The right end of the shaft of the take-down lever of some SIG pistols (e. g., my X5 Comp) has a flat. The shaft end rests in a circular hole in the right side of the frame, but, because of the flat, doesn’t fill it completely. What’s the purpose of that flat?

quote:

Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:
The right end of the shaft of the take-down lever of some SIG pistols (e. g., my X5 Comp) has a flat. The shaft end rests in a circular hole in the right side of the frame, but, because of the flat, doesn’t fill it completely. What’s the purpose of that flat?

To allow you to engage and get past the spring as you start it in?

When reinstalling the takedown lever, that flat fits over the small hump in the slide lock spring and helps you compress it out of the way by rotating. Without the flat you could not reinstall the takedown lever. That hump in the spring holds the takedown lever in place and provides the detent feel.

spring hump by GaryBF, on Flickr

It's probably a lube (grease) pocket.

Thank you, GaryBF. Very clear answer, nicely illustrated.

Edit: It’s been quite awhile since I last took out the slide latch lever of my X5 Comp. The last time I did so, the locking insert accidentally came out. I had a helluva hard time getting it back into place.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Pipe Smoker,

The flats on that take down lever pin must be facing DOWN, towards the underside of the pistol, when reinstalling the locking block and then the takedown lever. The slide lock spring, which sits on the left hand side of the locking block will be visible at the bottom of the hole that the take down pin goes in, on the left side of the pistol. Use a small flat tip screwdriver to turn the slot horizontally, (so it would parallel to the barrel). Then install the take down pin, handle up, so that the small cut on the end of the pin is facing down, to engage the spring and push it down as you turn the take down lever clockwise.

Dang, that sounds hard, but it's not. There's a YouTube by a fellow named Steve Player on the complete take down and reassembly of the P226, but it's applicable to the 220, 228, 229, etc. Its the best online resource I found when learning to tear down my P229 and put it back together again so I have no spare parts and everything works!