TAKE CHARGE CARRY WITH CONFIDENCE
Sig P320 vs Glock 19
When comparing the SIG Sauer P320 vs Glock 19 today, we’re going to make sure we cover all of our bases and answer all of your questions. There are significant differences between these two firearms. We’ll debate the more neutral features that aren’t really a pro or a con in the big picture of the Glock 19 vs P320.
We’re going to cover the standard P320 as well as the Sig P320 X Compact and Sig P320 X Carry. Both are commonly compared to the Glock 19.
Table of contents
Size
Metrics | Glock 19 | SIG P320 | SIG P320 X Compact | SIG P320 X Carry |
Weight w/ no mag (Oz) | 21.4 | 26.2 | 22.5 | 23.7 |
Weight w/ an empty mag (Oz) | 23.9 | 29.2 | 25.2 | 26.7 |
Weight w/ a full mag (Oz) | 29.4 | 36.6 | 31.7 | 34.2 |
Height (top of slide to bottom of magazine baseplate) (Inches) | 4.89 | 5.43 | 5.10 | 5.41 |
Length (Inches) | 6.99 | 7.8 | 6.97 | 7.38 |
Width of grip (Inches) | 1.18 | 1.33 | 1.23 | 1.23 |
Width of slide (Inches) | 1.00 | 1.06 | 1.06 | 1.06 |
Width across controls (Inches) | 1.33 | 1.30 | 1.31 | 1.37 |
Sig P320 vs Glock 19 Concealed Carry
Looking at the chart, you’re going to see that there is a big difference between all the different gun variants.
Obviously, the Sig P320 X Compact is going to be the closest in size and weight to the Glock 19. So that’s probably the best gun to compare it against. Both guns hold 15 rounds with flush-fit magazines and come in within a couple of ounces of each other.
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You’ve got around a quarter-inch of difference in the length in the grip between these two. There are some disadvantages to the Sig P320 X Compact if you have larger hands. I’ll mention more on that further down in the ergonomics section. But when it comes to concealed carry, the Glock 19 is going to be slightly easier to conceal than the Sig P320 X Compact.
Definitely easier to conceal than the Sig P320 X Carry or Standard variants. As you can see, the grips on those guns are a half-inch longer than the Glock 19.
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Capacity
That makes them a lot harder to conceal despite their two extra rounds. I personally don’t think only two more rounds of capacity is enough to justify a half-inch on a gun’s length.
If you’re looking at this from a pure concealment perspective of the Sig P320 vs Glock 19, then the 19 is going to win. However, there are other features that the Sig P320 has over the Glock that we’ll cover later on.
One nice thing about the Sig P320 is that, due to its chassis design, you can switch the grip modules out for any other P320 grip. You can easily take a Sig P320 X Carry and turn it into an X Compact-gripped gun. It’s a very easy process, and the frame system modularity is my favorite part of the firearm.
You can buy these frames for a little under $50 bucks and all you need is a flush-fit magazine. It’s a really great system on Sig’s part.
Ergonomics
Glock and Sig take drastically different approaches when it comes to ergonomics.
Frame
Now, when it comes to modularity, the Glock, when it comes to the frame itself, probably has a little bit of an advantage.
The frame on Gen 4 and Gen 5 Glocks has backstraps that you can add on to increase the trigger reach and overall size of the grip. Two of the backstraps come without beaver tails while two of them come with them. Those give you a lot of options for how you want to set the gun up. However, the Gen 3 Glock does not have any modularity built into the frame.Â
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The Sig P320 doesn’t have modulators built into the frame either. But the frames themselves only cost around $50 (as mentioned above) and are easily replaced. They are not a serialized part of the firearm, so they don’t have to be transferred for an FFL. At one point, you could even buy them directly off Amazon.
They can be shipped in the mail. They’re really a great option if you want a frame to stipple yourself and don’t want to worry about completely devaluing your firearm if you screw it up. Worst case scenario, you’re out $40-50 instead of ruining a several-hundred-dollar firearm that can’t be fixed.
Feeling
On the feeling of the Sig P320 grip, I think that the standard grip really fills the hand well. It feels really good while the X frame (their performance series grip) feels slightly different and, frankly, very similar to a Glock. They even have a similar grip angle!
The Sig P320 X’s frame is more like the Glock’s as well, which is ironic because a lot of people do not care for Glock or their ergonomics but turn around and love that series.
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Grip Length
When we start discussing the grip length, that’s where the P320 loses ground. When you look at the X, Carry, or just the regular Sig P320, those grips hold 17-round magazines but are only around an eighth of an inch longer than a Glock 19 grip. The Sig P320 X Compact, on the other hand, has almost a quarter-inch overall in height on the Glock 19 but comes with a significantly shorter grip.
My pinky finger barely fits on the grip of the Sig P320 X Compact and cannot maintain a full leverage like it can on a Glock 19.
That’s due to the bore axis on the Sig P320 design. The bore axis involves the barrel’s placement on the web of your hand, with the goal being that it sitting lower forces your grip on the gun down. From there, you don’t have as much area to grip onto when you have guns that are sized similarly.
If you can deal with the size of the Sig P320 X, Carry, or regular-sized Sig P320 and/or have larger hands, I would definitely suggest going with those guns over the X Compact. If you have really small hands, however, the X Compact is probably going to work better for you than the Glock 19. It’s a smaller grip, and it’s going to be more ergonomic for somebody with smaller hands.
Texture
Texture-wise, again, the Glock is going to have multiple textures depending on the variation. If you have a Gen 3, it’s going to be very slick, Gen 5 is going to be much more aggressive, and Gen 4 is a bit of a hybrid between the two.Â
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The Sig P320, on the other hand, has a similar texture across all its guns including the regular frames and X series. It’s like very light grit sandpaper and encompasses the grip entirely. I really like it and it really works well. I’d say the grip is almost as effective, if not as effective, like the Glock Gen 5.
This is one of those things I can’t make up my opinion on and I keep going back and forth for which one I prefer. I can, however, definitively say that the Sig P320 texture is definitely better than the Gen3 and Gen4 Glocks, and probably equal to the Gen 5 guns.
Slide
There’s no competition. The slides on the Sig P320 are much better than the Glock 19’s when it comes to weapon manipulation. The Sig P320’s slide has a massive champer on the front edges of the slide, and those massive champers really allow your hand to get in and get a good positive grip on the front of that slide when you’re doing a press check or fully cycling the slide.
The rear serrations are also more aggressive than Glock serrations. Some Glocks will come with forward serrations and some will not, but the Glock serrations are not as deep as the SIG’s and not nearly as aggressive either way.
Sig P320 X Compacts
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Sights
Stock
Sights are going to depend on the gun you get. All your X series Sig P320s are going to come with Siglite night sights, which are pretty darn good for coming on a factory gun. It has a green front that is not quite as bright as I would like it to be, but it works. These sights are good enough. You’re going to have a really hard time justifying the money to replace them.
The Glock, on the other hand, comes from the factory with either plastic sights — which are slot fillers and not worth a darn (in my opinion) and should be immediately replaced with your favorite aftermarket Glock sights — or the excellent Ameriglo sights.
The Ameriglo sights have a bright orange font that is much brighter than the Siglite front sight as well as a blacked-out rear. The blacked-out rear has a square notch and two tritium vials on each side for three-dot night sights.
In my opinion, the Glock pistols with Ameriglo sights have a better site set up in the Siglite night sights, but your mileage may vary. I think a decent argument could be made that the better gun when it comes to sights is the Glock 19 vs. the Sig P320 if the 19 has the factory Ameriglo sights.
Aftermarket Options
When comparing aftermarket sights for the Sig P320 vs Glock 19 you’re going to have near identical options. There are a couple more sight options for the Glock but not enough to matter for most users.
Red Dot Optics
Sig, again, offers multiple variations of this gun, and some of them actually ship with a Sig ROMEO 1, which is a nice feature if you want an out-of-the-box gun with a red dot optic. The Sig ROMEO 1 is a pretty good dot, although I’m not sure it is as good as the Holosun 507K or Trijicon RMR. It does have a very wide window and I like that feature, but I don’t trust durability on those dots quite as much as the other optics.Â
Glock 19
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The Glock, on the other hand, has their modular optics system (MOS), and the MOS will fit pretty much any red dot on the market. There are a variety of aftermarket mounting plates as well since the Glock MOS is considered to be less durable than a lot of the aftermarket options.
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The Sig P320 also has multiple aftermarket options if you want to mount a dot that is not on the Sig ROMEO1/Pro mounting pattern. However, SIG changes the mounting patterns on their P320 pistols constantly. You really don’t even know which one your gun has unless you do a lot of research to find out.
They make minor variations that really can negatively impact the users depending on what dot they want to mount. I would make sure to thoroughly do your research before you order a dot for the Sig P320 series.
Sig P320 X Compacts
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Controls
Sig again takes a different approach than Glock and offers you more options.
Safety
There’s no safety on the Glock 19, as you’re well aware, but some Sig P320 guns do shift with thumb safety. The thumb safety on Sig P320 is pretty ergonomic and well-placed and I think Sig did a good job. If you’re looking for safety in the gun, I think that the Sig P320 is a great option, although I do not think the safety is as well-designed as the Smith and Wesson MP 2.0 series.
Trigger
The triggers on these guns are going to be quite different as well. The Glock, again, like with the texture and the modularity on the frame, is going to vary depending on the generation. Glock Gen 3 triggers have a very stiff hard wall; the Gen 5 triggers have a very nice rolling break; Gen 4 triggers are a hybrid.
All of the triggers have light take-up, then they get to the wall or rolling break, and then once they break, they have a very short reset that resets right to the beginning of that rolling break or wall area. They’re all very similar in that aspect.
The Sig P320, on the other hand, is going to come with two different trigger shoe options. The triggers themselves, in my opinion, all feel pretty similar. Some people will say that the Sig P320 X series feels a little bit better, but I haven’t really felt that in the guns I felt fresh out of the box.
The biggest difference is in the trigger shoe. You’re going to get a flat trigger shoe on your X series guns, whereas the regular guns come with a curved trigger shoe. Your decision on that is all going to be personal preference as far as what works for you. The triggers on those guns aren’t great.
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They have take-up and a little bit of a hybrid of a rolling break/hard wall similar to the Glock Gen 4 guns.
Slide Lock
The slide lock on the Sig P320 is kind of disappointing. They made a lot of good features on this gun, but the slide lock is really small and it’s harder to use than the one on the Glock. The Glock Gens 3 and 4 don’t have an ambidextrous slide stop, but the Gen5 guns do.
The Gen 5 guns are more comparable to the Sig P320 slide locks, which are also ambidextrous but take a little more effort to drop the slide. I’m going to give them a point there. They’re positioned similarly, and they’re just as easy to reach as one another.
Magazine Release
The magazine release on Sig P320 is slightly better in the Glock. It uses metal mags, so it’s just a little more positive of a gun to press the magazine release on. Now, one thing I will mention is that if you’re using a Sig P320 Compact or Sig P320 X Compact, you’ll want to keep in mind that your hand will likely sit below the bottom of the grip on the gun and it could drop the magazine from dropping free.
I have this issue on the Sig P320 X Compact, but I do not have that issue on the Glock 19. That’s a major advantage and just something to keep in mind. But, again, if you have smaller hands, that’s not going to be an issue and the Sig P320 X Carry will probably work better for you.
Magazine Well
The magazine well on the regular Sig P320 series isn’t that great. There’s really nothing going on there and they’re similar to the Glocks Gen 3 and Gen 4 guns, although Glocks have slightly more bevel on them. The Glock Gen 5, on the other hand, has an insane amount of bevel and there’s also a decent amount of bevel built into the magazine well on the X series Sigs.
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The Glock has an advantage. It has a wider magwell and simply better, but the Sigs are still pretty darn good. If you’re shooting production class and USPSA, this is probably the only place where this really matters. You can do good work with either gun.
Sig P320 vs Glock 19 Quality
The quality of the Glock just seems better in general. The frames on the Sigs just seem really cheap, and even though the slides seem better on the Sigs, the frames seem so cheap that they kind of outweigh any advantage gained by the slide on the Sigs. Again, this is going to come down to personal preference, but I think it’s hard to say that the frames on the Sigs just don’t feel like they’re a disposable item, which they essentially are.
Aftermarket
The aftermarket is better on the Glock but the Sig is catching up quickly. I haven’t seen any other company gain so much gravity aftermarket and Sig appears to be aiding the aftermarket manufacturers to make that happen. They really seem to understand the market and how to work it, whereas Glock was the first gun on the market, and as a result of that, got a lot of inherent aftermarket support.Â
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It should be said that that market support did not come with direct support from Glock. Glock has often tried to own the market and subsequent aftermarket themselves, and it hasn’t worked that well in the US compared to their European efforts. I think we’re going to continue to see a lot of great aftermarket guns from the Sig P320 in the future, but Glock is still the current winner.
Aesthetics Sig P320 vs Glock 19
Aesthetically, it depends on the Sig you’re talking about. I think the Sig P320 X Carry is an excellent-looking gun. I think the Sig P320 X Compact is a little bit awkward-looking, and the Glock 19 and Sig P320 Compact are probably about on par. It just depends on what you’re looking for in a firearm. I really like the Sig P320 X Carry from a looks perspective, but your mileage may vary. None of these guns are drop-dead gorgeous showstoppers, but they’re all pretty decent.
Shooting
Shooting these guns are completely different experiences, and a lot of that is due to the bore axis. The low bore axis on the Glock means the slide cycle is very fast and it’s almost a very violent action despite being easily able to put a lot of shots on target in a quick group.
Alternatively, the Sig P320 slide recoils a lot more up and down and you’re going to have a lot more muzzle rise, but that recoil is much less violent than the Glock’s. If you’re a newer shooter, you especially are going to find it easier to shoot the Sig P320. If you’re more experienced, then the Glock 19 might be a little more your speed.
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I will say this: I’m a Glock shooter. I’ve shot Glocks a lot, and it’s very hard for me to find a different type of gun that I can shoot as well as a Glock. Right out of the box, I can pick up a Sig P320 and shoot it as well. I have played around with it since and I can’t get the Sig P320 to shoot much better than a Glock, but I can get it shooting as fast as a Glock very quickly and there aren’t many guns out there that can do that.
Sig P320 vs Glock 19 Price/Value
There are some price differences for the Glock 19 vs Sig Sauer P320. You’ll normally find Glock 19s for a street price of $500 to $620 and an MSRP of $599 to $750 depending on the sight options while the Sig P320s range from $544 to $780 respectively. P320s normally run from $500 to $680 in gun stores depending on the model.
If you’re comparing baseline models, then the Sig has a slight advantage thanks to the sights, but once you factor in the cost of magazines, the Glock 19 gets back some skin in the game. You can find Glock 19 magazines for $25 pretty much anywhere while Sig magazines are a little harder to find and run $40+ on any given day.
There are a wide range of aftermarket magazines for the Glock that cost between $12 to $20 and are usually good enough for the range, but I would suggest OEM magazines for defensive use.
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When you look at higher-end models I think the SIG seems to be a better decision, but — again —the magazines affect the overall cost of ownership. If you like the ability to switch out grip modules, that’s a big plus for the Sig; but if you don’t care, then the value is equal in my opinion.
Related Articles
Pros/Cons
Glock 19 Pros
- Size
- Aftermarket
- Flatter shooting
G19 Cons
- More violent recoil
Sig P320 Pros
- Grip module options
- Softer shooting
P320 Cons
- Muzzle flip
- Smaller aftermarket
This is an opinion piece, but I always aim to eliminate bias. Look, we’ve all read them before. Gun reviews that claim to be helpful, but they’re really thinly veiled hit pieces trying to get you to buy something before you’ve even started your research. Or, even worse, a review put together by a content writer who has never even held a gun.
I’ve trained with some of the best in the business to learn various shooting styles and ideologies to better serve our customers. I’ve purchased guns of all price points, calibers, and action types to build the best products for the market. I want you to walk away knowing you have the information you need to make a sound purchasing decision.
3 Comments
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Glock 19 is hands down the best for me. IDK about the rest, but I am comfortable with the textured grip and compact size. May be because of my small hands or something, but it works for me.
Have you actually tried shooting the P320 XCompact? 🙂
I have a GLock19 and a Glock21sf, but decide to buy the SIGP320, M17 as a addition. I ill take it to the range and see which feels better.