The traditional rear sight of a pistol can be shaved and dehorned and whittled down. Yet, in the end, you still have a rear sight sticking up above the slide, along with the front post. And for the concealed carry customer, those sights are inevitably going to catch on clothing and on the edge of holsters and will likely dig into the carrier’s hip.

So, instead of dehorning the rear sight and making the front post a little white nub, is it possible to remove the traditional front and rear sights altogether? Yes.

And then? Replace those traditional sights with an FT Bullseye sight, made by Meprolight, which fits onto the rear of the pistol slide and removes the need for a front sight altogether.

That’s exactly what Sig Sauer did with its nifty little carry pistol, the P938 SAS Micro-Compact. With dimensions just slightly larger than its .380 ACP counterparts, the P938 SAS holds seven-plus-one round of 9mm ammunition. Featuring an all-metal frame and a Nitron-coated stainless steel slide, the P938 SAS sports a cocked-and-locked single-action trigger.

Customers who like the 1911 platform will find the thumb safety, magazine release and slide stop lever in all the familiar places. The thumb safety, by the way, is ambidextrous, making the P938 SAS an easy fit for both left- and right-handed shooters. A rubberized grip includes finger slots for a firm hold.

But that sight.

The sight works by aligning it with a single central point of focus, giving the FT Bullseye the feel of a red-dot sight. This low-profile, single-night-sight design is powered by fiber optics to pop during daylight hours, while premium-grade tritium handles even the darkest blackout conditions. No batteries required.

And it sits almost even with the top of the P938 SAS slide.

Sig Sauer also rounded off everything else possible in designing the P938 SAS, including the front edges and rear of the slide to the curved, rubberized bottom of the magazine. I not only wore the P938 SAS for several days’ worth of concealed carry but practiced drawing it out and replacing it dozens of times. It was one smooth operation that got me on target fast and effectively, in a small, easy-to-conceal package that still provided 9mm power.

Grouping Up

At my outdoor range, I ran the P938 SAS with five brands of 9mm ammunition: standard Aguila loaded with a 124-grain full metal jacket bullet; Aguila +P firing a 115-grain FMJ; Federal Premium Hydra-Shok Deep and its 135-grain personal defense projectile; Remington UMC, 115-grain metal cased bullet; and, SAR-USA’s new 115-grain FMJ 9mm NATO range ammunition.

The Aguila+P created a much snappier recoil than the other standard rounds — not surprising given the added pressure of the rounds plus the smallish size of the pistol. But I didn’t feel the accuracy was quite as good as the other ammunitions I used. I shot at 5 and 10 yards for accuracy testing, offhand, and while the +P Aguila’s were sufficiently accurate at 5 yards with 2.5-inch groups of five shots, they were twice that size at 10 yards. 

In general, the other brands of ammunition scored 2.0-inch groups at five yards offhand, and groups of 3.0 to 3.25-inches at 10 yards offhand. That’s not exactly competition-level pistol accuracy, but for close-quarters self defense, which, after all, is what this pistol is made for, that accuracy is quite sufficient.

Yes, there were some better groups including the Remington UMC scoring five shots at 1.2-inches from 5 yards offhand on a Birchwood Casey “Bad Guy” target, and the SAR pegging three shots at 1.5-inches at 10 yards.

Another factor that I believed increased group size is that my range is of the outdoor variety and located in north-central Wisconsin. My shooting with the P938 SAS occurred in later February, with the air temps in the teens both days. I didn’t use gloves and had to warm my hands up in my vehicle from time to time. Fingers did get stiff, and I am sure that added to group sizes somewhat.

Also, the pistol’s trigger was a bit stiff, especially in early shooting, though it did loosen up as I put more rounds through the gun. It measured out a 3 pounds of trigger pull, on average, according to my Lyman Digital Trigger Pull Gauge. 

Selling the P938

“The sale is made by getting the customer's hands on it and having them actually look at the sight by aiming it — in a safe direction, of course!” says Phil Strader, Sig’s director of firearms product management. “The immediate impact that sight gets is universal and very positive.”

When showing the P938 SAS, though, a salesperson needs to be upfront about the FT Bullseye sights. Ironically, it’s the more experienced shooters who will likely require some time (and ammunition) getting used to this one-dot sighting system. I initially found himself looking over the top of the green dot to line up my shots. Big mistake. 

In fact, what the shooter needs to do is to place the green dot on the center of the target and squeeze off a shot.

Plus, the shooter has to make sure he or she has acquired a fully lit center dot for maximum accuracy. The green within the dot circle can’t be simply on the edges or grouped to one side. A fully lit center dot means the pistol’s bore is fully centered.

Once I figured this out, hits came fast and furious on the targets, though, as mentioned earlier, that didn’t mean the shots stacked up one on the other. 

One way to educate customers on this sight is to have a couple of different targets set up in one area of the store where the unloaded P938 SAS can be aimed without muzzling anyone. Make sure the potential buyer recognizes the differences between the partially and fully lit green center dot. 

A shooting range is even better for a hands-on trial. But go over the green-dot centering first, and make sure the customer starts their shooting at very close, self-defense distances of 3 and 5 yards. Once they master these distances and therefore gain confidence in the sighting system, pull back for longer shots.

Strader noted that Sig will provide its FFL dealers an instore promotional display for this and other Sig firearms, as well as counter mats and signage.

Through its Channel Marketing Training program, Sig has several people around the country that will visit in-store to train up sales staff and provide ideas for display and other marketing. They are also available via phone calls, emails and texts to answer questions about this and other Sig firearms, as well as to provide sales tips and ideas.

Of note, Sig Sauer sells to its FFL dealers directly and through distributors.

“We sell direct to retailer buy groups, to our Master Dealers and to our Elite Dealers,” Strader adds. “And our firearms are available through all the major distributors.”   

The P938 SAS should provide add-on sales, too. Self-defense and practice ammunition are the obvious add-ons, but there are also a large number of concealed carry holster options for this handgun. Options include custom as well as off-the-shelf holsters, and inside the waistband, outside the waistband and even a number of ankle holsters.

Sig Sauer itself offers over a half-dozen holsters for the P938 and the smart FFL dealer will have at least a few holsters on hand for additional sales.

And don’t forget to have Sig branded hats, T-shirts and range accessories available, too. Even if the P938 SAS customers don’t buy Sig clothing during the initial pistol purchase, Sig gun owners are known to be very brand loyal. Once that new customer has used their SAS at the range a few times, they may well be back for a hat or shirt to show that loyalty.