'Slide Locking Problem'
My first two shots went fine, but then after that, each and every shot started locking the slide back, so I had to release it using the slide release lever. After about five shots of this happening, I switched magazines, thinking it was something wrong with the magazine. But the same thing happened again with the other magazine, confirming that it was likely due to the gun itself.
Take note that this did not happen during my first shooting session a couple of months ago. About the only difference in between shooting sessions, was the fact that I tried to clean the gun thoroughly after the first session. I was then starting to suspect it was something to do with when I disassembled the gun.
I showed it to the Range Officer, and his first comment was the gun looked "dry", so he put some oil along the slide rails. The first two shots went fine, but the problem re-occured on the next shots.
It was then that we showed it to the Range's Resident Gunsmith. After disassembling it, and twiddling with it for a couple of minutes, he commented that the slide lever assembly looked too loose, and that there likely was a spring around it to keep it from moving freely around.
I had partially disassembled the gun just right before shooting it again, and a colleague said he thought he saw something small drop out of the gun at that time. We looked again, and found a tiny compression spring. It turns out, that the spring was the one that kept the slide lever from locking the slide, unless the magazine was empty. Below is the picture for that particular spring:
In summary, this is what probably happened: When I disassembled the P250's trigger mechanism, the slide lever spring came loose somehow, but stayed in place. When I disassembled the slide from the gun later, the spring came completely loose, and dropped to the floor.
So a point of caution for other SIG owners out there, just in case you are as "adventurous" as I am in disassembling your gun.
Good thing we found that spring, or else it would've been a major headache finding somebody who sells it locally.
'Branded FMJs/HPs, and Reloaded LRNs'
I initially shot about fifty Armscor Full Metal Jackets (FMJs) and Talisman Hollowpoint rounds, both 124 grains bullet weight, at a target 15 meters away. Most of the shots were in the A and B zones, but the grouping was not really as tight as I wanted it to be. There was only about one misfire for the fifty rounds, which fired successfully after the second hammer strike.
I next shot a hundred reloaded Lead Round Nose (LRN) rounds at the same target, these were also 124 grains in bullet weight. Smoke was excessive, as expected, just like those (now rare, but still there) EDSA smoke belching buses. Good thing the range was open, and not enclosed.
Misfires were excessive, easily two to three per magazine, or about 15-20% misfire rate. Again, this was sort of expected, given the harder primers being used on these types of rounds. Most fired upon the second strike, but some took three, or even four strikes to fire, which is highly disconcerting.
But the most surprising thing for me about the reloads, was the accuracy. I nearly fell out of my chair when I saw they were grouping better than the Armscor or Talisman rounds!!! See pic below for reference. The taped shots were from the Armscor and Talisman rounds, while the non-taped shots were mostly from the reloaded rounds (except for the seven .45 shots on the left side of the target).
'Summary'
I was lucky about that slide lever spring. If we had not found it, I would've ended up with a problematic gun.
I was not really sure about keeping this gun after the disappointing accuracy with the branded rounds, I thought my poor trigger control with the DAO trigger was the cause for the dispersed grouping. However, it has proved its worth with the reloaded rounds, showing that with the proper rounds, this gun will give decent accuracy.
There's still the problem with the misfires, but with the branded rounds with better primers, this can be brought down to tolerable levels.
As for jams, stovepipes or related issues, I have not experienced any with the unit so far.
(End of Part Two)
--> My SIG P250 Review Part One
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