Sig Sauer P239 Photo Review

It's been a while since I did one of these. This is just a quick one of my summer CCW. This particular pistol has ~3200 rounds fired through it. When it came from the factory, it had an incorrect trigger return spring installed (One for the SAS model, which is shown in the pictures and has since been replaced with a correct one), but was functional with it temporarily seated as shown.

All in all an excellent pistol. Accurate, controlable, and fits well in my hands. Slightly heavy for a concealed carry pistol, because it's an all metal design, but it does carry and conceal very well.

In the holster I usually wear it in. With a pair of spare mags.


Left Side.


Right Side.


From above-rear.


Bottom of the slide. The red grease is just the stuff I use to lube the rails with. Grease works very well for this role. CLP goes on everything else.


Recoil Spring & Guide Rod.


Barrel, Left.


Barrel, Right.


Feed Ramp & Chamber.


Barrel. I tried to get the rifling, which is suprisingly hard with a point and shoot camera.


Slide, Breech and Extractor.


Slide.


Just screwing around.


Frame, Left, with grips removed.


Frame, Right, with grips removed. The trigger return spring should be seated in the notch to the lower-left of where it is in the picture. The shorter SAS spring would unseat itself under recoil, and cause a failure. Seated as shown made it work until the replacement Sig sent showed up. Always test your guns before you decide to carry them.


Frame, Rear. Mainspring.


Slide, From right rear. Note the extractor does not function as a loaded chamber indicator on this model.


My wife (who immediatly stated she 'didn't like that P239' when I brought it home), went out and bought one of her own after she fired my for the first time. I joke with her all the time to dye her hair red, but she doesn't get it.

Another excellent look mate. This one's particularly useful to me as well as I am considering the P239 for an OC that may or may not get developed further.

Excellent takedown and description of a weapons system.

It the same gun that used by Henrietta.

Thx for this post I've been looking for ages for some good images for the SIG

As the years have gone by, the Sig P239 isn't the handiest concealed carry piece, but it's sure a nice one to shoot. How's the transition from DA to SA?

The DA pull is the standard long & heavy (~10 lbs). The SA pull (~4.5 lbs) has a tinge of overtravel on the trigger reset. This can be fixed with a trigger job or eliminated from the factory with the SAS equipped model (which has no play in the reset).



If I'm in too big of a hurry I tend to drop the first shot with the DA pull about 4" low of where I intended at 7 yards. Found this out at the last defensive pistol class I took.

Yeah. I tend to like DAO or SA pistols for defense for that reason... except the CZ-75. Oh my god, that trigger is so sweet, you don't even notice. And you can carry it locked and cocked.

Does anyone here know for fact which cal Henrietta used for her 239? I'm pretty sure its either 9mm or .40S&W because in the pics of her loading it it didn't look like the .357sig.

Almost certainly nine mil.

thanks Nachtsider, i wasn't entirely sure but i guess 9mm (Para) would be better for them considering its heavily common everywhere, (40 is probably only NATO or US mainly)

Henrietta's pistol is a 9x19mm. Which goes by many names (9mm Luger, 9mm Para, 9mm NATO, etc). The exact model Henrietta uses is P239-9-TSS, which designates a P239 in 9mm with a two-tone stainless steel slide.

One of my friends told me that the Sig P239 sucks because it has a tendency to jam frequently.... Whether that is true or not, I told him to shut it because the P239 Two-Tone is a beautiful handgun....

On that note: Does it tend to jam?

Lukara wrote:One of my friends told me that the Sig P239 sucks because it has a tendency to jam frequently.... Whether that is true or not, I told him to shut it because the P239 Two-Tone is a beautiful handgun....

On that note: Does it tend to jam?

All guns tend to jam. Its a mechanical device which without proper care, maintenance and use will become faulty.

I would have to ask, what does he mean by frequently? An average hand gun should be able to do 500 rounds without jamming, and a good gun should do 1000 rounds without jamming; that is, continuous, without cleaning. But a gun should be cleaned weekly to prevent rust and lubricant gumming, and an extensive break down cleaning after use with proper solvents and oils for that weapon and not 3-in-1 oil or WD40 you pick up at the hardware store. Very few handgun metals would the solvents in these lubricants.

The 1911 is just an extreme... from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M1911_pistol

Wikipedia wrote:Among the areas of success for the Colt was a test at the end of 1910 attended by its designer, John Browning. 6,000 rounds were fired from a single pistol over the course of two days. When the gun began to grow hot, it was simply immersed in water to cool it. The Colt gun passed with no reported malfunctions, while the Savage designs had 37.

If there is something wrong with the gun, then he should call the company.

Lukara wrote:One of my friends told me that the Sig P239 sucks because it has a tendency to jam frequently.... Whether that is true or not, I told him to shut it because the P239 Two-Tone is a beautiful handgun....

On that note: Does it tend to jam?

No, they don't. Other than the wrong trigger return spring, which was an easy fix, none of the three that I own have had a 'jam' or malfunction. Even while filthy (after 1072 rounds without cleaning).

That's with the gun in the original post of this thread having a current round count of 8072. My wife's gun is somewhere around 3200. My newest P239 is a police trade-in, and I have no idea how many it's shot (450 rounds by me).

Guest wrote:One of my friends told me that the Sig P239 sucks because it has a tendency to jam frequently.... Whether that is true or not, I told him to shut it because the P239 Two-Tone is a beautiful handgun....

On that note: Does it tend to jam?

With reliability in handguns, you have user induced failures and weapon failures. Many pocket pistols can jam if you don't hold the weapon tightly, because the gun bouncing around in your grip saps energy from cycling (limp-wristing.)

Then there's a variety of mechanical things that can go wrong. I think the most notable is springs - recoil springs and magazine springs have to be replaced periodically. The mag is the heart of a semi-automatic pistol's reliability, so bad mags can turn a good gun into a bag gun. Which can easily happen if your friend knew someone who was a lazy owner or fired a beat-up rental 239.