Sig P238

This has not been your standard flawless Sig. There was an early recall and some folks have issues with the P238, some never fixed and Sig keeps changing the magazine followers. Oh and they seem to eat recoil springs - meaning the owner's manual says 1,500 round replacement, but mine had four or five by 1,400 rounds or so.

So, the newer ones, the last few months seems to be having less issues. (To me this is a key point, get one fresh off the line - I personally would avoid early used models.) Most all will be fine, a few will have problems requiring return to Sig (varying experiences with Sig Customer Service) some will be fixed others will continue to return to Sig as noted and never be right. Please note the latter is a very small percentage, again most folks seem very happy with theirs.

These are wonderful pocket type pistols, real sights, accurate, soft shooters, SA trigger that only gets better over time and if you are comfortable with 1911 style firearms you should be happy.

Other options would be like Kahr P380 - Pricier, long DAO trigger, no safety, smaller sights, tad smaller, little less accurate due to trigger and sights. But fewer problems overall. Or go revolver like the Ruger LCR. Oh, you could also go with the Kahr PM9 a tad larger but 9mm.

I have the P380, purchased solely because I had nothing but trouble with the Sig P238, never, ever made it through a box of ammo without issue, sometimes multi-failures per magazine. 4 trips to Sig, no better, would fix one thing and come back with another problem - 1,400 rounds down it and never fixed. Do have a NIB replacement that has been sitting unfired for about 6 months.

I really like the Kahr P380, prep it properly and it works.

I like mine. Trouble free.
Lots of posts about problems but I haven't had a single issue.
Joe

http://thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=544884

http://thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=543194

Check out the above threads.

I have a P 238 and have had no problems with it. Nice gun.

Do yourself a a favor....skip the P238.

It's small, accurate, easy to shoot......but unreliable. (Kinda like a cheating girlfriend. Pretty...but not trustworthy...) There's also issues with the springs. To make a long story short.......

Get yourself the proven LCP. Better yet, a good j-frame.

There seem to be two kinds of Sig P238 owners those who are perfectly happy and those that have tons of trouble. I am one of the happy owners. I am up to about 400 rounds now on mine with zero problems except when I bought a supposed Sig magazine from a local store. It was not exactly like the one that came with the gun and I had trouble with it and returned it to the store. The gun returned to being faultless.

I like the SA operation and the very light trigger. It has minimal recoil due to its weight. To me it is accurate for a gun that small. I currently shoot in about a 24" diameter circle around the bulls-eye at 15 yards. However, a pistol instructor shot it for the first time and he shot within 4" diameter circle around the bulls-eye.

Many who have had trouble have complained about the customer service at Sig. That certainly is troubling for all their models.

I am very happy with my purchase and am not considering another CCW.

The only issue with .380's in general is that the ammunition is in very short supply and tends to be expensive.

There's plenty of info about the SIG P238 on the forums so this is going to be somewhat redundant. Some of the information is first-hand, others are just telling you what someone else said; there's no telling exactly what those particular persons really know about the SIG P238. Listen to those that have owned and actually fired one. Keep in mind that there are a lot of owners that don't bother to jump on a forum and tell you how well their (insert any brand firearm here) firearm performed. My P238 HD was one of the problem pieces. After 200 rounds, I called SIG CS, explained my problem and what I had done to make sure it wasn't just the "newness" of the firearm. They immediately emailed me a prepaid UPS next day shipping label and said it would be back in my hands in 4 weeks. 4 weeks later it returned repaired as promised with an extra mag included. I shot 18 mags through it the first range session with zero problems. I fired 16 mags through it the second range session, this time I left it dirty from the previous session to see if that would pose a problem. NOT. The 3rd range session I shoved another 12 mags through it. Once again, zero problems. I am shooting 102gr Remington Golden Sabers through it. The recoil of this 380 is remarkable because there is almost no recoil. Try most of the other brands; they have plenty of recoil to go around. The P238 is comfortable in my hand. I held all of the others and like the feel of the P238 the best by far. The Kahr was what I was expecting to buy. For similar money, I'm glad I purchased the SIG P238.
BTW: just to make sure the P238 was cookin' I fired the last 8 mags each time as fast as I could pull the trigger with zero problems.

I just bought the P238 SAS (from Sig Sauer's custom shop) model yesterday. I think it is awesome! My first 1911 type handgun, pure quality. Shoot good ammo and take care of your gun and it will take care of you.

I once bought a Ruger P95, brought it home cleaned it with Rem Oil wiped it down and went to my range. Almost every shot failed to eject, all kinds of stove pipes it was horrible. Came home read how a bunch of people were having the same problems with their P95's. I tore it down cleaned it with solvent and brush's, oiled it the right way. Went back to my range the thing ran perfect off three different types of ammo. Could be the same type of problem people are having with their Sig Sauer's.

Anyways buy yourself one, be responsible and take care of it and it will take care of you. You'll love it.

Clint C - I am certain some folks have the problems you noted - some folks just buy it and go to the range.

I took mine apart, cleaned, oil - grease, etc. Tried running dryer, tried running it wet etc. Trust me 1,400 rounds of hell I had plenty of opportunities to vary the approach. Got one of the bad ones, but it has clearly soured me to late model Sig's. Sure I am a small percentage - chances are your's will do better than mine. Hope Sig can eventually figure it out.

I am sure there are bad ones Flint Ridge just like any other make of gun.

I watched people on YouTube prove they had bad ones. Don't know how he had lubed his. That particular gun might not have liked the ammo he was running through it. I know with my .22lr's certain ones like certain ammo.

I noticed one guy on there said the Sig Sauer p238 is a difficult gun to take apart, I couldn't believe that I heard someone say that. It took me about two minutes to take it completely apart, including the firing pin out, and shell extractor out! lol.

Maybe I don't know what I am talking about on this one, but I don't think I would run any grease on a semi-auto pistol, that would really slow it down and cause stove pipes, especially a .380 auto.

When I lubed the slides on my P95 I just used Rem Oil spray on the slides then wiped it off. That wasn't enough, what I had to do was put oil on a rag then wipe the slides with the oiled rag. Worked perfect after that.

As far as springs breaking I have only ran 50 rounds through my gun with no problems. I have heard if the spring is installed backwards it will break for sure, and is simple to see why when you look at the spring. Time will tell how my particular gun will hold up, and plan on doing a review of it myself.

I would like to ask a question here. Did anyone ever stop and think maybe the P238 is built to well? Maybe things are to tight. I know an AK47 is a loose goose and that is why you can fire it when it is packed full of mud or sand. Maybe people aren't cleaning them properly? I am not a handgun expert, but I know any of my well built rifles are built really tight, and locking down the bolt can require some effort compared to some of my cheaper ones. Or maybe I just got lucky and ended up with a really good Sig Sauer P238, only time will tell.

Well anyways, wish everyone good luck with their Sig Sauer P238 I love mine!

I have 4 pocket .380's Kel-Tec, LCP, Sig P238 & Khar P380 and this is just my opinion of them. Kel-Tec & LCP great pocket guns but don't like to shoot them very much (poor sights & snappy recoil). Sig is my favorite to take to the range, as it's an excellant shooter, great sights with soft recoil compared with the above pair. It's unfortunate though, as the gun will have an occational hickup, like the slide lock open when the magazine is not empty and you must keep an eye on the recoil springs, & replace when necessary. For these reasons is why I don't carry this pistol, just don't know if I can fully trust it. Now the Khar P380 is my most carried pocket pistol, good sights, smooth DA trigger pull, nearly as soft shooting & accurate has P238 and has worked from the get go. LM

Any Sig P238 owners out there?

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I wish I wasn't. I won't go into all the problems I've had with this gun except, if you hear about a problem mine probably has it. I have a UPS label to send the gun back to SIG AGAIN. I have Zero expectations that they will get the gun reliable.

I have a Kel Tec .32 and P3AT, Micro Desert Eagle, two Ruger LCP and a Diamondback.
The first 5 have been pretty good guns, especially the Rugers.

It's a toss up which one is the worse one, the SIG or the Diamondback. Considering the high cost of the SIG I'd say it's the worst gun I've seen since the SKYY.

A couple days ago, after another 50 rounds, I measured this recoil spring that SIG put in the gun when they had the gun.
This spring has about a hundred rounds since SIG installed it, and it's the 4th new spring in about 400 rounds. (new spring on the bottom)

I like my P238, a couple of FTF in the beginning, but runs good now, actually a magazine issue. I have about 500 rounds thru mine since purchasing it new in April of this year. It has very low recoil for a pistol of it's size, due to the tilting barrel vs a delayed blowback. My only dislike of this little pistol is the too stout 8lb trigger pull. The now standard tritium night sights are a must have for a CCW IMO. The recoil spring is a non reversable type with a taper that should go to the rear of the guide rod, this is not addressed in the owners manual. Improper installation can cause cycling problems and malfunctions, some of the other posts have cited problems with the recoil springs. For a pistol of this size it is one of the highest quality pistols available, IMO. I am done buying mouse guns the P238 fills that niche... unless Beretta decides to make a .380 Tomcat.

600 rounds without a single problem and still on the original recoil spring.

Just checking in, I have one of the early ones but it was right after the recall range. Mine has been flawless from day one, never a hiccup even with my wife who tends to limp wrist. Last time it was at the club it was fired by about 6 different people and everyone loved it. The recoil is simply amazing.

I'd say I've got about 600 rounds down the drain.

Just snagged Privi Partisan 380 ammo from Natchez for $11.50 a box, so it's coming down.

Hey cpirtle, glad to hear your's is running fine and an early model at that. I really wonder if some of the chronic one's are simply guns with parts that are each slightly out of tolerance and when all the factors line up right you have a gun that just is out of spec. Who knows, I hope they figure it out eventually.

Maybe mine is the one out of spec and that's why it works

Seriously though, I have been so happy with mine I haven't bothered following threads online and have been suprised lately with some of the negatives I've been seeing. I suppose there may be more happy owners out there just blindly enjoying their 238's.

Sorry to hear you have a dud, but maybe you should try out the NIB one, maybe it will run good.

Side note, how does the recoil of the Kahr compare to the P238? My wife has RA and loves the recoil 238 but is a lefty, been looking for something comparable in recoil with a light trigger pull. I've avoided Kahr like the plague since my PM9 but would be willing to try another for her sake.

I got mine about two weeks ago. The Two-tone version for $510. The gunshop owner said it may have an older version of the spring. I called Sig and with no question, they sent me not 1 but 2 replacements. Its much longer and tighter....I have yet to fire the gun, but it definitely is comfortable to carry and feels great. I will shoot it this weekend. I'd like to try and get the break-in period over and done with. I polished the feed ramp with a dremel and Flitz to try and avoid ANY issues that I hear rumors of.

Mine took a while to get working right, but after 3 trips to SIG, they got it working WELL!

I have shot mine enough that I am comfortable carrying it.

I bought it becasue it is all stainless 238 HD model. Night sights make it a bit plus to me.

My shooting buddy has two of them and never had a problem. He still gives me grief over my HD model.

Here's the deal -- the 238 is so much easier to shoot well than the other pocket 380's that it's makes them all look bad. It has the best trigger, the best sights, and tames recoil the best of the pocket 380's.

However, there's a downside. They seem to be hit and miss. The new ones seem to be much better, but the initial ones seemed to have some issues.

Worth the risk? Absolutely. I'm not much good past 10-15ft with my LCP. With my 238, I'm almost as accurate as I am with a full size, at any distance. For ME, it would be worth it to have to buy three 238's to get one working one.

Really though, Sig sells a ton of them, and it's usually the people with issues who post up. You likely will not have issues if you buy one.

600 rounds without a single problem and still on the original recoil spring.

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A guy I work with has one of the original batches of 238's, has over 2000 rounds on it on the original recoil spring, rarely cleans the darn thing -- and has never experienced a single failure. If you get a "good" one, you're set.

My dad picked one up a few weeks ago. The one that comes with the factory laser. I held it in the store when he bought it and at the time the grip felt really short. I had a chance to fire a few rounds through it last week and it handled pretty good. Seemed much nicer on the hand than my walther and Seems like it would be much easier to hide.

Here's the deal -- the 238 is so much easier to shoot well than the other pocket 380's that it's makes them all look bad. It has the best trigger, the best sights, and tames recoil the best of the pocket 380's.

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Well said.

As I said earlier mine is one of the earlier ones and has been 100% flawless and I only clean it every other range session or so.

Just for kicks I've been asking the three local shops I frequent how they have done with them and all have said they sell as fast as they get them and none have heard of a single problem. I still haven't bothered to research the spring problem as mine is happily chucking lead down range with the original.

This last Saturday I was tagging an 8" steel plate effortlessly at our clubs 20 yard pistol range.