Sig 226 issues

[toddhawkins]

In all honesty, the culprit here is probably your right hand thumb. The slide release on the Sig is in a crappy place, especially for people who are used to shooting 1911's with the "high thumb" placement. It does not take a whole lot of pressure on the slide release to overcome the spring tension and prohibit the slide from locking back.

The easiest way to test this, is to shoot it left handed. If you shoot it lefty, and the slide locks back, your thumb is in the way.

The way I've found to keep my thumb out of the way is to rest my right hand thumb on the back of my left thumb joint. This keeps it just over far enough that it's not riding the slide release.

Let us know if this works!

ETA: you're all too fast..


As a second note, in case it's not your thumb, you said the gun was bought on consignment. I'm going to assume then that you have no knowledge of the gun's history. I would strongly suggest (regardless of how the shoot-it-lefty test turns out) that you buy a part's kit. They're about $25, and available from one of my favorite vendors, www.topgunsupply.com or from Sig directly, and contain the parts most commonly worn out/lost/broken on Sigs. It's easy to swap the parts out and is cheap peace of mind for you that you know how many rounds the wear parts have (sorta like changing the oil on a used car purchase...) I also wouldn't suggest starting out by replacing with a lighter spring or changing your ammo. Unless you load your own rounds and are using a tiny amount of powder, or the previous owner installed a super heavy recoil spring (again, good reason to replace them, just in case) most any ammo should be sufficient to cycle a 226.

And lastly, TTIWWOP

Thanks and yes I do business with Topgunsupply, they have great stuff. I am getting a parts kit and replacing everything for piece of mind. Will I have any issues replacing any of those parts or is it pretty straight forward?

[TBoliv]

Thanks and yes I do business with Topgunsupply, they have great stuff. I am getting a parts kit and replacing everything for piece of mind. Will I have any issues replacing any of those parts or is it pretty straight forward?

It's a little more in depth than a field strip, but it is not difficult. If you want, I will loan you my copy of the Sig Armorer's Course DVD put together by on of the SigForum mods. He shows how to completely strip a frame and slide on a Sig P-series pistol, and more importantly, how to put it all back together again! Watch the video a couple times, try it a few times, and you'll be set. If you're interested, shoot me a PM with your mailing address and i'll send it off to you. You just have to promise to send it back when you're done.

When it comes to your thumb on the slide release, it takes VERY little pressure to keep the slide release from engaging. My 226 was doing this yesterday when I was at the range because i'd not shot it in a couple of months and had moved my thumb back over.

[ontmark]

What Caliber??

[HowardW56]

SIGs are notorious for failures to slidelock, 99.99999999% caused by the user. Check to make sure you're not riding the slidestop, shoot it one handed, or left handed and see if it still fails to slide lock.

You can also test by inserting an empty magazine into the gun and racking the slide. Does it lock back with an empty magazine?

Edit: Jinx to Drunkskunk and JTROKS

I was going to make the same comment.... If your thumb is "riding" the slide lock, there is the problem!

[ontmark]

I recently bought a new 226 in Calif 10 round mag Law. Slide did not lock open. Looking at Magazines on the SIG Site when enlarged the picture shows the 12 round mag having a protrusion for the Slide Stop Lever, where the 10 round mag has this area rounded off. Called SIG customer service and they shipped me four followers part number off the 12 round mag for free. Installed them and it works fine, No it didn't change the capacity actually has made it easer to load the last round with speed loader. How have room in Mag for 10 and a half rounds.

http://sigforum.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/150601935/m/749101723/p/1

[eric1972]

Worn magazine springs may also cause the slide to not lock back after all rounds are expended. It's possible that all 6 magazines have the same history and have similarly worn springs? Perhaps take apart the magazine and clean it and see if there is a difference? Also, new springs and pretty cheap to replace. Just a thought.

[ldivinag]

my first handgun was a 226.

i dont know what you people are talking about... lol...

[exon111]

I had the exact same issue. I was bummed because i thought it was ultra-reliable yada yada, but when I shot it for the first time the slide would intermittently fail to lock back. I posted on the sig forum and everyone said to watch my thumb position. Low and behold, it worked fine the last time I went shooting. So +1 to all the comments about high ride grip.

[8200rpm]

I don't think any has mentioned it yet, but it's your thumb...

SOLUTION: Put your shooting hand thumb slightly on your support hand rather than on the grip of the pistol.

[toddhawkins]

Thanks for the offer. I actually decided to buy my own copy with the parts kit since I will probably need it in the future.

[TBoliv]

Thanks for the offer. I actually decided to buy my own copy with the parts kit since I will probably need it in the future.

It's a very useful resource to have.

Let us know when you get to test your grip with live fire.