The Sig P938: Sig’s Forgotten Gem

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1 year ago

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I used to teach some basic firearm safety classes, primarily focused on pistols. After teaching for a few years, I was able to typically tell if someone was going to have a good time on the range depending on the gun they brought. Pocket .380s, micro 9s, and snub nose revolvers were almost always a crapshoot for new shooters. When I first saw the SIG P938 in a student’s hands, I thought for sure they were going to have a bad time and my S&W 22A was going to be broken out.

The SIG P938 defied my expectations and made a fantastic first impression. It is an accurate, easy-to-shoot, and reliable handgun.

Imagine my surprise when my student performed admirably with the gun. This was the first time she’d ever fired her P938 and one of the few times she had ever fired a pistol. The little gun proved to be controllable, accurate, and easy to handle for an amateur while being small enough to pocket carry. That left an impression on me, and when I saw a used P938 for a very low price point I snatched it up.

The SIG P938 – A Forgotten Gem

A big reason I was able to purchase this P938 for such a deal was that guns like this are often rejected in the face of guns like the SIG P365. The humble single-stack 9mm has given up the ghost to micro compacts. Guns like the P938 just aren’t wanted that much these days. The P938 was never a cheap gun; in fact, it was one of the costlier single-stack 9mms, but lower demand means lower prices.

In the modern era, seven rounds doesn’t seem like a lot, but it’s likely more than enough for the typical self-defense encounter.

seven round magazine — In the modern era, seven rounds doesn’t seem like a lot, but it’s likely more than enough for the typical self-defense encounter.

This begs the question, is the SIG P938 still a capable defensive weapon? The obvious answer is yes. It might not hold ten rounds of 9mm, but seven, plus one in the chamber, hardly puts it at much of a disadvantage. We are a consumerist culture, and I won’t lie and say I don’t mind getting the most I can out of a gun, but that doesn’t automatically make everything that came before the gun obsolete.

The P938 offers a single action only, hammer-fired, subcompact, single stack 9mm pistol.

The SIG P938 is an interesting firearm. In the modern era, everything is a polymer-frame, striker-fired pistol. Even when the SIG P938 was released, it was a different type of firearm. SIG released the gun in 2011, and that was the era when SIG still primarily made hammer-fired guns.

A 1911 – Kind Of

It’s not a 1911, but anyone familiar with the 1911 platform would feel right at home with the SIG P938. There is no barrel bushing, and they ’86ed the grip safety. It’s 1911-inspired and offers a micro-sized 1911 for concealed carry. The SIG P938 features a hammer-fired, single-action-only design.

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The single-action design with the 1911-like safety certainly draws inspiration from the John Browning design.

The weapon also wears a frame safety that’s easy to engage with the thumb. The slide release is also very 1911-like; the magazine is a single stack, and the frame and shape of the gun all scream 1911. The SIG P938 features nice big sights that are easy to see and far from what we typically expect from a small pistol.

The grips vary quite a bit. My model has these Hogue-style wrap-around rubber grips, and I’m not a fan. The only upgrade I plan to make to this gun is just switching the wrap-around rubber grips for a more traditional set of grip panels. The wrap-around rubber grips just kill the sleek and slim 1911-style grip.

Notice how thick the grip is. I’mma ditch those wrap-around grips soon.

The 1911 has always been beloved for its ergonomics, and it’s not very different here. The safety is somewhat small, but it’s ambidextrous, and your thumb can find the shelf without difficulty. A thumb’s forward grip doesn’t pin down the slide release and is big enough to hit with your thumb while reloading.

One reason my student liked this gun all those years ago was how easily she could work the action. If she cocked the hammer, she could easily easily manipulate the slide. The slide glides rearward easily with the hammer down and isn’t tough with the hammer in the closed position.

To The Range

Operating the slide is great, but what about recoil? Small guns tend to be snappy, and snappy guns aren’t always fun. The SIG P938 differs from most small handguns by being all metal. All that metal gives us weight, and that weight means the gun weighs a solid pound. It’s 16 ounces of metal, and that helps, as does properly weighted springs and smart design.

The P938 is a handy little gun. It’s easy to shoot with low recoil.

That all seems to be apparent with the P938. It’s surprisingly not snappy. I shoot mostly 115-grain ammo, but to test the gun, I tossed in some 124-grain NATO ammo. While the recoil was noticeable, it wasn’t hard to control or what I’d call snappy. It almost handles more like a firearm that’s Glock 19-sized. Another big reason why the gun feels so easy to control is our ability to choke up nice and high on the gun.

Even with my hand choked up nice and high on the gun, it’s not getting bit by the slide. Small guns like to bite the hell out of my hand, but that’s not a problem with this gun. It’s soft and easy to shoot, and I can happily suggest it to shooters with poor hand strength who are seeking a compact gun that’s light on recoil and easy to operate.

Like most SIGs, there are tons of colors and varied configurations. The P938 has something for everyone.

You can blast through seven or eight rounds quickly while keeping the gun on target. I could shoot a three-second Bill Drill with the P938. Admittedly I didn’t make the tightest group. I’m using the entire A zone of the USPSA target to catch rounds, but they were in the A-zone so it counts.

Accuracy and The P938

The big sights help with that low-fire accuracy. A lot of accuracy is tied to a good grip, and the grip on the gun is fine but not excellent. The magazine extension helps prevent a hanging pinky, but the rubber grips suck. I can hold onto the gun just fine, but it gives you that short grip you expect from a gun this size.

At 25 yards, I can hit an ISPC steel target with ease. I can just hear that ding over and over again. At 15 yards I can put all seven rounds into the 9 and 10 ring of a B8 target routinely. The P938’s big sights are also easy to see and find when the gun is drawn and presented.

The controls are very 1911-like and super easy to access and utilize.

With a good presentation, the sights align just right for quick and accurate shots after the draw. The big front sight is easy to track for repeatable accuracy. The light single-action-only trigger is exceptional. It delivers on the M1911 reputation with a light trigger pull and crisp reset.

The P938 is from SIG’s hammer-fired era, and it shows. It’s an interesting mix of features that makes it a fantastic little handgun.

One ergonomic performance problem came down to reloads. My pinky pins the magazine in when I hit the magazine release. This necessitates a grip-and-rip approach to reloads or a fancy reload. A fancy reload is when I put my pinky up to let the magazine free. The magazine drops, but I’m abandoning my firing grip to do so.

A Working Option

The P938 chewed through everything I put through it. I ran into no reliability issues, even when the magazines fell into the sand of my range. It’s a reliable, defensive-worthy pistol. The P938 might not be the cool kid on the concealed carry block, but it’s still pretty dang cool.

Guns like this are becoming cheaper and cheaper due to a lack of demand, if you shop around it might be one helluva bargain.

An all-metal, single-action-only, hammer-fired gun that’s small enough to be pocket-carried is pretty neat. It’s certainly different from the usual fair of firearms currently on the market. I like different things, and the P938 checks that different box.

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Travis Pike is a dedicated firearms writer, a Second Amendment Advocate, and a subject matter enthusiast for all things firearms. He is an amateur competitor with dreams of one day not coming in 4th place at a local defensive match. If he’s not putting text to word processor, he’s likely spending time with family, enjoying Florida’s Nature Coast, or drinking hipster beer. As the resident Florida man he has a preference for obscure guns and calibers.

Experience

Hunter – Long time deer and hog hunter in the swamps of Florida
Instructor – Volunteers to teach basic firearm safety classes to kids, adults, and cats
Wannabe Competitor – Has recently dipped his toes into competitive shooting and has happily discovered an expensive hobby.
Marine – Served five years with the infantry before transferring to the First Civ Div.