SIG Sauer P226, unusual wear.. (pics)

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Tactical Jackalope

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It's only on the spots I'm showing in the pictures. Opposite sides only.. it's not the normal SIG wear, it's as if it's getting a blade on the side and peeling off the alloy.

It appears like the slide is... hard to explain, but it's as if the slide is off alignment against the frame. Like a car..

Maybe I'm over thinking, but I'm not new to SIG's. They usually always wear smoothly. My P220's, P229's, and P226's have all had an even wearing of finish. This looks a little chunky.

One of my favorite guns here, I have changed the recoil spring as Joe at SIG has told me to but the problem is still maintaining. It has about 8k through it and I use slide glide grease generously.

Let me know guys! If anything I'll do like they said and send it back. I've had this since 2010.
 
I'd say send it back because that's definitely weird. At 8k rounds I'd expect both sides to look the same like the one on the "bottom" in the picture.

My well shot p226 does not look like that at all, not even close.
 
Can you get a better pic of the area in the first pic. That is the part which I would be concerned with.
 
Do those spots have like.. texture to them? Like do they catch your fingernail if you scratch at them? If so, I'd have them take a look at it. If not, I wouldn't worry about it.
 
Your pic reflects to much light to be sure what the problem is, but IMHO from what bi see i say that is normal polishing and wear. I am not a gun smith.
 
Uncle Malice said:
Do those spots have like.. texture to them? Like do they catch your fingernail if you scratch at them? If so, I'd have them take a look at it. If not, I wouldn't worry about it.
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Yeah, it's textured. Like microscopic craters and such. It's anything but smooth.
WVsig said:
Can you get a better pic of the area in the first pic. That is the part which I would be concerned with.
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Yeah, I'll snap some pics later after my errands. I'm concerned with the whole thing.
Sequins said:
I'd say send it back because that's definitely weird. At 8k rounds I'd expect both sides to look the same like the one on the "bottom" in the picture.

My well shot p226 does not look like that at all, not even close.
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I agree. I may just give them a call regardless and have them tell me what's up.
pat701 said:
Your pic reflects to much light to be sure what the problem is, but IMHO from what bi see i say that is normal polishing and wear. I am not a gun smith.
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I know, with the my others SIG's it's always been smooth. This being rough kind of worries me. And the one by the locking block seems like it's getting excessively beat up. Looks like it'll snap eventually.
marine6680 said:
I get more wear on the left side on top near the hammer as well... But everywhere else wears more evenly.
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This is diagonally wearing. So freaky.
 
I think the left side top of the frame near the hammer wears a little faster due to the fact the slide has more material in that area, the opposite side has a cutout that reduces surface area of the slide that rides on top of that area.

Basically, the left side has more bearing surface in the slide in that spot.
 
camera focus - if you need the camera to focus on a small target it normally wouldn't, some people hold their hand up to let the camera focus on *that, then they remove their hand and snap the picture. But for cameras that re-auto focus fast, maybe against the edge of a table would work.
 
It's possible the slide, or the frame is warped. Lay the slide on a piece of glass, if it's warped you should be able to see it. The frame will be more difficult to check. You'd need a flat surface that could be notched to fit around the protrusions on top of the frame, m/b Lexan. I'd check the slide first since I think it would be more likely to warp than the frame.
 
For what it's worth I have never owned a single pistol that wore the same on both sides. Cant really say I see any excessive wear for 8,000rds.
 
Certainly can't diagnose the problem from photos, but one thing does come to mind. Do you run the pistol "wet" or "dry" ? Most Sig authorities seem to suggest that they should be run "wet" - with the slide rails greased. Obviously that won't fix the existing damage, but it MIGHT all but eliminate future excessive wear.
 
The slide rail might be concerning, but I'd need to see a nitrided framed SIG with that many rounds through it for comparison. To my knowledge the whole pistol is nitrided now, not just the slide, and they don't seem to be anodized or if so it's certainly a different method (or do they nitride over the anodizing?). The best bet would likely be to call SIG. 8,000 rds is nothing to sneeze at though and unless you notice a functional problem I'm not sure what they'd do.
 
I'm not an ME but I've always thought that aluminum and steel rubbing against each other was supposed to be a bad idea, leading to galling. That texture looks like galling to me. Am I wrong?

... Of course I'm sure Fe + Al has been discussed ad nauseum elsewhere....

Edit: well, the internet tells me Fe + Al is fine. Hmm.
 
The first picture looks like something partially chiseled the frame on the right side. The projecting shard is a bit worrisome. A: it looks like it would slice skin if you ran you finger against it, B: how that got gouged out.
 
I wish I had my P226 here to take a picture with, because it has probably been shot at least as much and it's not nearly as torn up. There is a visual difference between a flat surface and a gouged surface. All my even worn guns are, well, evenly worn. Slide rails with finish gone in nice smooth tracts on the top or side or wherever gets direct contact. It's not like tooth marks taking every other 1/8th of an inch.

I'm thinking wood floors worn smooth by shoes, versus dragging a piano over it or something. These slide grooves look gnarly compared to mine I guess and if that's normal I'm glad mine isn't one of those.
 
Thanks TunnelRat. Some people actually listen, while others just wait to speak. Flip that to fit the internet.

Grease is used religiously. I had to rub some off so that the terrible pics weren't even more terrible.

I called SIG and emailed them pictures. They said it's fine.... :confused: And that if I wanted them to check it anyways it would be $55.

I'm kind of considering doing just that. I'm also not... I mean, I don't think it feels normal at all. Doesn't look normal. Doesn't feel normal. It just freaks me out a little.

It's not sharp. But you feel little craters.
 
If your going to send it in, get the custom shop to do a AEP on it while its there. It will be the best money you ever spent on a gun and the custom work is under factory warranty. Sig will pay shipping both ways.
 
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