time to step up. (SW Sigma)

[Hoppy590]

My cousin called me to aske my opinion about differant pistols. Glock, M&P, and Sigma

he wants a cheap range and HD gun. and he would favor SW as its "hometown". hes in FL, but grew up in MA. has been to SW with me a number of times. i told him a glock or M&P would be a good choice. a used glock can be had cheap with lots of cheap mags. a used or new M&P a little more. yet despite my constant defending of the Sigma i just couldnt bring myself to recomend it as a HD gun.

so it looks like if he doesnt choose by thanksgiving its time for me to step up. buy a sigma and run some rounds through it untill im satisfied. then recomend one, or gift the broken in one to him if it meets my approval

i suppose what il recomend to random people on the internet and what i recomend to my family are differant. and for that i appoligize

 

[Thernlund]

Any of those three will certainly be fine for just about any HD/SD application. That said, a Glock, although somewhat "soulless", is about as good as it gets for rock solid reliability.

Note however that as it pertains to those three, the margin in relaibility is probably so razor thin that an Average Joe will never know the difference.


-T.

 

[tnieto2004]

I just really couldn't bring myself to enjoy shooting the Sigma ..

 

[Hoppy590]

im not concerned about enjoying the sigma. im concerned about reliability. its his decision about the "Fun"

i dont enjoy shooting any striker fired handgun. but iv only shot the sigma at the rental range, so its a well broken in piece, and has treated me well asside form the sloppy DA trigger i find so common in striker guns.

i still dont doubt the sigma, i just found a double standard between what i suggest to random people and what i suggest to family

 

[RNB65]

You already know the answer. Tell him to go to ranges and gunshops where he can handle and, preferably, shoot different type of guns and let him decide what he likes best.

Trying to pick a gun for someone else is a no-win situation. I've got 3 buddies that I shoot with all the time. All 4 of us have amazingly different tastes in handguns (and rifles and shotguns ). Sometimes at the range we'll have 20+ handguns between us and no two are the same model/caliber.

 

[Hoppy590]

well next time he comes home were going to go to the SW range where he can try the Sigman and M&P. il see if my budy will come along with his glock. and iv got a p14-45.

so he will get to try, Sigma, M&P, Glock & 1911 clone. thats assuming he waits till the holiday season.

 

[Hoppy590]

ok, update. hes going looking this weekend. he asked about a EAA Witness. being a Cz-75 clone i said its a better choice than a Sigma and probibly better than a glock for a range gun

yesterday i was chatting it up with local dealers as is my custom. and in the convo we talked about SW M&P's the 50$ discount and 2 free mags, same with the sigmas, at which point he said "$%^&*(&# sigmas! i cant get rid of them!" and offered me a sigma at <200$. 40 cal. lightly used. what do you guys think? he said his lay away is 30%, 30 days. so figure,give a 60 sumthing $ deposit, then 30 a week. should get it by then. should i go for it?

 

[modifiedbrowning]

he wants a cheap range and HD gun

I have no Sigma experience so I won't comment on that. But, if he wants an inexpensive range and HD pistol tell him to look at the Bersa line. I have three Bersas (two 9mm Compacts and one 9mm Fullsize) and all three have been 100% reliable and the triggers have smoothed out very nicely.
www.bersafirearmsusa.com
www.bersatalk.com

 

[FieroCDSP]

Well, as far as price on a full-sized defensive gun, $200 isn't bad at all. It kinda depends on whether you want to be stuck with another Sigma. As the guy said, it's hard to get rid of them in any way other than tossing them off a bridge. They are reliable, and obviously the trigger is an issue. Then again, I've heard more than a few people say that if you can shoot a Sigma, you can shoot anything.

Personal recommendation is the M&P, which replaced my Sigma only a few months after I bought it, primarily for the better feel and full-supported chamber.

 

[boomer1911a1]

Only target shooters and gun snobs have any legitimate gripes against the Sigma. As a souless bullet dispenser, it is perfectly adequate and a screaming deal at the prices I've seen. The trigger (one of those legitimate gripes I mentioned) smooths out with use and becomes perfectly useable.

If he's worried about resale value, by all means, stick with something more expensive. It he was a knock-around bed-side companion/range toy that will do the job for a quarter-grand, he can't do better.

 

[bb21]

Keep in mind the price and what you get and the Sigma is not too bad, for the average joe that doesn't know much about what a good trigger really feels like, it will work very well and the "bad" trigger is part of the design, long and heavy, a lawyer's dream. So for HD it is not too bad, the ergonomics are great and once again price is a bonus, I would try to take advantage of the current S&W promotion if you/he chooses one.
Good Luck and Be Safe!

 

[The Wiry Irishman]

I was going to post something witty about using some of the money you saved getting the Sigma on a winch system for the trigger, but then I saw this:

Only target shooters and gun snobs have any legitimate gripes against the Sigma.

And it got me thinking. Most of my shooting is done with either 2.5 or .5 pound single action triggers, depending on the gun. My friends give me quizzical looks when the catch me referring to the 4-pound trigger on my Kimber as "heavy." If you're going to be getting one gun to take to the range and learn with, it might be better to start with a heavier trigger. It took me a "Shootin' Size" box of MagTech .45 to get used to the "heavy" trigger on my 1911 so I stopped jerking everything low and left. I just recently got a new guy at club into bull shooting. Going from his XD to a free pistol didn't hurt his score or grouping one bit. I'd be willing its because he learned better trigger control shooting service pistols then I did starting out on target pistols and doing most of my shooting with them.

I've had a friend mention reliability issues with the Sigma, but he's never owned one and he likes to complain, so I wouldn't but too much faith in that analysis.

 

[strat81]

If he's leaning towards S&W and the M&P fits his hand, I'd get that. $50 rebate and 2 free mags are nice. Be sure he is aware of the interchangeable backstraps on the M&P.