My brother-in-law contacted me last night to ask if I have a 40SW pistol we can take to the range this weekend, it sounds like he wants to try that caliber out even if it isn't the same pistol he is being offered. He has done very little shooting, mostly shotguns but is interested in acquiring a pistol. His foreman is potentially offering him a S&W Sigma in 40SW. Any owners out there please let me know your thoughts on this gun, things you like, things you dislike that sort of thing. It sounds like his foreman is asking $300 for it, retail for this pistol appears to be $370ish according to Gallery of Guns.
I do not know how used this pistol is and unfortunately I will not be there when he makes said purchase if he decides to.
The Sigma was Smith and Wesson's first attempt to make a cheaper alternative (them trying to compete with) to Glock and the polymer framed striker fired pistol market and get into the Glock dominated Law Enforcement market.
It was a sort of a double edged sword in a way. On one hand in a couple ways it was a blatant rip off of the Glock design so much that SW got sued by Glock for patent infringement. They ended up settling out of court with the concessions that they pay Glock a load of cash and they had to change their design.
The finished design was a pistol that was about $150-$200 cheaper than a Glock, a horrible stiff and gritty trigger and reviews consistently all over the spectrum from "piece of poop" to "it works good enough, so its good enough for me".
Thankfully SW did not give up and improved and changed the design IMMENSELY and now you have the M&P series which is one of the closest pistols competing with Glock today in the polymer striker fired market. Glock like reliability with better ergos.
Over the past couple years SW has pretty much been trying to bury their Sigma pistol line like a bad memory. Hence why you can find them selling for so cheap around the nation.
Perhaps this will put it in perspective,
Since no one seems to want the Sigma in the US, SW off loaded a bunch of their stocks by selling them cheap to the National Police and Army.... of Afghanistan.
SW has also since tried to take the Sigma line and improve it however. They have recently come out with their "Self Defense" line of pistols. The SD 9 and SD40. This is sort of their "economy" line of semi autos if you will.
They changed the look a little bit, added a better finish, improved some features, put a standard accessory rail on it instead of the proprietary one, etc. They run around $450-$500 MSRP so they are still cheaper than the M&P series which can run from $500-$770 depending on what size, caliber, and options you get.
But even at the $450-$500 range you are now in Glock, Springfield XD price territory and I would buy one of those over the new SD series as they are both vetted, tried, tested, and true. Not to mention way easier to find accessories for.
In conclusion if your brother wants to pay the bare minimum for that gun, *shrugs, sure, you can do worse. But don't expect much out of it, let alone be blown away with it's performance, and for not much more you can get something a lot nicer.
For the $300 his friend is asking for it, Ive seen brand new ones on sale for maybe $30-50 more.
My brother in law had one less than 6 months ago...I loved it...the ejector chipped and the gun started jaming constantly. He traded it for a Glock 23....that is my only experience with them..I think they are very comfortable(grip) and for the price it's a steal. Im not sure what to think about the broken extractor...
__________________
Psalms 17:9 ''My enemies encircle me with murder in their eyes''
I got one a couple of years ago, brought it home , pulled the slide back and the guide rod shot out . took it apart and it looked like a dart from a rubber dart gun . It was in 2 pieces and the end cap came off. got a new rod and tried it out but the trigger pull was longer then a strech limo. took it home and sold it
I won a Sigma 40 at a gun bash 2 years ago and I actually like it. Really long trigger pull and its around 14 lbs. The good thing about this is it made me a better shooter - When you get used to holding on target with that type of pull as soon as you're handed something with a lighter pull you can thread a needle.
My only jam with this gun came after I bought TUL AMMO for plinking. It eats any other type of ammo.
I like the full frame and the grip a lot, right out of the box I was able to find the front sight quick.
I have not had any malfunctions or breakages with any mechanics of the gun. probably shot about 500-600 rds
With all this being said, I like the gun but If I were buying one I'd probably spend a little extra. For not a whole lot more (about $90 more here in PA) you can buy a Ruger SR-40. which I shot and really like.
I seen several dealers at a local gun show a couple months ago that had tables full of .40 Sigmas new for $300, and was offered a used one for $275 including tax. I passed. Dunno how much they are in your area, but $370 sounds spendy even if it was NIB. There are nicer guns out there in the $400 range new.
Still waiting on mine, which is on layaway. Interesting perspectives on this handgun and will add mine once I have it and do some range time. I've always loved the .40cal round as I carried that in a Glock when I was a cop. Good hitting round and doesn't have a lot of recoil so it's easy to stay on target. If I could afford a Glock I'd have gone with it, but with the price of the Sigma I couldn't pass it up.
Still waiting on mine, which is on layaway. Interesting perspectives on this handgun and will add mine once I have it and do some range time. I've always loved the .40cal round as I carried that in a Glock when I was a cop. Good hitting round and doesn't have a lot of recoil so it's easy to stay on target. If I could afford a Glock I'd have gone with it, but with the price of the Sigma I couldn't pass it up.
You'll understand why it was so cheap the minute you fire it. Sure its accurate (if you can manage it),sure it resembles a glock and is easy to maintain, but that trigger is the worst i've ever dealt with. Causes me to shoot off target something horrible. I was going to buy a Sigma and then i shot one and thank god i did, i immediately decided to go with the M&P. I have bough guns on the cheap before because i didn't have the money and i'll never do it again. Put the money away until you get more and get a guns that is truly worth it. Unless one is completely gunless and needs one bad i just don't see why anyone would buy this gun. You want a cheap gun thats worth more than you actually pay for it get a Stoeger Cougar.
We'll see what happens once I have it. People in my area I've spoken to have had nothing but good things to say for it. I've also had many people say what a piece of crap the Glock is, but I have never had a problem with a Glock. Never had any problems with S&W's either and my Sig is one great shooter. On other forums I've read about people that have purchased the new Sigma and found it to be an excellent pistol. On, if you want to talk crappy triggers, I'll be happy to let you shoot my Sig and see how you like a trigger pull of over 12lbs when firing that first shot double action. Worst D/A trigger I've ever seen and used. In single action fire it's very smooth. Sorry you had so much trigger issues, but that doesn't mean this one will be bad. If it is, I'll report it as such. Personally, when I check the gun out I loved the trigger pull on it.
I have a nephew with a Sigma 40VE and a brother with a Sigma 9VE. The nephew had his trigger tweaked and that made a considerable improvement. He has put a "LOT" of ammo thru that hand gun in a short period of time. My brothers' 9MM has a pretty decent trigger although it does have a long pull. He got it for Christmas and has only put 250-300 rounds thru it Neither of them have had any issues.
One of them was $279.00 + tax and the other one was $289.00 + tax so I wouldn't give anyone $300.00 for a used Sigma. Lots of sources where you can buy them new for $300.00 or less.
Picking up my Sigma in the morning and hope to hit the range and put a few rounds through it shortly afterwards. I'll stop back and give you all my impressions of it.
Well, I picked it up, but didn't have time to hit the range so am going to try and get there on Sunday. So far I'm loving it and the trigger pull everyone seems to complain about is not bad at all, especially for a self defense weapon. It's very light compared to my Sig P6, which maxed out the scale at 12lbs so we have no idea exactly how strong the trigger pull is. The finish and fit of it is very nice and I forgot how light it was, even with a full mag. My Sig is considerable heavier and it's only got an 8 round mag. Really like the thumb slot on the grip, which, btw, fits my hand perfectly. Overall, it reminds me of the Glock 40 I carried for several years as my duty weapon prior to retiring from law enforcement.
Well, I picked it up, but didn't have time to hit the range so am going to try and get there on Sunday. So far I'm loving it and the trigger pull everyone seems to complain about is not bad at all, especially for a self defense weapon. It's very light compared to my Sig P6, which maxed out the scale at 12lbs so we have no idea exactly how strong the trigger pull is. The finish and fit of it is very nice and I forgot how light it was, even with a full mag. My Sig is considerable heavier and it's only got an 8 round mag. Really like the thumb slot on the grip, which, btw, fits my hand perfectly. Overall, it reminds me of the Glock 40 I carried for several years as my duty weapon prior to retiring from law enforcement.
Hope it works out good for you. My brother and nephew love their Sigmas.
Thanks. Doubtful I'll make the range this weekend due to weather concerns. Sort of tough to get a good feel of a gun with 55mph wind gusts...LOL. Sunday rain and temps in the high 40's low 50's with steady winds and 50mp wind gusts.
With this acquisition I've reached the average number of guns in a Tombstone, AZ home, which is 10...LOL
I have a Sigma 9 and I love it. 500 rounds so far and no issue and I had a little over a month. Sure the trigger is hard but I removed the torsion (pigtail) spring and the trigger is smoother and slightly lighter.
I have a Sigma 40 on ordered (back ordered) and I can't wait.
As promised, I hit the range with my Sigma .40 and all I can say is AWESOME! Not a single fail to feed, fire or eject. I absolutely love the trigger pull on it as it's smooth and even through out the whole cycle. In fact, it's better than my Sig P6, which I gave to my wife since I now have the Sigma...LOL. I know a lot of people still knock the trigger on this gun, but I found it a perfect fit for me. I was shooting Federal hardball, btw.
As promised, I hit the range with my Sigma .40 and all I can say is AWESOME! Not a single fail to feed, fire or eject. I absolutely love the trigger pull on it as it's smooth and even through out the whole cycle. In fact, it's better than my Sig P6, which I gave to my wife since I now have the Sigma...LOL. I know a lot of people still knock the trigger on this gun, but I found it a perfect fit for me. I was shooting Federal hardball, btw.
Well glad you like your new purchase!
__________________
It's not always the size of the dog in the fight. Often it's the size of the fight in the dog.
3Likes
