Last year I picked up a 9VE as part of my "hope springs eternal" program. Although I am mostly a wheelgunner, I was shooting 1911s and BHPs in the early 60s; still do.
I took quite a liking to the Sigma, though, and it shot very well for me--MUCH better than I had ever done with Glocks and SIGs. I attribute that to the grip shape and the DA revolver-like trigger. All the ammo through the gun--about 500 rounds--has been my reloads. I have had a few failures to fire, which I attribute to deeply recessed primers in IVI brass. More disturbingly I had several failures to feed in which the rounds jammed into the bottom of the feed ramp. No particular reason that I could find. NO mods to the gun whatsoever. I keep detailed records on these things. All the ammo was loaded on a single stage press, loaded with Rem. 115 gr. JHPs, and gauged. I have loaded for my other semiautos for decades, and load 5.56, 7.62, and .30-06 for semiauto rifles. The upshot was that I was getting a failure about every 85 rounds. The BHP feeds and fires everything monotonously to include the above rounds that the Sigma didn't.
The days are gone when I had cases of factory ammo available and could pretty well eliminate ammunition as a problem area when testing guns. But since I don't have that option anymore we're down to home brew for 99% of what I shoot. I hoard a small quantity of +P+ 9mm and some standard loads I duplicate in the above handloads. I suppose I could pick up a few boxes of white box FMJs to experiment with but that's not a real world choice and no indication of what the pistol will do with serious loads.
Some years ago I had a much worse experience with a Ruger P97, which all the "experts" said was the perfect gun. This one, at least, was possessed by demons. After a year and 1200 plus rounds, not to mention trips to the factory, Ruger took it back, destroyed it, and sent me another NIB...which I promptly put on consignment without even firing it.
I didn't "need" the Sigma when I bought it. I still like the gun (even though it's just a 9mm) and I'm just disappointed. Like the P97, I shot it well and was rather fond of it.
After 50 years of shooting duty pistols, I'm inclined to think that, like Chief Dan George, "Sometimes the magic works, and sometimes it doesn't."
The upshot is that RELIABILITY is primary with me. I know that Murphy is always lurking, but he seems to avoid revolvers and my 1911s and BHPs are downright boring guns.
Boring is good.
I took quite a liking to the Sigma, though, and it shot very well for me--MUCH better than I had ever done with Glocks and SIGs. I attribute that to the grip shape and the DA revolver-like trigger. All the ammo through the gun--about 500 rounds--has been my reloads. I have had a few failures to fire, which I attribute to deeply recessed primers in IVI brass. More disturbingly I had several failures to feed in which the rounds jammed into the bottom of the feed ramp. No particular reason that I could find. NO mods to the gun whatsoever. I keep detailed records on these things. All the ammo was loaded on a single stage press, loaded with Rem. 115 gr. JHPs, and gauged. I have loaded for my other semiautos for decades, and load 5.56, 7.62, and .30-06 for semiauto rifles. The upshot was that I was getting a failure about every 85 rounds. The BHP feeds and fires everything monotonously to include the above rounds that the Sigma didn't.
The days are gone when I had cases of factory ammo available and could pretty well eliminate ammunition as a problem area when testing guns. But since I don't have that option anymore we're down to home brew for 99% of what I shoot. I hoard a small quantity of +P+ 9mm and some standard loads I duplicate in the above handloads. I suppose I could pick up a few boxes of white box FMJs to experiment with but that's not a real world choice and no indication of what the pistol will do with serious loads.
Some years ago I had a much worse experience with a Ruger P97, which all the "experts" said was the perfect gun. This one, at least, was possessed by demons. After a year and 1200 plus rounds, not to mention trips to the factory, Ruger took it back, destroyed it, and sent me another NIB...which I promptly put on consignment without even firing it.
I didn't "need" the Sigma when I bought it. I still like the gun (even though it's just a 9mm) and I'm just disappointed. Like the P97, I shot it well and was rather fond of it.
After 50 years of shooting duty pistols, I'm inclined to think that, like Chief Dan George, "Sometimes the magic works, and sometimes it doesn't."
The upshot is that RELIABILITY is primary with me. I know that Murphy is always lurking, but he seems to avoid revolvers and my 1911s and BHPs are downright boring guns.
Boring is good.
