cohiba

Well we took it to the range today and ran 200 rounds through it! Three different brands and all had some FTF but at the end of the day we concluded two issues.

1) The slide does not completely close everytime (when you first load the mag and close the slide), seems to hang. It you push it closed with your thumb it will fire, but the next road will FTF.
2) The wife does have an issue with grip. My Son and I both had little issues shooting it but we did have some.

Conclusition: I will call Sig and have it sent back, mainly because it should not hang up when you close the slide! I believe the tolerances are too tight.

Thanks to everyone for your input, it has helped a lot.

PS: The wife is going to take an all ladies shooting class next weekend. Hopefully the instructor will be able to work with her to improve her grip. (we don't work well together.......LOL)

surefire7

Cohiba,
We had the same troubles with our new Sig--any type of ammo would FTF consecutively due to slide not closing (not going into full battery). We haven't tried the full cleaning yet but may have to send it back in. Good luck, let us know how things go for you.

__________________
"Good decisions come from experience;
experience comes from bad decisions"

cohiba

Surefire7,
The first time we took it out I had just given it a light cleaning and niether the wife nor I could get through a clip without multiple FTFs. Today was much better but still not what you would expect from SIG.

Will keep the forum updated as things progress.

PS: I have read on many other forums when the gun was returned to SIG one of the things that was done was replacing the main spring. Tells me there's an issue they know about but not something that requires a "Safety" recall.

PSS: I had her shoot my LCP 380, XDm 9mm, Glock 19 9mm and Kimber Ultra II 45 and she had no problems. But she didn't like the .45 ........LOL

usmc3169

its not a clip, its a magazine... its not a clip, its a magazine.... its not a clip its a magazine...its not a cl - oh sorry what was this thread about?

JUST KIDDING! that sounds like something that definately needs to go back - I am really distraught over how many "Sig" problems I have read about on this thread. My 229 has been flawless (other than me over tightening the screws on the woods grips and cracking one... oops! guess I know what I want for Christmas now... I am thinking the Kingwood grips by Hogue are lookin pretty nice...)

__________________
S&W M&P340CT, Glock 22, Springfield XDm, SIG Sauer P229 Elite

"For those who have fought for it, freedom has a flavor the protected will never know".
Unknown Marine, Khe Sanh

TucsonSpork

Thanks for posting this tidbit about the problem happening immediately after inserting the mag. I had my new P238 at the range for the first time today (shooting PMC Bronze), and noticed exactly the same thing -- my failures to fire were ONLY on the first (and sometimes second) round. I'll check to see if my slide is all the way forward if it happens again.

But, I'm embarrassed to say that I'm one of those guys that took my new gun to the range without cleaning it first. When I looked it over, it seemed to be adequately lubed, but the guy at the range later told me that SIG slathers new guns in something that isn't really a lubricant. Not sure about that, but I've cleaned it up and will try it again tomorrow.

TucsonSpork

My P229 has also been flawless and I was worried about buying a P238 after reading some of the stories from new owners. But, I decided to take the plunge after determining that all these problems seem to get fixed, eventually, and that P238 owners REALLY seem to like it when it works well. When it worked for me, today, I was amazed at how accurate it was. At 21 feet, I can't say that there was any significant difference between my P229 and my P238.

Now, if I could just understand why certain surfaces on the P238 are serrated. Front side of the grip is serrated and even the front of the trigger is serrated, and both are uncomfortable for me. My P229 is smooth on these two surfaces and is much more comfortable as a result. As much as I hate the idea of mucking with this sort of thing, I'm starting to wonder if there's a way to grind the serrations off the P238.

TucsonSpork

Was at the range today and verified that the slide on my P238 is NOT returning to the full-forward position and that this corresponds with the failures to fire. This happens during firing and after reloading when the slide stop is released.

Also had a few failures to feed with the only 380 ammo I could find: Winchester 95 GR FMJ with flat noses.

Guess I'll be calling SIG on Monday.

cohiba

The wife took her class this weekend and used my XDm 9mm for the majority of the class ands did real well, even left handed! Then they ran 100 rounds through her P238 and only had one failure to fire and the slide locked open with rounds still in the magazine. According to her instructor this little gun will continue to loosen up and after running 300 to 500 rounds through it she shouldn't see any of these probelms.

She also worked a lot on her grip to help overcome the "limp wrist" possibilities and think's that issue is behind her.

Will go ahead and run a couple hundred more rounds through it and if the problem does go away and then we'll all be happy but if not I'll send it back.

PS: The wife loves the P238!

__________________
CHL Class - Sept 5, 2009
Submitted - Sept 11, 2009
Provided US Passport - Oct 5, 2009
Issued CHL - Nov 20, 2009
Received CHL - ??????

Guns and more

I found that if I loaded six in the magazine, then racked the slide, topped off the magazine, it was difficult to get the magazine to seat all the way in. But when I firmly pushed it all the way, it worked flawlessly.
Keep it lubed up, mine has been a jewel.
Make sure the magazines have the rounded follower.