Hello Everyone! I recently aquired a West German police P210-4 that appears to have been an arsenal rework. I field stripped the gun before taking it to the range and everything looked great to my untrained eye. I applied a little TW25b grease to the rails like I do with all my firearms and took her to the range. She was an absolute tack driver at 25 yards but I did have numerous failures to eject, 1 or 2 per magazine. The gun came with one magazine and I paid way too much for a second from Numrich, both experienced the feeding issue although the Numrich one seemed to fail a bit more frequently. I recently read the entire Flork's Lubrication Thread and he mentioned that P210's should not be greased. I have purchased some 91% alcohol to remove the grease, I will then apply oil and take her out again. Is there anything else that could be causing the failure to eject?
Anyway all of this got me looking for a maintenance guide for the P210 and I have been unable to find one. Any P210 owners out there want to share their maintenance routine?
August 18, 2017, 02:12 PM
GaryBF
Were you shooting factory ammunition or reloads? If factory, more than one brand? What bullet weight?
You mentioned "failure to eject" and then mention feeding problems-which is it, or both?
Blazer Brass 124g was the ammo. Failures to eject. Sorry about the confusion.
August 18, 2017, 09:00 PM
GaryBF
All I can suggest right now is to try a different ammunition.
August 19, 2017, 09:32 PM
hrcjon
A little zip in some test ammo will clarify the issue. BB is not great.
“So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong, and strike at what is weak.”
September 03, 2017, 04:42 AM
OTD
quote:
Originally posted by NOVA_SigGuy: Hello Everyone! I recently aquired a West German police P210-4 that appears to have been an arsenal rework. I field stripped the gun before taking it to the range and everything looked great to my untrained eye. I applied a little TW25b grease to the rails like I do with all my firearms and took her to the range. She was an absolute tack driver at 25 yards but I did have numerous failures to eject, 1 or 2 per magazine. The gun came with one magazine and I paid way too much for a second from Numrich, both experienced the feeding issue although the Numrich one seemed to fail a bit more frequently. I recently read the entire Flork's Lubrication Thread and he mentioned that P210's should not be greased. I have purchased some 91% alcohol to remove the grease, I will then apply oil and take her out again. Is there anything else that could be causing the failure to eject?
Anyway all of this got me looking for a maintenance guide for the P210 and I have been unable to find one. Any P210 owners out there want to share their maintenance routine?
There is not anyhting Special in maintaining a P210. They are cleaned and lubed like any other Service pistol. Alcohol to clean it is probably a poor choice. If you want to have it clean, you need lighter fule. Ligher fule is in the same "chemical Group" like grease. Alcohol is not.
If the pistols starts to fail ejecting, you will need a new recoil spring. you dont need a new assembly. the spring can be installed on the existing rod although there is no instruction. any gun Smith should be able to do it, if not, send the spring and the rod to SIGSauer Exeter or SIG in Neuhausen.
The only issues with ammo I experienced was with .30 Luger ball in a -5. Ejection was positive although sluggish, but in 9mm there is no known brand that should not work.
September 03, 2017, 08:26 AM
sigfreund
I don’t understand how it could hurt to use alcohol as a degreaser. Something like 99% isopropyl doesn’t leave any residue, and therefore there’s nothing there to affect what’s put on after it’s used. That’s why Mil-Comm, for example, recommends degreasing with alcohol before using their lubes. Lighter fluid, on the other hand, does leave a residue; not much, but some, and if I’m using a high-tech lubricant on my guns, I want it to work as the manufacturer intended.
That’s also why I don’t mix grease and oil: If the manufacturer thought mixing oil with its grease would provide better lubrication and protection, I’m sure they would do it themselves.
If I had a P210 and it should be maintained just like any other service pistol, I’d use alcohol to degrease and remove old dirty lube from it because that’s what I use on all my other SIGs.
► 6.4/93.6
“Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something.” — Plato
September 03, 2017, 09:18 AM
OTD
Nobody said anything about isopropyle alcohole will hurt a gun. It´s just not as effecitve as lighter fule. Take lighte fule as an alternaive. It does not really matter since the OP has a problem with the function of the gun, not with his cleaning method.
September 03, 2017, 10:20 AM
sigfreund
quote:
Originally posted by OTD: Nobody said anything about isopropyle alcohole will hurt a gun.
Sorry. You didn’t say that, it’s true, but your comment that the alcohol is not the same “chemical group” as grease led me to believe that you were implying that using alcohol would be detrimental in some way.
Out of curiosity, I conducted a little experiment just now. I smeared Rig grease on a clean glass plate and cleaned two separate sections with lighter fluid and 99% isopropyl alcohol. I couldn’t detect any difference in effectiveness, and I admit I didn’t see any residue from the lighter fluid, so perhaps my earlier experiences with it had to do with the surfaces I was cleaning. I prefer the smell of the alcohol, though.
► 6.4/93.6
“Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something.” — Plato
September 03, 2017, 11:47 AM
GaryBF
quote:
If the pistols starts to fail ejecting, you will need a new recoil spring.
I don't understand how this can be. Springs don't get stronger as they age, they get weaker. A weaker recoil spring should cause the slide to open more vigorously and aid ejection, not prevent it. Am I missing something?
September 03, 2017, 01:05 PM
OTD
I´s a guess. If it was mine and I had this Problem, I would replace the entire spring set and replace the spring for the first stage with a Sport spring.
September 21, 2017, 08:55 AM
joel9507
quote:
Originally posted by OTD: I´s a guess. If it was mine and I had this Problem, I would replace the entire spring set and replace the spring for the first stage with a Sport spring.
You're most likely right, but before I did that, I'd lube it well and see if that solved the problem.
Reason I say this is because my only FTEs in a P-210 (and in fact the only problem ever, with several P-210s over six plus years) were the first day I shot my first one six years ago. Almost continual FTEs to start the day, and it was very frustrating. The problem went away when the guy in the next lane took a look and lubed the rails. The rest of that day (and ever since) the gun has been flawless.
Would be a cheap and easy test to make before shopping for springs.This message has been edited. Last edited by: joel9507,
November 27, 2017, 09:01 AM
NOVA_SigGuy
I finally got a chance to take my P210 to the range after a thorough cleaning, removal of the TW25 I originally applied, and liberal application of oil to the slide. I used Sig 115g 9mm ammo. I fired four magazines through the gun and experienced five failures to eject, at least one per magazine. I will try to find a new recoil spring and see if that fixes the issue. Any idea where I can find a new recoil spring?
November 27, 2017, 03:47 PM
GaryBF
This is a photo of the P210 ejector. Cases do not eject because the slide is not bringing the case back far enough to fully contact the ejector. I fail to see how a new recoil spring is going to help that. Is your ejector broken? Are you mis-stating the problem?
Here is the hammer assembly with extractor. The extractor and ejector appear to be fine. The malfunctions are the spent casing either remaining in the chamber or stovepiping.
November 28, 2017, 03:31 PM
GaryBF
quote:
The malfunctions are the spent casing either remaining in the chamber or stovepiping.
Then that's not an ejection problem. Cases remaining in the chamber is an extraction problem; stove piping is more of a timing problem. Now we're getting somewhere.
FYI, the extractor is attached to the slide and is not on the hammer assembly. Cases remaining in the chamber may be caused by a worn or broken extractor. Look closely at the extractor claw to see if it is worn or chipped.
Stove piping may be caused by weak magazine springs not presenting the next round on time or the slide not fully recoiling and returning too soon.
November 28, 2017, 05:21 PM
NOVA_SigGuy
OK here is a picture of the extractor. (Hard to get a good picture)
November 28, 2017, 05:26 PM
NOVA_SigGuy
Dumb question: the extractor has a spring but how much movement should there be? It doesnt move...
November 28, 2017, 06:21 PM
GaryBF
quote:
Originally posted by NOVA_SigGuy: Dumb question: the extractor has a spring but how much movement should there be? It doesnt move...
Your photo is too small and too dark to see anything. The extractor does not need to move much, maybe .03-.04 inch. A case rim coming up from the magazine rises behind the extractor claw. In fact, it is considered harmful to close the slide on a case that is already chambered.
P210Ejector by GaryBF, on Flickr
