Smith & Wesson .380

[T4A]

I had a chance to buy one of these for $125 and passed on it. Now I'm thinking I should have gotten it for my wife. Anyone have one of these, and should I have picked it up?

 

[Alan Fud]

for $125 ... maybe. Keep in mind that their Sigma .380 is about the worst gun that they have ever made in recent times.

 

[field70]

The Sigma??? Passing was the best choice..I have one I bought new when the first came out..it has never gone through one mag without jamming on the 3rd round..totally junk.

 

[Antjo]

I have a Bersa .380 that I carry when I need something very small. Although I've never had any feed problems the accuracy leaves something to be desired. Within 15 yards I feel it is adequate to defend myself if the need arises, but I prefer my Sig 245 or 229 all other times.

 

[mainmech48]

IMHO, it's good policy to pass on anything which contains one or more major component made of zamac alloy. Unless it's a Hubley cap pistol, of course.

 

[Justin]

S&W autoloaders?

Heresy, I say.

With the exception of the Model 41.

 

[Ala Dan]

Best Possible Choice

Good thing you passed on the S&W Sigma .380.

 

[PCRCCW]

Its an expensive mistake to learn.........worst 380 made, except maybe Accutek.......
The mag release design is BLASPHEMY on a CCW sized gun............"Hey buddy, can I borrow a hand....Ive got a tactical reload going on"!

Shoot well................BTW, I dont think you should get it.........

 

[Longbow]

If you can re-sell it for $200, maybe. But to keep it for SD, I say, you made the right choice.

 

[T4A]

Looks like I made a good choice. Thanks for the replies.

 

[Standing Wolf]

Heresy, I say.
With the exception of the Model 41.

Even that's an iffy proposition.

 

[benEzra]

S&W really went down the wrong road with that .380. They made their reputation on high-quality, well made guns (yes, even the autoloaders--I own an awesome 3913 LadySmith)--and then made basically an S&W Bryco. I think the design life was only a couple thousand rounds, and you had to use a pin punch to disassemble the thing, IIRC. I'm not even sure if it had real sights. :banghead:

Had they instead made a small, double-action .380 comparable to the Colt Pony or the Kel-Tec P3AT, they'd have grabbed a lot of market share in the small-.380 niche.

For the price, a used Bersa .380 or something like that would be a lot better choice from a quality standpoint, IMHO. (I just read the Bersa thread in Autoloaders, and the poster said they typically go for ~$150 or so.)

 

[GEM]

God, that was the worst gun I ever shot. What a piece of ...

It is only rivaled by the 9mm version. I saw someone who bought one at the range years ago, he was dancing up and down on it, saying bad words.

 

[Southern Raider]

Crap! Absolute crap! I bought mine when it first came out and was priced within $100 of a Sig P230. I didn't know as much then as I do now...

 

[SouthpawShootr]

Good pass. These were the guns with some kind of alloy slides. They were not made for extensive use and, IIRC, service life was estimated to be somewhere around 2500 rounds. They were a pain in the butt to take down for cleaning and had a really weird magazine. S&W discontinued them and a similarly designed micro 9mm. Probably when they realized that people didn't like the idea of a disposable handgun.