So I shot a Sig P938 the other day.

[FTE]

I tried the P938 for about two years.....for a pocket gun it was accurate, but I honestly hated shooting the thing, and I just can't bring myself to carry anything I don't shoot regularly.  

[teecro]

I tried the P938 for about two years.....for a pocket gun it was accurate, but I honestly hated shooting the thing, and I just can't bring myself to carry anything I don't shoot regularly.  

 

And why did you hate it? This is the type of info that may help other buyers make informed choices. I enjoy carry of my 938 as it is small and lightweight yet it carries a 9mm punch so I realize that it is not going to be nor is it a range toy; it is a self defense weapon. It is more pleasant to shoot than the PF-9 that I owned; that was a snappy little fellow with a fair but long trigger. Did not like shooting the S&W BG380 due to its heavy long ass trigger but it carried in the pocket very well and fit the hand pretty darn good too; but it was no range gun. I carried a Bersa BT380 and loved shooting it at the range as the DA/SA trigger made shooting pleasant but it was too big for pocket carry and for a 380 it is simply on the portly side.... So for me the 938 is the best of all worlds to carry as it is very comfy in an OWB leather holster, can be pocket carried if needed, is SAO much akin to the 1911 which I VERY much enjoy shooting; and while it is a handful at the range it is by no means unpleasant to shoot enough to stay familiar with. Although the 938 will likely be taking the back seat as a CZ RAMI 2075 D has joined my stable.....  

[FTE]

And why did you hate it? This is the type of info that may help other buyers make informed choices. I enjoy carry of my 938 as it is small and lightweight yet it carries a 9mm punch so I realize that it is not going to be nor is it a range toy; it is a self defense weapon. It is more pleasant to shoot than the PF-9 that I owned; that was a snappy little fellow with a fair but long trigger. Did not like shooting the S&W BG380 due to its heavy long ass trigger but it carried in the pocket very well and fit the hand pretty darn good too; but it was no range gun. I carried a Bersa BT380 and loved shooting it at the range as the DA/SA trigger made shooting pleasant but it was too big for pocket carry and for a 380 it is simply on the portly side.... So for me the 938 is the best of all worlds to carry as it is very comfy in an OWB leather holster, can be pocket carried if needed, is SAO much akin to the 1911 which I VERY much enjoy shooting; and while it is a handful at the range it is by no means unpleasant to shoot enough to stay familiar with. Although the 938 will likely be taking the back seat as a CZ RAMI 2075 D has joined my stable.....  

 

Given it's size, I found it unpleasant to shoot.  Far from being a "range toy", I absolutely refuse to jam some gun in my pocket unless I've shot it a LOT.  I don't want to "stay familiar" with a firearm that I carry to defend my life....I want to have absolute confidence in it and my ability to carry and shoot it well.  The P938 just wasn't that gun for me.  I found my finiky with range loads and a bit of a handful with full power loads.  I didn't get more than 50 rounds out of it at a time before I started getting flinchy and worn out.  

 

Honestly, it made me realize that I'm willing to sacrifice concealability for confidence.  

[Patton]

Gotta ask....how does one end up with a firearm in "half-cocked" position? Wouldn't you have to manually put it in this position by thumb-cocking it?

It will not end up there without the user putting it in the halfcocked position. Most likely it will occur by thinking that you have uncocked the hammer. I don't know why you would carry wit a hammer down anyway but many people do. Edited April 15, 2015 by Patton

[FTE]

It will not end up there without the user putting it in the halfcocked position. Most likely it will occur by thinking that you have uncocked the hammer. I don't know why you would carry wit a hammer down anyway but many people do.

 

Wait....hammer down on a live round?  Hmmm....can't say I've ever run into anyone doing that in my 30 years in the shooting world.  

[Jonnin]

I love mine.  A agree with a lot of what was said above.

 

- yes, it has some recoil, its a tiny 9mm.  Its not as bad as you might THINK it would be, but its got more bite than the 380 version, well duh.   I can't shoot over 50 at one go outta mine either.   Its a 6 shot pocket pistol.   Practice is shooting out both mags 2, maybe 3 times, once a month or so.   Im not gonna be in an extended firefight with it, shooting out 2 boxes at a time.   Ive got 12 or 15 or whatever the total is rounds, and if that won't do it, I need to run away.

 

- yes, if you manually half cock it, it acts weird.   This is a 1911 ish gun though.  You rack it to load the first round out of the box or after a cleaning, and its full cocked.  You then engage the safety.   It remains cocked until you tear it down to clean again (it is cocked and open when shot empty, insert mag and proceed).   It should never be 1/2 cocked -- there is no sense in it.

 

- its a bit expensive, less than it was but more than some options.

 

- its one of the only pocket guns in 9mm with a usable trigger for folks that can't jockey the 15 pound DAO $200 alternatives.  This alone makes it a very good choice for many -- anyone with weak hands.  

 

-- being half ambi, it is moderately usable by a lefty.   The nano is probably #1 here but it has that unmanageable trigger pull.  A lefty can take the safety off but cant reload it as cleanly; the mag drop should have been heel/Makarov style... or reversible.

 

All in all though, ive carried one since it came out and been nothing but happy.  Its nearly (apart from left hand reload issue) ideal for ME in size and usability.

[Patton]

Wait....hammer down on a live round?  Hmmm....can't say I've ever run into anyone doing that in my 30 years in the shooting world.

I have seen it too much. To include some 1911's in duty holsters, and when I asked about it they told me that was department policy. No thanks, I would carry something else if hammer down was the 1911 carry method.

[bud]

. Edited August 6, 2015 by bud

[bud]

. Edited August 6, 2015 by bud

[PackinMama]

And not to sound like the ultimate 938 salesman, but the gunbroker auction ending price for a brand new p938 SAS model with one magazine shipped to my FFL was $515 - the price of a used Glock.
This company in PA bought hundreds of them and has been selling them on there for months with all auctions starting at a penny. The new Sig catalog I got at the NRA show doesn't include the SAS version so perhaps they are discounting the remaining inventory

That's an excellent price for a 938 SAS. I paid $660 for mine shipped to my FFL a little over two years ago (and that was a great price for it back then).

[bud]

. Edited August 6, 2015 by bud

[Jonnin]

500ish is fine -- they were over 700 at one point and are still often found at 600+ from some vendors.

 

The 938's recoil issue for me is mostly that its thin.  You put a thin light gun in 9mm and its gonna slap one small area repeatedly with a nice sting.  After a box or so, some folks will begin to feel that.   You do that to someone with arthritis say in their deep thumb joint and its going to aggravate it.  Hand problems come in many forms from many causes ...  2-3 cylinders from a stout DA revolver pull sets mine off, and my hands cramp up and are nearly unusable for a day or two.  Tools like a weedeater or chainsaw, the vibration does the same.   I could shoot the 938 all day, it would start to sting the back of my hand, but I can tolerate that if I *had* to.   The actual recoil is pretty mild, for its size and weight. 

[PackinMama]

I agree that the 938's recoil is mild......especially for such a small and lightweight gun. I have arthritis in just about all my joints, hands included, and I could still shoot a couple hundred rounds out of my 938 in one session without hurting my hands too much. They might get a little sore and achy for a day or two, but nothing too bad.......and definitely nothing that would make me stop shooting my Sig.

[Junkstack]

Just a word of caution, if you were to accidentally put it In the half-cock position it will fire with the the safety engaged. I can't believe they let them leave the factory this way. Other than that, and the price, they are a fine piece.

My SAS doesn't fire in a half-cocked position with the safety on or off. Sounds like you've got one that needs to go back to Sig.

[Junkstack]

I paid Sig $50 to remove the ambi safety. Much less chance of an accidental disengagement in my Kydex IWB.

I replaced my ambi safety with the single side safety from a P238. With the size of my hands, the ejection side of the safety would touch the joint of my first finger when I would disengage it. It made me have to change my strong hand grip on the gun to disengage the safety. More better now ; )

[tnhawk]

I got my P938 as a concealed carry pistol. When I plan to spend the day at the range there are much
better options. I don't usually fire more than 100 rounds with it at the range. I'm in my mid sixties
and have several screws and a plate in my arm. I'd prefer to shoot the 938 rather than my LCP.

[Djay3]

I first experienced the 938 with Sig's wooden grips and it did sting a bit in my hands. For a pocket pistol I prefer wood since it is less likely to hang up on material when drawn. So I kept the grip unchanged for some time.

I later ordered the Sig palm swell rubber grips and voila! No sting! In Docker type pockets from a Galco leather pocket holster I have noted no tendency for the rubber grip to "hang up" on the material. On jeans pockets, I have noticed the draw is more of a compromise with the rubber grips. BUT, there is absolutely no range practice fatigue for me with the rubber grips. YMMV.

[wileecoyote]

And not to sound like the ultimate 938 salesman, but the gunbroker auction ending price for a brand new p938 SAS model with one magazine shipped to my FFL was $515 - the price of a used Glock.
This company in PA bought hundreds of them and has been selling them on there for months with all auctions starting at a penny. The new Sig catalog I got at the NRA show doesn't include the SAS version so perhaps they are discounting the remaining inventory

I had been thinking of getting a 938 a few weeks ago, when a LEO friend of mine wanted me to help find her one. Then I saw this thread and checked out the gunbroker dealer, and I happened to be in PA at the time, so I looked at all of his auctions. Sure enough, he had more than 30 of the 938 guns up for sale at the time, all with various bidders and different ending times, none had a reserve price. So I found an auction that ended soon and placed a $485 bid at the last minute and I won it. I couldn't believe my luck. Then I emailed the dealer and asked if he would sell me 3 of the same 938 at the same price to help out my LEO friends that also wanted it, and he said yes. So we made a special trip up to his shop in person, driving 2 hours round-trip. When I got there he pulls out an identical 238 and says that was the gun that I had won. I checked the auction and sure enough he had just one 238 listing hidden amongst all the 938 auctions and the ad and photos looked identical on my phone, so I must have bid on the wrong one by mistake. I asked if he would let me trade it on the 938 and he said no because they are more expensive, so I pointed out that many of his current 938 auctions were ending soon for around the same price, so if I needed to I would just bid on his 938 from my phone while I was standing there and wait for it to end. He went in the office for a while the came out and said sorry, the owner said no trades, so I pulled up my phone and now every single one of his 30+ 938 auctions were all bid up to exactly $700. So they apparently used shill bidding accounts to prevent the 938 from selling for less. I pointed out the coincidence of all 30+ auctions with different bidders and ending times all being bid up to $700 at the exact same time, and they had no comment. They were considering whether to let me trade the 238 for a cheaper gun, but I told them to go ahead and ship it since it was still a fair deal and I liked the 238 anyway. Then the LEO with me both asked to buy a 938, but he declined to sell any of those unless they bid $700+ on the auctions. The one LEO went ahead and purchased a fancy 238 from him, but he didn't give her a good price (it was over $700) and he didn't offer them any discounts either. So we left with 2 guns, only one fair deal, and wouldn't ever go back.

[bud]

. Edited August 6, 2015 by bud

[PackinMama]

I would definitely contact Gunbroker and tell them your story. They'll probably suspend that guys account for that crap. That is not right and he shouldn't get away with it.

[wileecoyote]

I would definitely contact Gunbroker and tell them your story. They'll probably suspend that guys account for that crap. That is not right and he shouldn't get away with it.

My brother and I both had a similar situation happen with a high volume wholesale auction seller on ebay. We buy a lot of stuff from him, hundreds of things, and we watch his ads on a daily basis. We even have software that helps us track the items and bids. We found irrefutable evidence of shill bidding, and had several examples of it in less than a few weeks. He always immediately reposted the same items for sale after he won with his shill bids, and we had technical evidence to show the bids came from the same account, and we both reported it to eBay several times over a few months. In each case they closed the cases with a generic response that they would "look into it" but they never did anything or follow up. He was a high volume power seller, so eBay was making a lot of money from him, thus they were content to ignore it and let it ride, despite his also having a steady string of 5% negative feedback every month. I'm sure gunbroker would do the same, and it's my word against his for what happened in the shop, so it's not worth it. These auction places can easily detect bids coming in from the same IP address via multiple accounts, and automatically match those with seller accounts and flag patterns, but they choose not to do it because it would cost them money to kick high volume sellers out, and they both benefit from higher final sales prices.

I'm not too upset though because I got a good fair deal on a 238, and I later found an even better deal on a 938, so it all worked out for me. I just feel bad for my LEO friends that got burned, and they drove me up in their car so they wasted gas and time off work too. But we had a great dinner together afterwards, and I took them to the range several times to shoot the 238 and other guns.