SIG SAUER'S P238--
Shot itself in the foot; so to speak

The SIG SAUER firearms company has a long history of producing fine quality handguns, but, they laid an egg with the too-early introduction of their model P238.

I am convinced they watched the folks at Ruger firearms enjoy massive success with their little LCP in .380 caliber and leaped into the market before their own little .380 offering was adequately tested.

As a consequence customers who bought early models of SIG’s 238—those manufactured before, say May 2010, wound up with a handful of headaches and guns that often had to be returned to the factory—repeatedly—and then, they often were sent back to the owners in still, unsatisfactory condition.

Problems were traced to poorly functioning ejectors and or magazines and or recoil springs. In fact they went through three generations of magazines in the first two years of production.

And, I learned not to trust salespeople at gun stores when I was shopping for my pistol.

The guy at Woodbury Outfitters in Coshocton claimed he had never heard of this model having any problems whatsoever.  I knew better; but, still hadn't learned of the magazines being redesigned.

The guy at Black Wing Shooting in Delaware sold me a gun with a very recent date of manufacture—but, it was supplied with two of the original and unreliable magazines and Black Wing was unresponsive to my follow-up inquiry.

Later, I examined five of these guns that were on display at the Sportsman’s Den in Shelby. Four of those were being offered for sale with original, defective (already twice redesigned) magazines.

Regardless, newly manufactured samples of SIG’s little handgun are delightful to carry and shoot and are finding popularity, especially with the ladies, for concealed carry.

The little gun is all metal, 5.5 inches long, 3.9 high, 1.1 wide and weighs only 15 ounces. It is designed to carry 7 rounds of ammo and comes with night (glow in the dark) sights.

Already, my gun has been through 17 test targets and 620 rounds of fired ammo to determine its reliability. After all, my life could depend on it.

The gun has a delightfully smooth, and easy to press trigger. Its recoil is gentle—very much unlike Ruger’s LCP--and, it is amazingly accurate. (See the test target published earlier to introduce this article.)

My gun was manufactured in late July 2010 and it is being fed with four, new 3rd generation magazines. But, I have new recoil springs on order because I still am experiencing spent shell casings with damage to their rims—not often, but enough to make me continue to worry about this sweet little gun’s absolute reliability.

To its credit, it has only jammed once in those first 620 rounds.

The .380 caliber is viewed as barely adequate by some folks for reliable, self-defense use. But, in the small photo right you see the result of my test shot using a Speer Gold Dot Hollow Point, .380 caliber, 90 grain, hollow point round on two 1 gallon, plastic milk jugs filled with water.

The bullet was fired from 23 feet and the concussive force of the mushrooming, hollow point exploded the first jug as you can see, passed completely through the second jug and imbedded itself in the wooden backstop.

That test bullet passed through 12” of water, four thin layers of plastic and kept going. You be the judge.

However, until I replace the recoil and firing pin springs in my baby SIG and test it some more, and some more again, I will continue to carry one of my Glocks.

They have been 100 per cent reliable, right out of the box.