Sig P226 Magazines

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Gary Carver

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Gentlemen,
I just bought a new Sig P226 .40 cal. Seems to be a really neat gun, however, it is extremely difficult to load 10rds in the magazines. Is this normal for a Sig? Nine rounds load fine, the tenth is some kinda bear to get in there. If ten are loaded in the magazine, and a round is chambered, when the magazine is seated, it is hard to lock in and won't fall free, in fact I had to pry the magazine out of the mag well. Now I know that can't be right, what gives? If the gun is supposed to be an eleven rounder (10 + 1) I feel it really should be an eleven rounder. Any help would be appreciated!
 
Gary,

I feel your pain! ;) I have a P228 that does the same thing. It's had about 300-400 rounds thru it, but I can still only get 9 rounds in the mags (so you're doin' better than me if ya can already get that 10th round in).

A while back, I posted a similar question to yours, and got the following feedback: be patient, put more rounds thru it and it'll loosen up. A guy I know at a local gunstore also suggested grinding down the follower in the magazine w/ a file, to get that extra round in. Only problem is, the magazines are almost impossible to get apart and put back together. I decided against doing this, as I didn't want to risk screwing anything up, and voiding any kind of warranty...

It seems that these SIG's of ours are just real tight puppies. My husband bought a P245 a couple months ago, and has trouble getting that 6th round in, and getting it to feed properly sometimes. The gun tries to double feed every time he racks the slide from battery.

GOOD LUCK!

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"...What will you do without freedom? Will you fight?... Fight, and you may die, run and you'll live, at least a while. And dying, many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that, for just one chance, to tell our enemies, that they may take our lives, but they'll never take our FREEDOM!!!"
-------------------------
je suis prest
 
I had a similar problem, although it wasn't with Sig. I had two ten round mags and one high cap. The high cap and one ten rounder loaded just fine, the other ten rounder was hard to load nine and impossible to load ten. These were factory new mags.

I took all three mags apart and compared. The ten rounder that would not load ten had a spring that was the same length as the high cap. The ten rounder that worked had a shorter spring. I cut the long ten round spring to the same length as the short one. Problem solved.
 
Gary/Darthmaum:

I don't have any trouble getting 10 rds into my 226 (.357 SIG) or 229 (.40 S&W).

My 220, however, is a different story. I have 8 mags for it total...all SIG factory 7 rounders...it was positively painful to shove the 7th round into thoses puppies for a few months. I have (recently) noticed that they seem to be "loosening" up and are easier to load. Either that or I'm getting used to it ;)

Hang in there...experience indicates that it will get better!

Good luck...
Mike
 
I had the same problem loading all 10 rounds into my factory 229/9 mag. The first day at the range my thumbs were nearly bloodied from trying to get number 10 in. After going through 150 rounds the first day, I loaded the mags with my home defense rounds and stored the gun. The next trip to the range the mags were easier to load. And then on the next trip they were even easier . . . and so on. I haven't had any feeding problems or 10+1 issues.
 
Yup, them SIG double stack mags are bloody stiff when new, I bought an HKS speed loader to help prevent 'magazine thumb' after the first range sesssion. Mine have all loosened up with use, however, but the best advice I can offer is load 'em up and let 'em sit, they will get better. the single stacks (e.g. 239, 232) are stiff, but no where near as bad as the ones for the 228 & 226. Good luck, M2
 
Mike in VA,

In my case, my mags have been loaded for months and are still "stiff as a board." I guess my gun's mags are just extra stiff, all three of 'em give me problems.
I get sore thumbs just from getting 9 rounds into them!

I hope they do loosen up after putting more rounds thru them. It'd make me real mad to have a supposedly 10round mag that only held 9 rounds. I'll trust all y'all that said it does get better! :)

------------------
"...What will you do without freedom? Will you fight?... Fight, and you may die, run and you'll live, at least a while. And dying, many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that, for just one chance, to tell our enemies, that they may take our lives, but they'll never take our FREEDOM!!!"
-------------------------
je suis prest
 
I had the exact same problem with my .40 cal SIG P226 when I first got it. My thumb hurt like a bitch for a while trying to shove the 10th round into the mag. And yes, it was hard to get a full mag seated properly when the slide is closed. Keep a mag loaded for 2-4 weeks, and it'll loosen up. Just gotta break in all the springs.
 
My P228 10-round magazines were the same way. They loosened up at the range after I loaded them (with considerable difficulty) and shot them empty about ten times. They're okay now. If the problem had persisted, I'd have sent them to SIG for service.

BTW, a lot of Glock 10-rounders are similarly troublesome. Some of these I've sent to Glock, which took care of the problem.
 
I'll agree with Shamster in giving the magazines a break in period. When I converted my .45 P220 7 shot magazines to 8 shot (new follower), one magazine was particularly stubborn. After a couple of weeks, it took the 8th round without any problems.

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Vigilantibus et non dormientibus jura subveniunt
 
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