Why does the Sigma have a bad rap?

[boostedxt]

I have fired so many guns in my life some good and some bad. I currently own a CZ40, Baby Eagle, Taurus 24/7 Pro, and a Sigma.

I show up the range and people give the sigma a look like omg that gun is complete crap. Whats the deal? My sigma is the only gun that has never given me an issue. It has eaten everything I have fed it and i have been able to shoot that gun great.

so what gives? With the sigma ever get credit or will it always be a dog in the eyes of most shooters?

Latest round..


Joe

 

[MadMercS55]

I own a 9VE current generation and can't find anything wrong with it. Total about 1300rnds through mine (bought used). Many complain about the trigger, and while long, mine is nice and smooth. The previous owner is a good friend and never had any failures with the weapon. I've put a variety of ammo through it as well with 100% reliability. For the money, it's probably one of the best deals out there. Some early Sigmas had problems from what I've read but I have no 1st hand experience there. I've also recommended the current 9VE to a friend looking for a sub-$400 pistol and his results are the same as mine, 100% reliability, although his trigger is a tad heavier, but that seems to change with more rounds thru the pistol.

 

[Floppy_D]

I'm a fan of it. The only flaw I have to gripe about is the trigger. If you can get past that, it's a good gun at a fair price. Light to carry, and I can put 'em all in a tennisball at 15yds, which is good enough for a duty gun.

They're inexpensive, and that's when it becomes less "Sigma" and more "Stigma". But I think for the money, they're tough to beat.

 

[boostedxt]

The trigger is stiff and long...but not horrible. I actually like it. It helps me stay smooth. I can tell when its going to break as well...I just dont get it. I love it and everyone who has shot it likes it.

joe

 

[Z71]

I had one of the first Sigma .40's for duty use. The trigger went bad after a couple hundred shots. Wouldn't fire anymore!

S&W fixed it, however it started to do the same thing again before too many more rounds. Another Sigma on the force did the same basic thing, trigger crapped out.

That was the end of the Sigma as far as I was concerned. I imagine many others had similiar experiences and talked. Nobody wants a turkey for a handgun, and the reputation stuck.

Sounds like S&W got the Sigma's issues fixed, but the first guns out were a crap-shoot. A very poor alternative to the Glock. While S&W touted it as the best thing for the money out there, it wasn't that good.

I'm not knocking the newer generations of Sigma's, but the first ones did the damage to the guns reputation.

 

[mtngunr]

Current experience aside, it got an early black eye for being such a close kin to a Glock that Glock sued, plus, testing by writers showed problems with strange items such as a felt buffer in the trigger spring falling out and causing the gun to quit working.....this was all some time ago, but such impressions stick, as my recollection shows.....

 

[LeonCarr]

As previously mentioned, the Sigma (aka the Glock & Wesson) was so close a copy to the Glock that Glock sued S&W and won. A S&W factory rep at a gun shop told me that it costs S&W exactly 6 bucks to make a Sigma frame.

A buddy of mine had to send his to a S&W warranty station twice to fix a firing pin issue. I pulled out a trigger pull gauge and his Sigma had a 13 pound trigger pull. I have owned factory stock revolvers that didn't have a double action pull that heavy.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

 

[burningsquirrels]

personally i shot a couple sigmas and i didn't like either one. trigger felt really mushy compared to a glock, and the whole thing rattled in my hand that i was afraid to shoot it for fear of coming apart.

by word of mouth, i've heard of firing pin problems and trigger issues where the slide would cycle, but the striker would not cock or stay cocked.

 

[winddummy]

Sigma

I've owned at least 9 sigma's since they first came out, currently down to a SW9F and a SW40VE and I haven't had all of these problems that every one talks about. Yes the trigger on the VE model is lacking but I fixed mind by replacing the sear block assembly with one from a "F" model, a little polishing on parts , including the ramp and chamber. The trigger is MUCH better. The only repair I scheduled my self to do is replacing the the extractor and spring on the "F" model, not bad considering the age and use of the pistol. I think the majority of problems are brought on by their owners trying to make modifications and repairs them selfs. Often people bash brands and models based on hearsay and not on actual, prolonged experiance.

 

[burningsquirrels]

prolonged experience..... if you test drive a car and it sucks, would you buy it? probably not... and that's the experience most of us who don't like sigmas have had. i think if it felt more solid and had a couple changes, it'd be a killer deal. if it worked out for you, that's excellent! i mean for 300 bucks with four mags (the deal i was cross shopping at the time), you can't beat that. but like i said, it was the test drive that turned me off.

 

[jmr40]

Many of the early Sigma's were a POS. I bought one in 1998 and had the same problem as Z71. It took 3 trips back to S&W and 5 months and I never got to finish 1 box of ammo. Smith & Wesson never reimbursed me for the shipping. I spent nearly as much to ship the gun back to them as it cost me to buy it. They did finally send me a new gun which my dealer took on trade unfired and allowed me to apply the money towards a Glock.

I know they have made major improvements since then but I could never trust one. Left a very bad taste in my mouth.

 

[Z71]

My "quality of ownership" experiences with a Sigma were definately bleak!

While I here nothing but praise for the guns now, I flat cringe everytime I see one!

At the time, I really needed that gun, and it failed me bad. My mind says "Good guns Now", my mouth say's "wheel chock".

 

[denfoote]

Most of the Sigma's rap came during the dark time when S&W made "the deal" with the Klintoons. The boycott followed and disgruntled Glock owners started spreading rumors about the Sigma. Most which have become internet myth!! I traded for the original Sigma that caused Gaston to get his panties all in a wad: SW40F. There was so much crap floating around the internet in those days that I really did not know what to expect!! The gun was either going to go bang or it was going to blow up in my hand and kill me along with half the city!! So, with much trepidation, I loaded it up and squeezed off the first shot... BANG, the round went down range, the slide cycled and it was ready to go again!! Fifty go bangs later, I packed it up took it home and cleaned it. So much for the evil Sigma!! It's now an occasional carry.

 

[bhhacker]

The Sigma was the first handgun I ever bought. It was a great deal on paper, but I hated the trigger and its weak firing pin. My groupings were terrible even at 7 yards. It would fail to ignite the primer more times than I would have liked. I ended up selling it to a man who knew about the problem and have since switched to the 1911 platform. That fixed everything

 

[Caimlas]

If you could reasonably replace the trigger with something better, it'd be (IMO) 10-1 better than a Glock or S&W. I don't own one, but for a plastic pistol, it points wonderfully and sits in the hand similar to a 1911.

Again, I don't own one, but if I were handed a glock and a sigma, and told I had to use one or the other, the glock would be handed back...

 

[Disaster]

Some early teething problems...like most new models, coupled with the "copy" lawsuit, coupled with the really crappy trigger doomed the Sigma. It is a reliable handgun now, with a very poor trigger. Some people can live with the trigger, others can not.

 

[boostedxt]

I grew up shooting revolvers, so I guess maybe thats why the trigger doesnt feel bad to me.

Interesting hystery. I knew they were sued because of being so close to the glock but I didnt know the other head aches people had with them.

Thanks for the info...I still love my sigma. Has always been very reliable and I can shoot it pretty well too.

Joe
ps- the photo posted is from about 12yards or so.

 

[mr.72]

I like mine. For $300 I don't think there is anything you can buy brand new that comes even close to competing with the Sigma, at least on balance of features, reliability, ergonomics, warranty, and value. Sure there are competitors at nearly that price but most of them give up on something... price, warranty, capacity, ergos, weight, etc.

From what I can tell, these days the only things the Sigmas have going against them is a bad reputation mostly created by the first couple of gens of guns, and a firm DAO trigger that doesn't please a lot of the SA-auto loving crowd.

Hey I'm far from an expert but among the 10 or so different 9mms I have fired, I like the Sigma the best.

 

[ruger270man]

The first gen Sigma was pure junk. A guy that shoots at comps I go to has one, jamomatic!

And the trigger pull sucks big time.

The newer ones are decent, but still not worth my money.

 

[Coronach]

The gun got a bad rap early for a couple of reasons:

1. The trigger was terrible (and still is not great).

2. They were unreliable.

3. They were veiwed (correctly) as a Glock knock-off.

4. They were nowhere near as good as the Glock, so you were paying as much (or more) for an unreliable gun with a terrible trigger, when you could just get "Glock Perfection."

So, the gun is still digging out of its abysmal start, and probably never will achieve beloved status. The reliability issues have been resolved, apparently, but the trigger is still mediocre. The only things it has recommending it are price (which is very nice) and decent reliability.

For me, I can afford better guns, and I believe that life is too short to spend mastering a mediocre trigger, but the newer Sigmas will run. If you're looking for a low-cost blaster and/or disposable "trunk gun", it is your ticket.

Mike

 

[Onesiphorus]

For the money, IMHO think they are a super buy. Never had a problem with mine. Dremeled the magazine floor plate to contour with the base of the grip and went shoot'n.

 

[NG VI]

Mine is a 9VE, totally reliable, trigger is poor at best, but otherwise it is flawless. Not bad to carry in fall or early spring either, but mine is now a car gun.

 

[PawDaddy]

I do not own a Sigma, but a friend and my son-in-law oth have the 40VE versions.

The trigger is not that great, but gets better the more you shoot it.

To me the Sigma fits the had far, far better than the Glock ever hopes to. I think that S&W should have designed a new trigger for the Sigma instead of designing the M&P.

The Sigma gets a bad rap mostly for S&W's politics.

 

[mercdeking]

My opinion

I had a Sigma!

Sold it quick, after my sending it back to S&W and it was creating 15-20 inch patterns.

I got it fairly new, I knew the guy who bought it and about approx. how much he shot it. He wasn't underage but still lived with his dad who was 'anti-gun' and got caught with it and his sks.

My brother bought both for $250.00! Steal!

Sadly, no!

The Sigma was the .40 version.
It would shoot alright but then it started shooting really horribly one day.
I thought I was just flinching since the .40 was just so much louder than my brother's glock17. And it was about the 2nd time we had gone out to shoot it since getting it.

But he tried it as well, and he could not hit paper at 10 yards. I tried again and asked him to tell me where the bullets were going. Might have been 7 yards, either way the bullets were almost hitting the cement that housed the would frame for the backboard for the targets.

I tilted the gun up higher into the air to hit the board but stopped that when I thought people were thinking I was shooting into the air

Slightly exaggerating, but after this I got it sent out to S&W; they stood by their product and repaired it but after going back to Ben Avery here in Arizona the gun had improved; I could hit paper but the pattern was still not acceptable since it shot a horrible over 12" pattern.

/did try different ammo, and repeat trips to the desert and range to test it before sending it off.

My .357 magnum with full 200 grain corbon rounds gave me a 5-9 inch pattern at 7-10yards with a 2 1/8" barrel! (Single shot, on double action who knows where my bullets went!).

Damn I love that gun, but hate full .357 loads, I can get a very good pattern with .38 special at 10 yds. /anything below 8"; not great but I'm a lazy shooter; I quit caring after getting the first bullet in the middle

With his glock I almost looked like a 3-5" pattern until I got lazy.
Not much of a range person, I prefer to go out into the desert and shoot rocks for some reason /one of these days the rock will shoot back no doubt!

 

[MaterDei]

1. The trigger was terrible (and still is not great).

2. They were unreliable.

3. They were veiwed (correctly) as a Glock knock-off.

I had one and agree with Coronach. I personally didn't care that it was a Glock knock-off, but some people probably due. My biggest issues were 1) the reliability, and 2) the terrible trigger. It is still the only gun that I've ever traded-in.