Let me preface this with admitting I bought my first Glock in 1994. I wasn’t a regular shooter until roughly 2011, and along the way I’ve been through a few Glocks, a Ruger Mk III, and a Smith Shield. In the course of time I quit shooting the Ruger, for its point of aim was simply too far away from my beloved Glocks.
Then concealed carry came to the worst run state in the nation, and I decided the Shield wasn’t small enough for pocket carry. As it happens I admire a decent trigger, and also won’t carry chambered (let’s not get into it. Please.)
My search for a small quality handgun almost ended with the Kimber Micro, but I couldn’t bring myself to spend money with Kimber. The Colt Mustang was next, but I came to learn that the aftermarket had more embraced a variant called a Sig Sauer P238. Decision made, I ordered up the SAS version.
Stupid gun. It has no business, none at all, shooting as reliably as my Glocks do. None. And thank you very much, but I’ve quite a bit of time getting my Glock triggers to be “decent”. Yet this thing comes from the box that nice? Bah..
Then we get to the pointability problem. You see, the F*^B !! P238 points exactly where I move my hand. It’s not perfect, but it’s such a naturally pointing gun that’s it’s a bit embarrassing. I may not be a 1911 fan, but Mr. Browning was no dummy, and Gaston, well.. it seems we don’t agree on the palmswell angles he seems determined to maintain. (I won’t get into all the effort I’ve gone to getting my Glocks to point well. Suffice it to say “lots”.)
Net: The P238 was simply a wonderful and amazingly easy to shoot little gun. And did I mention the night sites? Velly velly nice!
Naturally, I sold it.
Why? Well, it wasn’t perfect: 1) I shoot my Shield, only slightly bigger, far more accurately. Close really, to the full size Glocks (22, 24c and a 20). 2) The .380 round is on the low end of acceptable power. At best. Yes, I’d heard over and over I should have bought 9mm, but the P938 had a poor rep, and I wanted the smallest quality handgun with a truly light slide pull. (Remember, I will not carry chambered). Besides, I’m already inventorying most calibers, why not add .380? (What, it’s the same price as .40? That’s why!)
Now I’m a P938 SAS ower, and well, I dunno. Supposedly the mainspring problem is overcome, and certainly it’s as pointable as the 238. Loaded with Fed 124gr HST I no longer feel underpowered for any human confrontation. The slightly longer site radius helps accuracy too, though I’ve only put 20 rounds through it so far, so that jury is still out.
But it is decidedly not perfect too. I’ve long fingers, yet I find the slide release to simply be too awkward for reliable use. And as I shoot with only 1 -3 rounds in a mag at a time, mag changes are something I consider. Problems here are threefold: 1) The release is simply too far forward. 2) The release is far too stiff. 3) The release is too small to engage your thumb well.
And why does this ship with the 7 round mag? Dumb. If I wanted something the bulk of the Shield I’d carry that. But I don’t. Sure, I can (and did) order the 6 round. But I shoudn’t have had too.
And have you loaded one of the mags? Good lord man! Did that take the spring from a 1 ton truck?
Finally, the trigger on this is gritty and kind of “ugh”. Not Glock bad, but not what I’d expected either.
My point is that in my short time with the P238 I was well and truly impressed, and felt Sig to be pretty well thought out gun maker. Yet an awkward slide release, a gritty trigger, and a magazine not oriented to the market niche the guns fills are simply obvious flaws in the 938.
Btw, I endorse the “Sig P290 magazine in a P938” mod found on the internet. I don’t hear anything good about Promag, but I can tell you the mod worked well on a factory Sig mag.
So, any suggestions for an extended slide release for the P938?
Anybody heard of a MagGuts conversion for a P290? Or the 6 round P938?
Thanks ya'll!
D
Then concealed carry came to the worst run state in the nation, and I decided the Shield wasn’t small enough for pocket carry. As it happens I admire a decent trigger, and also won’t carry chambered (let’s not get into it. Please.)
My search for a small quality handgun almost ended with the Kimber Micro, but I couldn’t bring myself to spend money with Kimber. The Colt Mustang was next, but I came to learn that the aftermarket had more embraced a variant called a Sig Sauer P238. Decision made, I ordered up the SAS version.
Stupid gun. It has no business, none at all, shooting as reliably as my Glocks do. None. And thank you very much, but I’ve quite a bit of time getting my Glock triggers to be “decent”. Yet this thing comes from the box that nice? Bah..
Then we get to the pointability problem. You see, the F*^B !! P238 points exactly where I move my hand. It’s not perfect, but it’s such a naturally pointing gun that’s it’s a bit embarrassing. I may not be a 1911 fan, but Mr. Browning was no dummy, and Gaston, well.. it seems we don’t agree on the palmswell angles he seems determined to maintain. (I won’t get into all the effort I’ve gone to getting my Glocks to point well. Suffice it to say “lots”.)
Net: The P238 was simply a wonderful and amazingly easy to shoot little gun. And did I mention the night sites? Velly velly nice!
Naturally, I sold it.
Why? Well, it wasn’t perfect: 1) I shoot my Shield, only slightly bigger, far more accurately. Close really, to the full size Glocks (22, 24c and a 20). 2) The .380 round is on the low end of acceptable power. At best. Yes, I’d heard over and over I should have bought 9mm, but the P938 had a poor rep, and I wanted the smallest quality handgun with a truly light slide pull. (Remember, I will not carry chambered). Besides, I’m already inventorying most calibers, why not add .380? (What, it’s the same price as .40? That’s why!)
Now I’m a P938 SAS ower, and well, I dunno. Supposedly the mainspring problem is overcome, and certainly it’s as pointable as the 238. Loaded with Fed 124gr HST I no longer feel underpowered for any human confrontation. The slightly longer site radius helps accuracy too, though I’ve only put 20 rounds through it so far, so that jury is still out.
But it is decidedly not perfect too. I’ve long fingers, yet I find the slide release to simply be too awkward for reliable use. And as I shoot with only 1 -3 rounds in a mag at a time, mag changes are something I consider. Problems here are threefold: 1) The release is simply too far forward. 2) The release is far too stiff. 3) The release is too small to engage your thumb well.
And why does this ship with the 7 round mag? Dumb. If I wanted something the bulk of the Shield I’d carry that. But I don’t. Sure, I can (and did) order the 6 round. But I shoudn’t have had too.
And have you loaded one of the mags? Good lord man! Did that take the spring from a 1 ton truck?
Finally, the trigger on this is gritty and kind of “ugh”. Not Glock bad, but not what I’d expected either.
My point is that in my short time with the P238 I was well and truly impressed, and felt Sig to be pretty well thought out gun maker. Yet an awkward slide release, a gritty trigger, and a magazine not oriented to the market niche the guns fills are simply obvious flaws in the 938.
Btw, I endorse the “Sig P290 magazine in a P938” mod found on the internet. I don’t hear anything good about Promag, but I can tell you the mod worked well on a factory Sig mag.
So, any suggestions for an extended slide release for the P938?
Anybody heard of a MagGuts conversion for a P290? Or the 6 round P938?
Thanks ya'll!
D
