quote:

Originally posted by Blume9mm:
Okay, someone explain to me how you determine that a spring needs replacing other that it just breaking?

As stated above, the factory recommendations:

https://sigforum.com/eve/forums...0601935/m/6801056451

But that is really a preventative maintenance schedule. I have seen and heard of two types of springs’ actually breaking, the hammer reset spring and the trigger bar spring, both of the P220. When my agency issued P220s, I replaced the trigger bar springs every year or so because it was a commonly-reported problem with that gun, and was even mentioned in my first armorer course. The only magazine springs I ever wore out were in several German made 357/40 P229 mags, and they didn’t stop functioning, they just got so weak that I’d sometimes knock the top round loose during reloads. My Italian and American magazines that I use for training in the same way have continued to work just fine for much longer than the vaunted German ones did.

And keep in mind that those springs are examples of the fact that how long springs last varies from one type of spring to another. The maintenance schedule makes that clear, and therefore it would be impossible to provide a universal rule of the “Replace all your springs every 5242 rounds fired” sort.

It’s obvious, however, that most shooters never replace any springs unless they do break, and most shooters never have any problems. When I’m not worried about something, I let those who are worried worry about it.

The vast majority of us will not need to replace springs generally speaking. I’ve talked to manufacturers who sound like I have 3 heads when I ask about replacement recoil springs.

That said here are some indicators. (Remember I am NOT a subject matter experts or guru or anything beyond some dumbass in the interwebz so YMMV)

Mag spring - slide stops locking back, last round feed or stovepipe issues

Recoil spring - Feed issues (slide timing out of whack), possibly no lock back on empty

Trigger return spring - they just seem to sort of snap and trigger no worky worky anymore. You need to push it forward manually to reset it.

Extractor spring - This is the one that does lots of weird stuff in my opinion. Just make sure the extractor moves freely and will securely grip and hold a round. More often then not it’s gunk in the channel then an actua spring issue.

Sear springs - just sort of break

Those are the big ones.

I my shooting experience I’ve seen weak recoil springs, old or weak mag springs, failed Trigger return spring (not my guns) and gunk under the extractor (most common)

Now I shoot less then some but more then most, although across a wider range and I have seen extremely few instances of spring failure or fatigue. Like is said the most common issue I see is dirty extractor channel.

The smaller the gun the more often the recoil spring should probably be changed. They work harder and the whole system is working in a much smaller space envelope.

Again these are only my observations of mine and folks around me. Also again, for the vast number of shooters spring fatigue will probably not be an issue.

......or conversely you could skip my long winded bloviating reply and just read sigfreuds that I just saw.

Thanks guys, it seems there is some practical engineering behind all this albeit not really that important to most gun owners...

now it does make sense that a Sig armorer would know all this .... my only problem is who keeps count of how many rounds have gone through a gun?
Maybe we need a law that every gun now manufactured has a counter installed? (I know y'all know I'm joking)

Keeping track of approximate round counts for an agency isn’t all that hard if the armorer gets proper reports. Virtually all the ammunition fired by law enforcement and military organizations is in training, and any exceptions due to military combat could be estimated. I don’t have any personal information about how the military might manage it, but if they were concerned, I expect they would just estimate on the high side. Or perhaps they just shoot their guns until they break.

I’m not any sort of “operator,” but if I had been and in the unlikely event that a handgun was going to be my primary weapon for a mission, I’d just request the armorers to replace everything that needed it, and then test the gun myself. And for a high priority mission like the bin Laden hit, that would be done for all the weapons as a matter of course (I would hope).

If you shoot enough you get a “feel” for if something starts to get out of whack.

That said it’s a good idea to have some idea how many rounds you have through a gun and to follow some kind of maintenance schedule especially for serious social guns shot a lot.

Also during cleaning just examine everything. Things like a Beretta locking block or CZ Slide stop are wear/maintenance items that should have an eye kept on them / replaced at intervals.

Now if you are in a”Shooting” profession (door kicker etc.) I would keep up with my maintenance intervals/armorer intervals like a hawk.

The easiest way is to hold up a new spring next to the one removed from your pistol,if the old one is really compressed I'd replace.

quote:

Originally posted by Blume9mm:
Okay, someone explain to me how you determine that a spring needs replacing other that it just breaking? What is for me a more important question is how often does this happen and what is the approximate number of rounds through the average well made semi-auto pistol before this occurs?

I don't shoot my pistols that much and when I do it's probably 20 our 30 rounds max through one. I read sometimes about some folks who go through 2oo-500 rounds every time they go to a range and that is often.... but is that really what most gun enthusiast do?

What is the history of the 239 before it was inherited? It might be a good idea to ship it back to Sig for the SSP. You will get new springs and night sights too boot! Worth every penny.

I'd humbly suggest that it might be obvious if the OP's inherited pistol has had 5,000 - 10,000 rounds through it.. chances are better that it has hardly been shot at all.

First recommendation:

Squint your eyes, hold your nose, clench your cheeks...and buy every 9mm 239 mag you find.

Small parts are still easy to get, magazines are getting like hens teeth. Sig wont have MecGar start producing the mags, and they wont release them so MecGar can do it on their own.

I don’t think there’s any reason to panic buy magazines. Magazines have been coming in from Italy in batches since Sig discontinued the pistol and they've been in and out of stock many times since. Sign up for in-stock notification at every place that sells them and then be patient, you’ll get them.

There are even some in stock now at Osage.
https://osagecountyguns.com/si...mm-8rd-magazine.html

If you have money burning a hole in your pocket buy one of these.
https://www.cdnnsports.com/sig...-4-3-cip-barrel.html

It’s fairly well established that dropping a factory 9mm barrel into ANY caliber P239 will let you shoot 9mm from it. Both .40 S&W and .357 Sig are falling out of favor and the guns chambered for them are are already selling for less then the 9mm version. This will probably get worse. Put a cheap barrel away now and you’ll be ready for when you find a great deal on a .40 or .357 P239 languishing in the used gun section of your local gun shop.