It’s not exactly a secret: I love my little Sig Sauer P238. It’s small, it’s easy to shoot and for what it is the firearm is accurate, Caleb can hold an 8 inch group at 25 yards with it. The gun is easily concealed and, especially with Sig’s new extended mags, fits a wide variety of hand sizes but what interests me most about this miniaturized 1911 is what a girls’ gun it is, and I don’t mean just because it comes in rainbow.
I’ve spoken before about how I don’t consider a double action trigger an ideal carry option for women and my P238 has a single action trigger weighing in at around 8 pounds. Which means it’s not going to go off if you breath on it, but it also won’t make your wrists ache.
Another thing to take into consideration is this little gun’s weight. The reason it is more pleasant to shoot than some of the other .380s on the market has in part to do with the fact it weighs a few ounces more. I’ve found that this small weight differential means a lot more to men than women because we aren’t trying to carry the gun in our front pant pocket or suit pocket, which is when those few ounces make the most difference.
Also, the P238 closely parallels the 1911 platform I have found to be very popular among women. This popularity makes a lot of sense when you consider the single action trigger pull and the fact that single stack firearms tend to fit our often smaller hands better. There are a lot of good reasons to carry a pocket gun that matches a platform you are comfortable with, not the least of which is that in a stressful moment you will do what you have practiced. As such I encourage 1911 shooters to take a close look at the P238 when shopping for a pocket pistol.
On a final note the P238 is a lot of fun to accessorize. With 11 models available and literally hundreds of grip options on the market customizing my P238 appeals to the same side of me that owns 4 pairs of black stilletos. Do I need carbon fiber grips on my gun? Probably not, but they sure are cool.
I was looking at P238’s, but decided against them because of the cost of magazines…they run around $40 each, and I like to have at least six (6) for any pistol I plan to use regularly.
I’ve heard that the magazines for the Colt Mustang will function in the P238…have you tried that yet?