Since I live in MD concealed carry guns are not something I know much about.  However my retired uncle who lives in Virginia is looking for something that is small enough to CC.  Right now he's considering the Sig 938 based on a suggestion from his local dealer.  What does the hive think of this choice?  Any alternatives that he should consider?  Thanks for the help.

I have one.  Great gun.  Perfect for ccw.  Large for Pocket carry unless you wear baggy pants.

Great gun

The Sig is a fine pistol but it might be helpful to know what drove him to that particular pistol.  Does he have a set of requirements he wants in a carry pistol?

Tons of SS9 pistols now exist and their is not something for everybody.

The Sig is an awesome choice, I carried one for close to three years and it is incredibly accurate for such small pistol. The one downside (to me) is that it is a SAO pistol. If your used to 1911's and like that style of carry, then they are a great option, I just couldn't get used to carrying it hammer back/safety on. Because of this I would lower the hammer when carrying it and practiced drawing and pulling the hammer back in one motion. Eventually I realized this wasn't the best situation for carrying and I traded it for an XDs so that I could carry cocked and locked. As someone already mentioned there are a lot of good choices for SS9 on the market now if this is an issue like it was for me.

You wised up.

I love my 938.  I don't mind cocked and locked because I carry in a quality holster.  I may not have been as confident with pocket carry.

I understand some people apprehension.  But it is far more dangerous to try and carry with the hammer down.  You take the chance of slipping while lowering the small hammer, and unintentionally firing while cocking in a stressful situation.

Since you weren't 100% comfortable you decided to find something that suited you better.

Not just lowering either.....  Try cocking under stress I had this discussion with a friend of mine when he wanted to carry a officer 1911.  So we went to the range and I had he set up the pistol how he wanted to carry it.  We then ran about 200m in sprints, I drew my G19 he drew his 1911 and we each had to fire three shots.  Needless to say he carried the 1911 for a few weeks and ended up selling the 1911 and bought a G43.  The first time we ran it I was done with my 3 shots before he even go his first shot off.  The second time we ran it was immediately afterwards we ran another 200m sprints he ended up fumbling trying to cock the hammer and just ran the slide and popped the round out of his chamber but I still had my 3 shots off before he got his first off.

I love mine and pocket carry it every day to work in a Uncle Mikes holster. Great little shooter as well and accurate as hell.

Great gun...I've owned one.  However, I found it too big for pocket and unnecessarily small for IWB / OWB.  

For me, pocket carry Ruger LCP, and regular carry a Glock or 1911.

I've had a couple and still carry one. My current carry piece replaced a Walther PPS, which is also a nice pistol. Great little guns if a little on the pricy side.

Are the 938s the ones that used to come with the plastic MSH, that the index pin for the hammer spring could break?  I do recall the newer ones have a metal MSH to resolve - just couldn't remember if it was the 938 with that issue.

Mine has hammer follow issues. Idk exactly what's causing it but I've found a few pieces of plastic when I've pulled the mag out and another similar looking piece out of the case.

I could be wrong but I don't think so.  I have the Extreme model with G10 MSH, so maybe there are other models that do.  I was under the impression that some of the other models utilize aluminum MSH.

I have an SAS model on the way. Can't wait!

Found this thread.  Looks like the 938 MSH wear issues are a result of positioning between the sear spring and hammer strut.

http://sigtalk.com/p238-p938-pistol/27924-p938-msh-failure-theory-why-6.html

Early models had this issue, but SIG redesigned the mainspring housing and from what I understand it's no longer a problem.

I had a P238 Scorpion and have shot the P938, both are excellent handguns.

Even though they are a little bigger, I still prefer the 42/43 over the 238/938, but I'm a striker fired polymer kinda guy...

Great little gun, and surprisingly accurate. It's become one of my favorite carry guns.

As others have mentioned, if you're comfortable with cocked and locked it's tough to beat. If you're not OK with that, I'd look elsewhere though.

Thanks for the info.  I will feed this back to my uncle.

If it's just a small 9 he's looking for Shield or Lc9s. Striker fired, no need for external safety that would require extra training. If he's a 1911 guy the 938 is his gun.

I think the Glock 43 is really hard to beat.

For small pistols that may wind up in a pocket I like DAO actions like the Sig P290RS.

Id Agree. If you're not comfortable with a cocked and locked gun look else where.

I really like the 938. Another option for a small 9 would be the CM / PM 9.

I carry a P938 in a pocket holster everyday. No problems.

I own all the guns mentioned in this thread.

I find my 938 to be 100% reliable (I'm on my second one, the first one was replaced by Sig due to extreme reliability issues), and to have a significant edge on accuracy.  I don't find cocked and locked to be a problem - if you understand how the firing pin block works, it's not possible for the gun to fire unless you pull the trigger, hammer falling accidentally will not discharge the pistol.

In regards to safety manipulation or speed, this is a training issue.  Also safety is useful in situations where someone grabs your gun.

My only complain with the P938 series is related to the mags - first round in the mag pops out frequently when ejecting the magazine.  This is common on many small single stack 9's, due to feed lip design on the mag.


Love my 938, it's my preferred summer carry gun!


-Freq

Rather than compromise your ability to shoot fast and accurately and to avoid compromising the magazine capacity, get a CZ 75 Compact.

At 38 oz, fully loaded, it is just under twice the weight of a Sig 938, but that extra weight makes it much more effective when it's time to shoot.  And 38 oz isn't to much weight to carry in a good IWB holster.   It's also small enough that it's still easy to conceal.

-----

A few thoughts...

1. Cocked and locked (Condition 1) bothers some people who are not familiar with it, but it's not an issue at all, provided you're using a decent holster.   Condition 2 carry in an SA only pistol is the worst possibly method of carry as it relies on fine motor skills you won;t have under extreme stress, and it's slower than Condition 3, where you just rack the slide to chamber a round and cock the pistol.  If you don't like Condition 1, you need to skip to Condition 3, or find a SA/DA, or DA only pistol.  

2.  The irony is that many people who are uncomfortable with Condition 1 carry end up buying a striker fired pistol with all the safeties tied to the trigger, like a Glock - and then carry it in an improperly designed holster or do something really stupid like carrying via clip on the slide.  An inevitable percentage of those people end up missing some toes.

3.  Micro sized 9mm Para pistols are great for carrying concealed, but they involve an unavoidable compromise when it comes to actually shooting them.   They are very difficult to shoot well.   Based on what I see at the range, I suspect many handgun shooters don't care and feel getting hits anywhere on a B-27 target at 5 to 7 yards  under range optimum conditions is good enough.  Good help those folks if they ever need to actually fire a pistol in self defense as at best they will be the next best thing to ineffective, and at worst they'll take an innocent bystander with one of the misses.


----


A 5" 1911 and a Browning Hi Power are both superbly capable pistols from a shooting perspective, but both are a bit large for concealed carry for most people.

The CZ 75 Compact is in the sweet spot in terms of both shoot-ability and conceivability.   It's also accurate, relentlessly reliable and very durable in daily concealed carry use.   It weighs 38 ounces with 15 rounds on board (14+1) and a good leather IWB holster will add around 4 more ounces.  But in the aforementioned good IWB holster you won't notice the weight in all day carry.  

It also offers the option of either traditional Condition 1 carry, or since it is a SA/DA pistol, it also has the option of carrying it with the hammer down on a loaded chamber, without all the problems that result when you do that in a SA Only pistol.

All of the pistols below are in Condition 1.  That's obvious on the 5" 1911 and the CZ 75 Compact.

It's not obvious on the Hi Power  as it is an SFS Hi power where the safety is applied by pressing the hammer forward.  This places the hammer down on a hammer block, but leaves the spring fully cocked.  When the safety lever is depressed, the hammer is released to spring back into engagement with the hammer spring.  So in essence, it is in Condition1, it just doesn't look like it, and the hammer is drop safe, without relying solely on the firing pin safety.  The 3" 1911 also has the SFS system.  

In both cases it works great for concealed carry as the hammer is "down", and won't snag on anything.   It's also very easy to verify the safety is on when the pistol is in a holster.  That's ideal for those folks who are not yet comfortable with Condition 1 and start getting paranoid that the pistol has somehow come off "safe".   It's also valuable in open carry or law enforcement situations in some environments where the public gets nervous when they see the hammer up on a SA pistol that is being carried in Condition 1.