Sigma quality, accuracy, and reliability...

[mtngunr]

Why is it that so many Sigma posts begin, "for the money", as if apologizing for buying the gun and using the low price as an excuse for not buying a Glock or M&P or & etc, with hopes for forgiveness and understanding?....

Does the gun suffer from more problems, breakages or reliability issues than any of the others?

Does the gun shoot worse on average than any of the others?

Is the gun made from inferior plastic or steel, and is there a marked lack of workmanship in the Sigma compared to any other plastic hi-cap on the market?

Are the others made from some magic plastic or steel unknown to S&W, or simply not used even by S&W in this less expensive gun?

Do the magazines drop free any faster in any other gun, or do the magazines feed any better or last any longer in any other gun?

Are the components of lower quality, and is disassembly and reassembly any more difficult than any other gun of the type?

Are the ergonomics of the Sigma worse than any of the others?

I believe most Sigma owners would answer a resounding "no" to most every one of these questions....about the only way i can even conceivably see the Sigma lacking compared to most any other gun of the genre' on the market would be a couple of seconds on a buffer for a few spots on a few internal parts for smoother operation.

The often cursed or bemoaned trigger was simply an effort by Smith and Wesson to free the gun from the NECCESSITY of the gun being stored and/or carried constantly in a rigid holster surrounding the trigger/guard completely to prevent it from unplanned firing....in that, they succeeded, one of the very few to do so to date, and that is NOT a point to apologize about...as i pointed out in another thread, ALL the others should be honestly including the holster in the size and weight specs of their guns, seeing as how the holster is an integral part of the safety of the weapon 24/7.

So stop apologizing, folk.....it's a good gun....PERIOD....if any of the others are good, then so is the Sigma...in some ways, it's even better....it is free of the tyranny of the holster, and is actually priced more realistically for what you get, and folk paying more should have a red face that resembles a sucker...

Once again, pick out the $300 gun from the $500 gun...from the Oct/2010 Handloader issue article by Petty...

And know THIS will never happen to you as a Sigma owner, if you have sense enough to leave well enough alone...

 

[Will Carry]

Let me tell you one thing. I owned a Sigma for several years. It was accurate even with the long trigger pull. BUT it's is THE most forgetable pistol Smith and Wesson has ever made. To all of you shooters who insist on bringing up the Sigma again and again I say to you.........................what I just said

 

[mtngunr]

Now, why should i bringing up a Sigma on a Sigma and SD forum? What WAS i thinking? Well hush my mouth!!!

After all, it is only the Model 10 of plastic wonder-nines....reliable as the day is long, and totally unexciting, and priced accordingly.

You can pay more, but what you get back is only incremental compared to what you pay....

 

[chessail 77]

Mtn....Well said and you are right on target with your observations...

 

[Maximumbob54]

Old Sigma vs. New Sigma has become my issue. I can't believe what a world of difference there is between the two. My long gone Old Sigma can go corrode in a rusty grave. My New Sigma is amazing so far. I love that it doesn't have the newer barrel made with the EDM rifling so I can try out my cast SWC's that I load. The only thing that would make this more attractive is if I could pull a .357 Sig barrel out of thin air.

 

[Will Carry]

I don't mean no offense. It's just that I gave my Sigma away because it was unreliable. Now it was the only Sigma I ever owned and there were thousands made so maybe I'm the only guy in the world who had I Sigma that was unreliable. Accept for the North Carolina Highway Patrol, who tested the Sigma and rejected it as being.....unreliable. And is was the worst trigger I have ever squeezed, but other than that it was a great $300 pistol.
Too compare the Sigma to the Smith and Wesson model 10 is absurd.
The Model 10 is a classic, a real combat handgun. The Sigma is Smith and Wesson's feeble attempt to make a Glock. Then they decided to make the new M&P, a new classic. There are many Sigmas out there that work great......but don't piss down my back and tell me it's raining.

 

[Garpo]

No regrets and no apologies here. I just go back from the range and I'm all smiles. The pistol worked flawlessly in spite of the $300 price tag. The only remorse I have is that I didn't discover the Sigma earlier.

 

[mtngunr]

I don't mean no offense.......but don't piss down my back and tell me it's raining.

I don't know where you learned your diplomacy, but it could use a bit of work....as for reliability, all you have to do is compare owner reports here, versus owner reports of other models and other brands on their own fan forums....i, for one, avoided plastic wonder-nines like the plague for over 20yrs because i saw guys at the range not having any better results with them than most any other gun, and that includes when Glock was the only game in town....the Sigma was no more a copy of the Glock than any other gun shown in the picture in my starter of this thread...they are all derivative, no argument....but when parts don't interchange, it is neither a copy nor a clone....and the Sigma lower has a totally different sear arrangement....but i repeat myself...i repeat myself....but feel free to offer more diplomatic thoughts on why you think comparing the Sigma to the M10 is absurd....aside for it being a low end, reliable, reasonably accurate, soundly made gun that most any cop or guard could afford, while the current M&P is more like a M29 in pricepoint

 

[Will Carry]

I ain't much on diplomacy, as you can tell. But the model 10 is still being made after all these years, the Sigma ain't. There is a good reason for that. My Sigma was not a jam-o-matic but it would FTE about every 50 rounds or so. The man I gave the Sigma to also complained about the trigger, as did every single shooter who ever fired it, as well as the fact that for some reason it would double feed or stove pipe once and a while. Not bad for a target pistol but a death wish for a self defense pistol. If the Sigma is such a good pistol why are you guys always having to defend it's honor? Why are people on this forum so tired of this topic until they don't even read it any more? I said that the Sigma is the most forgetable Smith and Wesson pistol ever made but I'm sure there are a few that have been forgotten that I don't know of.
I know how Sigma owners feel. I have a Diamondback DB380 that has never failed once in 500 rounds. I have defended Diamondbacks until I was blue in the face until I had to admit that I was very lucky to get one that works.
It a $300 Smith and Wesson pistol. That don't even sound right.

 

[sdgrimm]

1500+ rounds through my Sigma 40 S&W, about half of which were reloads and no FTF or FTE. Mine hasn't "glocked" any rounds, which can be an issue for reloaders and is just as accurate (or more) than any similarly price firearm. Cant wait to get an M&P though. I mean pizza is really good, but no one is going to reasonably argue its better than a nice steak

 

[jtpur]

all I can say is that mine is reliable. I keep it clean and lubricated. It has had one ftf in over 1,000 rounds and that with a reload I bought at a gun show. it easts Fiocchi, WWB, Sellier and Bellot, PMC, American Eagle, Pwrball and I even shot a box of Blazer aluminum casings without a hitch. Trigger pull? I have to tell you folks who think its a hard trigger that you must have weak fingers or your so used to something that goes bang just by looking at it. Maybe you have never fired a double action revolver. whatever bad rep the gun got when it first came out is long in the past. the 9VE I own (now two of them) are flawless. I'd have no problem making it a duty gun if I were still on the road even though S&W markets it as home protection and range use. I just went to a CHL instructor course and prior to shooting our course they asked who had Glocks and 1911's. Then someone a DPS officer said that if something was going to misfire it would probably be a Glock or 1911.....What I know about Glocks you have just heard and I havent fired a 1911 since I was in the Army. Mine rattled so much I could not hit the broadside of a tank with it....I just managed to qualify. and I never had a misfire and that gun was in the rain, mud, sand, and ever other place you could mistreat a weapon. so I was a bit surprised to hear about 1911 malfunctions.......Ill let you know when it breaks but up till now its solid, accurate a a pleasure to shoot.

 

[mtngunr]

The misfire thing on 1911s was probably his experience with 1911-TYPE guns as marketed by quite a few makers who, despite all their hype and advertising, don't really come close to building a gun to spec....Sigmas, Glocks, and the like, can pretty much be thrown together out of a parts bin and work, while the 1911 was designed when a bit more handwork was par for the course....so when you get one part that's a little out of spec one way, put it in another part out of spec the other way, and attach it to another assembly made of parts likewise not to spec or at the far end of specs both directions, you end up with a machine that might not even work, or might work flawlessly......some of the newer 1911s made drop-safe by use of lightweight/small-diameter titanium firing pins is probably what the instructor had experience with in misfires....

 

[mtngunr]

I ain't much on diplomacy, as you can tell. But the model 10 is still being made after all these years, the Sigma ain't. There is a good reason for that. My Sigma was not a jam-o-matic but it would FTE about every 50 rounds or so. The man I gave the Sigma to also complained about the trigger, as did every single shooter who ever fired it, as well as the fact that for some reason it would double feed or stove pipe once and a while. Not bad for a target pistol but a death wish for a self defense pistol. If the Sigma is such a good pistol why are you guys always having to defend it's honor? Why are people on this forum so tired of this topic until they don't even read it any more? I said that the Sigma is the most forgetable Smith and Wesson pistol ever made but I'm sure there are a few that have been forgotten that I don't know of.
I know how Sigma owners feel. I have a Diamondback DB380 that has never failed once in 500 rounds. I have defended Diamondbacks until I was blue in the face until I had to admit that I was very lucky to get one that works.
It a $300 Smith and Wesson pistol. That don't even sound right.

Firstly, i am FROM the south, so spare the hokey "ain'ts"....secondly, this IS a Sigma forum, and while YOU may have had bad luck with one, YOU could also have bad luck with a Glock or M&P etc etc, and in none of those cases would it then entitle you to be an expert in any of them, nor to go looking for internet posts where other people are having great results with them and jump into the middle of threads and trash them....try another forum where people lacking a wide variety of experience with the guns might actually believe you......thirdly, the Sigma discontinued? have you seen CDNN running a clearance on them?

 

[Garpo]

the Sigma discontinued? have you seen CDNN running a clearance on them?

Good point!

In addition, S&W needs to update their website because they are still showing that pesky Sigma.

Sigma Series - Smith & Wesson

 

[mtime7]

I recently bought a sigma second hand for $150, I ran about 100 rds through it, which by no means makes me an expert, but here are my thoughts.. It seemed to function fine and was accurate for what it is..my only fault with it was the trigger which seemed to grab about every 1/8 inch of pull. Luckily I have good hands honed from thousands of double action revolver pulls (I only shoot double action with revolvers) which helped with the rough trigger.. My final thoughts are that I would feel well armed with the sigma in my hand, and it is priced for budget minded people, with that, it will be up for sale soon. I have many great firearms in my collection and it is not a collectable, and it will not be my go to gun for trouble, simple because I have better... Just my thoughts

 

[doc540]

re: trigger

call S&W customer service

tell them the trigger is "gritty", not "stiff"

they'll email prepaid postage

mail the frame to them

Within two weeks it will show up remarkably improved

at no out of pocket expense

FTW

 

[mtime7]

re: trigger

call S&W customer service

tell them the trigger is "gritty", not "stiff"

they'll email prepaid postage

mail the frame to them

Within two weeks it will show up remarkably improved

at no out of pocket expense

FTW

will it matter if I already did a little polishing and I got it second hand.. My light honing helped some but did not completely fix the problem.. (I didn't want to go to far with the honing and polishing)

 

[nycems22]

The Sigma was my first civilian handgun. I had both, the M-45 and M9 in the Marines. I was drawn to the price and then found all of the negative comments. Upon further research, I found this forum and others with positive comments. The one commonality of the negative comments was most of them were made by people that "read/heard" about the Sigma.

Of course the most common complaint, even by proponents, was the trigger. With some people complaining of a 15-20 lbs pull. Then some of them would claim that their glock trigger pull was 2-3 lbs. Personally, I've never seen a glock with that light of a pull. I don't think anyone would Want one for a carry gun. To me, the Sigma trigger is just fine for a striker fired carry gun.It has had only one FTE (limp wristed) and only one FTF (bad primer in a reload). Other than that, well over 1000 rds. As for accuracy, that comes with practice. And to help negate the trigger complaints, my daughter first fired my Sigma when she was 11. She had no problem with the trigger and all (50) shots were on paper ( 12" target at 5 yds). I will never "apologize" for my Sigma by stating "for the price".

 

[mtngunr]

I handed my Sigma to my girl and said "See what you think." She immediately pulled the trigger and looked at me as if to say "So?"......so i told her to cock it again and this time to go slower, and she squeezed the trigger and then looked at me as if i were losing my mind....so i told her to do it again, and this time to go reeaaally sloooowwww, and that time she actually noticed it was heavy....I had to coach someone into seeing how terrible it was.

 

[Will Carry]

Dang, Did I say all that stuff last night? I am usually more reserved and don't post on the Sigma forum, for reasons that are obvious. I will do ya'll a favor (Is Ya'll Hokey Johnny Reb?) and refrain from giving my opinions on the Sigma again. You's guys know how I feel at least. If you'uns say the trigger is OK that's fine with me. No harm, no foul.