Sig P238 Problem

My Sig P238 has been a decent shooter, but never 100% reliable. I kept cleaning and lubed it according to Sig specs (not too much oil), hoping one day after the initial break-in period a miracle would happen and my little Sig will be problem free. Well, that didn’t happen, instead I got a problem I’ve never experienced with any gun I’ve shot.
I was finishing a box of .380Auto Sellier&Bellot, inserted a new loaded mag (6 cartridges) and fired first shot. The slide moved back about a quarter of an inch and got stuck with an empty shell still in the chamber. After dropping the mag, I made sure the gun is safe and tried to clear the chamber by pulling the slide back with no success. It stuck so badly that no matter how much force I’ve used, it wouldn’t move even a millimeter in any direction.


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I called our experienced range master, who inspected the gun, making sure it’s safe and brought it back to his office. He put some oil on the gun (the excess oil is seen on the pictures above), and after several attempts to clear the pistol he just said plainly: you need an experienced gunsmith, and recommended one.

I’ve purchased my Sig little while ago, and still have an original manufacturer’s warranty. I hope this problem could be resolved without wasting too much time, and will try to update this post on how the whole ordeal goes on.

I'd say that your choice of ammunition might be part of the problem. I've tried S&B ammo (both 9MM Luger and .380ACP) and had numerous problems with failures to extract (not to this extent, but enough that I had to pry the empty out with a range tool). Once you get things squared away, try some Magtech or Fiocchi.

[Hand the same problem with that brand of amm. but was a KEL TECh will not buy that brand ever again. Have a SIG P5238 neat gun

I had to put a wood dowel down the barrel and force the empty case and slide back. Once it gets unstuck will start working. Suggest you know for sure is a fired case, otherwise you may be making toothpicks.

I've inspected the barrel more thouroghly and found a bulge about 1 inch from the muzzle. It looks like a bad Sellier & Ballot ammo caused the problem:

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Called a gunshop where I bought the Sig, and they nicely offered to look at it by their gunsmith... Hope new barrel will do it...

:smt107

You are lucky that didn't kaboom!! Good thing it was only a .380.

If the barrel is bulged it will have to go back to the factory. It may have damaged more than just the barrel.

Also, I would keep that ammo (at least the box). You may need it to help with the claim since it appears that the ammo is the fault.

Sometimes methinks history does indeed have lessons to teach us. I remember when the Japanese first started selling the Honda Civic. It was basically a 4 wheeled motorcycle, using small components that already worked together wherever possible. And Detroit...well, they tried to take big stuff and make it smaller, resulting in all kind of problems. It is similar to RC aircraft, where an exact scale model of a given aircraft will not fly as well once made smaller. A plane designed to mimic the original, but built to fly at the smaller size works much better. So it is with small semi-autos... we are still trying to make something big work in a small package. Perhaps we need to let the Japanese have a go at making a small auto from scratch using ideas from existing iron. The amount of frustration these little contraptions cause seems to call for a new revolutionary design. Have y'all seen the Chiappa Rhino .357? Ugly as Hades but it works as long as you don't get your finger burnt up getting too close to the cylinder gap. :oops: I mean, really, haven't the gun manufacturers had enough time to fix these things so they are as reliable as a good revolver, and therefor, a firearm you can trust your life on? Sorry...drifting, hope you get your P238 sorted out. Once again I see a case of a gun manufacturer using the general public for R@D. You are not the only one having problems by any means. That's why I rarely buy a new design for a couple of years after they have the bugs worked out. Good luck,
Eli

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Originally Posted by EliWolfe

Sometimes methinks history does indeed have lessons to teach us. I remember when the Japanese first started selling the Honda Civic. It was basically a 4 wheeled motorcycle, using small components that already worked together wherever possible. And Detroit...well, they tried to take big stuff and make it smaller, resulting in all kind of problems. It is similar to RC aircraft, where an exact scale model of a given aircraft will not fly as well once made smaller. A plane designed to mimic the original, but built to fly at the smaller size works much better. So it is with small semi-autos... we are still trying to make something big work in a small package. Perhaps we need to let the Japanese have a go at making a small auto from scratch using ideas from existing iron. The amount of frustration these little contraptions cause seems to call for a new revolutionary design. Have y'all seen the Chiappa Rhino .357? Ugly as Hades but it works as long as you don't get your finger burnt up getting too close to the cylinder gap. :oops: I mean, really, haven't the gun manufacturers had enough time to fix these things so they are as reliable as a good revolver, and therefor, a firearm you can trust your life on? Sorry...drifting, hope you get your P238 sorted out. Once again I see a case of a gun manufacturer using the general public for R@D. You are not the only one having problems by any means. That's why I rarely buy a new design for a couple of years after they have the bugs worked out. Good luck,
Eli

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Umm, you may want to go back and read the thread again. It's an ammo problem, most likely no powder (at least not enough) that has caused this.

I am not standing up for the 238. There have been some problems with this model, but this is not one of them.

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Originally Posted by dosborn

Umm, you may want to go back and read the thread again. It's an ammo problem, most likely no powder (at least not enough) that has caused this.

I am not standing up for the 238. There have been some problems with this model, but this is not one of them.

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QUOTE "My Sig P238 has been a decent shooter, but never 100% reliable".

This is the line I was reacting to. No biggy. Best of luck with your 238! Ummm...do the Japs make a high tech .380 round? :oops:
Eli :buttkick:

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Originally Posted by EliWolfe

QUOTE "My Sig P238 has been a decent shooter, but never 100% reliable".

This is the line I was reacting to. No biggy. Best of luck with your 238! Ummm...do the Japs make a high tech .380 round? :oops:
Eli :buttkick:

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It's all good! The OP didn't mention shooting any other ammo than what caused the problem, so I hate to dis his 238 until he gets reliable ammo and more rounds down range (if he doesn't end up with a new gun). I don't disagree with their issues but not ALL of them are bad. There are happy 238 owners that have no problems.

knick, how many rounds had you fired (total since you bought it) before you had this problem? Did you buy it new?

Right out of box (still in factory oil) the Sig was jamming like crazy... we're talking 3-4 rounds per mag... So, after cleaning and just adding a bit of lube worked fine, but as I said not 100%... I'd still get 1-2 jams once in a while, which I'd attribute to the ammo fired, limp wristing who knows what else...

Before the problem occured I probably had 400+ rounds fired of Blazer, Fiocci but never Sellier & Ballot which I wouldn't recommend to anybody...

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Originally Posted by knick

Right out of box (still in factory oil) the Sig was jamming like crazy... we're talking 3-4 rounds per mag... So, after cleaning and just adding a bit of lube worked fine, but as I said not 100%... I'd still get 1-2 jams once in a while, which I'd attribute to the ammo fired, limp wristing who knows what else...

Before the problem occured I probably had 400+ rounds fired of Blazer, Fiocci but never Sellier & Ballot which I wouldn't recommend to anybody...

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Having not cleaned it before the first shots is why you had the initial problems, which is confirmed by it shooting better after a cleaning/lube. However, after 400 rounds I think it's past the break in period so it shouldn't have any issues.

Good luck, and please keep us updated.

Some one said after oct or nov 2010 updated sig P238 came in a black box. The box color is after the Sig 238 problems were fixed in the updated model.

No idea if this is true or not. Read somewhere on a forum.

Would like to know myself if this is true.

I took the Sig P238 to the gunshop last weekend... They had similar cases before, so the procedure is standard: contact ammo manufacturer (S&B), once they agree to pay, mail pistol to a gun manufacturer(SIG), S&B will either provide Sig with the payment or reimburse buyer.

Supposed to take weeks...

thats interesting. Keep us informed. I use that ammo all the time in all my sigs ( and non sigs ) and never had a problem. Ive had problems with other ammo in my other guns but never one issue with any of my sigs. Might have to switch off this ammo though...

I would hesitate to put a picture of my gun leaking oil. Maybe you need to change the pan gasket. Really there is not one single reason to have a pistol with that much grease.

Do not respond with "it requires grease", I know that; but, not to the point as in this picture. Most gun grease will NOT bleed at all.......what type is this?????

NO gun is 100% reliable!

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Originally Posted by rumaco

I would hesitate to put a picture of my gun leaking oil. Maybe you need to change the pan gasket. Really there is not one single reason to have a pistol with that much grease.

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The OP says in the first post that the rangemaster applied some oil to the gun in an effort to free the stuck brass. As under the circumstances it was not possible to field strip the pistol, no doubt he applied the oil to the out side of the gun.