I've got two. One I have had zero issues with. Runs like a sewing machine.

This second one I bought with the intention of converting it to 300 BLK. I've already got the CEK I just haven't installed it yet because I am waiting on a can and handguard and I only have some expensive subsonic on hand so I decided to go ahead and break it in with the 11.5 5.56 and some surplus ammo I have plenty-of.

This thing will not cycle. It's one and done, not even an attempt to feed another round, although it feeds fine manually and I've watched it closely. It's not stove-piping, it's also ejecting fine.

PMags, one factory and a couple of others that are old faithfuls. None of them seemed to matter, doesn't lock open after the last round either.

I tried Radway Green and Lake City which runs fine through my other Virtus, through a PSA, Windham Bushmasters and a DPMS piston carbine. Even tried some of my favorite reloads ... same results.

So I thought maybe it was a gas issue, checked the valve, it's all the way down on the negative minus (-) left side.

Anyone have any ideas or is this one headed-back to SIG?

FWIW I thought maybe "break-in issue."

My Son and I put 120 rounds through it today, pulling the trigger, bang, charging handle, bang, charging handle, slap the mag just to be sure, charging handle, bang, charging handle, bang ... over and over and over again. Only three times did it cycle properly (two rounds) and that was early-on in the afternoon.

I hope this is something minor that I am overlooking. I'm getting old.

I would pull the gas system apart and clean it, Making sure it was clear with no debris or oil residue.

I'll give that a try. Who knows ... just might work. I cleaned it well tonight but didn't pull the piston or the gas valve, I probably need to do that and run it wet when I take it back out tomorrow.

It sucks, but I would call Sig and let them deal with it. It seems like everybody always wants to fix their guns instead of letting the warranty process handle it. If you bought a new car and the radio failed, you wouldn't be on the internet learning how to solder...

quote:

Originally posted by DaBigBR:
It sucks, but I would call Sig and let them deal with it. It seems like everybody always wants to fix their guns instead of letting the warranty process handle it. If you bought a new car and the radio failed, you wouldn't be on the internet learning how to solder...

The way I see it there's two mindsets to this. Yours would be a last resort for me given the type of firearm that the Virtus is. Assuming that this SIG will be a gun that I'm going to rely upon if and when SHTF, whaddaya gonna do if something goes south with it at that time? Call a timeout and get SIG CS on the phone for a return authorization while the world around you is going to hell? The way I view this scenario, it's better now to figure out exactly how the damn thing works and learn to fix it for yourself. Only if all options are considered and exhausted and there's still no fix would I go back to SIG.

If it's going to be nothing but a range toy then sure, let SIG do the heavy lifting and handle the diagnosis and repair. But the way I see the Virtus' intended purpose, it should more than simply a gun for punching paper at the range.

I ran it wet this morning ... still not cycling. So I flipped over to the plus side (+) down with the gas valve and it cycled better (7:10) but still not flawlessly and I can't trust it ... not to mention the added wear and tear running supersonic loads through the + side.

I'm inclined to call SIG Monday morning and arrange to have it sent back to them. It's obviously under-gassed when running from the (-) side ... and it shouldn't be.

I've got toys to paper-punch with, this is not one of them. This is home, property and loved-ones defense and I need full confidence in it or it's no good to me. It doesn't even make a good $2000+ billy club right now.

Kinda disappointed honestly but with all the SIGs I own I guess I was bound-to get one that needed some fine tuning sooner or later. It happened to me one time before with a Marlin way back in the day ... a timing issue. That one had a happy ending. Hopefully this one will as well.

So, after much frustration, (including being on hold for 47 minutes this morning), I was finally able to speak with a Customer Service Rep at SIG. She immediately emailed-me a shipping label to print out and send it back to them. She didn't hesitate once she had asked all of her ammo-related questions and spoke with a tech. Said it would probably be a week to ten days turnaround once they receive it for a "service related technical evaluation."

Aaron was very nice though and she was super courteous.

quote:

Originally posted by monoblok:

quote:

Originally posted by DaBigBR:
It sucks, but I would call Sig and let them deal with it. It seems like everybody always wants to fix their guns instead of letting the warranty process handle it. If you bought a new car and the radio failed, you wouldn't be on the internet learning how to solder...

The way I see it there's two mindsets to this. Yours would be a last resort for me given the type of firearm that the Virtus is. Assuming that this SIG will be a gun that I'm going to rely upon if and when SHTF, whaddaya gonna do if something goes south with it at that time? Call a timeout and get SIG CS on the phone for a return authorization while the world around you is going to hell? The way I view this scenario, it's better now to figure out exactly how the damn thing works and learn to fix it for yourself. Only if all options are considered and exhausted and there's still no fix would I go back to SIG.

If it's going to be nothing but a range toy then sure, let SIG do the heavy lifting and handle the diagnosis and repair. But the way I see the Virtus' intended purpose, it should more than simply a gun for punching paper at the range.

And what if we're dealing with a manufacturing defect? My early MCX felt like shit to hand cycle and would not reliably recock the hammer on firing. It went back to Sig, got fixed, and came back working. My position is it should just work and if it doesn't, you shouldn't be using it.

Well, I mailed it back on 9th knowing it would take a couple of days to get to SIG, then be evaluated and tuned and returned to me. Turnaround was quick. The gunsmith received it on the 13th and had it fixed and back out the door on the 14th.

They tried to deliver it this past Friday the 16th and Saturday the 17th but I didn't return from the Sika hunt in Maryland until Sunday the 18th.

First thing yesterday morning, Monday the 19th, FedEx 2 Day Air was beeping the horn in the driveway with my Virtus.

SIG gunsmith noted that he had evaluated the firearm and confirmed my issues. He adjusted the valve, test fired the pistol using PMC 55 grain ammo, and sent it back.

I ran three full mags through-it, out on my range here on the farm, this morning and it ran like a sewing machine.

I put my front and rear flip-ups back-on-it and then my Holosun ... they lined up perfectly and zero was dead-on from the first shot. Didn't have to tweak-it even a hair.

Issue resolved. Customer Service was excellent.

Thank you Erin (Customer Service, she said she had read this thread) and whomever gunsmith made the adjustments and included the notes in the box. I'm a happy camper.

^^^^
It's valuable to both learn from and track mechanical issues like this, so thank you for both taking the time to post the issue, the fix, and the response from Customer Service. I fully expected SIG to stand by their product, but it is good to have confirmation!

Glad to hear your issue was resolved quickly and that SIG Customer Service took care of it.

I would really like more info on this. What exactly does it mean to “adjust a valve”? Was there a defective part, or was something installed incorrectly? I am concerned about the future reliability of it if it was simply “adjusting a valve” as a fix. To me that means that if it’s adjusted incorrectly, maybe while cleaning, it won’t work again.

quote:

Originally posted by Modern Day Savage:
^^^^
It's valuable to both learn from and track mechanical issues like this, so thank you for both taking the time to post the issue, the fix, and the response from Customer Service. I fully expected SIG to stand by their product, but it is good to have confirmation!

Glad to hear your issue was resolved quickly and that SIG Customer Service took care of it.

Yes, thank you Gallo Pazzesco

quote:

Originally posted by honestlou:
... What exactly does it mean to “adjust a valve”? ...

Generally, that means they had to ream the gas port, or that the adjustment valve had shavings/leavings inside that had to be scraped out.

quote:

Originally posted by honestlou:
I would really like more info on this. What exactly does it mean to “adjust a valve”? Was there a defective part, or was something installed incorrectly? I am concerned about the future reliability of it if it was simply “adjusting a valve” as a fix. To me that means that if it’s adjusted incorrectly, maybe while cleaning, it won’t work again.

Yeah, I dunno. His (Gunsmith Comments) exact words on the note he included in the box are, and I quote verbatim all lower case and sans the possessive apostrophe in customer's as follows: "inspected the pistol, confirmed the customers (sic) issue, adjusted the gas valve and test fired without issues or malfunctions. ammo used was PMC 55 gr."

One thing I did notice before I took it out to the range and ran it through its paces was that he sent it back with the gas valve lever turned to the right (+) side when I know I sent it down on the left (-) side but I have no idea if that meant he attached a can and test fired it thusly or if he ran it supersonic hot without a can to the right side just to test both - and +.

I flipped it back to the left before test firing it. I'll take it out and run it with a SilencerCo can this weekend even though this is going to be my 300 BLK pistol once I install the 300 BLK CEK (I already have in my possession) and my Thunder Chicken clears the waiting period. I've got 300 BLK subsonic ammo, I've just not taken the time to load any 300 BLK supersonic so it would be a waste of time to try to test it without the Thunder Chicken at the moment.

I honestly have no clue what "adjusted the valve" encompassed but it worked, at least so far.

I'll admit, I would have liked to have been afforded more details and I suppose it might be disconcerting to think there were shavings in there or a damaged piston scarred the piston walls. I suppose ... if something happens down the road my first action, next time, will be to take it to my gunsmith and he and I will boresight the piston tube for scratches or whatever and then confront SIG. I hope it never comes to that.

In the meantime I have an OCD about practicing immediate action drills ... just incase. I never trust any firearm to be 100% reliable because I was trained not-to in the military .... even though most I've ever owned have been very very reliable.

I used to have dreams about being back under fire and my firearm not going bang ... reoccurring dreams. I'd wake up in cold sweats and would clean and oil my EDC piece the following morning.

I'll probably have a nightmare or two about this one as well until I put a couple of 1000 rounds through it to the point where I am 100% comfortable and confident with it - and even then it's gotta be in 300 BLK with the can attached.

In the meantime I've still got my other Virtus 11.5 that has never had a hiccup eating 5.56 ... so I'm good to go in that regard.

Two is one ... one is none. Or so they say.

quote:

Originally posted by honestlou:
I would really like more info on this. What exactly does it mean to “adjust a valve”? Was there a defective part, or was something installed incorrectly? I am concerned about the future reliability of it if it was simply “adjusting a valve” as a fix. To me that means that if it’s adjusted incorrectly, maybe while cleaning, it won’t work again.

quote:

Originally posted by Gallo Pazzesco:
I'll admit, I would have liked to have been afforded more details and I suppose it might be disconcerting to think there were shavings in there or a damaged piston scarred the piston walls.

I've never had to send a gun back to SIG for warranty work, but from following some of the posts of members who have, generally speaking the SIG gunsmiths that include comments on the warranty work they have performed don't normally go into the level of detail that many of us would prefer to know...but having said that I recall a time when SIGs were returned to their owners with no comments at all regarding any warranty work performed, so when a gunsmith performs any corrective actions and comments on it I guess we'll have to be grateful for even that...but yeah, I was curious about the specific details of this fix as well.

quote:

Originally posted by Rob1972:
Generally, that means they had to ream the gas port, or that the adjustment valve had shavings/leavings inside that had to be scraped out.

I assumed corrective actions something along this line also, or perhaps some sort of gas block reaming/ realigning.