P238 questions

Time to go read up on "Condition One" carry for 1911s.

Not speaking specifically about P238s, just the 1911-pattern gun - it was designed to be carried ready to shoot, with the thumb safety engaged. Army use with mounted cavalry favored an extra layer of safety so Browning incorporated the grip safety.

SA autos are generally less safe carried with the hammer down and a live round in the chamber. Notwithstanding various types of firing pin safeties, it is at least theoretically possible for the gun to discharge if the thumb safety is not engaged. The thumb safety on a 1911 blocks the sear, so the hammer simply can not connect with the firing pin to cause the gun to discharge.

Leaving the gun cocked and locked caused no harm. There is no reason to "uncock" at the end of the day, unless you are leaving the gun accessible to unauthorized people (like kids). "Administrative handling" of guns is responsible for a lot of NDs, so leave the gun as is unless there is a specific reason to render it in a non-ready condition. There's been a 1911 in Condition 1 on my night stand every night for years and it has yet to cause a problem.

P238 has stiff safety

I have a Sig P238 and also a number of 1911s which I have carried. I would agree with those above who advocate carrying these guns cocked and locked with a round in the chamber and the manual safety engaged. This requires enough mental alertness to disengage the manual safety as an extra step between drawing the gun and pulling the trigger. If you forget to disengage the safety you can lose precious seconds while you figure out why your gun isn't firing, and could lose your life as a result. So if you are going to use such a gun, it is very important to practice this "draw, safety off, fire" routine many times until it becomes second nature. If you can't do this, you are best with a gun lacking a manual safety, such as a Glock, a revolver, a Sig, etc.

Having said this, however, there are some advantages of the single action, cocked and locked type of handgun. A big advantage is that every trigger pull is the same, and is likely to be a short, light, crisp trigger pull that enhances accuracy. So you are more likely to hit what you are aiming at with this important first shot.

And with respect to the Sig P238, I have noticed that the safety lever is pretty stiff, requiring a fair amount of force to switch on or off compared to most 1911s I have seen. This gives you an added measure of protection against the safety going from on to off without your conscious decision to do so. For a pocket carried gun I think that is what you want.

The gun is designed to be safe when carried cocked and locked. For some reason many assume that it has a light trigger like a 1911. It has an 8 lb. trigger which means that even if somehow the manual safety came off safe (something that never happened to me in over 40 years) you will be presented with a trigger that requires 8 lbs of pressure to fire. If you had a Glock with no manual safety you would have a 5.5 lb. trigger. Which is safer? BTW, the gun also has a hammer safety notch that will catch the hammer before it strikes the firing pin should it somehow fail to stay back. Plus you can rack the slide to unload the gun with the manual safety on, something you cannot do with most guns. It is a very safe gun. Just looks scary to those more used to striker fired guns that cannot see the striker half cocked under tension.