Sig 229 Broken Frame

[Gadfly]

12037

I got a call to repair a broken mag release on a coworkers Sig 229 in .40S&W. Upon inspection, I found the frame broken. A small area around the mag catch that retains the actual mag release assembly simply broke off. This happened while cleaning the weapon, not on the firing line.

This is being sent to our National Firearms Unit, and I am sure it will be sent off to Sig afterward. I assume this would be covered under warranty.

We have a couple hundred Sig 229s in my office, and this is the first failure of this type I have ever seen. Bad forging, bad machining, bad heat treating??? Gun was an '08 manufacture.

Anyone else seen or heard of this before?

[Rowland_P]

It's not a bad forging, machining or heat treating. The mag release was installed with the mag catch stop in the wrong position. If you don't do it right, it will go in, but it won't come out. That's what happened with that gun. When the user found out it wouldn't come out, he pounded on it with a hammer and broke the frame. I doubt Sig will cover that under waranty, nor should they. It should have been sent to Sig, or a competent gunsmith, before whoever took matters into their own hands and damaged the frame.

If one doesn't know how to detail strip a Sig, they shouldn't try. The implications of an improper mag catch installation is well know to experienced Sig users.

BTW, the frame is ruined. Sig may give him a decent deal on a new one. (Or if it is a department gun, they may do something in that case.)

[og556]

Let us know how much Sig quotes him. Last I heard as much as they charge you might as well buy a new gun.

This was the number one reason I couldn't bring myself to detail strip a Sig frame. If you screw up the aluminum frame in any way you might as well buy a new one.

[Gadfly]

I considered the possibility of user error. But, I know the guy who had this happen. He is very switched on. His story is he field striped the pistol, cleaned it, and put it back together. When he went to load it up for duty carry, the mag fell out when he racked the slide. He tried to re insert the mag, but it would not seat. That is when he noticed the mag catch button gone. He located it on the floor. He then called me and asked if I could fix it. I had no ideal at the time what was wrong, so I just told him to bring it to the office the following day.

I have no reason to doubt his story. There are some guys I work with, who I would assume had done something stupid to the pistol. This is not one of those guys.


The mag release was installed with the mag catch stop in the wrong position. If you don't do it right, it will go in, but it won't come out. That's what happened with that gun. When the user found out it wouldn't come out, he pounded on it with a hammer and broke the frame.

The mag catch stop as in the correct position, and was still in the mag release assembly. It was held in place by years of accumulated gunk. No marks on any parts, or anywhere on the frame to indicate any tampering or "hammering"...

FYI, it is the governments pistol, not the agents...

[Rowland_P]

Sorry, it's not a commentary on his character. But that damage is very recognizable. I've seen it time and again and that damage is 100% a result of an improper mag catch installation. If the mag catch stop is not in the correct position when it is installed - that is, bevelled side towards the frame - you will not be able to get it back out of the frame. Sometimes a user will resort to forcing the stop out and the stop will then be forced through the frame - just like with that pistol. Sig frames don't break like that unless they are broken by force. If the event occurred as your friend said, then someone else did the principal damage and it finally gave way when your friend was using it. But it was broken by force. It is not a defect.

[Wayne Dobbs]

Rowland, you are correct that the magazine catch was improperly installed on that 229.

During a long LE career as an armorer and firearms trainer, I saw plenty of guns that were damaged or otherwise fouled up by unauthorized disassembly. Amazing how nobody EVER owned up to it. My favorite was a Glock extractor sticking out the side of the G-17 and with the extractor depressor assembly installed backwards, causing said mess. When I asked who had been into the gun, the reply was a puzzled and "innocent" "I don't know!....not me!"

Gadfly, if you believe your friend then you need to find out who was issued the gun before, because the gun has been incompetently assembled. I know that as a Sig armorer, after learning about this quirk of Sigs and how much the loss could be, I wouldn't remove a mag catch assembly for any routine purpose.

[Tzook]

I've actually seen this exact break before. A friend of mine bought a 229 off of Gunbroker chambered in .357 Sig. The frame was broken just like that, so he flipped the mag release over to the other side and still uses it today!!! (Moronic, I know....)

[eternal24k]

I have seen several Sig frames broken exactly like this from people not understanding how the mag release works and trying to incorrectly remove it.

[eternal24k]

I considered the possibility of user error. But, I know the guy who had this happen. He is very switched on. His story is he field striped the pistol, cleaned it, and put it back together. When he went to load it up for duty carry, the mag fell out when he racked the slide. He tried to re insert the mag, but it would not seat. That is when he noticed the mag catch button gone. He located it on the floor. He then called me and asked if I could fix it. I had no ideal at the time what was wrong, so I just told him to bring it to the office the following day.

I have no reason to doubt his story. There are some guys I work with, who I would assume had done something stupid to the pistol. This is not one of those guys.



The mag catch stop as in the correct position, and was still in the mag release assembly. It was held in place by years of accumulated gunk. No marks on any parts, or anywhere on the frame to indicate any tampering or "hammering"...

FYI, it is the governments pistol, not the agents...

There would likely be no marks, most people break this from pushing through the magwell from the other side, I have seen it without marks, it does not take much, just a little impatience and ignorance on the procedure.

It's kind of like the broken tabs on lower receiver trigger guards, or idiot scratches on 1911s, it's something nobody is proud to admit.

[gtmtnbiker98]

I agree, this was caused by improper disassembly/reassembly. Switched on or not.

[Gadfly]

I appreciate all the responses. I guess I have to go with the consensus of operator error of some type.

A new pistol has been issued and we sent off the broken one. If I get any further info, I will pass it on.

Thanks for sharing your experiences with this type of breakage. Normally, all I ever fix is the stupid take down latch. Those things break by the dozen...

[Rln_21]

I appreciate all the responses. I guess I have to go with the consensus of operator error of some type.

A new pistol has been issued and we sent off the broken one. If I get any further info, I will pass it on.

Thanks for sharing your experiences with this type of breakage. Normally, all I ever fix is the stupid take down latch. Those things break by the dozen...

The posts above are correct regarding the frame breakage; almost certainly user error.

I would be interested to know how old these P229s are that are having take down levers break commonly? There are three generations of takedown levers, the very old German style that came on early early P229s (flat serrated paddle), intermediate style with thumb bump on paddle (paddle and main barrel of lever are two separate pieces brazed together), or the newest style which is MIM and the paddle and main barrel are all one part (these have been in use for a just a few years now).

BTW: If your office is having persistent problems with take down lever breakage it might be worth your time to see about Sig sending you the "Combat" style takedown levers for replacements instead. These were developed for the P220 Combat for the military trials and are a much higher quality part. They are machined from S-7 tool steel, and were designed to specifically address concerns of breakage. They are now in use on the P220 Combat models, all the X-5 series guns and a few various other models (takedown levers fit any Sig P-series frame). They are easily recognized by a ring engraved in the round face of the lever that comes out the right side of the frame (it sort of looks like a bullseye).

[Rinspeed]

Thanks for the info on the takedown levers being the same Roy. I've heard the Combat lever is the way to go. I know you really know your shit when it comes to Sigs.