I've never been much of a striker fired person, but after all of the praise for the 365, I decided to try one. I've been looking around for several months, and finally found an XL to try.

I brought it home, and watched a few videos before I stripped it down, and one of the videos mentioned a possible problem, with all of the preservative gunk Sig puts on them, causing some light strikes. So, before I did anything, I dropped a pencil down the barrel and pulled the trigger. The pencil barely moved. I'm guessing maybe 1/4 inch. All my old Sigs will move the pencil 2 or 3 inches.

I went ahead and field stripped the gun, and sure enough it was full of preservative. I removed the striker assembly and hosed everything down with brake cleaner, and dried it off with cotton swabs and compressed air. Put it back together, and tried the pencil again. Didn't make any difference. I removed the slide, pushed the firing pin block in, and pushed the striker assembly forward. I don't think the firing pin stuck out more than 1/64 on an inch.

I'm not going to get a chance to take it to the range for a couple weeks, and I don't really want to go and get a bunch of light strikes, so my question is, is this normal? Do I need to plan on making a call to Sig Monday?

Which end of the pencil did you place in the barrel?

Make sure that after the pistol is assembled, up you lift the slide stop release fully at least once. Try the pencil test again.

Call SIG for what? You haven't even fired the darn thing. My P365 didn't shoot the pencil off, and I didn't need to clean anything before the initial range trip, and guess what? It has never malfunctioned on me. Shoot it first, my friend.

sns3guppy, I drop it down the barrel eraser end first.

I lifted the slide stop 3 times, and tried it again. No change.

Just curiosity, what difference would lifting the slide stop have?

This damn ammo shortage is killing us. We have now resorted to pencils. Can you do a stopping power of a Number 2 video once you figure out your striker issue?

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
Call SIG for what? You haven't even fired the darn thing. My P365 didn't shoot the pencil off, and I didn't need to clean anything before the initial range trip, and guess what? It has never malfunctioned on me. Shoot it first, my friend.

Well, I just didn't want to take it to the range, pay $20.00 and have it go click. I do the pencil thing after I've had a gun apart more than just a field strip. It's just a feel good thing. I've never had a gun that just nudged the pencil. Is that normal for a striker fired gun?

"Normal" is the gun goes bang with live ammo, when the trigger is pressed. That, and not any pencil test, is the gold standard for firearms. Who defines the parameters for pencil testing, anyway? A barely nudged pencil or one that shoots across the room guarantees you nothing. You even admit that it's just a "feel good" measure. So, shoot the thing. That's the only way to know. I just don't understand this.

I'd pay $20 to not have to send it in.
Go shoot it and prove Q wrong or right.
It will also give you a reference point on how the gun functions before you do anything else to it.

I realize the only way to know for sure is to shoot it.

I was just looking for a little reassurance since it's different than what I'm used to.

When you have to pay range fees, always take two guns to the range, one of which you know works. I always carry something like a Ruger SR22 with half a dozen loaded mags in addition to the centerfire I want to test out. that way, if there's a problem, I still have a good range day.

Also, I have tens of thousands of 22LR rounds. These days, I may shoot a box of 9mm, but the real shooting is the 5 or 6 boxes of 22 I play with.

That strikes me as odd because with my P365 using a close to new pencil with eraser, it was driven completely out of the barrel by about an inch or so for a total of about 4 inches movement. If your pencil is being driven up only a quarter inch from the breech face, that’s obviously much less than mine.

My question, though, is whether you’re certain the eraser is fully in contact with the breech face, and not being stopped by the extractor. If it’s not a new eraser and is worn at an angle, perhaps that is preventing proper contact as well.

In any event, the proof is in the shooting before I’d get too concerned.

And FWIW, I usually do my firing pin tests with the plastic barrel from a Bic pen. Using that my P365 drove it from the floor and bounced it off a 7 foot high dropped ceiling tile. I had to really search to find a pencil for the other test.

I think unfortunately that is the problem with the internet for information. Things that may really not be problems get us all spun up.
I have quit paying attention to anything anyone else says especially on guns. I get what I like if I'm at the gun store then take it home and shoot the hell out of it. Yeah I have my own private range so that does benefit me but damn man, ya gotta try shit in life for yourself with out seeing what every other key board commando says.

Dismissiveness helps. That’s good.

quote:

When you have to pay range fees, always take two guns to the range,

This. Heck, I don't pay range fees and I still do that. Never hurts to bring an extra or two along...if you don't shoot it you can just put it back in the safe when you get home.

OP...my recommendation is don't worry about it, at least not yet. Take it to the range, and then if there's actually a problem, address it. I do the pencil test every time I detail strip a slide...some guns will launch it, some will just barely bounce it...but all my guns set off primers reliably. There's not really a calibrated standard for eraser shape, hardness, or elasticity, so it's not really a scientific test of striker force...just a method to ensure that the tip is extending beyond the breech face when the trigger is pulled.

What color pencil did you use...

Well, I’m feeling a little better this morning. After reading sigfreunds post, I took a good look at the pencil eraser. It has been shot from many barrels, and the center of it was looking pretty raggedy, so I went on a hunt for a Bic pen. Evidently we haven’t bought any for a long time because it took about 30 minutes to find one. I dropped it down the barrel, pulled the trigger, and launched it about a foot in the air.

Some of the things I do might not make much sense, but I don’t think they hurt anything, and they give me a small amount of confidence that the gun will at least fire. Most of my guns have been purchased used, and I really have no idea what they have been through before I got them. I’ve had quite a few Sigs, and the only one that I ever had a problem with was a new 239. Before I took it to the range, I field stripped, cleaned, and lubricated it. It had several failure to feed issues, and upon advice from this forum, I took the mags apart, and they were loaded with the preservative goo. Cleaned them up, and never had another problem. Since then I’ve never taken any newly purchased gun to the range without doing some basic maintenance.

Like I said before, I’ve never owned a striker type gun before, so this is going to be a bit of a learning experience for me. At least now, I’ll go to the range with some confidence.

Thanks all for the help.

quote:

Originally posted by Muddflap:
At least now, I’ll go to the range with some confidence.

Thanks all for the help.

I suspect you'll have a great time with it. I've got the original, not the XL, and it's a lot of fun. I keep forgetting it's a pocket pistol.

Glad the trouble was with the pencil, not the striker.

it was a soft lead pencil

So, finally it passed the pencil test. Now watch OP take it to the range and *click* *click* *click*. That will destroy his confidence forever.

It might have other problems, but I bet it doesn’t go *click*click*.
If it does, I’ll sharpen all my pencils, and buy a hay bale to shoot at.