So I ran my check that was recommended here and am happy to report that all of these things work fine for me.

I'm not particularly weak, but I have an absolute hell of a time racking my slide.. is it possible that my recoil spring is just too stiff?

How hard should it be to rack it back? I mean I have to switch hands and really tug to get it to the rear..

edit: I just ordered some Wolff springs, hopefully the recoil spring being lighter will help.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: jmccoy,

After a combat course instructor made me do the Glock high thumb hold with the non trigger hand. I started experiencing the same problem on my 228. This is after many years & many Sigs. It was not the slide release but pressing of the decock lever causing the slide to not lock back. Moral, stay away from Glock only instructors.

Need to add my thanks to Chris and sigfreund on this one. I recently bought (another) used 220 and decided to send it to Sigarms for the SSP "night sight special". I received it back today - and immediately noticed that I could not get the slide to reliably lock back by hand on an empty magazine.

Quickly came to this tacked thread which I have admittedly never read all the way through, and solved my issue in what has to be record time.

With the slide off the pistol, it was very easy to see that as an empty magazine was inserted, the catch was forcing the follower down into the magazine (even on brand spanking new mags). Swapped the old catch spring back in (thankfully Sigarms returned all the old parts - would have been nice for them to function test the pistol before shipping it back, but I digress), problem solved. The new spring was much, much, MUCH stiffer than the old.

What's interesting to me is that the old and new catch springs appear to have different profiles where the spring hooks downward (just above where the spring fits into the foward edge of the locking insert) - was this a design change at some point, or is this a freak, defective spring?

"Why won't my slide lock back after last shot fired?"
**************************************************
When I read this, I thought "Damn, if Chris doesn't know, who the heck does!!??"

Torpedoes los! Surface!

Page 2?
I think not.

FYI,

my department changed all the springs in our p220r 45cal last week and now none of our slides will lock back. i suggested to the captain that the slide catch lever spring is way to stiff and we should put the old ones back in. he did not agree with me. instead they order new mag springs. the slides lock back now. i do know from past experience that this is just a quick fix. as soon as the mag springs wear in a little the slides will not lock back. for some reason the slide catch lever springs are way too stiff. i wish sig would get it together on this issue. what a pain.

Returned to sender

Why is a correct tension slide lock spring so difficult for SIG to make?

Why is it so hard for them to test this problem??

I have the same problem on my P220ST, it takes tremendous force to actuate the slide lock, 3x as much as on my new P226.

On Monday I will have to call them, hopefully they have straightened out their CS problems since I had to have the same gun sent in for its Failures to extract last year at this time.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: ACP MAN,

Well I just called them, I got through right away, Yeahhhh.
Now the bad news, while they were sympathetic to my problem, they told me that they wont send me the spring because only a SIG certified armorer can change the part due to the extreme difficulty of removing the locking block. If I do it wrong, I will break the pistol.

They won't pay for me to ship it to them, or provide me with the name of a certified armorer to fix it in my area.

SO I can either pay for the part through Brownells, or pay $60 plus labor and parts to have it fixed.

I think I am going to stick to S&W or Kimber for any future purchases, because they both know how to provide customer service.
SIG doesnt have a clue.

Just buy the part from Brownells, get the DVD and fit it yourself,
OR
Google 'gunsmith' and your state.

Sig are protecting themselves from ham-handed amateurs screwing up their pistols, then running to them and saying: 'it's your fault, you told me to do it'.
They are also not in a position to tell you who, out of the 1000s of armorers they have trained, is happy to have their contact details broadcast to any Joe Shmoe who needs their gun fixed. That's a job for the Yellow Pages.

Boy you are right Widge, what was I thinking SIG actually provide me with a little customer Support, like the name of a local SIG dealer.

I sure the gunshops around here don't want any customers to know that they are SIG dealers and can provide parts and support, after all they ain't in the business to sell parts and guns.

Its a secret undercover NINJA thing.

quote:

Originally posted by ACP MAN:
Boy you are right Widge, what was I thinking SIG actually provide me with a little customer Support, like the name of a local SIG dealer.

I sure the gunshops around here don't want any customers to know that they are SIG dealers and can provide parts and support, after all they ain't in the business to sell parts and guns.

Its a secret undercover NINJA thing.

You didn't say anything about dealers, you were saying they wouldn't tell you who the certified armorers in your area were.

quote:

provide me with the name of a certified armorer to fix it in my area

Two very different things.

For the price of shipping it and the wait time, I'd STILL buy the part and the DVD and fix it myself.

i just read your post. pay for the spring through brownells. it is very easy to change. make sure you drop the hammer then pull out the lever you use to take off the slide. it comes out by wiggling it back and forth. the block comes out an the spring is just sitting there. it goes back in the same way you pulled it out. everyone of the pistols we received (37) all had to have the slide lever spring replaced, the guide rod spring, and the mag springs. final my duty weapon is reliable and very accurate.

don't give up on the weapon so soon. it's just the springs that sig are buying are defective. i say they find another vendor.

bump to page 1

Hello, this my first post, and I am having the same problem on my 220ST.My question is what weight recoil spring belongs in the 220ST?

I bought my gun used in excellent condtion, but it has a HEAVY recoil spring maked with green paint.(according to Brownell's factory Sig parts list, it shows the green marked spring as 20-22 lbs.)The Sig rep I spoke too this morning stated that the 220ST requires a 16 lbs. recoil spring(he didn't sound certain, and actually put me on hold to speak to a manager)I am thinking the slide isn't recoiling back far enough to catch.
BTW, Great SITE!!

quote:

Originally posted by wes1:
I bought my gun used in excellent condtion, but it has a HEAVY recoil spring maked with green paint.(according to Brownell's factory Sig parts list, it shows the green marked spring as 20-22 lbs.)The Sig rep I spoke too this morning stated that the 220ST requires a 16 lbs. recoil spring(he didn't sound certain, and actually put me on hold to speak to a manager)I am thinking the slide isn't recoiling back far enough to catch.
BTW, Great SITE!!

I don't like to get into discussions about specific spring "weights" because I've found that they vary according to the source of information. The green spring is, however, the proper one for the full sized P220. The spring was "upgraded" to the green variety a number of years ago. 16 pounds may have been the old one and I believe it was also appropriate for 220s chambered for 9mm and other cartridges.

The green spring is definitely stiff and requires significant effort to cycle, especially when new. My department issues P220s and uses training ammunition that's loaded on the mild side, but I haven't seen any problems due to the stiff spring.
What ammo are you shooting when you have slide lock problems?

Another possible source of low slide velocity (which is probably why the slide doesn't lock back) is the fact that ST models tend to have more friction between slide and frame. In addition to the usual lube points, it's important that the rails be well lubricated.

To the top!

I think this thread has helped me too!

I started shooting my 239 after a long period of down time. The slide was frequently not locking back on an empty mag.

I replaced mag springs and recoil spring.

Problem was still there on 3 different magazines.

After reading this thread, I checked the slide catch spring. Seems fine.

So I took the slide off, used my regular grip, and with my left hand pushed an empty mag in.
Yep, my right thumb was holding down the
slide catch.

With a 226 the grip on the gun keeps the right thumb away from the slide catch. But with the 239, my right thumb rides a little bit higher and holds the catch down.

I am going to try a different grip with the 239. I will keep the right thumb tucked under the left thumb.

Haven't checked this out on the range yet.

Thanks to all for the ideas.

My P239 was the first SIG that I experienced slide lock problems with. In my conceit that I was too experienced a shooter to make mistakes like that, I was more than a little chagrined to have to finally accept that I was causing the problem myself.

Although putting SAS grips on the gun helped, I cured the problem by putting my right thumb on the second knuckle of my support thumb. That change in hand position didn't seem to have any adverse effect on my shooting, but it eliminated contact between thumb and clide catch lever.