Sig 232

by Roy Dawson
(Hanover County Virginia, USA)

My every day carry combo.

My first foray into the Sig world was via my job as a Fire Marshal in a fairly large County Fire Department in Virginia. We carried S&W 686's however, due to our local police switching over to Sig 220, we also switched over. I love the Sig 220 and purchased my service pistol when I retired. The 220 is a big gun however, and not easily used as a CCW with all types of clothing.

I was in the market for a gun that fit my hands, was easy to conceal and would make a good showing in the event that I needed it in an emergency. Since I was familiar with Sig and really impressed by the quality, I chose the Sig 232. I've now had my 232 for two years and even though some think the .380 is on the weak side as a defensive round, I'm very impressed with the gun and it has become my everyday carry weapon.

First and foremost, I was impressed with the quality, fit and finish of the gun. Visually it was perfect in every way. Everything just seemed to be silky smooth and my first range experience was a delight firing the 232. I fired 100 rounds of FMJ during my first outing without a single issue. Most of my firing was from the 7 and 15 yard line and accuracy was excellent and the gun was very consistent in placing all the shots inside a 10" circle.

I had read several articles about slide bite on this particular gun and watched my hand placement carefully. Not long after my first range outing I replaced the stock grips with Hogue Grips and never had an issue with the slide. I have now fired several thousand rounds through the gun using a variety of FMJ and hollow points with only a few failures to feed. I've always thought those were due to the hollow point ammo and not the gun.

The gun is very easy to carry concealed even though it now is considered to be a fairly large.380 by today's standard. Maybe that is one of the things I like about the Sig 232, it's not too small. I'm a pretty big guy and little teeny guns with little teeny grips just don't feel right. The Sig 232's grip gives me all the support I need to feel that I have total control over the gun at all times.

I carry the Sig 232 in a Bianchi 100 size 9 holster IWB with just a tee shirt and you can't tell I'm carrying. On occasion I will use a Pro-Active Defender belly band which is so comfortable that I forget I am carrying. Lastly, I now have added Crimson Trace Laser Grips for low light situations and I think that I have found my perfect carry gun in the Sig 232.