Sig P238 Questions: Dryfiring, Trigger Consistency

[theautobahn]

I had two questions regarding the Sig P238:

First, are they ok to dryfire? Sig's FAQ says yes, although I don't think it's been updated since that model was released (there's a general statement about most models except rimfires being ok to dryfire, at least occasionally). However, a guy who works at the Sig factory was at my LGS when my friend was there and the Sig employee apparently admonished everyone not to dry-fire the P238's. I don't know if the employee didn't mention why or my friend didn't catch the reason, but does anybody have an answer on this?

Also, has anybody had the opportunity to shoot multiple P238's? The 5-7 that I've dryfired (see question 1) have all had very different trigger pulls. 2-3 had what I would call good triggers, 3 had fairly heavy, gritty triggers and one (an HD) had a horrendous trigger - the DA trigger on my Smith feels lighter and smoother. Is there a reason for what seems like horrible inconsistency in the triggers?

 

[bigfatdave]

dry-fire: when in doubt, use a snap-cap

triggers: I don't know, but the Mrs has a 238 and the trigger gets grittier as the gun gets dirtier - maybe the difference is in cleaning as well as manufacturing tolerances. It isn't a target gun trigger in any case, the main competition is the P3at/P32 triggers.

 

[Undrpsi]

P238 Trigger

They could have been dirty. I and 2 other friends on this. There are some slight variations at the range but that could be due to different ages of the guns.

Autobahn is right...these are not target guns....but mouse guns...and they are MUCH better triggers than my P32, S&W BG380...or heck, any DAO pistol I could name...

I like my P238 a lot...but that's because of the Hogue palmswell grips on it..if you haven't tried them on....you should!

Dryfiring won't them...they're copies of the 1911 platform...but when in doubt get a snap cap...

Jay

 

[bigfatdave]

they're copies of the 1911 platform

not really - compare the insides of each, there are a LOT of differences

 

[Krzyshng]

Some people just don't like dry firing their guns. There shouldn't be any problems from dry firing any centerfires but as stated snap caps are cheap insurance if you're worried about it.

Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Undrpsi]

not really - compare the insides of each, there are a LOT of differences

Uh...I said "copy of 1911 platform" not "copies of a Colt"

Browning action, 1911 grip profile, internal ejector, grip mounted button magazine release, single action, single stack, profile is a mini-me (ala Colt Mustang) design. take down/magazine release...basically isn't order of operation the same?...the only thing that is functionally different is the safety. The ability to keep on safe and still rack the slide.

Does the internal differences in a 70 or 80 series Colt make them not a 1911? What about all the "me too" 1911's out there..some with external ejectors...They call them 1911's? It's a platform...just like some refer to the grip angles of pistols as "1911" or "Luger" style is what I meant...the Sig P238 is a '1911' style platform...wouldn't that be a true statement. No, not exact copies but that's not what I said. I guess I should have said "functionally copy" the 1911 platform.

Jay

 

[ambidextrous1]

When I bought my P238 a couple of years ago, it had a lousy trigger that required a lot of force to trip it (I didn't measure the actual force required).

I performed a detail strip and found that the leaf spring inside the rear of the grip appeared to be bent in a way that increased the trigger force. I straightened that spring so that it "looked right", and achieved a smooth trigger with about a 5 pound release. It's possible to go lighter, but I see no reason to do so.

When properly tuned, the P238 will have a great single-action trigger, comparable to its (1911) big brother.

I have documented the corrective action I performed, and will share that information with anyone who will PM me with their email address.

 

[2wheels]

They are fine to dryfire, but as bigfatdave pointed out, use snap caps if you're nervous. It can't hurt.

I've only ever tried the trigger on my 238, it's a wee bit on the heavy side for an SAO trigger but that's fine by me. It's a pocket pistol, not a match grade 1911. I'm not worried about tuning the trigger, I can still shoot circles around pretty much any other comparable pocket pistol. Just did last week against my buddy and his girlfriends new Bodyguard 380, you wanna talk about horrible triggers? Pick up a Bodyguard!

 

[GarySTL]

I have the Copperhead version and think the triggers pretty good. Never measured it though. Much nicer than my LCP.

Anyone have a link to the grips mentioned?

 

[bigfatdave]

Undrpsi, again, LOOK at the internals, the mustang and 238 are not scaled-down 1911 pattern guns, they just look somewhat like (and yes, external controls are similar to) a 1911a1 pistol

The ejector is an entirely different design, the 238 trigger isn't sliding, it pivots, the safety is different, the slide doesn't open in the front to let the barrel out, there is no bushing or flared bushingless bull barrel, the barrel of the 238 isn't on a swinging link, it has a cam on the underside ... the differences are extensive and far more than just scale. Your statement about dryfire being a non-issue might be somewhat true, but it isn't because they have a scaled-down copy of an M1911a1 pistol's firing pin and FP channel.

 

[theautobahn]

The guns in question were all brand new guns. I'm sure they would all benefit from a break-in period (dry-fire and actual shooting), but I found it odd how different the triggers felt on some versus others.

I'm not arguing whether it is a good feeling trigger or not (I think it's pretty good for what it is, but a little heavy, although I understand why as it's a mouse gun), but wondering why there is such a disparity in trigger feel between multiple new guns of the same model (they were all 238's but not all the same model - one Extreme, one HD, one Equinox, one Two-Tone, one Rosewood and there were one or two others in there as well). We didn't measure them, but I would guess the "good" triggers were the factory spec 5-6 lbs but the HD had what felt like a 10-12 lb trigger on it, and it was gritty feeling. I felt like Greg from Top Shot waiting for the trigger to break.