Smith & Wesson Sigma 40 S&W Review

[Mrgunsngear]

Sigma pistols have a mixed record among the shooting public with many saying they're complete garbage while others saying they're a great bang for your buck. Here's what I've found of them over the years as well as specifically the Sigma 40...

Pros:
-Price. These guns can be had for roughly $300 +- $50 even today
-Fairly accurate pistols. In terms of inherent accuracy, this gun groups around 3'' at 25 yards with most defensive ammo (seems to like 165gr loads)
-Reliability. I know some will (truthfully) report otherwise but every Sigma pistol I've laid my hands on has been very reliable.
-Easy to maintain
-Easy to field strip
-Good amount of aftermarket support
-14+1 capacity
-Smith & Wesson has excellent customer service
-Requires very little cleaning/lubrication to run reliably
-Ergonomic frame
-Trigger has a positive reset

Cons:
-Trigger. This has been slightly improved in the newer "SD" models but the Sigma trigger is heavy (this one around 9lbs) and has an overly long reset point. This really is the biggest "con" of the gun and ruins the gun for a lot of folks out there.
-The rail doesn't work with most modern lights/lasers. There are adaptors (as shown in the video) available however.

All in all it's a decent gun for shooters looking to not spend a lot of money but still have a reliable platform. Would it be my first choice? No, but there are worse options out there in my opinion.

Here's a video with a little shooting, disassembly/assembly of the pistol, a size comparison with other guns, and a discussion of the pros and cons of the pistol:

Smith & Wesson Sigma HD Video Review Link

[carguychris]

The rail doesn't work with most modern lights/lasers. There are adaptors (as shown in the video) available however.

Just as a minor footnote, the Sigma SW40VE's replacement- the SD40 VE- uses a standard rail rather than the VE-series' peculiar proprietary rail.

[kahrguy]

I have on for a house gun. Charged the stricker spring to a wolff rp watched most of the different sigma trigger job videos and picked the least chancey vertion to try and polished all the metal parts . trigger settled in after a few hundred rounds to a 6lb 3oz pull. Good enought. Been very reliable now over the last few years.

There are some handguns that will set you back well over twice the cost of a sigma with well in excess of a 8lb + trigger pull that don't seem to mind.

[Technosavant]

All in all it's a decent gun for shooters looking to not spend a lot of money but still have a reliable platform. Would it be my first choice? No, but there are worse options out there in my opinion.

Mine's a 9 and not a 40, but my opinion is the same. It's reliable, reasonably accurate, and bargain priced. It's far from the best gun and another $150 or so will buy a much better one but if it's what you have you're not poorly armed.