Hopefully this one will run better than it's predecessor. I've got 200rds of Blazer Brass waiting to test it out. Provided they shipped the gun today via next day carrier I will hopefully get a chance to run it this weekend and post an update.
To recap.
July 24th: I got to the range the other morning and had the place to my self and was able to do some initial testing on my two latest guns, my Glock 21SF and the Sig 238.
I started with the 238 as I was pretty sure what to expect from from a used Glock.
First the good news, it fed all the types of .380 ammunition that I keep on hand, Remington 102gr Golden Saber, Speer 90gr Gold Dot, Hornady Critical Defense, and both Remington UMC and Winchester FMJ all fed well.
Bad news is that I had two failures to extract the spent casing from the chamber. All in all I fired 50rds of Rem. UMC, about 25 rounds of the Winchester, 20rds of Gold Dots, 15 rounds of the Golden Saber, and only about 12 rounds of the Critical Defense. Also of note is that several casings were mangled up pretty good, I meant to take pictures of them, but didn't. I'll follow up with those later. As for the extraction, I think the extractor is just a little stiff, some more testing is definitely in order.
August 6th: Took the 238 back out to the range, fired 50 more rounds of Remington UMC, the brass was no longer getting mangled, I did have a few more failure to lock open on empty issues and one more failure to extract. I'm thinking it's time for that shipping label to Sig.
172 rds fired, 3 failures to extract, and about 6 failures to lock open.
All shots today were using the Sig factory mag.
Also, I am starting to notice the peening of the slide stop engagement area in the slide referenced above. Will upload some pictures tonight.
Gun shipped to Sig for first time on August 9th, received it back August 17th with a busted front sight. Requested an RMA that day and testing the gun. They had replaced the slide and extractor.
August 18th: Took the Sig out today and ran 58 (50 Ram UMC/ 8 Speer Gold Dot) though it, the gun ran "ok" I had two premature slide locks, and three mangled casings, the extractor appears to be clocking as I could see the hook on an angle and could rotate it back to proper alignment with a pen.
I didn't record the date I shipped it back the 2nd time, but it was returned on September 20th
The 238 came back today with a scuff on the dust cover, probably from the front sight tool. They didn't even read the included letter regarding the extractor issue as the only work they did was replace the front sight and they must have lost my magazine as they "gave me a free one" but only one was in the box. They said they test fired it, and they must have because the extractor is clocked again.
Now in their defense they did say in 2nd set of shipping instructions to not include accessories, I missed that. However the first time I sent it back they specifically asked me to send the magazine back with it.
They also gave me a coupon for 20% off any sig product from the Sig store....that will almost cover my gas back and forth to UPS.
The gun was sent back to Sig on the 21st, they reveived it on the 22nd.
Got my third shipping label today, talked to the Customer Service Manager and the gun should be going direct to him and he'll be watching it for the repairs and inspecting it prior to it's return.
Kind of disheartened about this whole affair, I waited a long time for this gun to come out and then waited to buy one and have been majorly disappointed with this purchase.
If this one doesn't run...well I just don't know what I'll do with it.
I'll be interested to see how this turns out.
ReplyDeleteI got a chance to shoot a P238 and loved it. When I started saving for a pocket pistol, that gun was my first wish. But in doing research, I've seen a lot of reports of mangled casings and FTEs, along with some slide-lock issues. Yours is the first I've seen with the clocking extractor. So I've been holding off to see if Sig fixes the issues.
Hopefully having this many problem with one gun will mean your next several will be problem-free.
I'd be willing to bet that anyone with mangled casings has an extractor that's clocking. A lot of blame went to the recoil spring but it's not like this is a new issue.
ReplyDeleteThe Mustang/238 slide is almost identical to a 1911 slide as far as the extractor, firing pin stop, and extractor channel are concerned and crushed casings are tell tale sign of clocking in the 1911 world.
I'm not saying that there wasn't an issue with the springs, but it may have been a nice suspect if owners weren't digging much deeper.
I know Sig didn't even look at the extractor (at least it wasn't on the completed work order)on the 2nd visit despite a baggie full of crushed casings stapled to the letter.
The gun does shoot very nice, that's one complaint I don't have. I've always liked the way my Mustangs handle which is why I wanted the 238 so bad.
Hopefully this one will taste of success rather than lemon.