Uh oh... P220 shooters, step inside!

[Bovice]

Yesterday I went to wal mart to get some .45 ammo, and most of it was gone except for a 100 round box of Remington UMC 230 grain JHPs. I've used them in my 220 before and they worked just fine, and they're priced better than the 50 round boxes. So I got it.

Fast forward a few hours, and I'm filling up my mags with it. I start with my factory 8-round mag and they don't fit. My first suspicion is that I just got a long round, so I try a second and a third. No dice, too long.

So I try my mec-gar 7 round mags, and they fit fine. They ought to, because I only had those when I last shot UMC JHPs. I try my factory 10 round mag, and it fits them just fine.

I get out my calipers and sure enough, the 8 round magazine is a few thousandths shorter.

My 8 round factory mag is the odd man out, and I've only ever run 230 roundball in it. Before I end up in this position again, does anybody have any JHP recommendations for the future?

 

[9mmepiphany]

I'm running Winchester Ranger 230gr Talons in my SIG 220s.

It is feeding fine through the 8 German dovetail-backed 7rd factory mags; the 6 Mec-Gar Stainless 8rd factory mags and the 10+ Act-Mag 8rd mags

 

[Bovice]

Thanks 9mmepiphany. I did a search to find some Winchester Ranger and in the process I found someone else describing the same "issue". He or she found that Rangers, Federal Classic, and TAP were about the only ones that fit that magazine. Examining it with Winchester 230 FMJ loaded, it looks like the problem came from designing the forward features of the magazine too close to a ball round. Then, you only have clearance for truncated cone HPs or ones with shorter OAL.

Not too big of a problem I guess, I'm finding out it isn't just me. At least my 7 round mags will apparently take anything out there.

 

[JTQ]

Have you seen this SIG P220 comparison article from the late Mr. Camp?

http://www.hipowersandhandguns.com/LongTerm Observations and ShortTerm Hopes-SIGSauer P220.htm

 

[Bovice]

Hahaha I have now!

Lesson learned. Luckily I've only got the one 8-round SIG mag.

 

[OregonJohnny]

This is a quote from a post I made in another thread months ago, regarding my 2011-made Sig 220 Carry Elite Dark, and the 2 factory 8-round mags it came with, plus a factory 10-rounder I purchased:

The 220 magazines are so short front to back, they won't easily fit longer rounds.

I had some trouble getting Hornady T.A.P. 230-grain +P rounds to even go into all 3 of my 220 mags. I measured about 30 of these rounds with digital calipers, looking for the one with shortest OAL from the Hornady factory. When I found it, I subtracted another .005" inches, and VERY CAREFULLY used my reloading press and .45 ACP seating die to seat all 60 rounds of the T.A.P. to this slightly shorter OAL. We're talking an average of about .010" difference between factory OAL and what I seated them to. All the rounds fit in the mags a little better, and all fed and fired fine at the range, giving about what the advertised velocity is (using my chrono), taking into account the 3.9" barrel. I believe about 830-850 f/s.

 

[Fremmer]

So this occurs with JHP but not with FMJ?
I've got a 220 on layaway, so I guess I'd better step inside and start learning....
Man do I miss Steve Camp~ he knew a lot.

 

[Bovice]

Not an issue at all with FMJ. The problem is with wide "mouth" JHP rounds. The magazine dimension from front to back is short on the current production 8 round factory mags. But, there are plenty of good quality JHPs that will work fine. My problem occurred with Remington bulk UMC hollowpoints.

The 220 is still a solid gun and this slight shortcoming (pun intended) hasn't changed my opinions. If you're worried about it, you might be able to find some classic 7 round mags. I found two at a shop near me in brand new condition.

 

[Magichelmt]

I had the same problem with some Extended capacity mags for my SIGP220. I just load the high caps with round nose and the standard cap with the hollow points.