I have to say this gun is an absolute work of art. Think baby 1911 in 9mm. This is a true pocket pistol that you can actually feel comfortable carrying and shooting.
It started going back to Oct of 2012. If an effort to garner support at home for my time at the range an attempt was made to encourage my wife to shoot. Those of you who know me personally will know my wife is a very petite woman. She stands 5ft even and under 100 lbs. She has some of the tiniest hands I have ever seen on an adult. She has shied away from shooting due to most pistols being to large for her to hold and due to her fear of the recoil.
She has tried my Glock and it is so large that she can not even reach the trigger. The LC9 she can grip but the trigger is so far forward that she is unable to pull it. So we went to the Novi Gunshow to see what we could find for her. Now keep in mind my wife knows nothing about guns but everything about expensive taste. She tried out 30 or so guns that day never once looking at the price. The entire goal was for fit and feel so she could be comfortable.
We come across a dealer I have used many times since now out of Okemos who is happy to show her the P238 and P938 in various styles. For those of you who do not know they come in the following configurations:
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After picking up the p938 Equinox she went from a person who tolerated my expensive hobby to someone who was generally interested in shooting. The fit was perfect even without the pinky extension her hand fit on the gun. The trigger had been firm close and easy to pull for her short fingers. The grip was comfortable and adequately stylish. We had a winner. The gun cost $680 which after the panic was a steel but when compared to my $325 LC9 was a bit of a hard pill to swallow. In the interest of her defense and my continued enjoyment on the line we purchased it. She has since taken her CPL class using this weapon and enjoys it greatly.
Fast forward to January. After getting fed up with the trigger on the LC9 I take her P938 to the range with some friends. I do not shoot well with a hammer fired DOA handgun. The issue is me and not the gun I know and practice will help but in a Life or Death situation I want my striker fired Glock or a solid SA SRT trigger. I was so impressed with the trigger of the p938 it was a clean crisp with a short reset and light pull compared to the other pocket pistols I have fired. For a gun so small I expected a bit more recoil but it was very easy to get back on target and fire follow up shots. Considering I had never fired this pistol and the 2.25 inch barrel size I was shocked when the groupings on my targets had been so tight. I am no marksman so I’m not going to share but it is sufficient to say that I practiced with the LC9 for months and my first 6 shots with the p938 had better groupings then any I had done on my LC9 ever.
I knew I had to have one. Unfortunately these guns had been hard to come by before the panic. After they had been nearly impossible. NY was getting them due to the new mag limits so places like MI found them hard to find. I went on GunBroker to see if I would have any luck there. I found several selling over $900 all in the same finish as my wife’s. Since we share a safe this would not work and I would have to get another configuration. After a few weeks of hunting around I was finally able to procure the Nightmare for $685 which came out to be closer to $750 after CC fee’s, shipping and local FFL cost.
Using the same Galco pocket holster I had for the LC9 I have been able to carry this gun very easily concealed in a pocket with limited to no printing. I am using the extended 7rd magazine with the pinky extension due to my full sized hands. As a 6ft tall man there is no issue with holding this gun if you use the pinky extension. Two of my friends are able to shoot it comfortably without the extension so try it for yourself and see. Even with the extension concealment is not an issue.
The trigger out of the box was a bit gritty and tight. There has been complaints about issues with the first model extractors. Supposedly these issues had been corrected by Oct of 2012 and I have not seen them in my P938 Nightmare. After cleaning degreasing the weapon and then properly lubricating it I began to work the trigger. Using a snap cap and firing the gun about 150 times the grittiness in the trigger was gone and it had a very nice smooth pull.
A common complaint for this gun is the serrated trigger and the sharp tip of the plastic trigger. In a self defense situation it won’t be an issue but after putting a few hundred rounds downrange without gloves most people report a sore finger and some have even had blisters. There is 2 ways to resolve this. The first is SS replacement triggers. These are often preferred by high end shooter over the plastic trigger that is shipped with the P938. You can use the same exact trigger replacements as those designed for the P238 as they have been around longer and offer more options. The second is what I did and that is to take a Dremmel tool and a very fine sanding wheel and sand down the serration’s and sharp trigger tip. Since this is plastic it is very easy to do and will result in a very comfortable trigger that you can mold to your shooting style. The plastic is black all the way through so sanding this down will not leave you with a 2 tone trigger. There are several videos on YouTube about this if you are interested.
In short this is my new ultra concealment EDC for times when carrying my Glock is not a viable option. It gets a lot of use and has handled the wear well. The trigger keeps getting better as does my accuracy. The Sig Sites are some of the best night sites I have ever had the privilege of using. All in all it was worth every penny IMHO.
