HELP with SIG P230!

[Cueball]

Ok, first let me preface this with acknowledging that I did a stupid thing here... That said, I hadn't shot my P230 in several years until this weekend when I took it to my CCW permit course. Today I decided to clean it and figured it would disassemble like most other semi autos that I have owned. I don't have a manual for it because I got it used and the previous owner didn't have it. Anyway, I pulled the slide back, removed the takedown lever and figured the slide would come off the front. Well it didn't and now I can't get the lever back in. After some investigation, I found out that I should have left the lever in, turned it and removed the slide from the rear. Now the slide won't pull all the way back and I am lost as to how to fix my mess up.

Can anyone help me with some info on how to correct this???

 

[Coronach]

*blink*

How did you get the lever out? And how did it go back in? I own a P232 (essentially a P230 with a few different minor details), and I had no idea that lever could come out.

My guess is that the block that the lever rotates was in the wrong position when you re-inserted the lever, and now it cannot turn the block to the proper position to allow slide movement.

A guess on how to fix? Try taking the lever out again and putting it back in a different way? I have no idea.

Hang on, I'll get my P232 and see.

Mike

 

[Coronach]

How on earth did you get that lever out without the slide being removed? unless the P230 has a different design for the takedown lever (it might), it should be impossible to remove that lever even with a drift, with the slide in place: the lower edge of the slide covers a significant portion of the lever.

My guess remains: The block inside of the frame that prevents the slide from moving far enough to the rear to disassemble is no longer properly aligned. If it is "up" (the lever is horizontal), it will permit the slide to reciprocate far enough to function. If it is "down" (the lever is vertical), it is laying down out of the way and you can push the slide to the rear and lift it off of the frame rails in the back. I am guessing that it is now sitting at a 45-degree angle, regardless of the position of the lever, and as such it is preventing the slide from moving reward far enough for funcionality.

Options:

1. Gunsmith
2. Contact Sig, or a Sig armorer for competent advice
3. take my incompetent advice, and try to remove the lever again, and reinsert it facing at about 7 or 8 o'clock, and see if that will enable you to rotate the block.

Mike

 

[Cueball]

The lever will go most of the way in or will come out. Rotating it is another story.

 

[Coronach]

OK.

How is the lever facing when it is inserted? Is it down (6 o'clock), or up (9 o'clock)?

Mike

 

[Cueball]

At this point, it can be inserted either way. In looking in the hole where the lever goes with a fiber optic light it appears that the slide stop has shifted from its original position. Am I looking at a job for a gunsmith?

 

[ScaryWoody]

I don't know if this will help but I found a PDF manual for the P232 with field stripping instructions.

http://www.sigarms.com/documentation/SIGARMS_P232_OM.pdf

 

[Coronach]

Sorry, I missed your reply.

When you say "shifted" from it's original position, do you mean that it has just turned, or the whole thing has just up and moved? There's not a lot of room for it to go too far, so you should be able to nudge it back into place with a punch, or some other thin object. Try holding the gun upright, as this will encourage it to sorta 'fall' back into something approximating a correct position. Once it does, try to get it to 'lay down' without reinserting the pin, so that way the slide can clear the block and you can field strip the weapon.

If that doesn't work, gunsmith would be my bet.

Mike

 

[Coronach]

Also...

this thing IS unloaded, right? Can you move the slide back far enough to check for sure?

Mike

 

[Cueball]

The gun is definitely unloaded. I looked in the opening where the takedown lever goes with a fiber optic light and I can't see the slide stop anywhere. It has moved a significant amount. Looks like a gunsmith or a trip to SIG is in the future of this gun.

 

[AK103K]

I dont know if this will be of any help. I have a P230 and took some pics of the area of trouble. I dont know how you got that out short of drifting it with a punch, but I'm thinking/hoping that there is enough room for you to jiggle it into the right position to get it open.
This is what it looks like in the closed or locked position:

This is rotated half way:

This is open, or where it should be to remove the slide:

This is from the opposite side with it "open":

It seems like the "well" that the block is sitting in is big enough you ought to be able to, at some point, get into the right position by jiggling the gun, most likely muzzle down. Maybe try that or lightly tappin the muzzle on a table while you pull back on the slide. Maybe it will drop out of the way and the slide will come off. Good luck.

Sorry about all the dust bunnies in the pic, they're all gone now.

 

[Cueball]

Thanks for the pics, I'll take another look at it and see what I can do.

 

[Cueball]

Just an update... I had to take it to a gunsmith and he fixed in 5mins no charge.

I'll not make that mistake again on takedown of the gun!

 

[AK103K]

Glad to hear your back in business.