Sig P220 short round KABOOM

[wedgehead30]

We had an officer with a short round in his Sig P-220 the other day. The gun held up well.

Details are here: http://wedgetv.blogspot.com/2010/11/bad-day-for-old-warrior.html

Scott
:D

[Robb Jensen]

The SIG 220 is one tough gun.

[300WM]

Sheriff's deputy friend of mine been carrying the same Sig 220 for 19 yrs. Practices and qualifies with the same gun for the same amount of time. Says he has never had a failure of any kind. Gun is 100% out of the box. Stock grips, even. Never bought one since it is nearly identical to my Astra A-80.

[S-1]

I've seen the same thing happen to two .40 cal P226's. The dept. got a bad lot of practice ammo and squibs locked up the SIGs just like the one pictured. The barrel was bulged, but there was no other damage to the weapon. SIG fixed them at no cost IIRC.

[eternal24k]

Can't beat a good Sig...

but I have to say, not a fan of the linking to a blog thing

[The_Biased_Observer]

Unfortunately he will get a milled Sig for a replacement. :sad:

[scjbash]

I just had a year or so old HST 230gr +P squib, and the case looked the same - full of crud. Luckily I noticed it didn't sound right, and didn't send another round. Still slightly bulged the barrel in my M&P though.

And yeah, it definitely reinforced that having a back-up gun is a good thing.

[ICANHITHIMMAN]

Unfortunately he will get a milled Sig for a replacement. :sad:

I have a 220 I got in 01 new in the box what is a "milled sig"

[The_Biased_Observer]

Slide is milled from bar stock instead of folded steel. Folded steel slides have a removable breechblock and the milled one has it machined as part of the slide.

[Redhat]

Slide is milled from bar stock instead of folded steel. Folded steel slides have a removable breechblock and the milled one has it machined as part of the slide.

So why is one better than the other?

[wedgehead30]

So why is one better than the other?

I'm not so sure one is better than the other. But the milled would probably get the nod for overall strength. But we're talking about a low pressure handgun cartridge not a belted magnum.

I prefer the old style myself.

Scott
:D

[The_Biased_Observer]

So why is one better than the other?

Old=good quality build.
New=questionable.

The story is apparently a new CEO came in and changed the manufacturing process (among other things). Among those changes are milled out slides for the P series pistols.

I don't know if that's true but I work for an agency that has a mix of milled slide 220's and stamped slide models and the majority of the problem guns I've seen have been new guns.

[Entropy]

So why is one better than the other?

Milled is fine if like all things, it's done right. As the previous poster pointed out, good quality controls are not something that the post 2005 Sig Sauer is known for. If you get a new Sig, and you can put a minimum of 1000 trouble free rounds through it then you're probably okay. Quality control problems usually arise within the first 500rds of shooting. However, the fit and finish of pre 2005 Sigs under the company name "Sigarms" are better from what I have seen of hundreds of Sigs I have worked on.

Stamped slides were exclusively made in Germany, and still are(P228R). The design is technically cheaper to manufacture than milled slides, it's lighter than milled slides, and it allows for a two-piece design with a reliable internal extractor. Internal extractors are much more durable than external ones and can withstand a burst casing while an external extractor will pop out of the slide making the pistol useless. The downside to the stamped slides is that they are generally not quite as durable as the solid milled slides, and it just won't handle the .40S&W/.357sig, or hotter loads quite as well in the long run. Stamped slide Sigs are generally best in 9mm. Like all things made in Germany, the stamped slide Sigs are usually of superior overall quality, and the P228R is still imported into the US in limited numbers.

[Redhat]

I seem to remember when the P229/.40 first came out they made it a point to note is did not have a stamped slide whereas the 220 did.

You can remove the breach from the stamped slide guns can't you?

So the issue isn't necessarily the milled slides but other factors

[Entropy]

I seem to remember when the P229/.40 first came out they made it a point to note is did not have a stamped slide whereas the 220 did.

You can remove the breach from the stamped slide guns can't you?

So the issue isn't necessarily the milled slides but other factors

Sig Germany attempted to produce the P226 and P228 in .40S&W in 1990, but the stamped slides lacked the mass and durability to handle the heavier recoiling cartrige. Since there wasn't much of a European market for the .40S&W, Sigarms USA started milling the P226 and P229 slides for the .40S&W. A well machined billet milled slide more durable than a stamped slide, but each has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Yes, you can remove the breech block from the stamped slides so you can get to the firing pin, firing pin safety, and the extractor.

[Tennvol12345]

I had a P226 back in the mid 90's that I had 2 squibs in, one behind another. Slide wouldn't go into battery and dropped the mag and put a cleaning rod down and it didn't come out. Hit the rod against the concrete floor and one bullet popped out but the rod didn't go through. Looked and there was another bullet in there. Knocked that out and put the gun back together and kept shooting.