Smith & Wesson Sigma

The Smith and Wesson Sigma are self-loading pistols. There are three variants of the pistol, the Sigma 40, Sigma 9 and "Sigma 380. These are produced by the Smith & Wesson Company, and are said to be remarkably similar to the range of GLOCK pistols.

The Sigma series are recoil-operated, locked-breech semi-automatic pistols which was first introduced in 1994. Many referred to these pistols as 'Swocks', because of their similarity with the GLOCK pistols. GLOCK began a lawsuit against Smith & Wesson, which was resolved when a large undisclosed sum was paid. Though they had the rights to continue the production of Sigma line they were forced to redesign the pistol's trigger mechanism so as to not infringe upon GLOCK's patents.

The three variants are chambered for different cartridges. The Sigma 40" is chambered for 10-mm, 40 Auto cartridges, while the "Sigma 9" is chambered for 9 x 19 mm cartridges and "Sigma 380"is chambered for 9 x 17 mm cartridges.

The Sigma automatic works on barrel short recoil principle that was designed by J.Browning. S&W modified it and the hammer mechanism is now "double-action" type, so there are no external manual safeties and it has only single fire. The stainless steel barrel has 6 rifles. The "Sigma" was first "Smith & Wesson" company pistol made from a polymer frame, while the slide and barrel use either stainless steel or carbon steel. This made handling more comfortable and the balance improved. It is also prized for its large magazine capacity, and low weight. The double-action type hammer mechanism helps when firing has to be done without any preparation. The Sigma weapons in general are single action. The overall length is 184 mm. The barrel length in the post 1999 version is 101.6 mm or 4 inches, and in the earlier version it was 114 mm or 4.5inches. It weighs about 690 g when empty and can fire about 16 rounds in the 9mm version and 15 rounds in the .40SW version.

There were some improvements made in 1999. The barrel and slide were shortened and the grip checkering was made more comfortable, also the ejection port was enlarged and the accessory rail was added at the front of the frame under the barrel. An integral accessory rail for lights or lasers has been added. However there are possibilities of further improvement in the S8W Sigma.