Stoeger's New Thinline Pistol: Full Review

Thin is always in, especially with carry pistols!

October 21, 2025 By Patrick Sweeney

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It is amazing what the marketplace can accomplish. If you had told us, even just a few years ago, that it would be possible to have a compact double-stack 9mm pistol that held an abundance of 9mm rounds and that the whole package would be one-inch thick, we’d have scoffed. Only single-stack pistols could be that thin, but here we are. The Stoeger ThinLine is just that.

The big deal with the ThinLine is that Stoeger took the best features of two of their popular pistols and combined them. From the Micro Compact they grafted on the slim profile, the one-inch-thick grip and slide combo. Then they complimented it with the extended grip of the Compact, to give you more ammo. And while they were at it, they added in even more, plus the expected great features of the Stoeger line as well as the amazing cost they’ve always delivered.

Okay, up top. There is a squared steel slide, with cocking serrations fore and aft. They don’t skimp on making the serrations work for you, they are wide, edgy and many. The sights are a solid ramped rear and a blade front, both in transverse dovetails. So, if you find that for you the ThinLine is just a bit off left or right, you can readily move one or both to get your hits on-center or replace them if you simply must have something else. Most of you won’t, as the three-dot night sights are large enough, clear enough and suited to the task. These sights glow in the dark, so you’d have to work hard to upgrade from the ones they install.

The top of the slide also has an optics cover plate. The machined recess is cut to the pattern for an RMSc red dot, and you can install one of those directly with no need for an adapter plate. If you want to mount a red dot, you simply unbolt the plate and do the usual assembly and locking down DIY pistolsmithing. Another bonus: the plate is forward of the rear sight, so you don’t have to choose between irons or a dot. While you’re there, you may notice the loaded chamber indicator. This is a notch in the rear center of the barrel hood, and you can see if there’s a chambered round in there by peering down into the notch.

Right side view — From the side you wouldn’t be able to tell just how thin the ThinLine is. (Photo provided by author.)

The next big deal with the ThinLine is the barrel. Well, the barrel and comp/port. The barrel stops short of the front end of the slide. The slide has transverse slots machined through it on the upper half, forward of the muzzle. When the bullet exits the muzzle, it passes through the forward part of the slide and out the clearance hole machined for the barrel. The ports divert some of the gases up, to dampen muzzle rise. Some gases also impact the inside faces of the slots, and thus dampen recoil that would otherwise be directly back. When the slide cycles, it passes over the crown of the barrel, and once fully rearward the muzzle protrudes from the slide by a small amount. There are a number of ways to divert muzzle gases to dampen felt recoil and this one that the engineers at Stoeger have chosen is compact and effective.

Stoger Thinline with Slide locked back — When the ThinLine cycles, the barrel passes out of the slide. (Photo provided by author.)

The barrel locks up in the ejection port opening and on the right side behind the ejection port is the extractor. All the normal and effective engineering we have come to expect from Stoeger.

The frame is a polymer construction and with the frame Stoeger has chosen to not include a replaceable backstrap. While this means those shooters who simply must have the option are prevented from doing so, it does mean less cost. No need for the extra molds to create the other sizes, nor the extra space on the frame needed to provide a secure mounting method for replaceable backstraps. We all got along for over a century without replaceable backstraps, and the vast majority of us still can.

There is, of course, an accessory rail, because it is now as essential as sights are. At a recent competition, I noticed that half the pistols used, all daily carry 9mms, had lights mounted on them. The ThinLine does not let you down in this regard. The dust cover is also where you’ll find one of the many serial numbers on the ThinLine. Frame, barrel and slide are numbered. Plus, there are 2D codes on slide and barrel. (And I thought I labeled everything.) Behind the dustcover, Stoeger has created a textured oval as an indexing point for your trigger finger when it is out of the trigger guard. Kudos, Stoeger. The trigger guard curves up to meet the lifted frontstrap, so your hand can get higher on the frame. The frame is extensively textured to provide a non-slip grip, with three different patterns of texture: one on the frontstrap, one on the backstrap and a third on the sides of the frame.

The straight trigger has a safety blade in the middle of it, because this is a striker-fired pistol with internal safeties as well. One nice extra is the magazine release, which is reversible. So left-handed shooters can swap the button if they wish. The grip has a swell, or rib, or blade, streaking back from the magazine release, which does two things. One, it gives your hand an index on the frame, and it also acts to protect the magazine release from inadvertent activation. The ThinLine is so slim that it almost gives the impression of being a single-stack pistol. The rib behind the magazine release reduces the chance that those of you with big hands will inadvertently press it and drop the magazine.

Textured grip — The very slim grip has three different patterns of texturing on it. (Photo provided by author.)

The frame length is another big deal as it means anyone with a hand larger than medium can still get four fingers on the frame. The three (yes, three!) magazines that come with the ThinLine are stoutly built. The basic magazine holds fourteen rounds. You get one of those with a flush basepad. You also get another fourteen-round magazine with a fingertab base plate on it. So, you can carry the flush one for deep concealment, and use the fingertab as your reload. But wait, there’s more. There is also a sixteen-round magazine in the box (along with a magazine loading tool, which you’ll need) that uses the basic magazine tube but with an extended baseplate. Your loadout options now just got more interesting. Carry the flush pad and two reloads? Or start with the “big stick” sixteen-round magazine? However, you do it, you can leave the house each morning with 43 rounds of 9mm ammunition on your person in loaded magazines.

In handling and disassembly, the ThinLine produced no surprises. Well, other than complete reliability and excellent accuracy, that is. Disassembly is simple: if you know how to take a Glock apart, you know how to take a ThinLine apart. Which is to say, the majority of striker-fired pistols all come apart the same way, no need to repeat it.

Disassembled Stoeger — The ThinLine comes apart exactly like a Glock does, so if you know that, you know the ThinLine. (Photo provided by author.)

In testing, I was expecting the ThinLine to be a bit more vigorous in recoil than it ended up being. At 22 ounces it is pretty light, but the grip offers a lot of recoil control, and the comped barrel/slide combo did its job. The tang comes over the web of your hand to a point where it begins to lose leverage and can’t really jump around on you much. The short slide cycles briskly and comes right back onto the target. Part of the brisk cycle and not-oppressive recoil has to be due to the recoil spring. This is a captured assembly, and it is strong.

You might be surprised by how much effort it takes to work the slide to load it. That’s a small downside. On the upside, it means that for its compact size and light weigh the ThinLine is well-behaved and thus easy to shoot. Accuracy was quite good as well. For being such a compact and lightweight pistol, the ThinLine behaves more like a bigger and heavier competition pistol. No, it would not be my first choice in a match, but the best match pistol often ends up being large and heavy enough to preclude the match pistol being a serious choice for daily carry.

Pistol in holster — As compact as the ThinLine is, it would make a great daily-carry pistol. For that you need a compact holster, like these from 1791 Gunleather. In the middle of the two holsters is the Snagmag spare magazine carrier. It clips inside your pocket and looks like just another pocketknife.(Photo provided by author.)

For daily carry options, I contacted the 1791 Gunleather company. For those who prefer the IWB choice, the Smooth Concealment holster, size 4 would be just the ticket. The steel clip would make it an easy on-off holster. If a clip-on isn’t your style, then the BH2.1 belt holster will serve you well. And for your spare magazine (should you choose to carry just one), 1791 sent along their Snagmag. This is a magazine carrier that clips inside of your trouser pocket. There is a clip on it, so it rides just like the folding knife that is no-doubt already in one of your pockets. The Snagmag rides low enough that it is just another thing clipped in your pocket, and in a lot of situations would pass un-noticed. They make them for right and left-handed shooters, so be sure to order the correct one.

The Stoeger ThinLine has a list price of $529, so you can likely expect to see it in the counter of your local gun shop for under five hundred, maybe even four-fifty.
The ThinLine with all of its features, hard case, three double-stack magazines and magazine loader and lock, for under five bills? Again, had you said only a few years ago that was what you could get, we’d have laughed.

Target with various groups — The ThinLine is easy to shoot, and the accuracy testing demonstrated that. (Photo provided by author.)

In this world of compact every-day 9mm pistols, it can be hard to stand out. Conversely, it can also be hard to stay hidden. The Stoeger ThinLine manages to do both, and at a very attractive price as well. Considering the bonuses it brings to the table, Stoeger should be a name you ask about when next you visit your local gun shop.

Oh, and I have a small confession to make. When the folks of Stoeger first showed me the ThinLine at the SHOT Show, I mis-heard it. Hey, the show is a noisy place, and as good as my hearing is, I’ve still fired something on the order of a million and a half rounds. So, I had to make double-sure every time I went to save this review that I did a search for the misnaming I had originally given it, and correct it to ThinLine. (You don’t need to know what I heard, just that once it was locked in, it was hard to dislodge.)

Just so don’t you do the same: ThinLine. ThinLine. THINLINE. You want to make sure you have the correct name when you go to buy one.