quote:

Originally posted by David Lee:
There is no more room to question the nickle finish for durability. Sinse you say this gun has loosened to the point of rattle, any idea what parts or areas have worn in to where it is loose ? I ask because I had a P228 in very nice condition but it rattled on top until I inserted a full magazine. How'd the trigger finger hold up Doc ? Need medical attention ?

It’s usually the slide to frame fit that becomes loose. At least that’s what I think and here’s how I “logic-ed” my way through it. No semiautomatic, not a single one ever, has ever had a truly perfect slide to frame fit. The stamped slide sigs are examples of a very good fit. Not perfect, but excellent. The slide, barrel, recoil spring, and recoil rod do not have perfect and consistent motion. Eventually, after so many rounds, they’ve all “wrenched” each other out a little bit, and loosened their seemingly perfect previous fit. The slide is the piece exhibiting the most motion, so it’s doing a lot of work (and a lot of “wrenching”) those 20000 rounds. And lastly, I’ve had the same thing as you, where a once super tight P228 got a little loose, but tightens up when I put in a full mag. It’s because the top round pushes up against the part of the slide (or in this case, the part of the removable breech block) that contacts the hammer. It pushes the whole slide upwards a bit so that the vertical play is minimized, but the lateral play still exists.

Also, the poster mentioning the breech block pins not needing to be replaced, is completely correct. The breech block is fitted to not have any play, because it is meant to move with the slide as though they were one piece. As such, the pins are also intended to not have any play, and so when new, the breech block and slide may as well be counted as one rigid object. True, the pins have the potential to develop play, but I haven’t seen it happen yet. All my stamped slide sigs have immovable play-less breech blocks, high and low round counts

quote:

Originally posted by JBird679:
Damn. I know 9mm is cheap right now but damn!

I'm assuming you don't reload since it's been all factory/retail reman ammo, so I hope your range is giving you a discount for all of the brass you've given them in the last 2 months.

No reload, by me or others. All factory new ammo. The amount of shooting I've done the first 2 months already more than paid for the annual membership fee.

quote:

Originally posted by toto:
Thank's great report! I would suggest you change the recoilspring every 5'000 round per SIG recommandation, a weak recoilspring let the slide strike the frame with more forces than designed and with long term use, can crack the frame. it would be bad if your frame crack in the next 20'000 rounds due to a weack recoil spring.( We want to see more thousands rounds through this little incredible P228 )
It's clear that if the breachblock doesn't move you don't need to change te dual rollpins.
Long live the P228!!!

You are right. I will from now on do it at ~5k. Thanks for the reminder. I appreciate it.

quote:

Originally posted by David Lee:
There is no more room to question the nickle finish for durability. Sinse you say this gun has loosened to the point of rattle, any idea what parts or areas have worn in to where it is loose ? I ask because I had a P228 in very nice condition but it rattled on top until I inserted a full magazine. How'd the trigger finger hold up Doc ? Need medical attention ?

tigerbloodwinning already answered the rattling better than I can. I'll just say that the rattling does not bother me one bit. It was just an observation. The gun continues to function the way it should. Side note, I've had German Mastershop X-guns that rattled right out of the box brand new. Btw, the trigger finger is well conditioned now. It used to get easily tired, when I only shot occasionally. Two hundred rounds or so, and it got worn out. Now, a thousand round range day is a piece of cake.

quote:

Originally posted by 4x5:
Awesome story, but I'm wondering why you gave Yasser Arafat and Fidel Castro a pass?

Ha, I knew somebody was going to ask that. I hate to leave them alive, but there is a good reason for it. Sometimes, I tend to flinch, and the bullet strays and pops the wooden clip that holds the target right above. So, they got lucky I spared them.

20K is more than some fire in a lifetime

thanks for taking us along for the ride

I usually shoot 10- 15K per year. Doing 20K in 9 weeks is awesome. I'm really impressed in that 228 also. I wonder how a blued gun would look with the same round count??

I need to get my M11A1 out..

Celebrating 20k.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
Celebrating 20k.

Very well done sir! Brought my first Nickel P228 home yesterday. Makes me enjoy your thread even more!

That is one outstanding project and an incredible achievement Q! I’m sure the cost of ammo alone is equal to what you paid for 4 or 5 or your P228s. Very informative and a testimony to the durability of the pistol and the nickel finish. Thanks for the effort and great feedback. Think how much better it would have performed if they hadn’t removed the anodizing before they nickel plated it .

What a great project and thread. Thanks Q for taking the time to do this, and posting the info and pics.

Years ago I got into a heated discussion over the service life of pistols. I was espousing that most guns will easily last well into the 10's of thousands of rounds. The other fellow was stating that 3k was max then the gun was used up. We were discussing the 226 at the time. I explaind my HK USP had well into the 35k at the time he called me a liar. It is good to read such a complete write up and test of a Awesome Pistol. Thank you

You missed a few shots :-D lol jk great report

That Ni palindrome is an internet hero -- forever!

Astonishing. Thank you for sharing! Wow!

My heart is all warm...

anxiously awaiting the 30k report!!

Just shipped the gun today to the mothership in NH for a complete spa treatment. The adventure will continue upon its return.

Thanks for posting this. It’s a good indicator to help gauge the wear on a used pistol.

How did the barrel look after the 20,000 rounds?

Thanks for the great report Q!!
I was wondering if you ran your finger nail over the wear marks on the barrel, could you feel them?

I swore allegiance to the 228 many years ago. This just reinforces my decision. Thanks for doing this. Awesome work

Great work. I guess that puts to rest the argument that no one shoots more than a few hundred rounds in the lifetime of their weapons.

Guess I need a 228 now.....

I have those same grips on my 226 and 229. How do you like them?


+

quote:

Originally posted by ugeesta:
Thanks for posting this. It’s a good indicator to help gauge the wear on a used pistol.

How did the barrel look after the 20,000 rounds?

Still looks great. Bore still bright. Lands/grooves still sharp. No apparent deterioration to my unmagnified eyes.

quote:

Originally posted by ace73:
Thanks for the great report Q!!
I was wondering if you ran your finger nail over the wear marks on the barrel, could you feel them?

Gun is at SIG right now for full spa treatment. But, I don't recall feeling anything other than a smooth surface.