Sig P229 slide lock problems

[hawkman]

I was issued a Sig P229 .40 caliber. When qualifiying on it, I noticed that not only mine, but the others were having problems with their slides not locking back. This was the first time the gun has been fired as it was brand new. I did clean it to the factory stuff off of it before I qualified as did the others.

One of the other deputies sig self cured by the time we were done, but mine and anothers didn't. Of the 10 times it should of locked back when the mag was empty, mine only locked back once.

I see this as a potential problem if the day comes I have to fire 13 rounds and didn't keep track, or lost count of how many I was firing.

Is this something that will self cure over time with more rounds going through it, or is it a common problem? I've fired probably 150 rounds so far through it the day we qualed on it.

And yes, the mag was seated properly ;)

[hitnrun]

Don't worry! You said it was new right? When we were issued ours, we were told to keep the gun on the nightstand with the slide locked back to break in the recoil spring during the night. Obviously, keep it unloaded while doing this. We had the same problems! It goes away about a week after leaving the slide locked back at night time and a few hundred rounds. I thought I just had a POS, but our Sig armorer had us do that little trick and like I said, now it works just fine and locks back everytime it's empty! Also, try oiling up the TOP of the slide rails and not just the side. In fact, Oil it just about anywhere that you think threre is friction. Hope that helps.

[vadep]

If it was BRAND new, was it thoroughly cleaned to remove all the packing grease?

I'd also check your magazines... did it do with all or just a one? When it happens, isolate that mag for further inspection.

[hawkman]

It did it with all of the mags, and it was thoroughly cleaned. I'll try locking the slide back. I have to get qualed again on the mini 14 some time soon, so I'll plug a few more rounds through the Sig when I do that and see if that helped.

[Star]

Mine did the same thing and I did what hitnrun said. It's fine now. You have to break those suckers in.

[S43riff]

Let me guess,,,you changed the grips? The only thing I've seen a student at the academy run into is he put hoag (sp?) grips on it and it hit wrong near the top.

[Darin]

Could you have been accidentally pressing the slide lock with your thumb? I shot my brand new P229 DAK with all the factory oil gunk and it did just fine. BTW they didnt give me time to clean it before I shot it.

[JBT]

Could you have been accidentally pressing the slide lock with your thumb? I shot my brand new P229 DAK with all the factory oil gunk and it did just fine. BTW they didnt give me time to clean it before I shot it.

I have had the same problem. When I changed agencies, I had to transition to the thumb forward grip. And with the Sig I have always had issues with resting my thumb to close to the slide release. Try hooking your strong hand thumb over the weak hand thumb knuckle. It works for me.

[hawkman]

It doesn't have to do with the grip, its the factory grib, and my hand position is fine.

[Gooch]

That's weird. I've got the same gun for off-duty and have never had that problem and I've got the Hogue grips. Let us know if you ever find out what's up with that.

[FloridaLEO]

I was issued a Sig P229 .40 caliber. When qualifiying on it, I noticed that not only mine, but the others were having problems with their slides not locking back. This was the first time the gun has been fired as it was brand new. I did clean it to the factory stuff off of it before I qualified as did the others.

One of the other deputies sig self cured by the time we were done, but mine and anothers didn't. Of the 10 times it should of locked back when the mag was empty, mine only locked back once.

I see this as a potential problem if the day comes I have to fire 13 rounds and didn't keep track, or lost count of how many I was firing.

Is this something that will self cure over time with more rounds going through it, or is it a common problem? I've fired probably 150 rounds so far through it the day we qualed on it.

And yes, the mag was seated properly ;)

Four out of the four new 226's that were issued to us new rookies all had the same problem at the range the first time. Now after cleaning it with gun scrubber and oil the crap out of it, it is fine. Shooting at least five hundred rounds will help cure it as well. The guys at sigforum.com are big into this and have helped me a lot. I own a very well broken in 228 that operates flawlessly and the new 226 really surprised me when it had issues after unwrapping it from the factory. The guys at sigforum.com say that I should have gun scrubbered it before the first time I shot it and I would not have had any problems in the first place.

[sgtbear111]

Not specific to the SiG 229 alone, sometimes the magazine springs are weaker than should be. The mag spring pushes the mag follower up against the slide stop and locks the slide. Replace the springs.

Field expedient method is to disassemble the mag and stretch the spring out a bit, reassemble the magazine, and try it for locking the slide open.

Be sure to see your armorer.

[txinvestigator1]

and my hand position is fine.

You might want to check that AT the range before you discount it. Have someone watch your thumb position. I have had numerous people of different types of pistols tell me that they were positive they were not riding or bumbing the slide release, and when I observed them I could clearly see they were.

[hawkman]

You might want to check that AT the range before you discount it. Have someone watch your thumb position. I have had numerous people of different types of pistols tell me that they were positive they were not riding or bumbing the slide release, and when I observed them I could clearly see they were.

Done did it, that was the second thing the range master/armorer checked after I brought it to his attention. First thing he checked was the magazines being properly seated, then hand position as I was firing it.

[sniper350]

I have found that a lot of these smi-auto pistols "need" a break-in period. The best solution is to continue to fire several hundred rounds of hot or full load ammo through them. I would rather have a pistol with tight tolerances that has a few break-in snags than one that rattles but fires every bullet you feed it. MY example is a Walther P-99 40 cal. From the begining it had trouble feeding certain ammo and the slide would not close all the way ( when using Sellier&Belliot). Also it had a nasty habit of ejecting some rounds straight back near your face. I too thought I had a POS, but stopped myself from honing out the chamber. After about 500 to 600 rounds of ammo, all problems went away. Now the same ammo feeds without any problems. The grouping that this gun will shoot is amazing. Five shots at 25 feet combat stance, it will put all five bullets in the one inch circle of the center of a Yellow Defender 844-yf Silhouhette target. Never bench rested this gun, but I imagine it could shoot one ragged hole? I am so glad I resisted fiddling with the gun until it had time to break-in on its own. The weapon has never jammed or failed to feed after the break-in using all kinds of ammo....now on my 5 or 6 th case of thousand round ammo. I would hesitate to grab any new semi-auto out of the box and use it on the streets as my service weapon.....until my break-in period has been achieved and the gun has proven itself to me.