If you've got 'em, show 'em!

P230SLleft1k by GaryBF, on Flickr

I've always been curious about them but I've never handled one in person.
Not sure what niche it would fill. Maybe a nice pocket pistol.

I can't post pictures anymore, but I do really like both my P230 and P232. My P230 was my edc pistol for a long time. I put Nills grips on it about the time that I retired it. I liked it so much that I got a P232 stainless also. I don't carry either any more, but they are both favorite "keepers."

quote:

Originally posted by joatmonv:
I've always been curious about them but I've never handled one in person.
Not sure what niche it would fill. Maybe a nice pocket pistol.

Niche?!

How about the fact that it is one heck of a great looking / classic looking gun?!

It's pretty much why I picked up my P232 SS.

I always wanted one. Just a hella sleek pistol. But it’s outdated. A lot of smaller, more powerful, higher capacity and softer shooting pistols out there these days. Only thing the P230/232 has over them is style.

Sometimes, 'style' is enough. I came across a blued P230 in a local pawn shop near work the other day for $389. I'd rate it as 'NRA Very Good'. I carried one as a BUG many years ago as an LEO when my primary weapon was a P239 in .40S&W. I think I'll 'succumb to my nostalgic moment' and get it.

Nice pistol for lookin' at and while it can still do a job, there are so many more modern guns that are smaller / lighter in 380 and even 9MM, that beyond that I don't see much for it.

Lack of American controls (manual slide lock and mag release) really limit it, in addition to it's snappier blow back operation.

I had a P230SL for 3-4 years, it was pretty but beyond that, I didn't like it much.

quote:

Originally posted by RHINOWSO:
Nice pistol for lookin' at and while it can still do a job, there are so many more modern guns that are smaller / lighter in 380 and even 9MM, that beyond that I don't see much for it.

Lack of American controls (manual slide lock and mag release) really limit it, in addition to it's snappier blow back operation.

I had a P230SL for 3-4 years, it was pretty but beyond that, I didn't like it much.

I think this is the reason(s) I never pursued one. Read a few things and was like, "Do I really want one?"
I have 2 pistols that are pretty and draw "Ohhhs and ahhhs" when I show them off.
Everything else I own gets carried and shot.
Still curious and you never know.

quote:

Lack of American controls (manual slide lock and mag release) really limit it, in addition to it's snappier blow back operation.

Definitely missing some stuff, the heel release is the part that's hard to get over. I bought one recently, which was the very first SIG I shot 20+ years ago. Bought it from my Mommy, she hadn't shot it in years. So for the moment it's the first and last SIG I've owned. Need to buy some .380 and take her out for a spin as soon as life slows down a bit.

Don't get me wrong, they are well made pistols - they are far from obsolete, but are just the product of a different age, before polymer became a large component to handguns.

Mines was an impulse buy; I had turned 21 and was purchasing a SIG P220 / 45. The state had a waiting period so I figured might as well get 2 handguns and what I thought was nickel finish at the time caught my eye. The P230SL was a sexy looking beast and smaller than the P220, so I figured it would be a good carry gun and told them to ring both pistols up.

I probably shot 1000 rounds through my P230 but much preferred shooting my P220. There are better options these days but if I only had a P230, I wouldn't feel too bad about it.

Like Obi Wan told Luke Skywalker about the lightsaber:

"An elegant weapon..for a more civilized age."

I've got two of them - one is the all blued version, the other a "piebald" one, stainless slide and blued receiver.
I've got all sorts of different handguns, but I seem to want to carry one or the other of my 232's most often. They just fit my hands perfectly, I've never had a malfunction with either one of them, and dang they are classy!
I will try to post a picture tomorrow.

I love mine! I think the lines of the gun are among the most graceful of any design.

I think they are beautiful but when I had mine I just thought it was too snappy for me and I couldn't get used to the European magazine release.

I love my stainless P230...infinitely more reliable than the PPK/S. No pics, though.