I did it!

[Sledge]

Nice little pistol. I would like to own one of those some day.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Rawah]

Beautiful gun! Congrats on your purchase. More importantly... I applaud you on your decision to get a range membership and practice. I'll have to keep an eye out for that pretty sig at top gun.
Dan Smith does his CCW/ firearms safety classes through there and is a great instructor if you are still thinking about your CCW.

[First Sgt]

Congrats on your new purchase...Be safe and train train train...

[gasmitty]

FMJ for practice, to be sure. I think the jury is out on FMJ vs. JHP for carry, but it's not like FMJ is a death ray and the JHP is ineffective. If you do decide to carry JHPs, make sure your choice functions reliably in your gun, and run them through all your mags!

I don't know if Sig recommends a break-in of any sort, but I'd gain confidence in my new gun after a couple of range sessions that included a couple of hundred rounds. When the gun is new, a little extra lube won't hurt and neither will running the gun dirty. White-glove cleanliness is highly over-rated for working guns! You don't want to rinse them in mud (well, maybe the Glocks) but carbon and powder residue won't hurt a thing.

You've got a real nice gun there... practice like you mean it, and stay safe!

[pocketgroove]

Gratz on buying a great little blaster. I love mine.

For practice ammo, I just use the cheapest FMJ that runs well.
For carry ammo, you must find a .380 round that will penetrate. Expansion won't do much in a .380 if the bullet only penetrates 1 inch. I like the Buffalo Bore +P 100g Hardcast. Some guys will put a few of them in a mag. followed by a few hollow points. But whatever you choose, shoot as much of it as you can through the gun to prove that it feeds reliably. Be safe.

BuffaloBore 380 ACP +P 100 grain Hardcast in Gelatin - YouTube

[zonker1986]

oh, man. Another SIG snob in the larval stage. Quick, someone post a pic of their new Glock before the SIG zombies take over.


Seriously, (don't ever take me too seriously) Congratulations on the first of many. Its impossible to own just one.....

[1MoreGoodGuy]

Congrats on your purchase. I'm not a "Sig snob" but I do love my Sig P938.

[nedrgr21]

I bought my first guuuunnnnnn!!!

Smart lady

And it's what I truly wanted.

Even "smarter"

Congrats. Henges range most likely offers free shooting classes (Missouri's Fish, Forests and Wildlife | Missouri Department of Conservation), some exclusively for women. They provide guns and ammo, if they have any .380, you can shoot their ammo in our gun.

[Skookum]

Congratulations on your pistol.

For carry, I've opted to use Federal American Eagle 95-gr FMJ and Federal Premium Hydra-Shok 90-gr JHP. None of the .380 rounds tested by the FBI in the late '80s met the criterion of 12-in penetration in bare ballistic gelatin, but the Hydra-Shok made 12-in with cloth covering the gelatin ( Interpretation of FBI gelatin tests ). In WA most bad guys wear clothing. I have three magazines -- one with JHPs, one with FMJs, and one candy caned.

For practice it would be ideal to use what you carry, but I'm cheap. The best deal I've found on bulk practice ammo is at Freedom Munitions ( 380 Auto 100 gr. RNFP - Blaster Handgun Ammo ). It's about $0.20 per trigger pull.

Have fun.

[Caertaker]

Grats on your first. She's a real looker. Just remember few of us end up with our "firsts". I hope you have deep pockets since you obviously have expensive tastes.

[dukalmighty]

Shot a 238 my friend bought when Academy Sports were selling them for under $450 with nite sites.It was actually a smooth shooter very light recoil and dead accurate.
I reloaded him some 100 grn LRN 380 acp for about $6.00 100,if you shoot a lot and have the room it pays to cast your own bullets and reload.

[RAC55]

Congrats on the Sig...I like the grips on it. They are sweet. I've had my P230 for 20 years, and I hope your Sig treats you as good as mine has treated me!

[miller_man]

Congrats on your new gun! Heard those 238's are great, hopefully I'll get to try one out someday soon.

If your anything like most of us, this will be the first of many

[ccw9mm]

Now.....can someone give me a crash-course in ammunition (or link me to a good explanation) and give some recommendations of what to buy (for both practice and carrying)?

Some thoughts ...

Gun, basic ammo for range/practice, basic carry ammo, a simple "range" bag to carry the stuff, ear protection (muffs and plugs), cleaning gear. Beyond that, only practice is necessary.

As for ammo, in short: whatever best works in the specific gun you've got, realizing that not all owners of the same make/model of gun have equal results with all ammo. How to find it? Trial-and-error, basically.

I'd run ~500rds of decent FMJ/ball ammunition through it, first, before you start making any judgments about ammo. That'll give the gun a bit of break-in time, to smooth out and loosen up to the point of accepting most other ammo you try. Then, selectively go through a few different types of JHP defensive ammo until you've found one the gun eats perfectly reliably.

As for which ammo makes sense defensively, I prefer to find the ammo that works the most smoothly and reliably in my own gun, so long as it meets certain force/penetration minimums. In a ~4-5" barreled service pistol in 9mm, my standard is basically ~400+ ft-lbs and ~15"+ penetration in standardized tests. In a short-bbl variant, ~250-300+ ft-lbs and ~10"+ penetration. So long as its dead-nuts reliable in my specific gun, that'll just about do. YMMV.

Which brand/type of ammo to try out, in your search for the right defensive JHP ammo? Check the SIG-related boards and forums, for a starting point. Uncertain whether the P238 has certain ammo it seems to like best. Starting there might be less expensive.

[Brad426]

Congrats. Give us a range report later.