older sig P229 issues

[redhands]

I have a failure to feed about every 20 rounds. The round will hang up about 3/4 of the way into battery. Thumb pressure at the rear of the slide is usually enough to complete the cycle and continue firing.

There is no pattern to the timing/magazine make/ammunition that I have observed with respect to these malfunctions. There is no visible damage to the pistol. Magazines are zipperbacks, non zipper sigs, and mecgar. Ammunition includes the gamut from flat solids to older winchester DP, winchester silver tips, federal hi-shoks, golden saber, hornady xtp, and gold dots. All 155-180 grain. No handloads. Prior to getting familiar with WWB and American Eagle, Federal Hi Shok was my range ammo of choice.

Gun was NIB to me around 1996 and has never been screwed with. Failures were a lot more common when the gun was new. No other malfunction type has ever occurred with the pistol.

It has been cleaned, brushed and lubed per the manual per routine. Part wear seems to be about what similar sigs look like. Round count is probably less than 500.

I was moving into other interests at the time and never sent it to the factory for work. I am curious to know if anyone else has experienced the same thing or has any suggestions apart from sending it to the factory that might adress the problem.

[S. Galbraith]

So you are saying that you have always had this problem? Two possible culprits are the magazines, and the recoil spring. Sig recommends changing out your recoil spring every 5000rds, or every three years of use. If thumb pressure will complete the cycle, then it is time to get a new recoil spring. The other possibility is the magazine springs. The old German magazines used a stack-style magazine which wore out faster. The newer style magazines commonly found in Italian made Sig factory mags retain much more spring power.

I've used P229 .40s for years, and have a couple of 1990s models. I've never had a problem with any of them that wasn't corrected with a changing of the recoil spring or magazine springs.

[redhands]

I was considering re-springing everything as part of a possible fix. As you noted the problem always existed and actually seemed to improve over time but never go away.

Over time I have acquired newer sig and mecgar magazines but it hasn't helped. Although the older mags should probably get new springs anyway. I forgot to mention that I have a 357 sig conversion barrel and although I don't expect to use it the malfunction never occurred with that barrel. I also forgot to mention that caliber is 40 s&w for the original pistol.

I thought it was either feed ramp geometry or a tight extractor. I was also planning to try a new OEM extractor along with new springs.

Thanks

[kmrtnsn]

Either a broken recoil spring or the spring is dry on the guide rod and is hanging up on it. SIGs loath being dry.

[Hmac]

I have the same pistol. It has many,many rounds through it. It has always been utterly reliable, but I cn always tell when the recoil spring is wearing because it starts to malfunction as you describe. I replace the recoil spring and its good to go for another 5000 rounds. I did replace the guide rod witha stainless steel version. I can't tell hw much that helped, but its been about two years since I've had to replace the spring.

[S. Galbraith]

I was considering re-springing everything as part of a possible fix. As you noted the problem always existed and actually seemed to improve over time but never go away.

Over time I have acquired newer sig and mecgar magazines but it hasn't helped. Although the older mags should probably get new springs anyway. I forgot to mention that I have a 357 sig conversion barrel and although I don't expect to use it the malfunction never occurred with that barrel. I also forgot to mention that caliber is 40 s&w for the original pistol.

I thought it was either feed ramp geometry or a tight extractor. I was also planning to try a new OEM extractor along with new springs.

Thanks

Looks like you are on the right track. When in doubt, replace your springs and reassess. Since you have a wide range of mags, I'm sure your magazines are fine. There should not be any problem with shooting either .40S&W or .357sig. I went through about 600rds in a training session yesterday without a single malfunction of any kind on a 1998 P229.......that's how these guns usually run.

Sig is generally pretty good about addressing customer service issues. However, I believe that the engineering behind the 1990s guns is superior. That doesn't mean that an occasional lemon won't go out on the market though. One cheap, and easy solution might be to polish up the feed ramp really well. A mirror shin around the rear portion of the chamber and feed ramp will improve feeding. It's better to exhaust the little fixes before sending the gun off for servicing.

[TheJRK]

Good info here... I have the same pistol and although I've never had a single malfunction I've had the gun for over 3 years without changing the recoil spring. I only have a little over 3k rounds through it.

I guess I will order a new spring as a preventive measure.

[Hmac]

At a recent 3-day pistol course with a nationally-known instructor, he spent some time talking about Sig. Stay away from the new ones, he said, and be very careful about buying factory parts. Most of them are made in Turkey and their machining and hardening are quite suspect. So I was told by someone who ought to know more about it than me. FWIW.

[Gary1911A1]

At a recent 3-day pistol course with a nationally-known instructor, he spent some time talking about Sig. Stay away from the new ones, he said, and be very careful about buying factory parts. Most of them are made in Turkey and their machining and hardening are quite suspect. So I was told by someone who ought to know more about it than me. FWIW.

Heard something similar, but it was India.

[S. Galbraith]

Lots of parts outsourcing from Sig these days. However, when you need parts and springs, you need parts and springs. Do NOT reduce your servicing schedule on this account, as it can increase wear and damage your pistol. Generally, springs are the life blood of recoil operated hanguns, and even modern day Sig recognizes this. I've never had any problems with Cohen era(post 2004) factory springs. I service a LOT of agency used Sigs.

[redhands]

Not doing PM concerns me also. I only use the pistol as a range gun now and ejection seems a lot more brisk than I remember it being. Like 30 feet at 3 oclock. Although I hate the idea of putting in an inferior part, I think I am going to need to.

It makes me wonder if their springs have always been suspect. The gun was incredibly tight to cycle by hand when new, and the original OEM mags were hard to fully load. Within about 6 months of shooting and hand cycling much less force was required, and the trigger broke in to a degree that I have only experienced on other Sigs.

Guys, the quality of information has been refreshing. Thank you for your responses. I will try and source a new recoil spring and run it wet.

[kmrtnsn]

I have a question, since the M4C SIG cognoscenti are gathered. I have a P229 DAO (Why you ask? Because back in '99 it was a much better alternative to carrying a Beretta 96D, that's why) that I would like a bobbed hammer for. Does anyone know the part number and/or a non factory source? Thanks for the momentary derail, back to our regularly scheduled thread.

[S. Galbraith]

I have a question, since the M4C SIG cognoscenti are gathered. I have a P229 DAO (Why you ask? Because back in '99 it was a much better alternative to carrying a Beretta 96G, that's why) that I would like a bobbed hammer for. Does anyone know the part number and/or a non factory source? Thanks for the momentary derail, back to our regularly scheduled thread.

Unfortunately, you cannot use the bobbed hammer that you see on DAK guns. The sear notch and DA lug are in different locations on the hammer. After 2005, Sig changed the internal cut specs on the frame so that you can convert any DA/SA or DAO gun to DAK. You cannot convert a pre 2005 Sig to DAK, or use the DAK trigger. If you are not satisifed with 1999 P229 DAO, you can convert it to DA/SA.

[S. Galbraith]

Not doing PM concerns me also. I only use the pistol as a range gun now and ejection seems a lot more brisk than I remember it being. Like 30 feet at 3 oclock. Although I hate the idea of putting in an inferior part, I think I am going to need to.

It makes me wonder if their springs have always been suspect. The gun was incredibly tight to cycle by hand when new, and the original OEM mags were hard to fully load. Within about 6 months of shooting and hand cycling much less force was required, and the trigger broke in to a degree that I have only experienced on other Sigs.

Guys, the quality of information has been refreshing. Thank you for your responses. I will try and source a new recoil spring and run it wet.

It is possible that you had a P228 spring put in your P229 too. A 30ft brass ejection is too much, even with high recoiling loads. It might have come from the factory that way, or perhaps a local dealer saw a chip on the guide rod when he receive the pistol.......he had a spare guide rod and spring, so he stuck in on your P229 as a replacement. However, he got them mixed up with a P228. Either way, I do not believe that modern day Sig factory springs are flawed in any way. Never push your parts beyond their predicted service life.....especially in a caliber like .40S&W or .357sig.

[kmrtnsn]

Unfortunately, you cannot use the bobbed hammer that you see on DAK guns. The sear notch and DA lug are in different locations on the hammer. After 2005, Sig changed the internal cut specs on the frame so that you can convert any DA/SA or DAO gun to DAK. You cannot convert a pre 2005 Sig to DAK, or use the DAK trigger. If you are not satisfied with 1999 P229 DAO, you can convert it to DA/SA.

I no longer carry the pistol but I am loath to get rid of it. I stopped counting rounds through it at 20K. The finish, or what remains of it is horrible and it has the burring in the front of the frame rails, common to the .40's shooting hot loads but the thing won't die. It is now a permanent night stand pistol. Back when I carried it I was always annoyed by the completely unnecessary hammer spur and If I could get rid of it, I wouldn't mind.

[S. Galbraith]

I no longer carry the pistol but I am loath to get rid of it. I stopped counting rounds through it at 20K. The finish, or what remains of it is horrible and it has the burring in the front of the frame rails, common to the .40's shooting hot loads but the thing won't die. It is now a permanent night stand pistol. Back when I carried it I was always annoyed by the completely unnecessary hammer spur and If I could get rid of it, I wouldn't mind.

The best solution would be to send the hammer off to Grayguns for what you want. They do all kinds of custom work.

[kmrtnsn]

The best solution would be to send the hammer off to Grayguns for what you want. They do all kinds of custom work.

Thanks!

[redhands]

I replaced the original spring after buying a replacement OEM "purple" spring. Compared to the original spring the new one has 11 1/2 coils while the original spring has 10 1/2.
One range test with 72 rounds of 180 grain AE factory loads demonstrated no failure to feed malfunctions although I did not use my older zipperbacks. Ejection is much softer as well.
I can take an aimed shot, decock the pistol, and turn my head in time to see the case hitting the ground about 10 feet out.

Thanks for the great advice S.G. I think you were right about the spring belonging to a P228. Although it is a small test it is a definite departure as I was never able to leave a range without at least one malfunction prior to this.

Now that I can locate my brass it seems it is time to buy a set of dies.