available, as well as models designed specifically for the Holosun. The handgun arrived with an RMRcc mounted and, thanks to the cut, the optic was fitted directly to the slide with no adapters needed. Since the optic sits so low, it can co-witness with the iron sights.

Though I love optics for precision shooting, especially handgun hunting in low light, I remain devoted to iron sights. The irons on the WCP365 are excellent, combining a highly visible red fiber-optic front with a U-notch serrated black rear. If you’re not an optics fan, the handgun ships with a steel plate that covers the mounting surface. The P365’s serial-numbered “receiver” is a small fire-control unit that provides for a great deal of modularity. This system allows for simple and easy installation of different grip modules, including Wilson Combat’s own design. These injection-molded modules are a drop-in fit for the P365 and are, to my hands, a great improvement over the factory units. There is an accessory rail located on the frame, and it’s the same proprietary SIG design—which means it accepts lights and lasers meant for the P365. If the WCP365 exceeds your budget, simply adding the $65 grip module to your P365 is a worthwhile upgrade.

The grip is cut high both at the beavertail and at the trigger guard, allowing for a very high grip on the pistol. There is a palm swell on both sides, covered in a grippy but not abrasive texture that allows the hand to slide over the grip quickly during the draw stroke. The frontstrap and backstrap are more aggressively textured and offer a sure grip during recoil. I am such a big fan of the Wilson Combat grip module that I have one installed on my personal carry gun, an otherwise stock P365 XL. The WCP365 comes with both the Wilson Combat and factory grip modules included, and both the standard and extended P365 XL lengths are available. The best part is that these modules can be changed in seconds so a user can swap among them depending on his or her needs. Two 10-round steel magazines are furnished with the WCP365. One fits flush with the frame to maximize concealability. With this magazine in the gun, I was unable to get a full-fingered grip. The second magazine is fitted with a slight extension that allows the pinkie finger to ride on the textured polymer base pad. Twelve- and 17-round versions are available from SIG Sauer, each with an extended base pad that offers plenty of surface area for larger hands.

From a control perspective, the WCP365 is comparable to most striker-fired handguns on the market. There is no manual safety. There is a slide stop on the left side of the frame and a takedown lever just forward of it. The magazine release is on the left side of the grip module but is reversible. The trigger is flat and is produced by Grayguns, a well-respected maker of aftermarket parts for SIG Sauer handguns. Wilson adds its own springs to the mix, creating a great out-of-the-box trigger pull. My test gun had the optional action tune upgrade, which comes at $175. The trigger pull on the test sample was extremely smooth with a bit of take-up followed by a 3.5-pound break. As striker-fired triggers go, they don’t get much better. Like many shooters, I have found all the various P365s that I’ve sampled very easy to shoot well. If they weren’t, I wouldn’t carry one. Wilson Combat’s version takes that experience to an entirely new level. The combination of the well-designed grip module and the outstanding trigger makes this an incredibly shootable handgun.

I tested the WCP365 with three defense-appropriate loads and found the accuracy to be excellent. Wilson Combat’s own High Performance Tactical load, which uses the proven 124-grain Speer Gold Dot hollowpoint bullet, produced the tightest groups. Reliability was excellent with the Wilson Combat and Hornady ammunition. Wilson Combat’s 135-grain remanufactured ammunition, which uses a Berry hollow-base flatpoint and which I shot for training, was 100 percent reliable as well. I did experience two failures to feed with the Lehigh Defense loads, which use a solid copper Fluid Transfer Monolithic projectile. These “external hollowpoints” create tissue damage without compromising penetration and have become very popular in recent years. In this case, the bullet’s profile seemed incompatible with the pistol’s feed ramp. This wasn’t a situation where I could simply bump the rear of the slide or clear it with a tap, rack, bang. I had to treat this malfunction as if it were a double-feed, locking the slide to the rear and removing the magazine. This is why you should always test defensive ammo extensively before carrying it in a specific firearm—you just never know.

With all the aftermarket accessories available, one might ask whether paying the premium for this product is worth it. There are a million fly-by-night gunsmiths and do-it-yourselfers these days, and skill levels can vary significantly. Just because someone owns a set of punches and has access to YouTube doesn’t mean they are capable of making safe and reliable gun modifications. Wilson Combat’s reputation for quality work goes back decades, so customers can be certain that things are done correctly. The fit, finish and function of the WCP365 are excellent. A Wilson Combat firearm will also hold its value well when compared to a no-name “custom.” There is another reason to purchase a turnkey handgun such as the WCP365 rather than accessorizing the gun yourself. I’m not a criminal defense lawyer and I’ve never tried a case that involved the use of deadly force, but I did spend some time as a prosecutor early in my career, and I have observed such cases for decades.

A prosecutor will use every available tool in his or her arsenal in order to gain a conviction. There have been several circumstances where attorneys have used making custom modifications to a firearm to paint individuals as bloodthirsty vigilantes ready to open fire at a moment’s notice. Carrying a factory custom handgun such as this one from Wilson Combat may provide some level of protection against such an argument since the gun is being carried in the exact configuration in which it was manufactured. The “ideal” concealed-carry gun is a subjective concept: Each individual has his or her own desires, needs and limitations. That said, by any objective standard this is a phenomenal handgun for daily defensive use. The Wilson Combat WCP365 is compact yet capable, lightweight, reliable, accurate and incredibly shootable. It takes the virtues of the groundbreaking P365 and brings the tiny details to a level of near-perfection. When I first strapped on a handgun with a carry permit in my wallet 25 years ago, I could not have imagined that such a gun as this would one day be available.

Wilson Combat WCP365 Specs

• Type: Striker-fired, semiauto centerfire
• Caliber: 9mm Luger
• Capacity: 10+1 rds. 
• Barrel: 3.1 in. 
• OAL/Height/Width: 6/4.3/1.1 in. 
• Construction: DLC-finished slide, Wiilson Combat Polymer grip module
• Sights: Serrated black rear, fiber-optic front; RMRcc optics cut (tested)
• Trigger: 3 lbs., 8 oz. 
• Safety: Firing-pin block
• MSRP: $1,425 (tested; sight not included)
• Manufacturer: Wilson Combat

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