Sig Sauer P250 SC 40cal - Failure to Feed Issues

[Bmhicks78]

So, a couple of months ago I was messing around on Gunbroker.com and 'accidentally' purchased a NIB Sig P250SC 40cal. Well, that's what I told my wife when I was the only bid.

Got it from my local FFL, bought a box of cheap PPU JHP's and took it to the range and had a horrible time with it. Out of the 50 rounds i shot, I had at least 8 FTF. Figured it was because it was it was NIB, had all the original packing grease, etc etc.

Took it home, gave it a thorough cleaning and went back to the range a week later with a box of Winchester 165gr FMJ. Continue to have FTF issues. So, talking with a buddy of mine with a lot more experience, he suggested running a bunch more ammo through it, as it might require a good breaking in.

2 months later, 500 rounds of new FMJ (good quality) and about 100 rounds of PPU / Hornady JHP, I'm still experiencing a FTF issue at least every 25 rounds, sometimes as many as 3 times a magazine.

I did some research (apparently a few months too late) and a couple years ago the P250 had a lot of issues with malfunctions, enough that they were disqualified from BAFTE trials. Seen many people who said it was nothing better than a paper weight.

However, all of that negative feedback seemed to peter out around mid-2011. Did the P250 improve or did everyone just give up on the model? Anyone have any experience with a recent model?

I'm calling Sig tomorrow and hoping they answer their customer service line so I can return this thing for warranty repair/exchange. Wondering if anyone else on here has any history with this specific piece they can share.

Thanks!

[chauncey]

I have the exact same pistol.

i consider myself an experienced shooter, i have been shooting pistol and carrying concealed since 1995; for the last several years starting around 2004 i shoot 2-3 times a month, 100-200 rounds per session.

understand that with small, lightweight carry guns, shooting 40 and 45 especially, it is easy to experience failures due to "limp wristing" the pistol. this refers to not holding the pistol tight enough, to ensure that all of the recoil of the round firing, is used to cycle the action. this is made more difficult by the small grip surface found on subcompact pistols, and the lighter weight of polymer handguns.

i have experienced this problem with my G36 (which i no longer own) and the 250SC in 40 S&W, in question. i find that it more often happens when i am running drills that take my focus away from basic shooting fundamentals, i.e. when i am focusing on moving, multiple targets, etc.

during my last range session i was focusing on fundamentals, not moving, etc. this makes me believe that my previous failures were related to limp-wristing the pistol. i have not experienced any similar failures with my 250 full size in 45 or my compact in 9mm. i don't think i have ever experienced this problem with a compact or larger, or non-polymer handgun.

i would recommend using Federal American Eagle ball ammo (what my 250SC prefers, and in my experience runs reliably in every Sig i have owned), installing a Hogue "Handall" slide on grip, and focusing on gripping the pistol tightly while firing. you may also want to try a higher-cap magazine with a grip extension, to improve your grip on the pistol. i would also recommend running grease in your Sig, and applying it liberally. seems to be what the like. i use "slide glide" available from BrianEnos.com. your friends will tease you, but the stuff works well, and i use it on most of my firearms.

admittedly, there is a chance there is a problem with your pistol. when dry cycling rounds in mine, the 40's seem to want to nose-dive into the front of the magazine at times. i did try grinding down the front of one magazine, but couldn't replicate the failures during my last range session, even using WWB (least liked by Sigs, in my experience).

[Bmhicks78]

Chauncy:

Thanks for your response!

While admittedly knew to the world of pistol shooting, I don't think this is an issue with limp wristing the gun. I do know what you are talking about, because my wife has issues with her Glock 19 throwing cartridges in her face when she is shooting because of this. I have a buddy that is an firearms instructor for the federal prison system, and he watched me shoot, didn't see any issues. He also fired the weapon himself and had several FTF issues throughout his session.

Could you link the Hogue Handall Slide? All I see are grips when I google this, wouldn't mind taking a look at it. As for the ammo, honestly, I've tried a hodgepodge of everything through the firearm right now, just b/c I feel lucky to find anything in the local stores. I generally like to stick with Federal or Winchester. I have lubed the slide up pretty good with the grease I have (not sure brand off top of head) but will see what else I can do with that.

That being said, I called Sig Sauer today and they played dumb to any existing issues in the world with P250's and FTFs. Which is odd since the Internet seems full of them. Granted, I know the Internet says whatever anonymity allows for, but I haven't seen much good, mostly bad. They pushed back a bit on warranty repair since I bought this from Gunbroker.com and not directly from a distributor, they considered it a used weapon. Finally agreed to send an RMA though.

If this thing gets fixed up, quite honestly I'm probably going to sell it even if it performs flawlessly. Since I bought this I have been researching baby Glocks, and I think I like the Glock look/feel better anyway. Not sure, maybe it will get fixed and blow me away.

[jlb0305]

Additionally Sig did modify some parts of the P250 design in 2011. (as when I called about something before they asked when mine was made). Not sure what all the changes involved but there seems to be less issues with the newer ones. I have the 9mm compact which the pre-2011 models had FTF and FTE issues galore but models after 2011 has little to none. I have a 2012 model with about 500 rounds through mine without issue.

[Bmhicks78]

Additionally Sig did modify some parts of the P250 design in 2011. (as when I called about something before they asked when mine was made). Not sure what all the changes involved but there seems to be less issues with the newer ones. I have the 9mm compact which the pre-2011 models had FTF and FTE issues galore but models after 2011 has little to none. I have a 2012 model with about 500 rounds through mine without issue.

That makes me hopeful that mine is just poor manufacturing and will be repaired and effective!

[ScorpioIM]

I picked up a Gen 3 Glock 27 a few months ago, and couldn't be happier.

I also bought a Lone Wolf 40 - 9 conversion barrel, and 2 G26 mags.

I have a failure to eject every so often with the cheaper 9mm ammo, but for $100 for the 40 - 9 barrel, plus $50 for 2 G26 mags, I basically have 2 guns for about $650. (bought the G27 for $460)

[chauncey]

hogue handall grip:

http://www.getgrip.com/main/overview/handall.html

i would try to shoot a G27 before you buy one. in 40S&W, a small Glock can be a handful. a friend of mine has a G27; i would saw because of the snappy recoil of the 40 vs the 45, it was actually harder to handle than my G36.

i prefer Glocks over Springfield XD's - Glocks have a more consistent trigger and no grip safety that requires operation to rack the slide - but when it comes to subcompacts in 40S&W, i think the subcompact XD is much easier to shoot than the subcompact G27. you might want to give them both a try.

in 40S&W, i think the Sigs are much more controllable than Glocks. in 9mm and and 45 ACP, not as much of a difference

[jlb0305]

Glocks are nice weapons but those too can have issues. FTE seems common on some older ones.

There was a Philly LEO who chambered a round on her G17. Forgot she chambered and because of FTE when she went to chamber the 2nd round it "went off".

[KelFox]

Some of the changes made were transitioning from a polymer guide rod to a metal rod, and I think a different recoil spring as well as some minor tweaks in the grip/frame itself iirc. I have a 2012 manufacture P250 2sum package, with SC and full size frames & slides. I personally have not had a problem with the pistol in over 1k rounds aside from a small bur on the full size frame, but that wore off around the 300 round mark. However, as with any product lemons exist and YMMV, but I wish you the best of luck!

[kitaki2crows]

Hello everyone, first time posting on PAFOA. Really glad to have been told about this place, awesome resource, and always fun to drool over the classifieds section.

Somewhat of a new gun owner. Started out a couple of years ago and got a shotgun for home defense. About a year ago picked up an Remington's varmint AR-15. A buddy of mine told me about the Henry survival .22 rifle, which is just fun. Just out of pure impulse and ammo redundancy I picked up a small Beretta pocket pistol also chambered in .22. Long story short, that little pocket pistol is the only real experience I've had in the handgun world.

I shot my buddy's Sig 1911. Loved it. Hearing about how "high quality" Sig's are I settled on the P250 .40 cal in anticipation of an everyday carry that has real stopping power. Brand new from Guns Inc., purchased around a month ago and finally took it to the range yesterday. Needless to say, not the experience that I expected at all. Jam jam city. Every 3rd round at least was a failure to feed.

I shot 30 rounds of Remington 160 gr full metal jacket, 30 rounds of Geco 180 gr, and a magazine (13 rounds) of Hornady hollow point (no longer have the box, but I believe 175 gr.) I realize that this isn't all that many rounds total, and I've heard mixed opinions about the need of "breaking in" a new gun and possible issues associated that may clear up after running a few hundred rounds through it.

The p250 came with a mag, and I purchased a 2nd identical (Sig brand) magazine. Same FTF issues using both magazines, so that leads me to believe that the magazines are not the issue. Although, I did notice that when the magazine is seated and locked in, there is a very slight gap from the bottom of the magazine to the base of the handle. Not sure if that means a damn thing, but figured I'd mention.

This could be completely imagined or coincidental, but it would seem that the lower gr Remington ammo jammed easier than the higher grain stuff. I put the Remington and the Geco next to each other and carefully examined them, they had identical shape and size, no real difference. I talked to a guy from Gunc Inc about the issue, and he said that grain load shouldn't really make any difference when it comes to the feeding aspect of the ammo, and that grain load in association with jamming issues usually is seen on the ejection side of things.
So again, not all that sure if the gr load or brand of ammo really had all that much to do with the FTF or not. I did have less issue with the hollow point, only 1 FTF with that. The hollow point is tapered at the end, more so than the full metal, so perhaps there's an issue with the shape of the full metal jacket bullets being too wide and allowing for the FTF jam......?

My buddy explained the practice of "limp-wristing" and suggested that could be the issue. Which could possibly be the issue, considering that I'm a new shooter in the handgun arena, and this is the first time that I've shot 40 cal in a compact gun. I did notice a decent amount of recoil, but nothing too crazy. I never had a shell eject in my face.
The Sig 1911 that I previously mentioned shooting was .45, and I had no problem keeping a firm grip on that. I'm a Lineman, so I work with my hands all day, climbing towers and poles, and hammering and wrenching on shit. So, ego aside, I feel that I have stronger wrists and grip than the average person, who might just be typing on a computer all day for a paycheck.

Another factor that leads me away from the limp wristing possibility is that I locked the slide back, locked in a magazine, then hit the slide release. At least 1 out of 4 times doing this, the bullet would FTF jam identically as when I was shooting.

Sorry about the novel of a post that I've written, I just figured that the more details the better in diagnosing the problem.

Any opinions, analyses, or suggestions would be highly appreciated.


- Mike