I finally got in touch with Sig customer service regarding the defective recoil spring in my P-238 and this is what I learned:
The problem was noted early in the production run, but the "fix" did not start going out until late last year. Any Sig P-238 with a born on date prior to December 2010 has the recoil spring that is prone to failure. The new recoil spring is flat, and they have not had any issues with it. They were "very happy to send me a new upgraded spring" at no charge.
I mentioned the word "recall" and the rep got very defensive saying that there has not been a recall issued for this model. Since I was getting a new one mailed to me for free, I didn't feel like pushing the issue.
The Sig Forums have had a lot of discussion lately regarding the quality at Sig going down since the company changed hands. I would hate for that to be true, but I have to look at the evidence in front of me. I paid $600 (which is roughly double the cost of the S&W Bodyguard) for a gun that was defective and didn't even get through 2 boxes of ammo before failing. Even worse, the company knew that the part was defective and instead of issuing a recall and getting the guns out there fixed (like the one that I had which was sitting on a gun store shelf for 4 months after the fix started to come out of the factory), they are letting consumers buy faulty products and then deal with them one at a time after failure. This is no way to run a business, and I really hope that they can get their act together.
A customer should not have to turn to multiple sites on the internet to cobble together solutions to a well know factory problem. This was identified, and allowed to fester. People who carry guns like this need to know that the gun they carry is going to work when they need it. Sig planted a seed of doubt in my mind regarding this really expensive piece of gear, and that pisses me off.
Circa 2007, I was a certified Sig hater. That was mostly because my limited exposure to their products were the M-11s that we carried at my squadron. Those weapons were functional, but were rode-hard, put-up-wet pieces of garbage. A friendship with a couple of SEALs statined here with me at PERS changed that perspective, and I am the proud owner of a badass P-226 Navy that has been a perfect hangun for me (easily 1000 rounds with no problems).
I am not going to say that Sig has gone to hell, but this is going to be in the back of my mind the next time I go to make a purchase.
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