Posted: 2/5/2009 5:37:27 PM EDT
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First of all, this post is not intended to bash Sig or the P220 model. I have plenty of friends and colleagues that swear by theirs, and Sig's reputation is excellent. However, my experience was less than stellar. A few years back I began carrying a Sig P220 for my duty weapon. I loved the size, ergonomics, and the mag release/de-cocker, etc. That being said, after 200-300 hundred rounds through it (using the factory mags) I began to experience an alarming number of FTFs. I mistakenly (and foolishly) chalked this up to the "breaking in" period on a gun. This problem continued for some time, including serious issues during range qualifications. I retired the P220, and began carrying another firearm, which I have experienced no problems with. I had a colleague that also carried a P220, and he said that he had experienced problems relating to the magazines. He had resorted to dremeling a portion of the feed lips out a bit, and said that this resolved his problems. My question is: has anyone else experienced similar types of problems relating to the P220s (mine is about 6 years old now)? Was this a known problem that has since been fixed? I apologize if this is well commented on issue such as the early Glock .40s. Any insight into this problem I had would be appreciated. I'm not particularly interested in hearing that, "I should've shipped it off to Sig," as I still would've had to have carried another weapon during this time. Thanks in advance. |
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I have an older, all-german made P220 that has quite a few rounds down the pipe and I can honestly I have never experienced any problems.
Probably on the order of 3,000 rounds or so over about 6 years. I use only Sig and Mec-Gar 7 round mags, and shoot both FMJ and JHP with it. The JHP is mostly Winchester Silvertips. I bought my P220 used, so I have no idea what the history was, although it was in great shape. What ammo were you using when you had the problems? |
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Quoted: Hmm my first thought would be the mag springs. They could be weak or installed wrong. I installed my springs wrong and the 8th round was near impossible to load. Also have you been using the same lube for the slides? I haven't been overly consistent with the lube. I think I was using some of the Remington "Dry Lube w/ Teflon" for a little while. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Hmm my first thought would be the mag springs. They could be weak or installed wrong. I installed my springs wrong and the 8th round was near impossible to load. Also have you been using the same lube for the slides? I haven't been overly consistent with the lube. I think I was using some of the Remington "Dry Lube w/ Teflon" for a little while. On the newer Sigs, the general consensus has been that they need to run rather wet. Most seem to prefer a grease such as TW 25B or Enos Slide Glide in the medium flavor. I run Militec grease on mine. Here's Sig's "guideline" on Lubrication ETA: Have you cleaned your mags as well? I know when I bought mine, they were covered in what looked like cosmoline so I cleaned them inside and out. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Hmm my first thought would be the mag springs. They could be weak or installed wrong. I installed my springs wrong and the 8th round was near impossible to load. Also have you been using the same lube for the slides? I haven't been overly consistent with the lube. I think I was using some of the Remington "Dry Lube w/ Teflon" for a little while. On the newer Sigs, the general consensus has been that they need to run rather wet. Most seem to prefer a grease such as TW 25B or Enos Slide Glide in the medium flavor. I run Militec grease on mine. Here's Sig's "guideline" on Lubrication ETA: Have you cleaned your mags as well? I know when I bought mine, they were covered in what looked like cosmoline so I cleaned them inside and out. I was admittedly running a little on the dry side. That being said, and I apologize for this, my FTF description was too vague. It was experiencing failure to fire, rather than feed (load). Could this lack of lubrication still contribute enough to the loading to cause a failure to fire? |
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It could be a number of things. The only way I could see lube affecting it, is if the pistol isn't going fully into battery but that can be caused by other factors.
-Failing to go into battery -Broken firing pin -Bad mainspring -Debris in firing pin hole Have you noticed any light primer strikes or made sure it is in battery? ETA: Check the trigger bar spring to make sure it is not broken and is functioning properly. If the trigger bar can not engage the slide recess the gun will not fire. |
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Quoted: It could be a number of things. The only way I could see lube affecting it, is if the pistol isn't going fully into battery but that can be caused by other factors. -Failing to go into battery -Broken firing pin -Bad mainspring -Debris in firing pin hole Have you noticed any light primer strikes or made sure it is in battery? ETA: Check the trigger bar spring to make sure it is not broken and is functioning properly. If the trigger bar can not engage the slide recess the gun will not fire. Thanks for the suggestions. I remember noticing light primer strikes, but I'll have to check the other factors out. |
| We issue P220s at my Dept. and we use the 8 round mags and several of them would FTF with the 8 rounders including mine. I switched to the zipper backed 7 rounders and 1000 rounds later not one FTF and the same with several of the other guys. We were recently issued new P220s and the new 8 round mags have a little dimple at the back of the feeding lips and I'm told it's to help with feeding issues. I've put at least 800 rounds thru my new pistol with the newer style mags and not one problem so far, and I haven't seen anyone else having problems either as I am one of the range officers. |