S&W Sigma, M&P, or Ruger SR9?

[Tequila jake]

The Academy store on Loop 1604 & 281 in San Antonio has Sigmas for $299 and M&Ps for $499. This includes a mail-in rebate coupon good for $50 back and two extra magazines. I tried both of them (in 9mm) and, despite the fact that I have small hands, the fit was pretty good. However, based on a couple of magazine articles and some forum postings, I'm also considering the Ruger SR9. Haven't had a chance to handle one so I don't know how it would fit.

Any experience with/recommendations on these three guns with regards to reliability and durability?

Tequila Jake

 

[SeanMTX]

IMHO, the extra $$ spent on an M&P is well worth it.

The Sigma is (again, disclaimered by stating it's my opinion...)ugly, of average quality and is a ripoff of the Glock design...and not all that well of a reproduction.

The M&P is an excellent gun, with good fit and finish and IMHO, better balance and feel.

Both Smiths will work well and do exactly what you'd expect. Their customer service has been discussed here at length, and the consensus has been that even though the Sigma isn't all that great of a pistol, the service is impeccable, and depending on what you intend to use the Sigma for, can be a perfectly practical and capable weapon. (home defense in a nightstand for example, as opposed to carry weapon)

I am not familiar with the Ruger, so I'll have to bow out of that side of the equation.

You may want to check out other guns in between the price range you listed above such as:

CZ
Taurus (PT111?)
Walther P99
Used Sig
etc.

 

[cookekdjr]

M&P is by far the class of that group. Just a great design through and through.
The Sigma is a reliable, sturdy gun, with a horrible trigger that cannot be made tolerable. It is without a doubt the worst trigger of any gun I've tried. I can't believe S&W makes that gun...I mean, its an embarassment.
The Ruger is a new design, and shows some promise. But the quality does not compare to the M&P. I say get the M&P. I bought one a month ago.
-David

 

[Anna's Dad]

I really like the M&P. I bought the Ruger but had a problem with the front site and really haven't used it significantly--waiting on a part from Ruger.

The only one of the three I would say "no" to is the Sigma. It's better than nothing if you're really strapped for cash, but you'd be much better off with one of the others.

 

[nwilliams]

I have both the M&P40 and the SR9 and years ago I owned a Sigma 40VE.

All of them are decent guns but out of all of them the M&P has the best trigger, the SR9 has the best feel and the Sigma has the best price.

All of the guns have great ergonomics and it really comes down to personal preference in the end if you're talking about how the gun feels in the hand. The M&P and Ruger are going to be far more reliable when it comes to eating all types of ammo and overall functioning. Although I never had any major problems with the one I had and I think the 1st gen Sigma's were really the ones with the problems. The trigger on my M&P was a little scratchy at first but after a few hundred rounds it smoothed out very nicely. I did have to send mine back to S&W after about 500 rounds because the mag release began to have issues, now I have over 6k rounds through it and it hasn't had any issues since.

For the price I think both the SR9 and the Sigma are great deals, I paid $385+tax for my SR9 but I know people are seeing them for even less now. The Sigma has always struck me as a lot of gun for the money, especially considering you can find a plethora of used ones out there for well under $300 at shops and gun shows.

The M&P is a little more pricey so it has to compete with the Glock and XD, that's some stiff competition, whereas new Sigma's and SR9's can both be placed in the sub $400 category.

Here's a good article about the SR9
http://www.gunsandammomag.com/ga_handguns/ga_rugersr9_0801/index2.html

Here's an interesting article on the Sigma.....
http://www.handgunsmag.com/featured_handguns/sigma_100507/

 

[kokapelli]

Had a Sigma. Didn't like it and didn't keep it very long.

My SR9 came in yesterday and I shot 50 rounds of 115 gr +p today.

The SR9 feels as good or better than any other pistol I own. Recoil is surprising light and the pistol feels really smooth while shooting.

Recovery between shots was extremely fast and the trigger is much better than I expected.

I suspect that some of the gritty trigger reports were from SR9s that were dry fired without a magazine inserted. Ruger warns that dry firing an SR9 without the magazine inserted will cause the trigger to develop a gritty feel.

My SR9 was not a display gun. It came directly from Davidsons and had not been dry fired.

The sights are a little off. It shoots low and to the left.
I did click adjust the rear sight to bring the shots up to point of aim, but I didn't have an allen wrench with me to loosen the rear sight for windage adjustment. I'll get that next time.

The only other complaint I have, is the magazines are a bear to load. I'm going to take them apart and see if smoothing up the followers helps.

I have small hands and I have an XD, a couple of Hi Powers and a couple of CZs that all shoot very well, but right now, I think the SR9 is going to be my pistol of choice.

 

[SeanMTX]

FYI...went to my store today and a salesguy was showing a gent a Sigma 9mm. He went to hit the slide lever to close the slide into battery, and the slide wouldn't close all the way. He tried a few times and had to hit the butt end to get it to close each and every time.

Guy who was going to buy it didn't seem to know what was going on, and the salesguy said that he'd never seen a gun straight from the factory have a problem, and that the Sigmas were one of the worst quality guns out there, even with the S&W name.

He directed the guy to CZ and Taurus Mil Pro.

 

[SeanMTX]

FYI...went to my store today and a salesguy was showing a gent a Sigma 9mm. He went to hit the slide lever to close the slide into battery, and the slide wouldn't close all the way. He tried a few times and had to hit the butt end to get it to close each and every time.

Guy who was going to buy it didn't seem to know what was going on, and the salesguy said that he'd never seen a gun straight from the factory have a problem, and that the Sigmas were one of the worst quality guns out there, even with the S&W name.

He directed the guy to CZ and Taurus Mil Pro.

 

[kd7nqb]

The sigma has a pretty poor reliability history. I know almost nothing about the SR9 but I love my M&P its been a great gun to me.

 

[FLA2760]

kd7nqb wrote" The sigma has a pretty poor reliability history". The newer Sigmas are good guns at a resonable price. My 40VE has been 100% reliable with about 800 rounds of all types of ammo. That is better than my Glock27.

 

[tnieto2004]

M&P is in another class

 

[tblt]

Ruger

The sigma is junk Jam Jam Jam,M & p is ok but I don't like smith auto's.Guns and ammo or handguns magazine just did a test on the ruger 1200 rounds without a cleaning no jams.Aslo check out

CZ
Glock

 

[mquaack]

M&P

Get the M&P and don't look back. It is a great gun that will last a lifetime. I got the .40 cal compact for off duty carry. It is perfect. Had a Glock 27 but sold it. I carry an issued Glock 35 on duty though.