I purchased a sig p220 made in West Germany made in 1994. I only have ACT mags. When I load 8 rounds and rack the slide to load a round
, it does not load. If I retract the slide and try to load sometimes it loads and maybe not. If I only load 4 rounds It loads ok either way. I have 5 ACT mags and they all perform the same. Should I try Sig mags which I do not have. I need help and advice please.

Never had a feeding problem with the Sig OEM/factory 7rd mags that came with the P-220 45auto pistol, 100% reliable.. Not familiar or ever owned the ACT mags. My advice get the correct Sig factory mags for that year 1994, 7rd blue.

To be clear- when you are racking the slide to load, are you letting the slide go at full speed, or are you slowly riding the slide closed manually with your hand?

I am racking the slide as hard and fast as I hard as I can. I read some where some one else was having the same problem with a German sig P220 and he solved the issue by removing one twist on the mag spring.

I agree w/ Kobren. See if you get the same problem w/ 7 or 8-round OEM Sig mags. As far as Sig is concerned, if you can't recreate the feed problem w/ OEM mags, then it's not a problem.

quote:

Originally posted by rboone:
I read some where some one else was having the same problem with a German sig P220 and he solved the issue by removing one twist on the mag spring.

I would discourage clipping the recoil spring. If your KE coded P220 is serial numbered higher than G 219166 (and I can almost guarantee it is) the current green color coded factory recoil spring is correct for your pistol. When introduced, the heavier green spring was designed to function in conjunction with the then standard 7-round magazine which had also been improved with the addition a slightly heavier spring. Experimenting with your existing recoil spring may or may not solve the problem you are experiencing and could potentially lead to other unintended issues. Current production OEM P220 magazines should operate in your pistol. If you wish to maintain authenticity, your pistol would have been supplied with two (2) 7-round steel base mags with the dovetail spine. Please keep us posted. We'll do our very best to get you up and running. Welcome aboard.

^^^ He's talking about clipping a coil of the mag spring, not the recoil spring.

Always used factory mags with my p220’s over the years with no issues.
Member USAOZ sells the act mags and swears by them.
Are you the original owner of the mags? Have you ever had them apart for cleanings or spring replacements? Possible assembled wrong or wrong springs?
I would buy or borrow a new factory mag.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
^^^ He's talking about clipping a coil of the mag spring, not the recoil spring.

DOH! Reading IS fundamental.

My P220 doesn’t like my reloads and some factory HPs. It is the same from my 8 round ACT magazines as it is for my 8 round factory magazines. The malfunctions are always on the first round. What ammo are you trying to feed?

Make sure the pistol is properly lubed too.

I am using Federal FMJ. I sent an e-mail to Act mags telling them my issues and asked for advice. After that I will purchase Sig mags. I had heard that ACT mags worked well. Maybe not.

I just picked up a 94' P220, came with 7rd mags. For fun I loaded a mag with a FMJ, JHP, a snap cap, an empty case, a lead SWC. It hand cycled it all! Very nice P220, accurate too! Like everyone else, I suspect it's the mag.

many years ago I tried a number of ACT mags and had issues. Even with the replacements I got eventually (again many years ago). Subsequent to that USAOZ has said repeatedly they run fine and of course he certainly would know. So my conclusion was that some older ones had some issue. I haven't tried a recent one. But I switched to OEM mags and have had no further issues... FWIW>

OP know way of knowing but I have a feeling whoever sold you the P-220 included his ACT range mags and sold his Sig factory mags separately. If you ever intend to carry or use your P-220 for home defense Sig factory 7rd mags is a necessity for reliability.

Simply throw them away and buy Sig magazines. There are enough things to worry about in life. Iffy magazines shouldn't be one of them.

I have and have had ACT mags for a couple decades for my W German 220. They work fine. I think the problem rests elsewhere.

For example, I am racking the slide as hard and fast as I can. His words not mine. This seems problematic.

How about this? If you lock the slide to the rear, load your magazine, release the slide using the slide release, does it chamber? Let’s take you out of the equation. Have somebody else chamber a round. Do they have the same issue?

My money is on bad technique, riding the slide, etc.