Update: Sig 226 problems, failure to fire?

[Creampuff]

Can you remove the grips and post an image of the hammerspring set up?

[docflash]

I'm not clear. Is it shooting regular non-steel ammo without problems?

[hardcore4sure]

I'm not clear. Is it shooting regular non-steel ammo without problems?

Originally it had a problem with Brown Bear, but It shot Tula just fine. Recently it is having problems with some factory reloads, brass cases,115 grain from a company that I have used for decades and never had any issue with any other gun, including my friends 226.

[hardcore4sure]

Can you remove the grips and post an image of the hammerspring set up?

I'll try, but it looks just like the bottom images on page 2.

[faterikcartman]

Thanks guys, those are all great suggestions. Trust me I like the gun,Its damn accurate althought shoots a little high. I want to keep it and want to trust it, so I'm not tryin to ***** on Sig. It's just ironic that it's always been regarded as being more reliable then its military trial competitor (Beretta), and it's having issues. I think I'll try the pencil test. And disassemble it again and look for burrs. Honestly, the biggest concernis every other gun in our session fired it with out any issues, cuz if was just bad ammo we'd see more issues.
Thanks again guys

You bought an older, used gun. You have no idea what was done to it, or not done, by the previous owners. A comparison with Beretta is unfair. The infirmity is not the model or maker's, it's your particular gun. Or the ammo. Out of spec ammo may run great in a gun with lose tolerances but jam up a tight custom 1911 with a match chamber. Does that mean that tight custom 1911 isn't as good as a loose spec gun that will run that out of spec ammo? Did you replace all springs throughout the gun yet?

[hardcore4sure]

So in taking all the suggestions into account I thought I'd look at the head space with a bullet in the chamber. I took the barrel out and dropped several different rounds and a snap cap into the chamber. It appears as though some rounds slide deeper into the chamber than others, while some are almost flush with the locking lug. I suppose it's possible that the barrel could be the problem. I'll have to compare it to my buddies to see if there is a difference.

[Go Navy]

I apologize if this has already been answered, but what happens if you load a mag with Brown Bear and then start manually cycling through all the rounds, without firing them, by racking the slide back a forth? And does it happen with each of your mags? It would be advisable to fully load the mags for this experiment.

[hardcore4sure]

I apologize if this has already been answered, but what happens if you load a mag with Brown Bear and then start manually cycling through all the rounds, without firing them, by racking the slide back a forth? And does it happen with each of your mags? It would be advisable to fully load the mags for this experiment.

I'm not having feeding issues, I'm having failure to fire issues.

[WaltKowalski]

I'm not having feeding issues, I'm having failure to fire issues.

So when you look at a spent casing, what does the primer look like? can you post a pic?

[Creampuff]

It might have been asked already. But how much gunk do you have trapped under the extractor?

[Voo]

So in taking all the suggestions into account I thought I'd look at the head space with a bullet in the chamber. I took the barrel out and dropped several different rounds and a snap cap into the chamber. It appears as though some rounds slide deeper into the chamber than others, while some are almost flush with the locking lug. I suppose it's possible that the barrel could be the problem. I'll have to compare it to my buddies to see if there is a difference.

IIRC the back of the case should be flush with the barrel hood. I don't have my p226s handy for a look. But obviously if they extend pass this, the rounds won't always go into battery and if theyre too short you're likely to see light* primer strikes due to the short distance the firing pin is able to travel.

I'd get a mic and measure the diameters as well as the case lengths. Check the chamber to see if there are any grind marks as well. It's possible the barrel may have Been reamed or the throat area enlarged

Rounds don't headspace off the extractor so that's not likely a problem area but check to see if that's been tampered with (filed/grinded). Can't hurt to give it a look

[hardcore4sure]

Looked like some were coming up short of being flush with the barrel hood/locking lug. Will have to wait to get my buddies 226 for reference.

[hardcore4sure]

Update, problem appears tentatively solved. All clearances looked fine, so I stripped the entire gun, slide and frame and cleaned the whole thing again. Firing pin, block, extractor, springs. Noticed a small nick on the firing pin, so i smoothed it out with some fine grit sand paper. The trigger components were starting to get gritty so I fully disassemled and cleaned them as well. No more Froglube, it was pretty gooey. I also changed back to the original hammer spring, since if I'm still getting light strikes I'd rather have a lighter trigger for a second strike if necessary.
Went to the range today, shot 50 rounds of the problem batch of LAX reloads with no issues. Also 50 more Freedom Munitions reloads. No problems! Go figure that even with the lighter hammer spring it ran flawless. I wouldn't have thought that the gun was that dirty internally to cause problems, but it appears that a more thorough cleaning did the trick. Or the firing pin needing to be smooth down a little. But either way it seems the problem is solved.