I'm a guy of say average strength. I have an MK25 and a P226ST (9mm and .40 respectively).

The Mk25 feels light, slide easier to pull back, can drop the slide by pressing the slide release/lock/whatever no problem to chamber a round.

The P226ST is the heaviest SOB I own. It's well lubed and have put almost a thousand rounds through it over the years without issue. Eats 180 gr .40 S&W like candy.

The slide is tough to pull back (I can do it with some effort, but my girlfriend has trouble with it). Anyway, if you want to drop the slide to chamber a round by hitting the slide lock, it's VERY tough to push in. As in, I have to use both thumbs pressed together and it still doesn't want to drop the slide very easily. A very strong person could probably use one thumb.

Never had a failure with the gun and if you "slingshot" the slide it works fine.

Any reason why it'd be so tough to press in the slide release? Just a tight gun? As I said, never had an issue, but the slide IS very heavy to even pull back. Real boat anchor of a gun lol

It's probably nothing more than a rough edge on a part or mis-matched angles on mating parts.

FWIW, I had those problems early on. They're still there (slightly), but have definitely improved with use.

The .40 also takes a heavier recoil spring

it's always been that way with all my sigs. p226, p229 and p239

quote:

Originally posted by DaBigBR:
The .40 also takes a heavier recoil spring

Absolutely. Although I never had any trouble racking the slide, there is no doubt that it took noticeably more force to rack.

I'd suggest checking for a burr or gouge, especially on the SCL, but I'd guess that a stiff spring is the root cause of acidjazz's difficulty, or at least a contributing cause.