Proud new owner of a Seecamp! Tips/advice sought...ATTN: WildAlaska!

[Bob79]

Help, bad range day w/ Seecamp

OK, I fired 50 rounds of Silvertip yesterday and had 3 failures. Each failure was the slide getting jammed because it was trying to grab the next round but getting stuck, not chambering it. Now what type of failures are the result of limp wristing? Because I didn't have any stovepipes, and I made sure to remember to keep a tight grip. I've heard others complain about the recoil, but it didn't bother me a bit, so much that I was looking forward to trying some Cor Bons.

ALSO The trigger was slow to return to position after firing! This was about 1/3 of the time I would pull the trigger, and then go to pull for the next shot and it wasn't there yet, had wait to 1-2 seconds sometimes! I have no clue what this is about, I read some of the above posts talking about the draw bar spring getting damaged. The gun was shipped with an extra draw bar spring, and a warning to not pull the trigger at all when ejecting the mag. Now, I don't think I did that, but I may have accidently seeing how its new to me and I could have slipped up. Also I had problems with reassembly at first, and I could have screwed something up.

So I took it apart, cleaned it, lubed it, and put in the other draw bar spring. BUT when I visually compared the 2 springs I didn't see a difference, UNLESS the spring could be damaged and you can't tell by merely looking at it.

I plan on shooting 50-100 rounds again this weekend to try it out again, and if I have problems like the 1st time then I'm sending it back to the factory. I love this little gun, the feel, recoil, size, but its gotta work correctly.

ANY IDEAS OR OTHER PEOPLE WHO EXPERIENCED THE SAME THING OR KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT WHAT COULD BE HAVE CAUSED MY PROBLEMS?

 

[Drjones]

Did you clean and lube it thoroughly [n]before[/b] shooting it?

That's all I can think of....I'm not familiar with the gun at all yet.

 

[Bob79]

Cleaned it 1st

YUP, first thing I did was take it home, take it apart, and cleaned it thoroughly. I used Break Free CLP, and then used some Rem Oil on it too. This is when I first had the problems with reassembly (when I thought I might have messed something up). I had to call the tech at the dealer the next day to help talk me through the reassembly. After the first time you do it though, its a piece of cake.

 

[alamo]

See if this helps you figure out what the problem is-

http://www.gunsmith.fuselier.com/function.html

http://www.gunsmith.fuselier.com

 

[Chipperman]

Bob79-- Call Larry, and He'll take care of you. He's a good guy. He sent me two extra springs when I bent mine. There was a definite visible difference with mine. Maybe your is bent, but not as badly.

(RTFM means Read The F*ing Manual, but I think you figured that out already. )

 

[Drjones]

Oh.

No, I hadn't figured that out yet, and NO I can't RTFM because I don't have it yet!!!!!!!

Stupid CA 10-day waiting periods!!!!!

Thanks for the RTFM advice.

 

[Bob79]

Spoke to Larry

I called that day and spoke with Larry, and he is a really nice guy. I explained what was going on and he apologized (not necessary) and said it shouldn't be doing that and asked me to send in the gun. The gun should arrive there tomarrow. He said if it got in early enough in the day he would have it back out that same day

But I really appreciated his concern, and his whole approach. I just hope it wasn't me that screwed something up. Like I said, I visually compared those two draw bar springs and couldn't for the life of me see any difference.

O-well, BIG thanks to Larry, and I'll let ya'll know what happens.

 

[Drjones]

Keep us posted, Bob and good luck!

I get my Seecamp on Friday! I can't wait!!!

 

[Bainx]

Owner of a New Seecamp...

....boy, it's about time they started shipping them!

 

[TheEgg]

THREAD DRIFT WARNING!!!

BOB79 --

I have been carrying mine for about 5 days now, I have yet to shoot it,

You are carrying, for self-defense, a gun you have never even fired?

OK, I fired 50 rounds of Silvertip yesterday and had 3 failures.

See why this a REALLY bad idea?

I am NOT trying to bust your chops, but you should REALLY REALLY REALLY wring out a new gun extensively, with your chosen carry ammo, before even thinking about using it for self-defense.

If I mis-understood your posts, please ignore me -- most people do anyway.

BTW -- nice pistols, I am green with envy at all of you with Seecamps!

 

[greg531mi]

I had the same problem with my 32acp autauga, get some die paper or some 400 grit emory paper, and lightly sand the inside front edge of the mag. When mags are stamped, burrs sometime form there, and will hang up the cartridge. Also, you have to shoot short cartridges out of a seecamp, which is the silvertip or try the Speer Gold Dot. I use the gold dot in mine, and after deburring, no problems.... It's worth a try...

 

[Bob79]

I know

OK, I know I SHOULD have tested the pistol out thoroughly before carrying it. But I don't have another one to carry in its place, so my logic was...HAVING AN UN-PROVEN GUN IS BETTER THAN NO GUN.

I never even looked at the mags to check for issues, good point. But that doesn't explain what was up with the trigger.

The pistol arrived at Seecamp Inc yesterday about 11AM, and Larry said if he got it early enough in the day he should have it out the same day. But I'm not holding him to it, everyone is busy, and to expect it shipped back out the same day may be unrealistic. Although that would be greatly appreciated, I'll be happy with tomarrow (Friday).

I am very curious to know what was wrong with the little S.O.B. though, cause I love its size, feel, and accuracy. I shot about 1/3 of the rounds from 21 ft, 35 ft, & 50ft. Only one round was not in the siloutte.
O yeah, a buddy showed me his Tomcat the other day (I used to have one 2 years ago) and it felt HUGE compared to the Seecamp.

 

[Drjones]

OK, I know I SHOULD have tested the pistol out thoroughly before carrying it. But I don't have another one to carry in its place, so my logic was...HAVING AN UN-PROVEN GUN IS BETTER THAN NO GUN.

I agree.

I think I've carried an unproven gun before with the same logic; an unproven gun is more reliable than NO gun at all.

 

[TheEgg]

OK, I know I SHOULD have tested the pistol out thoroughly before carrying it. But I don't have another one to carry in its place, so my logic was...HAVING AN UN-PROVEN GUN IS BETTER THAN NO GUN.

OK, I guess the wuppin can be cancelled now!

Just didn't think about that scenario -- it has been so long since I only had one gun (40 years?) that it didn't occur to me! Color me embarrased.

 

[LynnMassGuy]

I paid $440 for mine, including shipping and a DeSantis Nemesis pocket holster. The gun is 98-99% condition and has only had a box of Silvertips fired through it.

ARRRRRGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! Even CA pices are more reasonable then MA!!!!!! Gun stores around here get $595-$675 for CA model Seacamps.(Which is all you can buy in MA. In fact it is the only new pocket autoloader you can buy in MA. )

 

[Drjones]

LynnMass:

Actually, I bought it from a private individual out of state.

The one local shop here that sells them wants $499, which isn't bad, but after tax and all that, I still saved close to $100.

Plus, I don't want to give any extra money to this communist state.

If you want one (if you do not already have one), post a WTB ad on various gun forums and you should find one no problem.

Don't forget to search the for sale ads too.

 

[azrael]

LWS Seecamps are nice looking weapons...Only problem that I have with them is the ammo you can use <~~cheapskate

The .380 version looks sweet, however I can buy a Rohrbaugh 9mm for that price...

Allow your Seecamp to break in somewhat before hitting the panic button...My Naa Guardian .32acp went 300+ rounds before it settled down and became 100% reliable...

 

[Bob79]

Tomarrow (Mon)

I'm getting it back tomarrow from UPS. They came Friday and I wasn't home (you need a signature), and so I called to try and pick it up Saturday and they aren't open on Sat Fed Ex is so much better.

So its gonna be dropped off tomarrow, and I am anxious to know what was wrong with it. I asked Mr. Seecamp if he would include an explanation of what was wrong so if it was something I may have done during that first painful re-assembly, I won't do it again

But I still have 150 rounds of Silvertip to try, and I picked up 80 rounds of Cor Bon also. Figure I'll run the ST first, see how she runs, and if all is OK then I'll try some Cor Bons. Hopefully the Cor Bons will run well, I looked and they actually appear just a hair shorter than the ST ammo, which is good.

Hopefully I'll be to the range soon, and I can report back here hopefully with positive information.

 

[Drjones]

I picked up mine yesterday, and man, this thing is AWESOME!!!

I'm so enamored knowing that I'll be able to have a gun on me ALWAYS now!

Today I disassembled it to clean/inspect/lube. Disassembly, while not like a Beretta, wasn't as bad as some make it sound.

Question: How do you people clean/lube your Seecamp bore? The hammer gets in the way of a standard brush, so I just used a Q-tip soaked in Eezox (which is, BTW, recommended by the factory!) and cleaned from both the breech and barrel end sides. Anything wrong with that?

Great little gun....can't wait to shoot it!!!

 

[Wildalaska]

How do you people clean/lube your Seecamp bore? The hammer gets in the way of a standard brush, so I just used a Q-tip soaked in Eezox (which is, BTW, recommended by the factory!) and cleaned from both the breech and barrel end sides. Anything wrong with that?

Dunno never cleaned mine....

WildlazypigAlaska

 

[Bob79]

cleaning

If you are not using a hard brass wire brush I think it would be OK to clean it from the outside-in. I wouldn't clean it that way with a hard wire brush though. I had the same problems with a J-frame, I got a brush that was bendable, and I bent it into an "L" shape. If you do that it will fit in the right way.

My girlfriend signed for the gun today, and I get home in a few hours, can't wait to see what the problem was.

Dr Jones, you didn't think it was a pain in the a** to put back together? I kept screwing up because I couldn't understand from the directions that you must hold the draw bar in up against the gun until the slide moves down to hold it in place:banghead:

 

[Bob79]

Got it!

Got it back. But there was no explanation included to say what was repaired

I could take a guess that it was either the draw bar spring (which I thought looked OK), or the recoil spring. Reason being is there was obviously one draw bar spring in the gun, + I got two extra draw bar springs. There was also an extra recoil spring inlcluded as well, and I did notice that when I loaded it and racked in the first round it seem to be tighter and came forward w/ more force.

So I had hoped it wasn't my doing, but I'm thinking it was in the end

I tell you what...no more am I gonna let other people hold it to check it out. Cause I few times people just started dropping the mag (maybe they pulled the trigger while doing so, which is a no-no), and racking the slide like maniacs. Well, never again, look...but don't touch from now on.

 

[Drjones]

Hiya bob. Glad you got your gun back. Let us know how it goes next range trip, ok?

Couple questions:

1) How do you guys grip your Seecamp? I find that its best if I only have my middle finger on the grip, otherwise my hand rides up on the frame too high and I'm afraid I'll get bitten.

2) The recoil spring goes in "double-end first" according to the manual. This means the end where the two springs meet, right? So the end furthest from the gun is the end that looks like its just one single spring, right? Just double-checking.


Thanks!

 

[Bob79]

I grip it the same way, only my middle finger is fully on the grip, & my ring finger kinda wraps along the bottom.

Yes on the recoil spring, I'm gonna try something...

(muzzle end) ------====== (into hole/notch)

make sense? The double dashes represent the double spring area.

I hope this makes sense and my attempt at a "picture" doesn't make me look like a lunatic.

 

[Drjones]

Hahaha!

Thanks bob!

That is a good illustration. Very creative of you!

That confirms my beliefs.