Opinion Of Sigma?

[yesit'sloaded]

When my best friend was getting into guns for the first time we looked at these. They had the S&W name behind them and felt like a good gun. For the price of getting a half a Kimber, he got a .40 Sigma for defense and a Ruger .45 grip mark III in .22 with a bull barrel with adjustable sights for the range. Is the Sigma a Glock? No. Would I trust it in the middle of the night? Yes.

 

[searcher6]

$220 w/ 4 mags

NIB SW40VE $270 at CDNN - $50 rebate and 2 extra mags from S&W rebate = $220 (with (4) 14 round magazines). Shipping and dealer transfer a little more than sales tax on new gun at dealer would have been.

 

[bglz42]

I bought a Sigma 9mm today, my first plastic gun... I'm pleasantly surprised at the trigger. It's not as horrible as I thought it was going to be. I guess I don't have too much problem with it because I'm accustomed to shooting my revolvers DA only. The trigger on this Sigma is MUCH better than the 642 I just bought.

 

[David N]

Enjoy It

Welcome, fellow Sigma owner. Smith has made a lot of improvements since the first generation.

For a good review of these go to smith-wessonforum.com and look for the thread "I believe this is a real value".

Please PM me if you have any problems with it or find an ammo it doesn't like.

The trigger on mine isn't bad either, Smith must have improved it.

 

[biscuitninja]

Almost bought one, but instead went with a Sig P225 for about $30 more. $320 vs $350. WORLDS different, but at least the Sigma is supported. To me, almost all Sigs I've used have been without a doubt... superb. Its up to you though.
-bix

 

[TxPhantom]

Why, Oh Why, didn't I do it......

You got one heck of a bargain on a Sig P225 for $300.00. Must be a used gun, which is ok. Normally any sig would run $400.00 to $500.00 more than that. Otherwise we would all probably own at least one Sig.
I'll never forgive myself for not buying a factory reconditioned Sig (forgot the #) in 40 Caliber with a interchangable 357 mag. barrel at a gun show for a little over $500.00. It came in the original case with all paper work and looked NIB.

 

[biscuitninja]

Texas-san!
The P225 is an old European LE pistol. It is only single stack and the next closest cousin is the P229 (doublestack). They only come in 9mm though. This one has VERY few rounds through it. The interior mechanism showed barely any wear. It shoots VERY good, the trigger could use a bit of work. Otherwise its a low use Sig. Anyways good luck
-bix

 

[Crow61]

I just talked my son-in-law to buy a Sigma 40VE. He was looking at and leaning towards the Kel-Tec P-11, but I talked him out of that one. I believe that the Sigma is a far superior pistol backed by a reputable company. He took it to the range yesterday and really likes it.

I know that he would have rather had a "nicer" pistol, but he is a student and only works part-time. My daughter is carrying the load til he graduates so they have to watch their spending. But, one could probably spend more and get less.

I think that most of the negative replies are from S&W bashers and they are politically motivated.

 

[Ed Ames]

Bashing cheap or "value" items is always a safe bet. S&W were willing to cut some corners along the way to deliver a sub-$300 service pistol. Heck, they didn't even budget enough for a safety! Outrageous. You can't really fault detractors for taking a few swipes at low-hanging fruit like that.

On the other hand, cheap don't mean useless. Yeah, they left off a few fancy features like tritium sights, removable grips, and manual safeties... but they delivered a seemingly very reliable and reasonably accurate service pistol, brand new and with a decent waranty, for a price almost anyone can afford. I have one and so far I can't say anything bad about it except for the obvious, "owning this doesn't put me in any exclusive club," complaint. Or maybe there's a special sigma omega qoppa membership with my name on it lost in the mail somewhere. Nobody taught me any secret handshakes when I bought the gun though.

Decent gun, great price, I can see no reason not to have one as a backup if nothing else.

 

[dondavis3]

I own a S&W Sigma 40VE and I like the way it feels in my hand and it is as accurate as it can be with the horrible trigger pull.




I own several S&W's and I'm getting the trigger on this one fixed and then I'll have a outstanding gun.

 

[Commander Crusty]

I like 'em. Very revolver-like trigger action is conducive to accurate shooting for some people--me included. Reliable. Great grip. Good sights. You done good. Now, burn up a couple boxes of ammo per month and report back here in one year. Make it your goal to shoot that gun to death!!!

 

[kmrcstintn]

reasonable price, goes bang and works 99% of the time (based that you use ammo that the firearm doesn't have difficulty feeding, firing, and ejecting), more rpactice time needed to get used to the heavy trigger

 

[mr.scott]

Dang it. I read through most of this thread and started looking for $300 CZ75's then realized that was posted in 2007

I had a 40cal Sigma. It was serviceable but I sold it to get a used XD for $300 before XD's were popular.

 

[joe_security]

I fired a rental sigma, 9mm. It shot well for me. Would i buy one? No. I prefer something else.

 

[doc540]

$250 w/lifetime warranty?

I'm in

 

[Guy de Loimbard]

My dad has one of these, in 9mm. I have shot it. It is well built, reliable, and accurate but I did not like the trigger at all. It is very long, gritty, and the pull weight must be 15lb on his. It is a serviceable gun but without a lot of practice it is hard to get good accuracy out of with that trigger.

 

[HippieMagic]

I don't like the looks of the sigma or the feel of the trigger but the gun is fine. I wouldn't use it for anything but self defense if I had to though. The trigger just made it really unpleasant to shoot when I just wanted to play around at the range. My friend doesn't like it much either and keeps saying he wishes he would have gone with another XD(like he sold) or a Glock(like me). He never had issues with it as far as misfires and recoil was better than on my G19. It didn't smack me in the face with casings either. I might get flamed for it but... Glock or XD trigger on this gun and I would be happy to own one for the price. I only paid $50 more for my G19(new) than I would have for a new Sigma though so I am definitely happy with this purchase. If I only had $300 to spare for a gun I would probably buy a Sigma, but it would only be if I needed one and couldn't come up with the extra cash for anything better.

My opinion:

Pros: Never failed to fire, fed anything we put through it, pretty accurate once you get used to the trigger, not too heavy, comfortable, and better recoil than my G19.

Cons: Trigger is annoying, not the best looking, slightly larger than G19, ugly rail.

The trigger made it somewhat annoying to fire too many rounds through and required me to adjust my hand to get it to fire. My main complaint wasn't in the weight of the pull but in the length of the pull. I wouldn't use it as a range gun if I could avoid it. It just didn't fit my hand too well as far as my fingers are concerned however it fit my hand in the sense that it felt good to hold.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

I found out I was going to be working in New Orleans not long after Katrina, so I started looking for a pistol to carry. I was strapped for cash and settled on the Sigma because of the price. At first I hated it because it jammed about every third shot. Then I found out the problem. I had bought a box of Monarch ammo. Everything I've ever heard about their ammo in auto pistols has been horrible, and from my experience with this one, I believe it. I bought some good Remington and Winchester ammo, and it shoots just fine. Not the best trigger, but for $299, I still consider it a bargain. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

 

[TxPhantom]

By TxPhantom on Sept 14, 2007....I'll keep my Sigma........

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My SW9VE has never had any kind of failure through about 2500 rounds. Zero, nada, none! Great ergonomics, very accurate and very dependable. Most criticism is from people that equate price with quality. Often that is right but sometimes it is not. In the case of the (my) Sigma it is not.
The trigger is what it is supposed to be for a SD pistol with no external safety. A good SD pistol, but not as much fun on the gun range. Just another very good SD tool.
Btw, practice trigger control on the Sigma and it will help you be a better shooter with a better range gun.
I have a CZ 75, a Walther, a Taurus, a Baby Desert Eagle, a S.A. 1911 Micro Compact, two S & W M & P's and several S & W revlovers that have better triggers but my cheap little SW9VE will hold it's own. If I sold my Sigma I couldn't replace it for what I could get for it anyway.
__________________

Well I have to eat my words! I sold my Sigma, but I sold it to my son in law (too cheap) for home protection. But since I made that post over two years ago (some threads never die) I have bought another S & W, MP 9 Pro, so I still got plenty of home protection.
I hate to sell any of my guns and I miss my Sigma!

 

[armsmaster270]

I have the 40V model and it is a good gun other than a heavy trigger, functions well accurate for it's price and perfectly serviceable SD gun.

 

[rhoggman]

Cz 75s for $300..... someone is smoking crack

 

[blue german]

I was wandering at a local gun show a year or so after the S&W Sigma came on the market. On one table Sat a Sigma SW9V for a cheap price. It was what I called a 'grey ghost' - a Sigma SW9V with two hi-caps with a stainless steel slide and grey grip frame - and it was LNIB at $235. Everything was there - mags - gun - box and paperwork. Seller said he'd shot less than 1/2 box 9mm thru it (and gave me the remaining 28 rounds in the box...). So, I bought it. It felt much better in my hand than any of my Glocks...my first generation 17 and 17L or my ex-DEA Glock 19 2nd generation gun. Everything was there...paperwork.... manual ....and he threw in a 10-round S&W mag to boot. So I bought it.

The trigger does not seem heavy to me - just different. In point of fact it feels better than any one of my Glocks IMHO. 200 rounds were fired the first month with no failures and that trend has continued.....Yes...it IS a Glock-clone but the Sigma grip fits my hand much better than any of my Glocks. It's been an intriguing gun for me..... I found several more original hi-caps for my SW9V in the years before the anti-hi-cap law sunset in Sept. 2004. Interestingly, to make these hi-caps fit and work in my Grey Ghost I had to disassemble the hi-caps and remove 10-12 thousandths from the UP-side of the floorplates to allow the hi-caps to properly lock in place....Took me less than 10 minutes total to do all the hi-caps (4) that either came with the Smith or I had found and purchased.

It has been reliable so far and I simply refuse to accept the detractors of the Sigma because my SW9V simply works and works and works. And until I have problems with it, I will continue to defend my Glock-like Smith....

 

[atomd]

Wow this thread came back from the dead. I figured I'd comment since S&W is making a big push with their Sigma again at the moment. $50 rebate or 2 free mags, buyer's choice. They aren't top notch pistols and it's true that the triggers are somewhat of a bear, but at just under $300 for a service size autoloader in 9mm or 40S&W....what type of competition does it have out there? Most Taurus and Ruger models are more expensive than that and they are usually considered to be value priced guns.

Combine that with the S&W warranty and customer service and it seems like it would be a pretty good deal, especially for a pistol to be used as a "truck gun" or a second/third pistol to keep handy somewhere for defensive purposes. The 2nd gen ones have a pretty good reputation as far as reliability goes. It's one of those guns that not many people seem to love, but eh...it will get the job done on the cheap. I wouldn't buy one but I won't turn my nose up at one either.

 

[Davek1977]

I have one, and while not the flashiest, prettiest, or "best" gun out there, its never failed to go bang when I wanted it to, not go bang when I didn't want it to, and has eaten every brand of ammo I've fed it (to be far, haven't shot any steel cased out of it, so that may be problematic....brass cased rounds of various bullet weights, types, and maufacturers have all functioned 100%, even during the 100 round "break in". I carry it with confidence, which means I trust it with my life. Not bad for a gun I have all of $200 bucks into ($300 new, 50 dollar rebate, "$50 dollar off all firearms" sale at my local Runnings Farm and Fleet (across the street from my house incidently). I got my money's worth and more with this gun, and could likely still sell it at a higher price than I paid for it new.....if I only wanted to, that is!!

 

[carbuncle]

I had a first gen .40 Sigma (it was my first pistol), and I wouldn't recommend those. Mine have a tendency to malfunction every third mag, accuracy was poor and after I sold it to a co-worker he had to warranty it twice. In S&Ws defense, they took care of him both times and he's still happy with the gun twelve years later.

But if the second gen fixes addressed the issue with the original run, there would be nothing wrong with them as a decent, inexpensive defense gun.