Sig Sauer P320 Carry vs Compact

We’re comparing the Sig Sauer P320 Carry vs Compact. These two guns are incredibly similar and the only real difference between them is the grip module, which is slightly longer on the Carry. 

If you’re just looking for that info, then pay special attention to the Grip, Ergonomics, and Concealed Carry sections. 

However, if you want to know more about these guns overall as well, we’re going to include something of a review of the P320 model, as opposed to just doing its variants. (That would be a very short article.)

Size

When it comes to size and weight, these guns are almost identical.

The Sig P320 Carry does weigh slightly more than the P320 Compact, but it’s such a small difference that my scale couldn’t pick it up. 

You’re just going to have a little bit of magazine body and a very small amount of frame material that’ll make the difference in weight. As shown in the chart, it’s going to be well under one-tenth of an ounce.

The biggest difference in size is going to be the height of the handgun—the P320 Carry is right around a quarter-inch taller than the P320 Compact. 

This quarter of an inch is going to make a difference in regards to concealed carry ability and ergonomics, which will cover down below in this Sig P320 Carry vs Compact comparison.

Concealed Carry

Both of these guns can be used for concealed carry, although they might be a little bit big and wide for some people.

The overall width of the grip is 1.34 inches, so it’s a chunky little gun. It feels much wider than most of its competitors like the Glock 19 or the CZ P10C. This is also going to affect concealment. 

While it’s going to be identical on both of these guns in terms of the width at the middle of the grip, that extra length is going to extend said width further down. 

That makes the P320 Compact more concealable for most people.

That being said, a lot of people may be able to conceal a Carry just as well as the Compact. A lot of that really depends on your body type, your clothing, and where you’re wearing the firearm. 

But neither of these guns are going to be as easy to conceal as a gun like the Sig P365 or P365 XL. 

As stated earlier, there is no real weight difference in these guns besides the extra two rounds of ammunition the P320 Carry holds. 

Both of these guns are going to be a little bit heavier than what you would want to conceal carry without a belt. 

Can it be done? Yes, it’s fine if you’re just lounging around your house, or if you’re taking a quick trip down to the grocery store, but if you plan to be out and about all day or doing a physical activity where you move around a lot? 

I would not suggest carrying either of these guns without a belt.

Overall Ergonomics

Both of these guns have very similar ergonomics. The Sig P320 series with a standard frame feels very well-rounded and does a good job of filling your hand. 

They’re very comfortable with ergonomic grips to hold. 

If you have smaller hands, they might be a bit much, but Sig also sells smaller-sized grips so you could replace these grip modules with smaller ones. 

The only real difference between these two guns is grip length. 

I have larger hands and this  P320 Compact that I’m holding right now fits my hand perfectly. When I grab the P320 Carry, the grip extends a little bit lower below my pinky.

If you have larger hands than me, I would definitely suggest going with the P320 Carry as that’ll be more comfortable lengthwise. It will also give you more leverage when controlling recoil on the firearm. 

For somebody with large hands like myself, you’re going to be able to control recoil on the guns almost identically.

Texture

The texture that is used on their Sig P320 grip modules is really good. It goes around the pistol 360 degrees and has almost a 600-grit sandpaper-like feel.

I do wish they’d put some of that texturing in the area between the slide stop and the magazine release. 

That area is very slick and it’s also an area where you can get some of the meat of your palm on the gun, so it would’ve been nice to see a little more texturing in that area.

Slide

The slides on the P320 Carry and Compact are identical. 

They both have forward serrations that are not super aggressive, but they work well enough. Personally, I’d like to see the serrations be a little more aggressive in case your hands got wet, sweaty or bloody. 

The slide is very large, which gives you a lot of surface area to grab the slide and makes it fairly easy to manipulate.

Sights

The Sights on these guns are just your basic 3-dot Sights. 

They have white dots and work well enough, but they aren’t great. I do wish I had gone with a blacked out rear as that would’ve made the Sight picture much cleaner and allowed for more accurate hits at distance. 

These are good enough that you don’t need to run out and replace them. If I was going to use this as a carry gun, then I would probably upgrade to something better.

Aftermarket 

The Sig Sauer P320 uses a Sight cut that is extremely common, being used on most handguns as well as firearms like the Springfield XD and FN 509. 

Because there are a lot of guns out there that use this cut, there are going to be a lot of aftermarket options. The only guns that might have more Sight options than the P320 Carry/Compact are the Glock 19 and 17. Even then, it’s going to be incredibly close. 

If you can’t find Sights that you like for this gun, then there likely isn’t a pair of Sights out there that’ll work for you with any gun. 

Red-Dot Optics

The Sig P320 Compact is the only one offered in a red-dot-ready variant. 

The P320 RXP Compact comes set up with a Romeo 1 from the factory. All of your P320 Carry options are going to be X-frame options or M18 Series guns. 

Sig Sauer does offer red-dot options in all configurations, but if you want the standard P320 frame, then you’re better off ordering a P320 RXP Compact and replacing the grip module with a  P320 Carry grip. 

If that’s the style of gun that you like, check out the website and you’ll see tons of options when it comes to red-dot-compatible P320s.

Controls 

Trigger

The trigger on both the P320 Compact and Carry is your typical P320 trigger. 

It has a slightly curved hook and when you go to pull the trigger there is no dingus or trigger safety like there is on a Glock or other striker-fired handguns.

You’re going to feel a slight bit of take-up before you reach a wall. Once you reach that wall, you’re going to feel just a little creep before you hit a rolling break. It’s a very good rolling trigger. 

I personally like mushy triggers and find that they shoot very well. The Sig P320 trigger is no exception. It’s an extremely easy trigger to shoot, especially at speed and distance.

Sig Sauer P320 Carry vs Compact Reset

The reset on the Sig P320 trigger is authoritative but not strong. It’s audible and resets right at the wall point.

Once you get to that wall again, you’re going to feel that slight bit of creep right before you go into that rolling break. It’s a decent reset, but nothing to phone home about. Pretty typical for striker-fired handguns.

Slide Lock Sig Sauer P320 Carry vs Compact

The slide lock on the Sig P320 is located a little bit further back on the gun than most other competing firearms like the Glock. That said, the reach to access it is about the same.

This is due to the height overbore on the P320. The grip module does not go up too high toward the slide so your thumb still has to reach up fairly high to access that slide lock. 

It’s in a good place for somebody with large hands yet still reachable for somebody with medium hands. If you have small hands, though, you might have issues reaching the lock.

Magazine Release

The magazine release on the Sig P320, again, is easy to reach for myself with large hands. 

I do not have to break my grip and I can see how somebody with medium hands would still be able to reach the magazine release without breaking their grip. The magazine release comes installed on the left-hand side of the gun set up for a right-handed shooter.  

The release is reversible so it can be set up for left-handed shooters as well.

Magazine Well 

The magazine well on the Sig P320 Carry and Compact variants are identical. 

There is no real bevel or guide in the gun to help you reload it, but it’s not a hard gun to reload. It’s just not going to be as easy as something like a Glock Gen 5 MOS that has a massive mag well built into the frame.

Sig Sauer P320 Carry vs Compact Quality

When comparing the Sig Sauer P320 Carry vs. Compact, the quality is absolutely identical—the finish, the frame materials, pretty much everything about these guns is identical except for the length of the grip we discussed earlier.

Aftermarket

When it comes to aftermarket, there are a lot of frame options from non-factory sources. 

You can buy a Wilson Combat, Icarus Precision, and a couple of others from companies out there that are making aluminum frames, even though it isn’t technically an aftermarket part.  

Sig makes a frame module called the AXG series which is available in Carry-length only. It’s an aluminum frame that looks really good and has G10 inserts on it. 

That allows you some customization. I do wish this was available in the Compact length. 

Now that I think about it, most of the offerings that I prefer are only available in the Carry length. 

I personally prefer the ergonomics of the aftermarket Sig P320 carry-size frames. I’m going to have to give a couple of points here to the Carry when comparing it vs. the Compact. 

As far as aftermarket support goes, the support for triggers, magazine releases, slide locks, and every other part imaginable is going to be identical since these guns use these same parts.

Aesthetics Sig Sauer P320 Carry vs Compact

Aesthetically, these guns are very close. You could say that the P320 Carry is slightly more balanced with the grip length on that gun seeming to be more proportionate to the slide. 

That said, both of these guns look pretty good and there really isn’t that much of a difference there.

Shooting

Shooting these guns myself has ended up being two identical experiences. 

The extra length of the grip on the P320 Carry does not help me, but if I had just slightly larger hands, it would be a real advantage over the Compact.

This is really going to come down to hand size: if you can fit your pinky on the grip of the P320 Compact, it’s going to shoot just as well as the Carry. 

You could make an argument that the extra two rounds are going to add a little bit of weight helping a recall impulse for the first two shots. I really don’t know how seriously you need to consider that circumstance. 

These guns are sprung very well. 

Sig Sauer did a great job with their P320 line and they recoil extremely well. Both variants have a bit of muzzle flip, but it does return right back where you want it on target with very light recoil.

Price/Value Sig Sauer P320 Carry vs Compact

Again, these guns are priced identically, so this isn’t going to make the difference in what you choose as far as Carry vs. Compact when it comes to your purchasing. 

I hope you’ve enjoyed the P320 Carry vs. Compact comparison.

Please let us know your thoughts on Sig Sauer P320 Carry vs Compact below.