Sig Sauer P238

Great to hear your positive experience. I've heard that sig has ironed out the P238 problems.
It's unfortunate that there are some that are stuck with an earlier version that's less than reliable.

I have a working 238 as well, so I'm happy to hear yours is doing well. But here's a recent thread from XDtalk that pretty much sums up why a lot of people have been criticizing SIG's QC lately...

http://www.xdtalk.com/forums/non-xd-handguns/160052-sig-238-not-repaired-manufacturer-what-next.html

Sure would like to have a Sig 238 but I am left handed. The safety just wouldn't work. They are a good looking gun. Don

Keep the reports coming. I have heard the springs have issues in the 300 range.

also curious to see what happens between 300-500 rounds...my wife really wants one as her 'only' gun, she insists she'll only ever buy or want just this one we'll see But I want to make sure things are really ironed out! Been asking her to hold off since the recalls and issues I've been hearing about.

I have shot around 700 rounds out of my 238 and have not had a single problem yet. It love this gun. Easy to conceal even if I am wearing shorts and a tank top.

I now have 650 rounds through mine and have not had any failures of any kind.

I am still using the original recoil spring and have fired Gold Dot jhp, Remington jhp, PMC fmj, WW semi flat point and Federal American Eagle fmj ammo, all with no issues.

In the same size class pistols I also have a P-3AT, a TCP, a Micro Desert Eagle and have owned a Diamondback, NAA Guardian and a Beretta Tomcat and I have shot my son's LCP a number of times and none of them come even close to being as accurate and comfortable to shoot as the P238, especially the NAA Guardian and the Micro Desert Eagle blow back pistols.

Plan on getting one or more of the new flat recoil springs for the P238.

The older style springs have a short life.

Mine has 600-700 rounds through it and is on its third recoil spring.

Unfortunately, the new springs are in short supply at present.

I had one of the first P238's and i loved mine and put 600 rounds threw it before trading it in as it was still in the middle of the ammo scare.
I had no issues what so ever with my gun, But did make small fine tuning adjustments that made sure issues stayed away.

Ive since moved on too a Kahr MK9, But id still love to get another P238.
I think we will see alot of used .380's soon with this big bunch of micro 9's hitting the market.
Man do i miss that gun.

Tried my friends P238 a couple of weeks ago while we at the range. Decent trigger, great sights (his model came with factory night sights), and more than accurate enough for what it's designed for.

Only problem I encountered was the slide wouldn't go completely into battery when it was released from its locked back position with a loaded mag in it. The first round would chamber but the slide would be about 1/10th of an inch from being completely in place. This happened maybe 2 or 3 times during the range session. Manually racking the slide worked fine so it's hard to say why this happened. The gun itself was still fairly new, so maybe it was more of a matter of everything getting settled in properly.

In any event, it was a great gun to shoot and if the QC problems are indeed a thing of the past, I would definitely consider getting one.

I have an older 238 but have had no problems.
I'm guessing mine was August, 2009, since I got one of the first "Rosewood Editions".
Never a hiccup. I guess I'll watch the recoil spring.

P.S. I've been shooting PMC Bronze FMJ, no problem.

400 rds thru mine using 3.8 gr unique for 90/100 gr bullets.
No problems so far.
My ppk .380---about 8000 rds.--had to replace both mags---would not hold slide open.
Kel Tek P3AT--about 300 rds--no problems.
Nice little pea shooters.

My wife and I have shot close to 1000 rounds through our 238. Not one single problem. I've owned other micro's (kel-tecs mainly) and never had this kind of reliability with them. Plus the sights are great and make hitting possible at ranges unthinkable for a gun this size. I know at least 4 other with this gun and none have had issues with it. I bought mine back in mid 09. I'm sure there is credibility to some of the QC issues talked about but I have not seen them. By all my first hand accounts with my 2 SIGs, QC has been great and reliability has been 100%. I'm confident that SOME of the issues are simply because a small pocket single action only pistol is a little harder to shoot and more prone to limp wristing than something like the LCP. I trust mine enough to have it be my wife's primary CCW.

I have a P238 and 6 other SIGs the little 238 has been cabbaged by my wife, or so I let her think. I have ove 600 rounds through my (her) pistol no recoil spring problems with the old spring. The recoil spring has an open end and a tapered end, the taper goes on the guide rod. I have seen the photos and another shooters problem with the recoil spring. It is most likely that some P238 users are installing the spring on the guide rod backwards (not addressed in the users manual). If the spring is on backwards it can screw itself around the rear of the guide rod and cause all kinds of problems.

I have a 238 as well. I acquired it used, with an unknown number of rounds through it. I initially had problems with it not fully returning to battery. Once I replaced the recoil spring with the heavier wolf spring, those issues disappeared and it now functions flawlessly.

Compared to the other pocket 380's, it actually has a decent trigger, real sights, and soaks up recoil well. It redefined what I thought a pocket pistol can do -- I can actually shoot ok with the darn thing, almost as well as I can with a full size. I can not say the same for my LCP.

Great little gun. I think there is still some risk in buying one, but it's worth the risk. To me anyway, I can shoot it so much better than the other pocket guns, that it would have been worth it to have to buy 3 of them to get 1 that worked properly.

harmon rabb said:

I have a 238 as well. I acquired it used, with an unknown number of rounds through it. I initially had problems with it not fully returning to battery. Once I replaced the recoil spring with the heavier wolf spring, those issues disappeared and it now functions flawlessly.

Compared to the other pocket 380's, it actually has a decent trigger, real sights, and soaks up recoil well. It redefined what I thought a pocket pistol can do -- I can actually shoot ok with the darn thing, almost as well as I can with a full size. I can not say the same for my LCP.

Great little gun. I think there is still some risk in buying one, but it's worth the risk. To me anyway, I can shoot it so much better than the other pocket guns, that it would have been worth it to have to buy 3 of them to get 1 that worked properly.

Click to expand...

Your way to pessimistic. Just based on the other posts in this thread you can see that most people are having very good experiences with their P238s.

There are just a couple of people here that have had problems with their P238s, but overall the pistol has been nothing less than superb.

I purchased a P238 in July 2010 and experienced intermittent FT Feeds and dented casings. When I contacted Sig they suggested a new recoil spring which they provided at no cost (still round wire). The technician also suggested the dented casings were inherent in the design. After trying the new recoil spring nothing changed. The second time I called they suggested it was the original style magazine causing problems and sent a new magazine, again at no cost to me. This took care of the dented casings; however I was still experiencing intermittent FT Feeds. I returned the gun to Sig for repair, again at no cost to me. I received it back in less than 10 days. They changed out the recoil spring with a flat spring and updated the extractor, as well as something else and for the life of me I cannot recall at the moment. Off to the range and 100 rounds later flawless shooing. Perhaps after another few hundred rounds I will feel more confident with the gun. Regardless, the customer service was outstanding.

I just changed my spring to the flat spring yesterday. I got about 400 rounds out of it and the slide was getting sluggish on close. It worked 100% though.

I am at the point that I will put another 100 rounds down it after the spring change and then start carrying it. I am confident that I can use it as a carry gun now.

I purchased a P238 in "rainbow" finish for my wife last summer. Together we've put about 500 rounds through it without a single FTF or FTE. I've mostly used whatever is cheapest to throw down the pipe. It is a real pleasure to shoot. Each trip to the range we also feed it a mag or two of Hornady Critical Defense - which we have also had no issues with.

I've got almost 1000 rounds through mine, only a couple of ftf but that was in the first 100 rounds. No fte, ftf period..