I have an early 90's 220 in 45 ACP. I have read that a steady diet of 230 Gr hard ball is not recommended. Should I be careful?

That is news to me. I’ve got a 90s 220 with thousands of hardball through it and it’s no worse for wear. I suppose an aluminum frame is more likely to crack than all steel but I wouldn’t worry.

Where did you read that?

quote:

Originally posted by Art in Colorado:
I have an early 90's 220 in 45 ACP. I have read that a steady diet of 230 Gr hard ball is not recommended. Should I be careful?

No, you should continue feeding it a steady diet of 230 Gr hard ball.

I put 2100 rounds (of 230 gr. FMJ) through a similar vintage P-220 during a 4 day class.

It ran like a well oiled machine.

It wants to be shot, shoot it!

quote:

Originally posted by Art in Colorado:
I have an early 90's 220 in 45 ACP. I have read that a steady diet of 230 Gr hard ball is not recommended. Should I be careful?

As everyone else has stated, shoot all that you want

Ever since I got my first P220 back in 1977 I have been shooting all kinds of things

And stop reading whatever magazine you saw that in

What the hell are you SUPPOSED to put in it then???

quote:

Originally posted by P-220:
I put 2100 rounds (of 230 gr. FMJ) through a similar vintage P-220 during a 4 day class.

It ran like a well oiled machine.

It wants to be shot, shoot it!

Excuse the hijack but any problems keeping up in the class because of mag capacity?

I was tempted to take my 220 to a recent 1-day class but I didn’t know if my 8-round mags would frustrate the intended pace of the instructor.

My 220 is now nearly 20 years old. Quite well worn and has been back to Sig for re-hab.
I would guess 10K through it, mostly ball for range practice.
Shoot it. A lot.

quote:

Originally posted by ruger357:
That is news to me. I’ve got a 90s 220 with thousands of hardball through it and it’s no worse for wear. I suppose an aluminum frame is more likely to crack than all steel but I wouldn’t worry.

Where did you read that?

Well I read it on this Forum maybe last year. Can't remember who posted it but the jist of it was it was best not to run hard ball in older 220's.

quote:

Originally posted by FHHM213:

quote:

Originally posted by P-220:
I put 2100 rounds (of 230 gr. FMJ) through a similar vintage P-220 during a 4 day class.

It ran like a well oiled machine.

It wants to be shot, shoot it!

Excuse the hijack but any problems keeping up in the class because of mag capacity?

I was tempted to take my 220 to a recent 1-day class but I didn’t know if my 8-round mags would frustrate the intended pace of the instructor.

No issue with the Instructor whatsoever. I was using 7 round mags at the time, factory and Pachmayr. I used a total of 7 mags. There was one student who used a K-Frame Smith and Wesson. Pretty sure he did not shoot 2100 rounds. On the other hand, there was a student with a G-19, who put more than 2100 rounds through his.

Although it sounds like, and it is a lot of ammo, you did not progress to the next station, until you had successfully accomplished the prior station. It was not just dumping rounds down range to get to 2100 rounds. some probably shot closer to 1800, some well in excess of 2100. They preach "only hits count"

Great to know. I think I could have been fine in my recent class - given the drills that we were doing.

Thanks for the reply Steve.

I believe I have seen cautions against using +P in the folded slide SIGs.

Don’t recollect anything against standard pressure FMJ.

quote:

Originally posted by Art in Colorado:
I have an early 90's 220 in 45 ACP. I have read that a steady diet of 230 Gr hard ball is not recommended. Should I be careful?

In the early 90s 230 HB was the standard 45 ACP round and the loads were probably lighter than many of the popular HP rounds.

The frame of the P220 was reinforced in 1993 around serial number G211299, I believe, but that was to address potential cracking around the grip area from firing hot rounds like +P, not hardball. You can see the frame reinforcement on the right side between the grip panel and trigger.

quote:

Originally posted by arfmel:
I believe I have seen cautions against using +P in the folded slide SIGs.

Don’t recollect anything against standard pressure FMJ.

Cautions...perhaps, but not prohibitions.

I spoke to a SIG CSR years ago about the use of +P and they stated that there was no problem using it, only that it might be prudent to decrease the preventative maintenance round count interval.

Although I haven't checked recently, the SIG Sauer U.S. website addressed the question under their FAQ's section, with the same answer.

I tried to run my P220 for a 3 day class. I had to change guns at lunch because I could not keep up with the loading.

quote:

Originally posted by FHHM213:

quote:

Originally posted by P-220:
I put 2100 rounds (of 230 gr. FMJ) through a similar vintage P-220 during a 4 day class.

It ran like a well oiled machine.

It wants to be shot, shoot it!

Excuse the hijack but any problems keeping up in the class because of mag capacity?

I was tempted to take my 220 to a recent 1-day class but I didn’t know if my 8-round mags would frustrate the intended pace of the instructor.