Problem: there is a round chambered.

I am not able to cycle the slide to clear it.

The slide moves back maybe 1/4" or so, then acts as if it has hit a brick wall.

The pistol was working fine last time I took it to the range, but that was a couple months ago.

Suggestions?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: V-Tail,

The safety is off? I've been able to get slide/frame apart holding the slide tight and tapping the back of the frame forward- same situation on a Govt model. All this while pointing the gun in a safe direction on the range.

This sounds scary, but, it has worked for me. Is this a factory round or reload?

What I have done is place the small part of the slide between the front sight and barrel down on a work bench edge make sure the barrel is clear of the work bench. Get trigger finger away from trigger and grip the gun pushing down on the bench. You have to push really hard.That should clear the round.

This is essentially what he said. ^^^^^^^^^^^

AZSigs -- Safety on, safety off, no difference. The P238 and P938 are a bit different from the 1911, in that the P238 / P938 will allow the slide to be cycled manually with the safety on, if the hammer is cocked. Trigger is still locked, but slide can be cycled. I tried it both ways, safety on and off,problem persisted.

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Problem is now solved and cause identified.

As with many finely tuned devices, brute force solves a lot of problems.

The pistol and magazine had been residing in a multi-pistol case, sort of a Pelican knock-off. Five slots for pistols and a bunch of slots for magazines. When I took the pistol out of the case and inserted the magazine, I did not look closely enough; if I had, I would have noticed some "crumbs" of foam adhering to the magazine and the top (first out) round. This schmutz caused the round, once loaded, to get sort of stuck in the chamber, the extractor was not able to dislodge it easily, so the slide did not want to come back.

It did release when a lot of force was applied.

The pistol and magazine are now awaiting a thorough cleaning, as are the other magazines that were in that case.

Everything is now under control, nothing to see here folks.

The reason I asked about a reload is sometimes if you don't tAke the flare out of a round or if your OAL is too long the bullet gets jammed in the chamber. Check OAL and diameter of case mouth

Good for you!

quote:

Originally posted by Strong:

The reason I asked about a reload is sometimes if you don't tAke the flare out of a round or if your OAL is too long the bullet gets jammed in the chamber. Check OAL and diameter of case mouth

Your method, or a slight variation thereof, did the trick.

Not reloads, these were Speer Gold Dot factory stuff, but the ammunition was not the direct cause. It was foam from the gun case that adhered to the cartridge and jammed the cartridge firmly into the chamber.

Glad you are fixed. Well, glad the gun is fixed. There's no fixing you, even if you been fixed...

I’m really pleased that I can cycle the slide of my P238 with the safety in the SAFE position. Wish that my SIG X5 Comp had that feature.