S&W Sigma: Buy it or High Tail it?

E

EBF

New member
Hey guys-I'm new here and have a question. I had a Glock a couple years ago and am looking to get another semi-auto. A buddy of mine has a S&W Sigma 9mm. It's a strange color-sort of a greyish-white. He'll give it to me REAL cheap. Does anyone have experience w/ this gun?(good or bad) Should I buy it?

Also-he recently bought a hi-cap mag for it and you have to slam it for it to stay in and when you chamber a round the slide sticks for a second. Would it be dangerous to fire the it w/ this mag? All the other mags work fine.

Thanks.
 
Sigmas are hit and miss. Mostly miss!!! Do a search. You will find that a few prople sware by them, but mostly people end up with junk!! :barf:
 
The two that I have, have been nothing but flawless. I have hicaps for both and have not had a problem with them. The Sigmas I have are both the VE models and I have over 4000 rounds through each. I like them very much and I use one for a carry gun. Shoot if first, if you like it buy it.:)
 
How cheap is "cheap?"

Jason give you good advice which should be easy to follow since this guy is a friend. Shoot it first to make sure it is a good one - like three or four boxes worth. If it has no problems with that many good quality rounds, it's probably a good one and worth keeping. If it buggers up, let us all know...

As for the Sigmas rep - there are a lot of S&W haters out there who will give this gun no slack and even more hkglocksigalomaniacs who feel the need to denegrate it for thier own purposes. I have yet to run down a real life example of a Sigma that was as bad as those folk claim - and I've looked!

Personally I've had two Sigmas - a SW40F and SW40E. The F has over 10000 rounds through it and the E is approaching 1500, niether with any problems that weren't related to crappy ammo. But don't go by this, still shoot the gun because ther are lemons out there in every make and model - be sure what you buy isn't one of them.
 
A local store recently had stainless Sigmas for $339. So, how cheap is your buddy willing to go?
Since they are hit and miss, give the gun a try and see what you think. Better yet, shoot it side by side w/ your Glock and then see what you think. The answer should come to you pretty quickly.
 
If you can get it for a couple hundred bucks, go for it. Might have to go on a magazine hunt to get reliability.

Sam
 
High tail it.

Most Smith & Wesson Sigma series pistol's are known
to be problematic. I've never seen one finish a police
qualification course, without either a FTF, FTE, etc.
Most all the .40's will stove pipe at some point. I
would never trust my life, or the lives of loved ones
to a Sigma; cuz they are an accident looking for a
place to happen. Save your cash, and buy a real
9m/m.

Best Wishes,
Ala Dan, N.R.A. Life Member
 
I owned a SW380 a few years back and frankly, I never had a reliability problem with it. It was 100% for the 1000 or so rds I put throught it. However, I was nonetheless very disappointed with the quality of the gun. The internals were very rough, the finish started flaking off, and the takedown procedure left much to be desired. Plus, the trigger was absolutely terrible! I traded it for a S&W 638 snubbie. One of the best decisions I have made as far as guns go.
 
Give it a test shoot. If it shoots up to your standards, and the price is right, buy it. I sold a Sigma (SW9VE) almost a year ago, and to tell you the truth, I regret it. The gun was EXTREMELY reliable, and was a tack-driver. I've been keeping my eyes peeled for another, just because I liked the old one.

I would have kept the old one, but I just HAD to have that 1911... :D That being said, I'll keep the 1911 and just pick up another Sigma at a show for a couple hundred.

-Parke1
 
My sw40v is flawless and a tack driver. Seems that if they work, they work great. I've replaced three firing pins broken in dry fire marathons. The rep I talked to advised using snap caps, I do and no problems. I added a stainless guide rod and new recol spring, really makes a nice touch to the stainless slide. I was all set to sell it last week when a friend offered up a G32. Truly it's just plain dumb to sell a gun that works so I'm gonna put some night sights on it instead. :D Nearly 3k rds and counting. Never one single hint of a sigma going kaboom to be seen.;)
 
My Sigma was garbage. It would OFTEN have light strikes even after being "repaired" by S@W. I got rid of it, bought a Glock and have had ZERO problems.
 
Thanks for the help guys. When is say cheap I mean like $100. ;)

-Should he try firing it w/ that screwed up mag? (Slide sticks when you chamber a round)

I've learned the hard way that you usually get what you pay for. I might just end up spending the $$$ on a Sig.

I appreciate the help.

-Eric
 
One benefit about getting it for $100, you can probably get out of it and lose no money if you decide you don't like it. :)
 
Had the same mag problem with my .357 Sigma. Sent it off to S&W, they fixed it, and have had no problems since. I noticed some excess polymer material at the bottom of the gripframe that may have been the problem with the magazine seating. I didn't mess with it since it was not my carry gun and decided to let the Smith warranty people handle it. They didn't tell me what they did beyond saying they fixed it and that they had upgraded the safety system.
 
The Germantown, TN PD uses Stigmas (I think they still use them, I moved away two years ago.) I went shooting several times with two officers. They reported numerous problems with the pistols, so much so that none of the officers had any confidence in them. Stovepipes, doubles feeds, FTF's, you name it. These guys had so little confidence in the Stigmas that they usually brought out the shotgun when they anticipated trouble.

For $100, I might be willing to buy one, but I would definitely not use it for CCW of home defense. I would not own one as my only semi-auto.
 
yorec is right. There are lemons out there. Try the gun out, for up some box fulls and see what the gun does. The ones that work, do just fine.
And for only a hunnerd bucks, its not a gamble.
 
Many people really like the ergonomics and feel of the grip. I did. Liked the way my SW40V Sigma felt in my hand four years ago. Then I took it to the range and had about 20 failures to feed, cycle, and eject with one box of factory ammo and got a refund for my money. SW certified gunsmith couldn't figure out what was wrong with it.

Our corporate security force of more than 600 officers and investigators were issued SW Sigma's three years ago.

The Sigma's issued to our corporate secutity department have had numerous:
  1. Failures of Slide To Lock Open After Last Shot
  2. Jams
  3. Misfeeds
  4. Striker Spring Failures To Ignite Primer and Round
  5. Multipe Spring Breakages
  6. Magazine Failures To Feed
  7. Slide Stoppages
  8. Cracked Polymer Frames
  9. Broken Trigger Springs
  10. Broken Slide Lock Springs
  11. Cracked Slides

And these men and women are ex-military police, former police officers/detectives, and ex-federal law enforcement agents from most of the agencies. A third are regular shooters.

They really hate those Sigma's and the contract one of security exec's entered into with SW. He was a big SW revolver fan and hasn't had to qualify in years but signed his people up to a multi-year Sigma contract.

After all of the above problems, SW replaced all 700 + Sigma's with "upgraded" units a year ago.

The problems have continued to this day.

The SW Sigma's are unreliable, poorly manufactured, inaccurate, and POS!

Only a fool would buy one to save some money!

SW can't give them away. In three of Wahsington State's largest gun shops, the dealers refuse to carry the Sigma's and will only special order them after a firm warning to the customer. They'll sell you SW revolvers and older semi-auto's like the 1076, 3913, 5906 and so on but not the SW polymer Sigma's! They call them rubber guns because they bounce back on the dealer.

Many of our security officers could not qualify with their issued Sigma's and others had to loan them other weapons to finish just qualifying.

And forget it if the officer practices weekly with that Sigma. They don't hold together. The armorer is always working on those guns.

I would only sell one to a person I KNOW I'll never ever see again and who I hate because they will be an enemy. And there is no such person.

If you like polymer, go with a Glock or an HK USP. Like metal, buy a Sig, HK, or a Kimber. If money is tight, grab a Ruger or a CZ. But there are numerous other guns that will serve you well consistently. Save that money.

Kind of funny but our security upper management and corporate executive protection carry Glocks and Sigs in 40Sw and 357 SIG. What does that tell you?

Look, maybe there are some good one's out there. I'm sure some people were happy with their 1972 ford Pinto's but I still wouldn't throw my money at it. Not even $100 bucks.

The Sigma's have no resale. Call you dealer and ask what is the trade in value. Might as well buy a Lorcin or a Davis next.
 
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A lot of the issues like those mentioned above are due to the first year Sigmas. They earned the whole family a bad rap.
However the Sigma E models are much better. It's almost a whole new pistol since all of those old wrinkles have been ironed out or mostly ironed out.
I've shot a couple of them and I had no problems with them.
I've not been impressed by them... but I've not had any issues with them (the newer ones) either.
 
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