ArgentFix
11-29-2018, 09:07 PM
A long, self-deprecating, pointless yarn of modification and woe...
Some time in late 2009, blissfully unaware of the problems SIG was having, I confidently bought an overpriced new P226 in .40 at Cabela's. Being a gun novice, I naturally knew everything that needed to be done. I immediately fitted Hogue grips then took the gun to my local smith and requested a "trigger job". I also bought a factory .357 SIG barrel because obviously it was the superior round but my Cabela's didn't have a .357 P226.
Perhaps I had angered the Gun Gods. Perhaps I angered the gun by wrongly assuming its caliber. But The Haunting had begun! Elusive problems, large and small, that were Probably Not The Gun's Fault (PNTGF) have followed this P226 its whole life.
Early on, the gun shot .40 fine but had several feed ramp crashes and setbacks with .357. I soon noticed the inside of the factory mags were coated with Cosmoline or similar. That couldn't have helped feeding. PNTGF. Occasionally the TDA gun behaved like a DAO. Troubling but PNTGF, my smith just overjobbed the trigger! Sent it back and got that fixed.
Somewhere along the line I also bought a semi-drop-in Bar-Sto Precision .357 barrel because I needed it. Frequent feed ramp crashes with various ammo and factory and Mec-Gar magazines. Oh well, the magazines WERE labeled .40 and this was an aftermarket barrel, so PNTGF. I've gotten out of .357 and gave this barrel to a range employee who also has a P226 in .40. Needless to say, this barrel which was custom fit to my gun and doesn't work in my gun works 100% in his.
One time the decocker spring spronged loose. PNTGF because the Hogue Grips never fit perfectly and were noticably rubbing the decocking lever. Hard primers in some cheap Independence Aluminum .40 required multiple strikes. This Never Happened With My M&P .40 (TNHWMMP) but PNTGF because it also never happened with any other ammo.
Then an ejection failure (stovepipe) with Winchester Purple .40. TNHWMMP and who knows because weird purple ammo, but this quite possibly WAS the gun's fault!
Mec-Gar magazine #4 fails to lock back on empty occasionally, and although TNHWMMP, PNTGF because I *think* it's always magazine #4.
And today, a dud primer in some Remington UMC. TNHWMMP either but PNTGF because cheap ammo and it was most definitely a dead primer.
Strangely, the gun also has a 9mm Bar-Sto conversion barrel with 1300 rounds of varying quality through it and zero problems whatsoever.
Yet somehow after 5000+ rounds and all these quirks I still want to believe it can run reliably in .40, because other than one stovepipe these problems are PNTGF! Right? It's just haunted, RIGHT?! Maybe I'll have it completely stripped down, cleaned and inspected then use only quality .40. Maybe I'll sacrifice a chicken. Maybe the gun identifies as a 9mm and I should just learn to accept it.
But whatever I do, The Haunting of the P226 was real... And I fear The Haunting will always remain!
Some time in late 2009, blissfully unaware of the problems SIG was having, I confidently bought an overpriced new P226 in .40 at Cabela's. Being a gun novice, I naturally knew everything that needed to be done. I immediately fitted Hogue grips then took the gun to my local smith and requested a "trigger job". I also bought a factory .357 SIG barrel because obviously it was the superior round but my Cabela's didn't have a .357 P226.
Perhaps I had angered the Gun Gods. Perhaps I angered the gun by wrongly assuming its caliber. But The Haunting had begun! Elusive problems, large and small, that were Probably Not The Gun's Fault (PNTGF) have followed this P226 its whole life.
Early on, the gun shot .40 fine but had several feed ramp crashes and setbacks with .357. I soon noticed the inside of the factory mags were coated with Cosmoline or similar. That couldn't have helped feeding. PNTGF. Occasionally the TDA gun behaved like a DAO. Troubling but PNTGF, my smith just overjobbed the trigger! Sent it back and got that fixed.
Somewhere along the line I also bought a semi-drop-in Bar-Sto Precision .357 barrel because I needed it. Frequent feed ramp crashes with various ammo and factory and Mec-Gar magazines. Oh well, the magazines WERE labeled .40 and this was an aftermarket barrel, so PNTGF. I've gotten out of .357 and gave this barrel to a range employee who also has a P226 in .40. Needless to say, this barrel which was custom fit to my gun and doesn't work in my gun works 100% in his.
One time the decocker spring spronged loose. PNTGF because the Hogue Grips never fit perfectly and were noticably rubbing the decocking lever. Hard primers in some cheap Independence Aluminum .40 required multiple strikes. This Never Happened With My M&P .40 (TNHWMMP) but PNTGF because it also never happened with any other ammo.
Then an ejection failure (stovepipe) with Winchester Purple .40. TNHWMMP and who knows because weird purple ammo, but this quite possibly WAS the gun's fault!
Mec-Gar magazine #4 fails to lock back on empty occasionally, and although TNHWMMP, PNTGF because I *think* it's always magazine #4.
And today, a dud primer in some Remington UMC. TNHWMMP either but PNTGF because cheap ammo and it was most definitely a dead primer.
Strangely, the gun also has a 9mm Bar-Sto conversion barrel with 1300 rounds of varying quality through it and zero problems whatsoever.
Yet somehow after 5000+ rounds and all these quirks I still want to believe it can run reliably in .40, because other than one stovepipe these problems are PNTGF! Right? It's just haunted, RIGHT?! Maybe I'll have it completely stripped down, cleaned and inspected then use only quality .40. Maybe I'll sacrifice a chicken. Maybe the gun identifies as a 9mm and I should just learn to accept it.
But whatever I do, The Haunting of the P226 was real... And I fear The Haunting will always remain!