I just got my second P239. And both guns have a slide-on-frame rails rattle when shaken side to side. Yeah, somebody will say "If it annoys you, don't do that." My 7 other classic SIG pistols (each a different model) do not have this trait.

The P239s shoot just fine. And since the barrel and sights are firmly in and on the slide, does it matter at all that the slide is not so firmly on the frame rails?

I mention this after a lifetime of reading how 1911s need to be tight on the rails to be accurate pistols. Was that just so much rumor to keep gunsmiths employed?

Bart Noir
Old gun is still . . . gun.

This is just personal empirical evidence. I've shot tens of thousands of rounds in some of my 239's and they rattle like crazy. I have newer ones hardly shot. You simply cannot tell any difference in accuracy.

The P239 is a known rattler. From my own experience and from observations, it rattles more than any other SIGs. But, it works just fine.

Depends

While I am a big fan of rattlesnakes, especially the Mojave, I hate it when my Sigs rattle. The only one that I own that even does it a little in my 2 tone 9mm 229. And it stops once a full magazine is inserted. But I've sold good guns just because of the rattle. Irrational? Sure. But that's just my take.

You may find that if a round is chambered and a magazine inserted, there is much less play. In any event, slide to frame fit has a very minor, at most, effect on accuracy. What matters much more is the barrel fit in the slide.

My ‘94 P229 rattles like a spray paint can. Shot thousands of rounds and it shoots dead nuts. My dad gave me his ‘98 P229. It doesn’t make a sound. Maybe 250 rounds through it. Dead nuts accurate.

Wanna know the difference? My ‘94 shows very little frame wear with thousands of rounds. My ‘98 with a couple hundred shows much more high point wear.

What does shaking a pistol have to do with anything? Why are people running around shaking their pistols? *admittedly I’ve done it, but only because of posts like this, where I have to see what my stuff does. The barrel is what the round interfaces with. The slide is what the barrel interfaces with (except under recoil where it catches to unlock). The sights are on the slide. So as long as you get repeated slide/barrel lock, there’s no impact.

Now you can argue about the P320 and the pull down of the slide, but it is repeatable. It happens the same way every shot (and I’m not convinced it happens with a loaded mag). But it doesn’t randomly pull different ways (if it does at all when loaded).

Shoot. Enjoy.

ETA: guns should be handled as carefully as a baby…should you shake a baby? *being facetious*

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
You may find that if a round is chambered and a magazine inserted, there is much less play. In any event, slide to frame fit has a very minor, at most, effect on accuracy. What matters much more is the barrel fit in the slide.

Bingo. The only thing I'd add is that by having a little bit of play between the slide and frame one could argue that the pistol may be more reliable because if debris gets stuck in a tight slide to frame fit, it could cause malfunctions.

My P239 is tight as a drum. My P225-A1, on the other hand, rattles like Mick Jagger's maracas. I started kicking myself when I got it home because I had a choice of two in the store, and that's one thing I didn't check. Who knows -- the other one might have rattled too. At least that's what I tell myself.

The bottom line is that it really doesn't matter. Also, if I slop enough Slide Glide Heavy on the rails, it stops the rattle completely.

I had a Taurus 24/7 that rattled. Annoying, but it did not appear to affect accuracy.

If you just want to get rid of the rattle, put a line of Wilson gun grease on the rail. Its thick enough that you probably won't hear any rattling until you shoot a bit and the heat thins it down.

I don't think so. I've had some guns over the years where the slide to frame fit was really loose and they were accurate and shot really well.

Put some grease on the rails. It won't rattle as much.

But here's how to tell if it matters. Shoot it. Does it work? Is it accurate? If it works and is accurate, the rattle doesn't matter.

Barrel to slide fit will be a bigger factor, for sure. I don't think slide rattle will be much to worry about, within reason.

The grease must be the key... I've got a number of P239's and I don't think one of them rattles.. I learned to grease the rails here and they all have it on them....

Not a p239... but I had a gunsmith who had a big Glock tattoo on his arm show me why my P320 compact would never be accurate by wiggling the slide on it. Later that day I shot a perfect score on the qualification test with that pistol.

My P239 rattles quite a bit and is very accurate and reliable…over the years I’ve been always read the P239 in particular was a rattler compared to other P Series SIGs (or whatever the kids are calling the older, metal framed SIGs )…and I’ve owned a lot of those pistols

Bill

Okay, I got to ask... is this rattle with the pistol loaded... with a magazine or empty? I've got to go pull out all my P239s and see if I can get one to rattle.....

I don't like the rattlers. Had 2 P225A1's, a rattler and a tight one. I loaded the rattler up with grease in the rails and it made no difference. Switched slides and still that one rattled. I sold them both. My P239 is tight and does not rattle. Maybe it makes no difference in shootability, but I just prefer them not to make that noise.

quote:

Originally posted by Blume9mm:
Okay, I got to ask... is this rattle with the pistol loaded... with a magazine or empty? I've got to go pull out all my P239s and see if I can get one to rattle.....

It's not the mag or rounds, but the slide on the frame that is making the noise.

So far I've shook 4 p239s and if you shake/sling them from side to side there is a slight 'clunk'. but I've done the same thing with 6 P226's and the only one that does not make a sound is my SAO P226 Legion.

I have two 40 caliber P239's and both of them will rattle without a magazine in place. So Freaking What. It's a Defense pistol that functions quite well with good accuracy and total reliability.

Thanks for the responses. I guess we all agree that this slide rattle, which was also described as a clunk, is not a problem with any SIG metal pistol. An yes, it would seem logical that a looseness between slide and frame rails would add to reliability if the pistol was quite dirty.

Not that we let them get quite dirty, right?

Bart Noir
Dreading the day when my red-dot goes down, and I have to remember Grandpa’s words about lining up the bumpy barrel thingies.