I've wanted a P228 for years, and finally got one. I was looking for a shooter, and unwilling to pay collector rate prices, so I rolled the dice on a surplus gun from one of those mil-surp importers. I was hoping to get something carried a lot and shot a little, but mine ended up looking like it got a lot of both. There's a good amount of wear on the frame rails, and lots of smileys on the barrel, but when it shoots it's still very accurate. The finish was pretty bad on the slide, and there was some rust, so I stripped and rust-blued it it.

Slide to frame fit is bad. It's like a baby rattle. Side to side shake I can understand, but this thing actually is loose forward and backward, too...I can move it forward and backward about 1/16" before I start to get resistance. The barrel stays locked, but I'm thinking that this much fore and aft motion may be contributing to the problem described below.

The problem I'm having is light strikes. It was light-striking out of the box, and that was no big surprise because the springs look original. I replaced the recoil spring, but couldn't find a replacement spring for the long mainspring strut, so I decided to upgrade it with a GGI Strut System, which uses the new larger strut base and a shorter strut. I went with the heavier of the two provided springs (19lb) and am still getting light strikes, so I went to wolff and ordered their heaviest spring (which unfortunately is only 20lb). I installed it today and I'm still getting light strikes..so I'm starting to think the problem is not the mainspring.

I checked the firing pin block, and that seems to be disengaging properly. There's also plenty of firing pin protrusion, and the pin itself shows no unusual wear. The only thing I can think of at this point is that the forward and backward play in the slide is absorbing enough of the force of the hammer impact that I'm getting occasional light strikes.

What I can't figure out is why all the play in the slide? All of the serial numbers on the slide, frame, and barrel match, so I know they're original. There's also no extreme wear anywhere that would lead me to believe that the gun has been bubba'd or modified. The side to side play I get, but not the forward and backward. The only thing I can think is that the locking block maybe got swapped out for the wrong part. The only markings I could find on it were a "29/9" on the bottom. Can anybody tell me if this is the correct locking block for the gun? Any other ideas as to what might be causing light strikes in an old worn out P228?

This is the reason I've never desired to buy one of these milsurp SIGs. They always looked like they have been abused to hell and back unreliability. Remember those Israeli P228s AIM Surplus was selling a while back? Why do you think the locking insert is the problem? The 229/9 locking insert is the same as the P228 one. And yours works, right? The 229-1 locking insert would not.

quote:

And yours works, right?

It kind of works. I'm trying to figure out why there's so much fore and aft play of the slide. I'm not sure if it's because of the tolerances at the locking block or if it's something else.

I'd have preferred to buy something nicer, too, but every P228 I've seen locally has been north of $1000, and some of those didn't look much better than this one.

Your photo, to me looks pretty telling. I could be way off base but maybe. Is the roll of material, above the 29/9 a weld or braze? Also, the flat surfaces look like they've been shot peened, perhaps due to rust? Basically, the part looks terrible quality, crude if you will. Q has many photos to compare it to. How does it fit your slide? Is it a accurate fit?

Geez, even a MIM locking insert looks to be better quality.

I bought a two-tone P226 a couple years ago from a high volume mil-surp dealer on GB. Lots of pics and condition looked decent, I found immediately when picking it up why that vendor only used black & white photos.

Very loose top end, along with many nicks & dings that didn't show clearly on the listing.

Be interesting to see if you can find a way to alleviate some of the play in the 228. The 226 I bought is the only pistol I've ever returned, though I did some research I didn't try to work it out myself.

My ‘94 P229 rattles like crazy. It shoots dead nuts. Stop shaking your pistol and just shoot it.

For the firing pin, you’ve checked off the spring being the issue. Next would be to check the firing pin itself. Is it broken? Did someone decide to grease up the firing pin channel and it’s gumming up? Be aware if you’re pull the firing pin, I believe the FPPP is intended to be a 1-time use, so you should have one on hand to replace it.

What ammo are you using? It is some cheap eastern bloc stuff with hard primers?

If you havent already, I'd pretty much strip that gun to the bare frame and slide. I have this rule with used guns; seeing as I dont know the history, and seeing as springs fatigue when in use, I replace ALL the springs. Use isnt limited to firing, there is dry-fire, hand cycling, etc. P228/9 "rebuild packs" are still out there, I believe.

A spring oft overlooked on SIGs is the hammer rebound spring. I had one that wore out and caused light strikes on my old P226.

It's been detail stripped, although I haven't replaced the hammer rebound spring. I'm curious about how that could cause light strikes, though?

So I think I found the problem. It's not the locking block. I took it apart again today and tried dry-fitting the barrel into the frame whtout the slide. And I found this:



There's actually a shallow groove worn into the front of the barrel lug where it engages the takedown lever. The takedown lever itself shows some finish wear in this area, but no actual perceptible change in geometry...so the wear is happening on the barrel side.

I degreased it and made a few "shims" out of some Paw Patrol stickers that my kids had lying on the counter (field expedient gunsmithing!), and put the gun back together. With the shims in place, lockup is nice and tight, and all of the slide play and rattle is basically gone.



I'll see if my welder buddy thinks he can build that area back up with his Tig...if he can I ran re-fit it with a file and stone. If not, I guess I'll be in the market for a new barrel. Maybe I'd have been money ahead just buying one of the overpriced local copies after all...but the process if half the fun, and there's value in knowedge gained.

I know we don't like to talk about GB here, but I setup a "Saved Search" on GB for SIGs located in Colorado, my home state. I've found several SIGs this way for really good prices. On most of them I've saved on shipping and there's not usually a FFL fee, only the BG check. Those 2 can add up to $75 or more. Plus, you have the advantage of looking at it locally.

I did run into 1 problem buying a Ruger pistol though. The seller had tons of guns for sale so I assumed he was a dealer. I was high bidder and wanted to pick it up at his shop. Turns out he's not a dealer and wanted to ship it to a FFL. While I do have a few FFLs I used I wasn't planning on spending the extra ~$75. I now email sellers ahead of time and ask about pickup and if there's a transfer fee.

That barrel is carbon steel. It should be very easy to TIG weld it and refit.
Before doing that, I would take a real good hard look at the rifling.
If the barrel is well worn in the bore, you might be further ahead with time/money just replacing the barrel.

I had a "butcher gunsmith" overcut the lower barrel feet on a brand new 1911 build many years ago.
That brand new Ed Brown barrel had to have the lower barrel feet (lugs) TIG welded and then refit.
It really pissed me off when that butcher did that. But overall in the big picture, after welding and refitting the lower barrel feet worked without any issues.
It just really bothered me, why did it have to be MY brand new Ed Brown barrel that had to be welded and refit.

Rifling is good. The gun is actually quite accurate. Just a little ugly and prone to light strikes .

My buddy looked at the pics and is willing to give it a shot. He said the heat from welding it might affect the temper, but I figure worst case scenario I'm buying a barrel anyway. I'm going to drop it off next week, so we'll see how it goes.

quote:

Originally posted by 92fstech:
Rifling is good. The gun is actually quite accurate. Just a little ugly and prone to light strikes .

My buddy looked at the pics and is willing to give it a shot. He said the heat from welding it might affect the temper, but I figure worst case scenario I'm buying a barrel anyway. I'm going to drop it off next week, so we'll see how it goes.

If your weld job doesn't play out, Apex has used German made P228 barrel's here:

https://www.apexgunparts.com/s...-used-part-no-1.html

Keep us posted on your progress.

quote:

Originally posted by p220cop:
If your weld job doesn't play out, Apex has used German made P228 barrel's here:

https://www.apexgunparts.com/s...-used-part-no-1.html

Keep us posted on your progress.

I just bought one, thanks for the heads up! Price was too good to pass up, and I didn't want to risk them going out of stock by the time I get the barrel back. Snagged some other small parts while I was at it, too. Looks like Apex found a line on some parts kits or something...haven't seen that many old sig parts available in a while.

We'll still try the weld and fit job on the original barrel, but this should hopefully guarantee I have a workable solution either way.

Swapping slides with a functional P228 would be an easy way to see if it's on the top or bottom end.
You might remove your roll pin, firing pin, etc. and see if there is something stuck in there or a rub. Put some marker on your firing pin and work it a lot back and forth looking for rubs on the marker. Then clean the snot out of the bore. Maybe even use some polishing compound in there and polish the firing pin.
Just an idea since it was "rusty", or the bluing process caused it...

quote:

Originally posted by huskerlrrp:
Swapping slides with a functional P228 would be an easy way to see if it's on the top or bottom end.
You might remove your roll pin, firing pin, etc. and see if there is something stuck in there or a rub. Put some marker on your firing pin and work it a lot back and forth looking for rubs on the marker. Then clean the snot out of the bore. Maybe even use some polishing compound in there and polish the firing pin.
Just an idea since it was "rusty", or the bluing process caused it...

Yep, already done. No issues with the firing pin or channel. I wish I had access to another slide to try, but I don't know anybody locally who owns a P228. Lots of P220s and .40 P229s in my circle of friends since those used to be duty issue around here, but no P228s. I'm pretty confident I've identified the issue, though.

Had a well used 226 develop light strikes. Turned out the the roll pins in the slide had broken but never started walking out. Replaced them & all is good.

quote:

Originally posted by jwh402:
Had a well used 226 develop light strikes. Turned out the the roll pins in the slide had broken but never started walking out. Replaced them & all is good.

That would definitely do it, but it's not the problem here. Roll pins are fine. Got a notification that my Apex shipment got here today, but I won't see what I got until tomorrow as I had some overtime details to work today in addition to my normal shift, so I had to leave before UPS showed up. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to report a fixed gun with no more light-strikes.

My baggy of Apex stuff got here today. The "new" barrel has some wear, but not as bad as the one that came with with the gun. I swapped in the replacement barrel, and immediately noticed a reduction in the fore-and-aft play of the slide. I'd also ordered a takedown lever, so I swapped that out as well and now there's basically no play fore-and-aft, and just a little bit up and down. Once you insert a loaded mag, the gun doesn't even rattle anymore (before it was like a maraca!).

"New" barrel top, original barrel bottom:




We put over 100 rounds through it without a single light-strike, so I'm pretty sure that issue was properly diagnosed and is now resolved. Kudos to Apex gun parts for reasonable prices and fast shipping!

I'm still going to have my buddy tig weld the lug on the original barrel to see if I can fit it even more precisely.

"I'm still going to have my buddy tig weld the lug on the original barrel to see if I can fit it even more precisely."

That's exactly what I would do. It's great to have some critical spare parts stockpiled.
I bought one of the OEM SIG chrome lined/phosphate finished barrels for a P226 caliber conversion project I did several years ago.
I likely could have sold the good condition take out barrel here in the classifieds.
But I didn't. It lives in the P226 spare parts box now.