Sig P238

[9026543]

This probably been discussed before but bear with a newbie. Have been looking at the purchase of a Sig P238 and would like to hear the pros and cons from present owners.

[HootmonSccy]

First Welcome 9026543 from Tampa Bay. Floriduh..
You can use the Search feature and find several threads on the P238.
My wife has one, and she loves it.. It's the nothing fancy model with black plastic grips.
we have shot maybe a couple hundred rounds through it without a hick-up...

You might also want to log into the Sig forum and check there because I believe there was some issues with some early models, I think ours is around S/N 7000..

Pluses (at least for us),

• well made gun
• nice size - Small enough to easily conceal, yet large enough to shoot at the range.
• No issues
• good sights
• slide locks back

Minus -

• The safety only deploys when fully cocked. There is a 1/2 cock position, but even with the safety on, squeeze the trigger and the hammer falls.
• Price
• 7 shots with one up stairs

[kwnzqs]

Welcome from Maine.

I purchased a P238 last year. It's a great little gun, especially for pocket carry. I did have extractor problems with it as the last round in each mag failed to eject. Sent it back to Sig and they repaired it. Does work better than it did, but still happens once in a while. Will be changed ammo. Could be the factory mags. But overall, it's a good purchase.

[handgonnetoter]

I have read up on them, and handled them in the gun shop, but just can't afford one. Would love to have on though.

[HootmonSccy]

Welcome from Maine.

I purchased a P238 last year. It's a great little gun, especially for pocket carry. I did have extractor problems with it as the last round in each mag failed to eject. Sent it back to Sig and they repaired it. Does work better than it did, but still happens once in a while. Will be changed ammo. Could be the factory mags. But overall, it's a good purchase.

We bought two no name brand mags for the Colt Mustang for my wife's P238.. She has some issues with them, not feeding right sometimes and the slide not locking back on the last shot, but the Sig Mag works perfect.

[MikePapa1]

I have two 238s. One was bought for my wife but she decided not to carry and, frankly, I love these little guns so much I couldn't part with it. After polishing the feed ramp a bit, both work great. They can be a bit finicky on ammunition, but all of the quality factory JHPs work fine in both. After seeing mine, my son bought his own Equinox 238 that is a real beauty. I reccomendthe Rosewood grips over the aluminum. I carry it either in my pocket with an RKBA holster or IWB in a High Noon Split Decision. Either way it's light, concealable and with the right ammunition still delivers a good punch in a short range pistol.

[Old Zebra]

I've owned a P238 (Nitron/rosewood grip model) for one year now. Have put more than 1,400 rounds through it. As a 1911 owner, I liked the look of this little gun from the get-go. It's single action only and a very soft shooter. However, Sig seems to have had a lot of problems with its first year production run (see the Sig Forum). Some guns are running great...no malfunctions. Others are experiencing significant issues. But, it seems that Sig is working out the bugs, slowly but surely.

For my gun, Sig has replaced a rear sight, the extractor, and one of my first generation mags with a third generation mag. I've been to the range only once since this gun last came back from Sig. I was still running Sig's stock recoil spring and firing pin spring as Sig requires the gun to be in stock configuration for warranty work. I had one light strike and one FTE, which is much better than before the gun went to Sig. I've since reinstalled my Wolff firing pin spring and 12# recoil spring. That should fix the light strike issue because it fixed it before. The FTE may be due to ammo as my gun has never liked Fiocchi. We'll see.

As for holsters for the P238, mine include a Harpoon from Pocket Concealment Systems, a SmartCarry and a OWB Tucker Silent Thunder. All of them work just fine. I use the pocket holster with belted pants, the smartcarry with elastic-waist shorts, and the Tucker during coat season.

Hope this helps.

[jreXD9]

had one with night sights and rosewood grips. it sure was purdy. I had zero problems with mine. I liked it a lot, but when I had the chance to trade it straight up for a Kahr PM9 it was a goner. PM9=larger caliber and less recoil.