[Nittany Lion]

According to the Feb 10 issue of American Rifleman....

Their test of .380acp semi-auto pistols concludes that the Sig has the tightest groups at 25yds using remington 95gr.

Walther's PK380 very narrowly takes the lead with Speer and black hills 90gr.


IMHO...
1. Biggest disadvantage of the SIG. It's $120 more than the Walther.

2. I trust my Bersa, so i won't need to consider any of these really cool alternatives.

 

[ullie]

...IMO...accuracy should not be a deciding factor when considering a "small carry pistol"...reliability should be your foremost consideration...

...the Bersa is a great little gun...

 

[txshurricane]

I know ullie's not a fan of the P238 at all, but I bought one despite his better judgment.

I haven't fired it yet. The rounds are too hard to find, and too expensive to waste. I'll get around to it. Hopefully my new little sidekick lives up to (almost) everything I've read about it (with the exception of the one horror story on this board).

 

[ullie]

I know ullie's not a fan of the P238 at all, but I bought one despite his better judgment.

...i wasn't a fan of the Colt Mustang either...or any single action pocket pistol...but that just my way of looking at them...we all have different opinions...i hope you have good luck with yours !

...i recomend running her really wet during breakin ...especially the rails...liberally lubricate the front of the barrel where it meets the slide...the barrel hood...the inside walls of the slide in front of the ejection port...the recoil spring...hammer face / underside of slide where it glides over the hammer...where the takedown pin goes through the hole in the lug...add a drop to the firing pin tunnel...

...i would use Weapon Shield and reapply after every 50 rounds or so...or Breakfree CLP...no grease ! ...you also might want to hand cycle her several hundred times before shooting her to burnish some of the rough spots...and use 90 grain FMJ ammo...either Federal or Winchester during the breakin...generic is fine...

 

[txshurricane]

...i recomend running her really wet during breakin ...especially the rails...liberally lubricate the front of the barrel where it meets the slide...the barrel hood...the inside walls of the slide in front of the ejection port...the recoil spring...hammer face / underside of slide where it glides over the hammer...where the takedown pin goes through the hole in the lug...add a drop to the firing pin tunnel...

...i would use Weapon Shield and reapply after every 50 rounds or so...or Breakfree CLP...no grease ! ...you also might want to hand cycle her several hundred times before shooting her to burnish some of the rough spots...and use 90 grain FMJ ammo...either Federal or Winchester during the breakin...generic is fine...

Now that is some advice I will follow!

 

[Scott_F]

I've got a 238 Sig.

I got mine the other day. Got some WWB ammo from Wal
Mart and hit the range. Gun was wet at the start. First 45 rounds flawless, great accuracy. Then the little beast got dirty and started having a couple of issues. Mostly failure to lock the slide back after the last round.

Ive at times carried a Glock 27 in my pocket, but it's just a bit too big for several of the shorts I wear (pockets not deep enough). It's hot as hades here in TX right now. I normally carry a P220 in an MTAC as my main weapon.

I also lost 65 lbs lately and now I'm printing like crazy in summer clothing that fits. So, I need a pocket gun for those times where the 220 won't work. This P238 seems to fit the bill.

I'll keep testing and testing at the range to get the point of high confidence. I'm not there yet. I need a fee hundred more rounds thru it. Good gun if you keep it clean and wet.

 

[DTC]

IMHO, I prefer the Kahr PM9. Zero problems. I've shot the P238 a couple of times and had issues both times. I really wanted to like the P238, sharp looking (like a baby 1911).
Yeah, the PM9 is a little heavier and does "print" a little easier, but there are some nice loads in 9mm and many IWB holsters.
I agree with Ullie, I want dependability. As he pointed out, if you depend on the P238, keep it clean and lubed.

 

[SkyPup]

I've had a SIG P-232 all Stainless Steel for quite a number of years (decades).

It is the most reliable .380 blowback automatic pistol that I have ever shot, it will shoot-shoot-shoot anything you feed it.

But it is louder than hell.....

 

[Scott_F]

Went back today with 150 rounds and all my cleaning tools. Had plenty of time, no rush.

Gun was clean as a whistle and quickly had slide lock issues. Slide release lever seemed to be working out a bit. Went into the shop (great shop BTW) and we spent some time looking things over. The recoil spring had a bit of a hitch in it's get along. (one of the coils wasn't evenly spaced, sort of bent). The guy went and swiped a spring off a new one and replaced it.

After that, the slide locked back perfect for 125 rounds. Most of them were 3 rounds in the mag. I was really working the slide lock. No slide issues with the new spring installed, even when I let the gun get dirty.

I did have a few failures to extract. Definitely had the extractor getting fouled. Using Winchester White box ammo. Fairly dirty stuff. So, in that last 125 rounds, I had this happen to me 3-4 times. Just got dirty.

So, I love the accuracy of this little shooter. I need to keep it clean and fairly wet. I used rem oil and break free today and skipped the heavier tw25 stuff.

I'm happy with this pocket pistol now that I know it's limitations. My slide lock notch is not exhibiting the massive grinding ive seen on some photos here. I've got a tiny rough spot but nothing extreme.

I will have to get some new grips. Those gray ones are hard to keep clean.

 

[DTC]

@Scott_F

Have you you seen this Sig Product Alert?

http://www.sigsauer.com/upFiles/CmsContent/documents/P238 Product Alert.pdf

Not the first problem Sig has admitted with this design.

 

[Scott_F]

@Scott_F

Have you you seen this Sig Product Alert?

http://www.sigsauer.com/upFiles/CmsContent/documents/P238 Product Alert.pdf

Not the first problem Sig has admitted with this design.

Nope, had not seen that. Damn. I guess I'm not too good on terminology. The casings (roughly one in ten shots) are not being extracted. So, if I understand this, the casing is "grabbed" by the extractor, pulled back with the slide, the hits the ejector and flies out.

Had I pushed down this ejector too far, would that leave the casing in the pipe?

I sent mine back to Sig today. New thread time.