P226 Reliability Challenge

[Sterling Archer]

At this point in time I have 6,150 rounds through my P226 SAO Legion and have never had a malfunction. I’ve never had a gun, including the Glock’s I’ve owned, go that long without multiple malfunctions. Over the next couple of months I’ll be shooting more than I ever have in preparation for a 6 day class at CSAT (Combat Shooting And Tactics), so it seemed like a good time for a reliability challenge.

I just finished giving my P226 a nice deep clean, a new recoil spring, and it’s ready for action. Covering the rails is Super Lube Synthetic Grease, a PTFE lubricant. Everywhere else has Shooter’s Choice FP-10 oil. From this point forward it will not be cleaned and receive no more grease or oil.

The ammo used will consist of Aguila, American Eagle, Browning, and Federal.

The challenge stops when the malfunctions start. Along the way I’ll give periodic updates. How many rounds do you think it will take?

https://gunpowdermeditation.files.wordpress.com/2017/08/p226-clean.jpg?w=474&h=293

[HALO51]

Super Lube is great for the rails. TW25B "Grease" anyplace that requires oil. Will have much better results. FP-10 will burn off much faster. FP-10 is good lube, the TW25b grease will remain and not burn off or become dry. Robert Burke "SigArmorer" gave me this tip. He was right

[Rinspeed]

Sounds good and it's certainly your challenge but I would much rather see you not clean it at all and add a little grease to the rails every 1K rounds or so. Look forward to your results good or bad. I've owned 10-12 Sigs over the years, the malfunctions have always been far and few between over many thousands of rounds, even when I was starting out reloading 25 years ago.

[tn1911]

At this point in time I have 6,150 rounds through my P226 SAO Legion and have never had a malfunction.

46932

:D

[SkiDevil]

I own three SIG 226s, two are the original NAVY models made as run-offs from the SEAL contract, circa 2004-5, and a railed NAVY 226 non-contract model I bought in 2006. All three are 9mm pistols with the Stainless steel slides. Neither have ever malfunctioned in firing several thousand rounds. They are regularly cleaned, rails lubed with grease, and fired using SIG or Megcar magazines with factory ammo.

I've owned and shot many pistols, the SIG 226 in 9mm is one of the most reliable firearms that I have owned in over twenty plus years of shooting.


Now, the only factory new pistols that I have confidence in are manufactured by HK.


P.S. My Glock 17 GEN 2 comes in a close second, but has malfunctioned with Chicom and Euro ammo using hard primers.

[17K]

I had over 8K through a MK25 that only had a few FTFeeds from one bad Check-Mate magazine. Replaced all mag springs with Wolff +10% and it was back running like a top. Recoil and trigger return springs replaced.

It's your gun, but running an aluminum frame with old grease is not doing it any favors and won't really prove anything as you're just shooting a pistol that's been around for over 30 years. The info is out there. If you want to run it super nasty, use oil. My MK25 was only cleaned once at around 4K rounds, but relubed almost daily with Slip 2000 EWL.

[pat701]

Please keep us updated. I expect nothing but great performance out of you Sig.:D

[Sterling Archer]

The first 250 went down the barrel this morning!

[oddballmkg]

I have one of the West German P226 with the fold steel slide made around 1990. I have about 45,000 rounds though it and I’ve never had any malfunctions. I’ve broke a couple of the Roll pins, trigger return spring, the locking block and the slide cracked(just below the ejection port). The gun still functioned with the crack slide, it just shoot about 3 inches the left at 7 yards. The pistol would still functioned with the broken trigger return spring, if you shot the gun upside down. And I’ve gone 8,000 rounds between cleanings. My P226’s are probably the most reliable handgun that I own, even over the couple of HK pistols that I own. I also have a P239 9mm with close to 50,000 rounds though it. I’ve also broke the firing pin position pin and a couple of the trigger return springs. It’s also been a very reliable gun.

[Joe Mamma]

It's your gun, but running an aluminum frame with old grease is not doing it any favors . . .

I feel the same way. But I look forward to the updates in this thread.

I don't have a prediction for number of rounds. But I think it could be very ammo dependent. If you use ammo that leaves a lot of powder residue and/or weak ammo, it will not run for as many rounds.

Joe Mamma

[SiGfever]

I have never understood why people equate the reliability of a firearm to being able to run it non-lubricated for extended periods of time. Isn't that like running your automobile without oil and then wondering why it failed?

[Rinspeed]

I have never understood why people equate the reliability of a firearm to being able to run it non-lubricated for extended periods of time. Isn't that like running your automobile without oil and then wondering why it failed?



I'm right there with you my friend, in fact I always thought the whole "torture" test thing was a little goofy but many people enjoy it for some reason.

[17K]

I guess it's fun if you don't have anything else to do. I used to run my 1911 over 5K without cleaning just to take dirty gun pics and see how nasty it could get. I went 6K on an AR just to do it.

I have almost 4K on my carry G43 right now, but it gets a few drops of lube and inspected on the regular.

[Talon167]

Looking forward to updates in this thread. As a 'regular' 226 SAO owner, mine's been flawless through ~ 3500 rounds.

[tacticaldesire]

The Sig 226 is a known quantity that's been in Military, Law Enforcement and Civilian use for over 3 decades. I don't think the results will be too surprising.

[Sterling Archer]

1,000 round update! https://gunpowdermeditation.com/2017/08/29/sig-sauer-p226-reliability-challenge-1000-round-update/

[RWCRaiden]

I have a MK25 with about 5k through it with regular cleaning. The only malfunctions were from bad ammo. Second trigger pull fixed that issue quickly though. Personally, I love hammer guns and I think sig is the best you can get for the money.

Sent from my XT1635-01 using Tapatalk

[HALO51]

I wouldn't believe anything Sterling Archer says. He's lost his credibility on SigTalk. He stated to a member NOT to buy the Glock Gen 5.....9 days after it's release due to a recall. This obviously wasn't true. Sterling purposely & knowingly knew this was a lie and NOT telling the truth about the Glock. I challenged him with facts and so did others and he refused to respond. I even had a moderator PM me and said he was disappointed in the behavior on the forum by Sterling. He was told to correct this false information and as of this writing he has refused to correct the record. Therefore, his credibility has to be in question with this type of unprovoked behavior. I would recommend anything he states has to be taken lightly.

[Sterling Archer]

2,000 round update! http://gunpowdermeditation.com/2017/09/20/sig-sauer-p226-sao-legion-reliability-challenge-2000-round-update/

[ritepath]

^ That thing is starting to remind me of my P220.

[og556]

Have you noticed any play developing with the the safety levers? Looks good for that round count. I wish they offered these in a type III mil spec hard coat anodized finish on the frames instead of the coated finish.

[Sterling Archer]

Have you noticed any play developing with the the safety levers?
On the one for this test, no. On my second Legion SAO the safety cannot be engaged with my support hand thumb, it's super stiff. For some reason SIG often has issues with their right side thumb safeties.

[Sterling Archer]

Just hit 3,000 this morning! https://gunpowdermeditation.com/2017/09/28/sig-sauer-p226-sao-legion-reliability-challenge-3000-round-update/