Sig Mosquito catastrophic failure!--UPDATE

[Joewy]

Well that's just plain incorrect... Your statement regarding firearms needing overhauls at the 30k mark is fairly accurate with regards to many centerfire pistols, but not applicable to any quality rimfire pistol. And I think by "less stronger" what you were trying to avoid was the word "weaker"? lol...

The Mosquito, the P22, and most other similar .22s are an inferior design, and the damage shown in those photos does not speak to it being a "damn reliable gun." The pot metal slides are a problem, but more importantly the barrel/slide design are not conducive to accuracy and make for unnecessary weight for the low pressure .22 cartridge to cycle. All in the name of looking like a "cool centerfire gun"... The fixed barrel design of the MKIII / 22/45, SW41, Buckmark, and even the NEOS, make for much more accurate guns, and much less slide weight to cycle, thus their reliability even with cheaper bulk ammunition that a Mosquito would hiccup with.

I took mine apart this morning and dye tested it for cracks. It was fine. Fireing pin is a little worn but the slide was fine. Not bad for more than 20,000 rounds thru it.
The slide is made out of decent aluminum. Not pot metal. It seems like 7075. I dont think it is a casting. The machining dosent show casting defects at all. But it might be investment cast. But it dose look like a forging. Not a casting. Sometimes it is hard to tell.

[JackRydden224]

Damn this looks awful.

You would think now that ammo prices are high the design philosophy on .22 pistols would be different. People are spending less time on their center fire pistols and more time on their .22 pistols. Logic will tell you that now it's a good time to produce some high quality but wallet friendly .22 pistols but the choices are still very much the same.

I guess there is a good reason that the only .22lr pistol shoot ranges would carry are the Ruger MK-IIIs.

[SMOKEYMOUNTAIN]

Glad your okay. That's a nightmare for any shooter.

[m1a1driver]

Would a ruger 22/45 be a good long lasting quality.22? I like the 1911 feel vs the mk3

[m1a1driver]

Would a ruger 22/45 be a good long lasting quality.22? I like the 1911 feel vs the mk3

[offrdmania]

I took mine apart this morning and dye tested it for cracks. It was fine. Fireing pin is a little worn but the slide was fine. Not bad for more than 20,000 rounds thru it.
The slide is made out of decent aluminum. Not pot metal. It seems like 7075. I dont think it is a casting. The machining dosent show casting defects at all. But it might be investment cast. But it dose look like a forging. Not a casting. Sometimes it is hard to tell.

Did you not look at the pics above? It is most definitely cast

[incredablehefey]

22/45's are great guns, i dont have 20k through mine but everything is steel and the design has proven itself since 1950

[Joewy]

Did you not look at the pics above? It is most definitely cast

Sure I looked at it. All I can see is a stress fracture. That type of fracture does not ocure in a cast part. Cast parts just break. Please point out where the cast material is. I looked at mine too. Did you look at yours??

[packnrat]

if the company wants good press, they will replace and "fix" the warn parts of the gun for free.
if they want bad press they will send you a bill for a new part.

.

[offrdmania]

Sure I looked at it. All I can see is a stress fracture. That type of fracture does not ocure in a cast part. Cast parts just break. Please point out where the cast material is. I looked at mine too. Did you look at yours??

Sig lists that the slide is made of zinc alloy, ie; pot metal, aka cast

http://www.metalcastingdesign.com/content/view/110/314/

[Suvorov]

Not the first time I have seen such photos. As has been mentioned, the slide on the Skeeter is zinc alloy. Zinc is not something that can hold up to a lot of abuse like Aluminum or Steel alloys are and Zinc is also prone to a form of corrosion which will significantly weaken it over time (called zinc rot or pest) which is caused when there are impurities in the alloy. Certainly not a great material for use in guns, but it is fairly common in 22s and crap pistols like Jennings.

Sig doesn't actually make the Skeeter, it is made in Germany by a 3rd party and Sig sells it. Thus the 2 year warranty.

20,000 rounds might very well be the usefull life of one of these guns given the metal used. Then again, it might also have been a poor casting. Mine is about 1/4 of the way there now. They are neat pistols from a training standpoint, but are totally outclassed by the Ruger 22/45 in terms of quality and longevity.

Sig should still take care of you. If you don't like the answer, talk to someone else or maybe a supervisor. When you get it back, I'd consider selling it and getting yourself a Ruger.

[Joewy]

Well I drilled a small hole and did a spectrometer of the material. It is 70% zinc, 25% aluminum and about 2% copper. So it should be ZA-25. Za 25 is a very high strength Zinc Aluminum alloy. Its stronger than most aluminums except 7075. But it requires proper heat treating to be strong. It is used extensivly as a impact bearing material and as a antifriction material. It replaces bronze bearings in many cases.
I bet the problem is with individual units that werent heat treated properly or the design itself is bad. Not the material. There is a weak spot where the spring attaches or if you use the wrong spring I can see the slide impacting the slide stop with a lot of force and cracking the slide Sig dosent make it either. It seems to be made by GSG in Germany.

[Suvorov]

Well I drilled a small hole and did a spectrometer of the material. It is 70% zinc, 25% aluminum and about 2% copper. So it should be ZA-25. Za 25 is a very high strength Zinc Aluminum alloy. Its stronger than most aluminums except 7075. But it requires proper heat treating to be strong. It is used extensivly as a impact bearing material and as a antifriction material. It replaces bronze bearings in many cases.
I bet the problem is with individual units that werent heat treated properly or the design itself is bad. Not the material. There is a weak spot where the spring attaches or if you use the wrong spring I can see the slide impacting the slide stop with a lot of force and cracking the slide Sig dosent make it either. It seems to be made by GSG in Germany.

Interesting and good to know - it kind of restores a little of my faith in Sig. I had also heard that GSG was behind the mosquito.

[The_Tinman]

Would a ruger 22/45 be a good long lasting quality.22? I like the 1911 feel vs the mk3

I too prefer the 1911 over the Luger style grips. The mk series design has been around for longer than many of us on the forum and is very well proven as reliable and accurate. In fact i liked my 22/45 so much i bought a second one. My uncle has had his mkii since the early 80's and has probably averaged 1500-3000+\- rounds a year it's well worn in and shoots great to this day.

[SideWinder11]

I will never buy one of these! It's Ruger or a Browning Buckmark for me.