My wife has a P290RS in .380 that has maybe 100-200 rounds through it. I took it to the range yesterday (without her along this time) to play with it, since I'd really never had a chance to shoot it. Had nasty failure-to-feed jams almost every round from both magazines with Speer Lawman RN and S+B RN. Some I could thumb the slide closed, but half of them I had to drop the mag and work the slide to clear.

At first I thought maybe it was just dry, but lubing the slide, extractor and bolt face made no difference

I had eight rounds of WWB FP ammo in my other .380's mag, which I ran through it. I *think* all those fed OK, but that was early in the ordeal and I may have mis-remembered it.

When I got home, I asked if she'd ever had problems. She said "No, you know me. If it had done that to me, I'd throw it out the window of the car on the way home." (This is true. Not the right thing to do, but...) She'd have been using the same S+B and Speer ammo, I'm pretty sure, since I buy all our ammo and dole it out. So, ammo selection might not be the answer.

I'm going to strip it down tonight probably for cleaning and inspection. Anything specific to look for on these?

I really want this little gun to work. I enjoyed shooting it when it cycled. If I can't solve the problem, might need to sell it and get a .380 P365

Just a guess, but maybe the recoil spring is weak and needs replaced.

Call Sig...free shipping & they'll fix it. Rod

If if functioned fine for her and not for you as you stated in the op, it sounds like you’re limp-wristing the pistol.

quote:

Originally posted by PowerSurge:
If if functioned fine for her and not for you as you stated in the op, it sounds like you’re limp-wristing the pistol.

That was the first thing I thought of, and after a few failures I thought I was bearing down pretty well with my grip. She isn't really delicate, but I certainly have much stronger hands than her (my other hobbies are kayaking and remodeling our bathrooms, so they get a fair amount of work)

Next time we get a chance to shoot it back to back, if she has no trouble and I do, I'll certainly look at any differences in how we're gripping it.

quote:

Originally posted by BuckRimfire:

quote:

Originally posted by PowerSurge:
If if functioned fine for her and not for you as you stated in the op, it sounds like you’re limp-wristing the pistol.

That was the first thing I thought of, and after a few failures I thought I was bearing down pretty well with my grip. She isn't really delicate, but I certainly have much stronger hands than her (my other hobbies are kayaking and remodeling our bathrooms, so they get a fair amount of work)

Next time we get a chance to shoot it back to back, if she has no trouble and I do, I'll certainly look at any differences in how we're gripping it.

Limp wristing is pretty normal on small pistols being fired by people with normal to large sized hands. I've seen it a number of times.

The fact that someone with smaller hands doesn't have the problem is the give away.

That is what I thought, even though it sounds like you would not have been.... I will also point this other potential problem out...
A friend and I were doing a four day course this past December and he had repeated problems with his big 45acp Glock not returning fully to battery or locking open.. none of the instructors could figure it out and neither could the Smith for the range.. On about the 3rd night I offered to examine the pistol... the one thing I noted was that the slide lock seemed too easy to push up... at least compared to my Sigs. I kind of think the spring was weak but the point is what he was doing was pushing this up with his thumb as he fired.....partly because he has big hands. You might be doing this with that small pistol.

quote:

Originally posted by Blume9mm:
You might be doing this with that small pistol.

That's certainly worth watching for. My hands aren't huge (I usually buy a L glove at the hardware store, and could probably get a size M on my hands in almost every case) but it could happen.

After cleaning off the slide, frame and barrel with starting ether (whoooo, even done outdoors, that was fun; I was a little groggy later, or maybe that was the toluene) and cycling it dry a bunch of times, and polishing the feed lips of the magazines with 600 grit paper, I re-greased what I could reach, including a light application on the mag follower, and put a little CLP on what I couldn't reach, like the firing pin.

Loaded the mag with five rounds a couple of times and let the slide fall with the slide release on each round. All chambered well like that.

However, an interesting observation: After ejecting a round and locking the slide open, I noticed a mark on the top of the next round in the magazine, about 1/4 of the way down from the case mouth. I think as the round above clears the feed lips and moves up, the next round is hitting the lower-front corner of the stripper rail hard enough to make a tiny gouge/dent. Maybe it's not enough to matter, but it can't help. I'm about 95% certain that this is why it hangs up so badly if I ride the slide at all.

Any reason I shouldn't deburr that corner with a piece of 600 grit paper?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: BuckRimfire,

Do you have multiple magazines for your 290RS?

quote:

Originally posted by BuckRimfire:

After cleaning off the slide, frame and barrel with starting ether (whoooo, even done outdoors, that was fun; I was a little groggy later, or maybe that was the toluene) and cycling it dry a bunch of times, and polishing the feed lips of the magazines with 600 grit paper, I re-greased what I could reach, including a light application on the mag follower, and put a little CLP on what I couldn't reach, like the firing pin.

Loaded the mag with five rounds a couple of times and let the slide fall with the slide release on each round. All chambered well like that.


Any reason I shouldn't deburr that corner with a piece of 600 grit paper?

Maybe take your wife to the range and have her shoot it before you start trying to fix anything.

I would remove all the grease you put into the small gun and just lube with CLP. The grease could be slowing down the slide and causing malfunctions. No need for that thick mess on your slide rails. Also, as stated before, if it works well for your wife, take her and have her shoot it while you watch. Your fixes may be screwing up a gun that needs nothing done to it. Eliminate the easy stuff first and that sounds like the easiest thing to eliminate.

The gun may jam on you, but she said it doesn’t jam for her. If it is her carry gun, the fixes you are doing to make it work for you, may make the gun not work for her. Kind of like fix it till it’s broke.