Hello again,

So I am going through my SIGs one by one after not being use used for about a dozen years, and now I've encountered some issues with my P239/357.

Upon chambering a round and releasing the full magazine to top it off, I found that the magazine wouldn't drop freely. It got ejected about 1/2" but stopped there and I had to manually remove it. I previously verified all five 357/40 empty magazines did drop without issue. I then repeated this procedure with all five full magazines and three of them had the same issue.

Noticing that the Hogue grip was making contact with the magazines, I Dremel'd it clear but it didn't help.

As I ran through this procedure, I encountered a failure to feed when manually racking the slide as shown in the pictures. I have never had this before with any of my SIGs! I was being conscious to pull the slide all the way back and release it without riding it.

Shortly after that, I had a failure to extract, which again I have never had before when manually cycling the slide.

So, I am thinking of changing the recoil spring, though I am certain I shot less thank 1K rounds with it. I am definitely replacing the magazine springs with Wolff +5% ones. Three of the magazines have been left loaded for at least a dozen years. I'd change the slide catch lever spring if I could find one. I thought about changing the extractor spring, but I'm not sure if a weak recoil and/or magazine spring prevented the extractor from fully grabbing the cartridge rim.

I welcome your thoughts on these issues.

Thank you,
Ian

It’s hard to be sure from your photos, but your extractor doesn’t seem quite right, i.e., there is something odd about the hook.

If the extractor were chipped or otherwise damaged, that could account for both the failure to extract and failure to chamber (“feeding” is what the magazine does). I would start by cleaning and inspecting it carefully.

As for why your magazines aren’t dropping free, do you press the magazine catch fully? That sounds like a strange question, I know, but the other possibility is that the top round in the mag is being pushed forward enough to prevent the mag from dropping free. That’s not uncommon with single column magazines, although I just checked my 357 P239 and it didn’t exhibit that problem. Are you using actual 357 SIG mags in your gun rather than 40 S&W magazines?

Looks like (as Sigfreund says), the top round is being dragged forward as the first round chambers. Is it all magazines or just one?
Perhaps some cleaning of the magazines and some new springs in them may help along with a slight tweaking of the mag lips.

Equally, it could also be that the ammo is out of spec, is it factory or reloaded? If the C.O.L. is too long, or the bullet shape is out, it could prevent the rounds chambering correctly.

Lastly, is this only happening when you hand cycle the gun or does it occur when you fire it? Oftentimes handcycling is a poor way to establish whether a pistol is working correctly since you cannot replicate the forces present under recoil.

If the pistol hasn't been shot for a while, I'd clean it up, re-lube it, and take it to the range with a box of hot factory ammo.

Thank you for the replies. To answer your questions:

I am using 357 mags. I have separate ones for 40. Good question.

The extractor does look a little off and perhaps gummed up. The P239 was put away clean and I did a simple field strip cleaning, and cleaned the magazines. I’ll give the extractor components a good cleaning.

I don’t have access to a range now. I have to find a nearby one in MA that isn’t closed. Only manual cycling for now.

I’ve been fully depressing the mag release. I will be more conscious about it next time though.

It does seem like the second round is moved forward when chambering the first round, which is causing the mag to get hung up.

I just dug out the 2005 SIG armorers DVD by our esteemed moderator. I’ll watch it carefully before doing any more work on my old SIG 210/220/226/228/229/239. I’m not messing with my new P365. It’s like going from working on my ‘72 Dodge Dart with a slant 6 to a recent model Audi where I only add oil. :-)

Best,
Ian


https://flic.kr/p/2iJyzwM

Excellent observations and comments from both sigfreund and Pyker.

I agree that the extractor hook does look odd...but I'll readily admit that most of my experience with other SIG P22X platforms and while I've shot P239s before I've never detail stripped one.

As Pyker rightly notes, an ammo problem might cause the type of stoppage you seem to be experiencing. I've reported on this before, but I once had a single Blazer aluminum cased cartridge with an O.O.S. case rim that caused a similar stoppage (2X) during live firing.

Lastly, just a thought, but unless you are completely bored and want to spend money, I wouldn't be too quick to replace any parts or make any adjustments (other than cleaning/inspecting the extractor) until actually live firing the gun. Although I've done it a few times myself, I don't rely on hand cycling to accurately duplicate the dynamics of live firing or troubleshoot any potential issues.

Harvard is still open if you’re a member or have a friend who is a member. All organized events have been shut down

quote:

Originally posted by funnymech:
Harvard is still open if you’re a member or have a friend who is a member. All organized events have been shut down

Good to know about HSC. I was a member way back when and rejoined a few years ago, but never made it back after re-orientation. I’ll ping some old shooting buddies. :-)