Posted: 11/7/2009 8:20:25 AM EDT
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I'm a Sig armorer for a medium sized Police Department (about 130 Officers) so I service a decent number of Sig 229 .40 cal pistols. Recently, quite a few of the new guns have been having problems with the slide not locking open when the last round is fired. I put out a department wide email today to determine how many guns this is an issue with and to contact Sig with these numbers to see what can be done about it this coming week.
What I'm asking here is what could be the cause of this problem? I first thought it to be magazines so I did some testing. I took one of the guns with the problem and swapped that shooter magazines. His magazines worked fine in my 8 year old 229 and locked the slide open without problem but my magazines, which I've been using in my sig for 7 years without problem, didn't lock open the slide on his new pistol. This would lead me to believe the problem is in the pistol and not the magazines. Upon looking closer the slide stop lever looks to be made to a lower standard the the one in my older 229. I can't quantify it, but the contours of the metal and the thickness just make it look like poorer quality. A few other things I've noticed about the newer 229's are that they use a plastic spring guide rod, a roll pin to hold in the firing pin instead of the older solid pin, and the takedown levers are poorly constructed (we've had several break and Sig actually had to make a tool to remove the broken levers because it has become a recurring issue, which I've never heard of on the older 229's). In addition to these things, in the last 10 guns we've purchased there have been 2 extractors break while firing and a hammer that wasn't properly hardened which caused the slide to cut a groove in the hammer. In both cases, Sig replaced the parts for free but I have a growing concern that the 229's we are now getting from Sig are just a lower quality pistol. Has anyone else had these issues? I don't want to bad mouth Sig. I love my 229 and in 7 years and thousands of round it has never failed me, not once. I carry it every day with the utmost confidence that if I need it, I can depend on the gun with my life. I'm just not so sure about the newer crop of guns we've been getting. |
| Our DHS issued P229DAKs have had all sorts of problems. I thought it was just the DHS contract, but I hear even civilian sold Sigs having QC problems. I'm on my second one and it has had zero problems in 2 years. I am saving to buy a H&K USPc for duty carry because I have about 7000rds through mine so far and worry about it breaking down. My first one would fail to go into battery by a 1/4" after the first round and I would have to slam it into battery. I was given a loaner and then was told the recoil spring was replaced. I really didn't trust that thing out in the field. Not long after, I discovered the crack in the barrel. Mine have always had a metal recoil spring guide rod, though. My first 229 developed a crack in the groove between the barrel lug and barrel. Other coworkers have had broken firing pins, broken trigger springs and front sights loosening. |
| There was a variation on the slide release catch where some would only work with certain mags. I dont remember the details , but it had to do with mags issued to areas where only 10 rds. were allowed. They probably have those mag catches on your pistols and I believe the release is a shorter catch . The fix is to replace the catch with the longer arm ones like on your older Sig. |
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Quoted:
There was a variation on the slide release catch where some would only work with certain mags. I dont remember the details , but it had to do with mags issued to areas where only 10 rds. were allowed. They probably have those mag catches on your pistols and I believe the release is a shorter catch. +1. I bought a new 226R Navy a few years ago. it had the defective slide catch lever as well. Instead of sending a new gun back to SIG, I just ordered a replacement from Top Gun Supply for about $23. I installed it myself and have had no problems since. When you lay the defective part next to the replacement, you can see that the small bent piece on the end of the lever that touches the mag is not long enough. I assume that these parts are in a big tub, and the SIG factory person just grabs some and installs them. My 226R would lock back sometimes, but less than 50% of the time. Living in a Free State, I only use 15-or-greater round mags. This bad slide catches may work fine with the 10 rounders. If I were a SIG armorer and had a bunch of these pistols with these defective parts, I would contact SIG directly and see if they would send me a bunch of the replacement parts for free. There is no way that would send 5+ guns back for this problem. Good luck mate. |
| Same thing happens with my 229 357SIG. Seems the spring holding the mag catch down is just too strong and the mag follower doesn't push it up enough to engage. I never really cared (had it for a few years now) since it isn't my primary and, even if it were, I always hit the release with my thumb on all my SIGs and the slide never stays back after shooting to empty. Obviously, in your case something should be done about it. Let us know how you git er done. |
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I spoke with a rep at Sig and got a couple possible answers. As it turns out, the new recruit with the recurring problems did turn out to be a grip problem. His thumb was riding the slide catch lever.
As for the other guns, the most likely culprit is the lever itself or the spring. I'll have to go through the guns one at a time but Sig is willing to replace the parts provided they are recent guns. Obviously if the guns are 8 years old like mine then we'll have to buy the parts, but that is to be expected. I still don't have a break down on how many of the guns have issues because of shooter grip, the lever, the spring, the mags, or a combination of those. |