S&W sigma .380

S

slojim

New member
I've been looking for my first personal handgun, and I'm leaning towards a concealable weapon as I live in a CCW state. A friend's dad has a S&W .380 he never uses, and may let go for ~$175-200. I've yet to see it/hold it/use it, but I'm looking for an intelligent opinion on the model.
Thanks
 
$200 is near the retail price for the S&W .380 Sigma, and it's not much of a gun. I'd think about one of the small 9mm models, say the Keltec P11, almost the same size as the Sigma, but a much more potent cartridge, and it's a 10+1 gun to boot.
 
Sigma has a horrible trigger pull.I bought two because I thought I got a lemon first time but I didn't.All that bad.

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Bob--- Age and deceit will overcome youth and speed.
I'm old and deceitful.
 
The Sigma is junk. I read in Guns and Ammo, I believe, that the .380 Sigma was made out of a zink alloy. It was ment as a throw away gun. You might as well start off getting something good. If you want to stay in your stated price range, I second the Makarov. If you want to spend some more money to get something high end, I would get the Sig 230, or the Walther PPK.

Moving up in caliber is a good idea, because the .380ACP just is not the best cartridge in the world. Personally I like the 9mm parabellum. Several small concealable guns are chambered for this. Chief among these is the Glock 26. IMHO, it is the Lincoln of small 9mm autos. The drawback is that it is about $500. More in your stated price range is the Taurus PT-111. It can be viewed at www.taurususa.com

Taurus also makes several fine small frame revolvers that make dandy personal defense weapons. In addition to my Glock, I have been known to carry a Taurus M605. It is a small frame, 5-shot .357MAG. Point is that are far more desirable guns out there than the .380 Sigma.

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Yeah, I got a permit to carry,it's called the friggin Constitution.---Ted Nugent

"Glock 26: 17 rounds of concealed carry DEATH comming your way from out of nowhere!!! THAT'S FIREPOWER, BABY!!!"

Taurus 605: Five hits of .357 MAG that will just ruin your day, Scumbag!!!!

[This message has been edited by denfoote (edited October 15, 2000).]
 
I've got one.
The slide is soft metal. It will ding if you carry it in a pocket with change in it.
The slide is thick for a small gun. That makes it harder to hide than a Llama 380.
The gun is very light. Lighter than a Llama 380.
The trigger is heavy, double action only. That means you can carry it with one in the tube and not worry about releasing a compressed hammer spring.
It is 100 percent reliable with even cheap russian 380 ammo. That makes it better than
the Llama 380 - my other 380's.
I carry mine in a belly band.
The accuracy isn't bad for a little gun.

Offer $150 for it.. no more.
 
slojim,

About three years ago, I picked up a Sigma 380 as a concealed carry gun. Most of the comments are right on here. However, I will say a couple of things in favor of the gun. First, it has a very heavy trigger pull, which I think is good for someone not entirely used to handguns. If you are ever in a situation where you need to use a gun defenseively, you don't want a nervous adreneline rush causing you to prematurely pull the trigger. Second, it is very reliable - I never had a single failure-to-fire. It is also very light, snag-free, and very concealable (which fulfills the dictum of carrying a gun - "an often-carried small gun is better than a seldom-carried large gun"). Now, on the downside, it is very cheaply made and is, for all practical purposes, a junk gun. It is also extremely inaccurate, and I would never have thought about firing it defensively at a distane of more than 3-5 yards. Finally, the 380 round is rather anemic, although with the proper load the 380 can be every bit as deadly as a 9mm. I personally sold mine this past year as a trade-in for a S&W 638.

So, in conclusion, I think you could do worse for a concealed gun. But you should shop around for a better alternative. Keep in mind that for a cocealed gun, you want something that you feel comfortable with, in addition to the features of power, accuracy, and reliability. Finally, if you buy this gun, you should offer no more than $125-150, depending on how much it has been shot.

rock jock
 
I recently taught a lady how to shoot one of these. Naturally, she bought it before doing any real homework, so that was what we had to work with. As mentioned above it is something of a 'disposable gun' with a limited service life--2500 rounds or something like that. In firing 150 or so rounds--mostly FMJ but some Silvertip HPs also--we had a couple of failures to feed. I suspected limp wristing. The sights are primitive, trigger somewhat heavy, recoil a bit sharp, and takedown a nuisance. It also does not have a slide lockback capability, which would certainly make safe handling easier. Be that as it may, it worked out and is certainly better than no gun at all if you need one. BTW when we were all done she agreed with me that she would have been better served with a decent revolver. FWIW.

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Bought one for the wife A While back. Accuracy was horrendous, had severe pitting in the barrel after approximately 100 rounds, and assembly pin (?) kept flying out of the gun! Sent it back to S&W. They sent a new gun, accuracy was even worse! Sent it back and got a refund. Total Junk!
 
I'm impressed this is such an active board. Thanks for all the help. I never planned on buying a gun without seeing how it felt, but as this gun was a few hours away, I didn't want to check it out if it isn't worth it.
i still have some thinking to do on how I will use it. I would like to have it in the house, and perhaps the car, knowing how I am I doubt I will regularly carry it, but we'll see. I would like a nice gun, but I would also like my wife to be comfortable with it. I doubt that will be possible for both of us with one gun (size, handedness, temperament, etc.), so I may look for 2 less expensive models. My friend has a glock, my wife is uncomfortable with the trigger safety. I can hear you already, but I don't want her afraid to pick it up.
 
I must be lucky. My Sigma .380 has been boringly reliable and accurate enough to hit anything I can sight on with the tiny sights. The trigger is long and heavy, but smooth and just right for a grab-n'-shoot pocket pistol, IMHO.

It's not a great pistol, but there isn't much else in the same weight and price range.
 
I had a .380 Sigma...for a while. I really didn't care for it. Mine stovepiped frequently...usually once every magazine full. Granted it only had about 100 rounds through it. Also, strangely enough, it hurt my hand to shoot it worse than any other handgun I own. My .44 Mag. Super Blackhawk, and S&W Model 66 are literally pussycats compared to what it was. I sold it not too long after I got it.
 
I love the folks who go around with mental blinders, unable to even think about anything but an autoloader. There are very good used small revolvers out there that are only a little bigger than the .380 Sigma (the S&W Centennial for example) yet have more power and only one round less.

Jim
 
No mental blinder. All the pistols I have ever fired were auto. But, esp if I have a rugrat around, I may keep it unloaded, and like that I can pop in a magazine quickly. I respect your right to have as many loaded guns in your house as you can fit, but neither of us are from that kind of environment, so we're going to take it slow.
 
slojim,

Far be it from me to question your method of handgun storage, but if you are keeping an unloaded semi-auto near a full magazine, you can bet that any chid above the age of about four is going to figure out how to load it and make ready. The image of a character slapping in a magazine and pulling the slide is ubiquitous in entertainment. Before I ever fired a handgun, I knew how to load it just with what I saw in the movies. I would sauggest to anyone with small chilren that they invest $50-100 in a small hangun safe, one with the finger conbination. I have one under my bed and can pull it out and open it in under 3 seconds. You can usually fit two full size handguns in one, and leave them fully loaded with no worries about curious hands.
 
thanks,
no kids in the house just yet, just some forward thinking. I guess I was thinking more along the lines of when I leave it in the car, but maybe taking the magazine with me. I haven't worked it out yet, and I appreciate all the comments.
 
Somewhere I read that the Sigma is only good
for approximately 2500 rounds. After that S&W recommends to "throw it away and buy another
one". Why spend that kind'a money on a piece
of junk; when there are certainly better
choice's available? :D

Regards,
Ala Dan, N.R.A. Life Member
 
I was in the gun store last weekend and I saw a used SW9M (compact 9mm Sigma, a lot like the .380). The slide had DENTS in it from rough use. I have heard that the full size Sigmas hold up OK but the compacts are not built for the long haul. IMHO the best carry guns out there are:

Kahr 9mm & .40
Glock compact 9mm, .40. .45 & .357 SIG
Kel-Tec 9mm & .40
Taurus Millennium 9mm, .40. .45 & .357 SIG
Heritage Stealth .9mm and .40
Republic Patriot .45
Para-Ordinance P-10 .45

Any one of these carries enough smack'em to do the job. No mouse gun calibers. The jump from .380 to 9mm gains you 50% in on-target energy, and the guns aren't that much bigger.

The Kahr, Glock and Para-Ord are fairly expensive. The others are affordable but effective. At the shop, I saw the Kel-Tec for under $300 NIB and the Patriot for about $325 also NIB.
 
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