Sig ammo sensitive?

[El Kabong]

I was at the Ft. Wayne gun show this past Saturday and found a (barely) used Sig 239 for a pretty good price. I wasn't planning on buying anything, but you all know how that goes.

Anyway, when I went to the range to try it out the next day, it kept jamming! Stovepipes, feeding problems, you name it. I was using S&B FMJ. The guy a few lanes down tried it with some White Box and it worked fine. I tried it with some White Box too to make sure it wasn't me, and it still worked fine.

What's the problem? Everything I've heard about Sigs (this is my first) is they are pretty much tanks and will take anything that you feed them.

Any ideas?

 

[Sylvilagus Aquaticus]

I own a P229 in 357sig and a P220 in .45ACP. The P229 digests a steady diet of S&B 124's and 147's in addition to Gold Dot 124's at the range without a hiccup or belch. The P220 eats quantities of S&B 230 FMJ's and has on occasion snacked on very old brown box PMC's and (the horror!) Wolf steel cased 230's. Never caused it any indigestion.

Might be your magazine spring.

Honestly, my SIGs have been among the most reliable pistols I have owned. Yours should be as well- it probably needs some relatively simple tweaking.

Regards,
Rabbit.

 

[wally]

Not all guns work with all ammo and vice-versa!

Before doing any "work" on a gun, try a different brand of ammo or two, and then a different magazine.

Clean the gun and the mag. If it still doesn't work with S&B but does with Win "white box" or others, buy that instead of S&B.

I prefer my guns shoot what ever ammo I might find, but its just not always possible.

--wally

 

[orangeninja]

Rabbit...I love ya' but gotta disagree here.

I own 6 Sigs and am issued one. Total = 7.

3 229 in .40

2 225

2 228

Anyways, all that to say I am qualified to offer the following observations.

The Sig .45's seem to be great...will eat almost..."almost" anything. Had a Sig 220 that didn't care for light grain .45 rounds, ala' WWB.

My personal Sig 229's did not care for S&B ammo at all. I have had no problems with any other brand though....that being said I carry Remington Golden Sabers or Gold Dot and shoot WWB and Remington practice ammo of which it has been 100% reliable.

My issued 229 is fed Gold Dot 100% and Blazer (dept. issue) of which it was very rough for the first 500-1000 rounds and somewhat reliable...it has gotten better with wear though still rough to feed.

NEVER had a problem with any of their 9mm's but in all fairness I don't shoot the 9mm S&B.

 

[jeff-10]

My 226 is the only gun I have ever owned that has never had a jam of any kind. I have fired everything in it including reloads and S&B. That being said I have had terrible experiences with S&B ammo in other guns, I know some people on this board swear by it but I never use it anymore. I find it very inconsistent.

 

[orangeninja]

I think the Sig .40 cals are the ammo sensitive ones. I haven't seen a .357 Sig or .45 or 9mm jam yet.

 

[medmo]

Sounds like it just hates S&B FMJ's. If it works 100% with the ammo that you want to carry in it than you are done. Not a whole lot to tweak on a Sig. If the chamber and gun is clean and lubed than what? Recoil spring, extractor drag? Any peculiar marks on the brass?

 

[Magnuumpwr]

Not that this will help answer your question, but I also own a P239 in 357Sig. I recently bought a ported S&W40 cal barrel for it. The ammo used for both calibers is, you guessed it, S&B. 140 gr fmj's in the 357 and not real sure about the 40 (loaded in mags and tossed the box). Neither one has yet to give me any problems. (ANY!!!)

 

[SouthpawShootr]

My experience has been that S&B ammo is usually on the stout side. My particular 239 (and 229 9mm for that matter) couldn't care less what you feed it. If this bothers you, I would try replacing the recoil spring with a factory stock or equivalent (read Wolff) spring. Being used, you don't know what the previous owner did with this gun. Could be he like mild reloads that wouldn't function with the factory spring and changed it out for something else. Also, the guy might have been a total slob about cleaning, so give everything a good going over (including the mags - taken 'em apart, clean all the gunk out of them and reassemble). If it doesn't bother you, switch to white box.

I wasn't planning on buying anything, but you all know how that goes.

Happened to me last weekend. "No, I'm not getting anything this show." 2 hours later I walked out with a brand new Kimber Eclipse 10mm, a dazed look on my face, and down by $1100. Today, my local shop got a Glock 38 in, so I'm going to stay away from there for a good while (they also have a P2000 that I've been wanted - all the more reason to stay away).

 

[MoeMentum]

Some guns just don't like certain ammo, try other brands, then just shoot what it likes.

 

[PaleRyder]

I owned a p239 and got rid of it because it would not fire S&B target ammo.
It would fire two or three shots then fail. I'd have to hit the primer three or four times to get the round to fire. I at first thought that was ok, because my Hi Power also won't fire S&B ammo reliably.
However, I've since gotten a 92FS Inox and a Taurus P92 that will fire every round of any brand I've ever put through them, including reloads.
So, I sold the p239 and have even considered trading the Hi Power, because I won't accept a gun that won't reliably fire everything. Money's too tight, and guns are too expensive to put up with one that just won't accept certain types of ammo.
I think I'll just change the springs in the HP first however, and see if that works.

 

[Estela216]

I have a Sig 228 and have fed it everything from UMC, Winchester white box, +p+ federal, +p+ remington, 147 grain stuff, everything and anything. Sometimes you get a weird gun. Send it back to Sig, they have a great customer service center. They probably will send you a new gun. Who knows.

 

[TheEgg]

No, not at all ammo sensitive in my experience. Have four different SIGS, including a 239 and they have never failed to fire anything I have fed them, including S&B.

Since this is a used weapon, I would do two things.

(I assume you've already done the obvious, cleaning, lubing, etc.)

1. Fire about 150 rounds through it (use some ammo that works!). Although I hate the very concept of 'breaking in' a gun, I have had people whose opinion I trust tell me that some SIGs need 100 to 200 rounds for break-in.

2. Then try the S&B again. If it still will not feed, I would have a SIG armorer look at it. There must be something wrong, and I would track it down. A 239 is worth the effort.

 

[SouthpawShootr]

Almost forgot. Either you or a gunsmith should detail strip the gun and clean all the crap out of the firing pin channel. This is the single biggest problem I see with Glocks. Dimwits dumping gunoil into the firing pin hole. This draws dirt and grim. It's particularly bad with things like breakfree. Over time these oils evaporate to a sticky residue. S&B is notorious for hard primers so an insignificant reduction in firing pin impact that wouldn't cause a problem with other ammo brands seems to be fatal with S&B.

 

[JeepDriver]

I've seen several Sig's that just needed a bit of lubrication.

I work part time at an indoor range, and since the Sig Pre owned program came about several customers have came out complaining that thier 'new' gun isn't working. Every time I've taken the gun and put a bit of Tetra Grease on the rails and the gun has ran perfect after that.

I love my Sig's, but you can't run them dry!

 

[El Kabong]

Thanks for the replies, everyone. I'm loathe to give up on it, especially after getting such a good deal ($370!). I'll try running a few boxes of WWB through it and then see what happens with the S&B. If that doesn't work, then I'll take it to the gunsmith and see what he can find.

Thanks again!

 

[allen268]

Having it checked out is a good Idea, but If the only problem is with S&B there are plenty other ammunitions out there.

 

[spankaveli]

i bought a couple boxes of magtech 9mm ball at the range a week or so ago and my p228 HATED it. alot of fte's, stovepipes and slide wouldn't lock back on any of them. i went through 100 rounds of WWB through that and it was perfect.

 

[orangeninja]

Guys...some guns are ammo sensitive...that's the nature of the beast. Switch to an ammo it likes.

 

[TheEgg]

Guys...some guns are ammo sensitive...that's the nature of the beast.

You are absolutely 100% correctamundo!!

But that still bothers me. On a weapon that might be used for serious purposes (not a game or target gun) I keep tinkering with it until it works with any reasonable ammunition (reasonable meaning NOT Cousin Cletus's home made possum busters, thank you!).

If I can't get it to work with just about anything, is the only time I get rid of a gun. Unreliability in a self-defense item just bugs me no end.

 

[El Kabong]

Usually I would just buy whatever it liked and use that. But I also bought a case of S&B(well, actually my dad bought it. Thanks Dad! )at the Ft.Wayne show and was hoping to use that up before I got any more.

It seems to me that a well-made firearm should work with any decent commerical load.

 

[Broadside]

Is it possible that the problem was not all S&B ammo, but just that particular box or lot of ammo?

I had one of the P230's in .32acp that came into the country a year or two ago. I bought half a case of Blazer .32acp with it and had about 50% light primer strikes. Sometimes the round would not go off even after three hits.

The gun worked fine with everyting else including Speer Lawman and Speer GoldDot. I took it to the range one day along with the Blazer and happened to be setting up next to a guy who had a Keltec P32. I asked him to fire some of my Blazer through his Keltec and he experienced the same problems I did.

See if you can find some S&B from a different source and try it again.