The Model S SEEMS to be the progenitor of the Colt Government Model .380. That gun was shortened to Commander-type
size and called, IIRC, the Mustang. Then they added the aluminum frame and shortened it more IIRC was the Mustang Pocket Lite.
And then the marketing geniuses at Colt stopped production, just about the time that small guns for CCW were starting to take off
like a rocket ship.
And a few years later, maybe 5-10, Sig launched the P238 which was better made than the Colts, and
a lot more money. The Sigs used a tunnel extractor on the early guns, like the 1911, and like Colt had done, I assume to further
make the "Government Model" name/marketing idea stick, but Sig have gone back to the external extractor on
current production, which is what Star used on all theirs. My wife's SIG was used, and came to us tossing brass all over the place. On
the first four shots she fired, #1 hit the overhead tin roof smartly, bounced away, #2, went about 10 deg above horizontal and 15 ft to
the side, #3, went dead horizontal and 5 ft out, and #4 rolled off of her hand at zero velocity and fell on the bench and lay there.
I called cease fire, and took a look at the gun. Since it had a tunnel extractor like a 1911, I pulled it to check extractor
tension like on a 1911 when it is doing that crap. Yep, zero tension on the extractor, it just fell out once the FP stop was
removed. I bent it and got the tension right (it is a leaf spring) and all was, and still is, well. I think that Sig got lazy and
decided that the external extractor didn't require any 'setup', and went back to their roots at some point. I never noticed
exactly when they did the switch.
Good little guns, not that much like a 1911 inside, really, "kinda-sorta". Pivoting trigger, BHP (sorta) type of barrel
cam instead of link, a few other changes, but clearly has the general genetics from JMB. The Stars locked the slide with
the safety, and the current version from Sig does not, so you can unload or load with the safety on. They have ambi
safeties avaialable, too. All sorts of minor variations on the design now. Kimber's is called the 'Micro .380', a more prominent
and styled rear horn on the frame, I guess to look more like their 1911's beavertails.
en.wikipedia.org
Bill