Les Jones

I highly recommend the Glock 30 and the Sig 220. The 220 is hard to conceal though.

Were you shooting range reloads?

Bubba: some range reloads, and some Wolf, with some fired in each gun. All FMJ.

One thing I'd like to do next time is to intentionally limp-wrist the guns (thumb and two finger holds) and shoot them upside down, just to see how they handle the extremes.

Les, I enjoy your site, quite alot in fact, and I just discovered it. I have a technical question for you: I bought a Sig 229 in .357 Sig. today, after reading your reviews on this beautiful firearm. I have just now been told by my "know it all neighbor" I was mistaken in my research on changing the barrel so it can shoot .40 cal.! I need your devine intervention, can this .357 sig shoot .40's with a .40 SW barrel change? (as stated in your review.ie:vice versa) Sunburned and no nails now! Thanx for your attention Mike

I checked SIG's web page for the P229, but there isn't much info there. Their customer service page doesn't seem to have an email address, either, but it has their number: 603-772-2302. That's probably your best bet for an authoritative answer. I tried to call them just now, but they're closed for the day.

Good post.

James

WC-Vorleger http://versandhaus.gelago.de/cat3793/Wohnwelt/Badezimmer/Badgarnituren/WC-Vorleger/

Mike,

You can swap a .40 S&W barrel into a .357 Sig SIG P229. You CAN NOT swap a .40 S&W or .357 Sig barrel into a 9mm P229.

You may NOT be able to use the .357 mags for the .40 S&W. Apparently some mags are marked .357/40 and some aren't so you'd have to check.

Hello,

Im looking for feedback on a Glock 21 45 Auto. Would you sugest buying one? For the average Joe it sounds like the way to go over the P220.
Mike

Mike - Yes you can swap a 40 S&W barrel on your 357 SIG 229. SIG factory mags for the 357 and 40 are identical so no problem there. A word of advice tho - buy factory mags, cheap magazines are more trouble than they're worth.

Don't be totally convinced of the reliability of the P220. Bought one (brand new, not used) and it jams once every 20 rounds. Cleaned out the gun thoroughly, made sure the recoil spring was installed correctly, even took apart the magazines and cleaned THEM out. Same problem. Tried five different magazines in the gun and, still, same problem every time. Gun does not cycle properly in that the next round gets "diagonally" stuck upwards before completely entering the chamber. Sometimes a round isn't stripped off the magazine at all (even though the slide closes). On a lesser note, after the last round on nearly every magazine the slide doesn't lock open.

Here's the worst part: sent the gun back to SIG and they wouldn't fix it. They acknowledge that the gun is thoroughly clean and state that they cannot find any problem with it. Took it back to the range and the same problem kept happening. Even had an instructor with me to tell me if I was doing something wrong; he said I had no problems with my style. Called SIG again and they said that they won't look at the gun again without charging me $200.

Word to the wise: If you buy a SIG and it turns out to be a dud (let's be fair here, all manufacturers have them on occasion), they aren't going to do anything to help you. Now I'm stuck with a defective pistol thanks to the worst warranty service I've ever seen.

Sorry to hear that JB. I rented the SIG P220 because I was considering purchasing the gun in the near future. I had the same problem of a FTF failure to feed. I stuck the clip in and released the slide lock and the first bullet got hung up in the diagonal-up position. After applying pressure to the rear of the slide the bullet would chamber. That happened 4 more times on a box of 50. The gun cycled and functioned perfectly other than that. The gun was EXTREMELY dirty but still disappointed.

Sigs are notoriously finicky about magazines (old or off brand). And somewhat finicky about ammo nose shapes. The biggest problem I've had (sig 220 with over 200k rounds through it) is the take down lever bows over time. Take the lever out, roll it on a glass surface and see if it's true. If it is, then check the mag lips and mag spring pressure (I recommend the +10% wolf springs to replace the old sig springs). If that's not it, then shoot the pistol resting the mag base on a table or what ever and with your wrist AND elbow absolutely locked. If Sig shot it and could not duplicate the problem, then I would ask if you sent Sig 100 rounds of the ammo you were trying to shoot-with the pistol? Sig shoots brand new factory brand ammo. If you are using a brand different than what they use, you will get different results than they do.
Sig Armorer-

I've had my P220 for several years and the only problems I've had was with Win Clean ammo which absolutely stinks. But just today I noticed the problem with my Sig feeding one round and the second round in the mag sticking up at the 45 degree angle. Obviously it's because the mag is getting old because I've shot a lot of rounds through this gun and I have two other mags that don't have the problem. I've left ammo in the 3 mags I own for years (yeah I know that's a bad idea) but this is the first time it's become a problem. I believe a new spring in the mag would fix the problem. I'm going to order another mag mainly because my holster holds 2 mags plus one in the gun of course. This gun has been very reliable and I'm sure it's just a problem with the mag.