Uh-oh... Trouble with my P239 EDC

[johncanfield]

Had family visiting for a couple of days and we saved some time to shoot (I live on a ranch) so I drag out the ARs, several handguns and my new Mossy pump 12 gauge. Due to events, I haven't made the time to shoot handguns with the wife (we try to shoot at least once a month) in a year or more. Yup, not a good situation.

So it's time to shoot my P239 (in 357 Sig caliber) and to my astonishment I had nothing but trouble with it failing to feed. It was pretty dusty from being on my hip 16 hours a day year round so I just finished cleaning it and thought this old girl should run like a Swiss watch now. Nope. It will not feed my hollow points or ball ammo from two different magazines.

I am so disappointed words fail me. If I would have been in a situation where I needed to pull the gun from the holster, its only use would be for me to throw the whole gun at a perp.

The P239 is going to go back to Sig and I'm on the hunt for another EDC gun. I was interested in the P320 but there's reports of ironically that one failing to feed. I would really like to stay with a single stack gun, the P320 is sort of single stack. I'm also curious about the P938. My wife carries a P238 and it's a very reliable shooter but a little small for 9mm caliber. I love shooting our 1911 and I should probably look at the smaller 1911s.

If anybody has any recommendations I would love to hear them.

[cirus]

Could be weak mag springs. I had some Chip Mccormick mags that the springs went south on. They would fail to feed on the last round. Replaced them with Wolf springs. Good as new.

[WTR]

Where does the feeding process get interrupted/hung?
Did you try to troubleshoot the feed failure? Is the feed ramp clean as a whistle and slick? Could it be as simple as weak magazine springs? (EDC magazines suffer from this greatly - hence the need for 4x the magazines and their rotation every quarter)

Let us know what you find. Curious.

I don’t buy the weak mag spring theory . My Mom was moving and found 6 1911 mags which I had loaded when I was 17. I’m 63 now. They shot with no FF problems. I also have some H & K mags I had loaded before I became sick ( 13 years now ). I found them and went to the range the other day. No FF issues.

[WTR]

They are Colt factory mags. I use CMC Mags now for the 1911 and factory mags for the H & K.

[The Annoyed Man]

Are you determined to stay with .357 Sig? I ask because there are a number of single stack guns in other calibers from other makers that are good quality guns with reputations for reliability. For instance, Glock 43, 43x, and 48 are all single stack 9's that will go bang every single time.....dirty or not.

[WildBill]

If anybody has any recommendations I would love to hear them.

Are you shooting factory loads?

[cmgee67]

Sig P365
Or P365 XL

[narcissist]

Are you determined to stay with .357 Sig? I ask because there are a number of single stack guns in other calibers from other makers that are good quality guns with reputations for reliability. For instance, Glock 43, 43x, and 48 are all single stack 9's that will go bang every single time.....dirty or not.

My own personal experience with Sig Sauer pistols had nothing but problems, Brand New straight out of the box I might add. Lot of people love em and swear by them but wouldn't trust my life with one.

[johncanfield]

If anybody has any recommendations I would love to hear them.

Are you shooting factory loads?

Yessir, factory loads. The weak spring theory is interesting, not sure if I have more magazines for that Sig. The reason I wanted to stay with 357 Sig is I have a bunch of ammo and a P226 in 357 Sig on the nightstand. I like that round because of the necked down casing so it never fails to feed

The FTF happens right as the bullet hits the feed ramp

Thanks everyone for the help!

[The Annoyed Man]

Are you determined to stay with .357 Sig? I ask because there are a number of single stack guns in other calibers from other makers that are good quality guns with reputations for reliability. For instance, Glock 43, 43x, and 48 are all single stack 9's that will go bang every single time.....dirty or not.

My own personal experience with Sig Sauer pistols had nothing but problems, Brand New straight out of the box I might add. Lot of people love em and swear by them but wouldn't trust my life with one.

I’ve only owned one Sig—an alloy framed commander sized 1911 GSR. I had serious feed issues that wouldn’t clear up, despite trying different magazines and having the feedramp polished. I eventually traded it in for a 3" Kimber stainless Ultra Carry. But that said, everyone else I’ve known who owns Sigs has loved them and had no problems with them. I once had the opportunity to shoot another member's P226 (or was it a P229?), and I thought it was a real nice pistol.

[johncanfield]

The FTF happens right as the bullet hits the feed ramp

Thanks everyone for the help!

After you clean the ramp, do you oil it slightly?
What ammunition do you use? I failed to see it in previous posts but maybe I'm just getting old and blind.
Have you tried different ammunition? FMJ instead of JHP?

Come to think of it: does the bullet hang somewhere in the middle of the ramp or at the bottom edge? That would make a big difference.

If you don't want to "play" with real ammunition in your house, you can load up spent cartridges with just a bullet and no powder (or primer) and test with those. They'll be much safer.

I tried my Hornady hollow points (usual carry ammo) and some whatever brand ball ammo. I took a couple of fail to feed pictures and the bullet has fully entered the feed ramp and it has just entered the barrel - that's when it fails.