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Took my wife to the range today to fire her sig p238. This is a brand new gun, and only our second time out. The first time she shot 50 rounds (she is a new shooter) and had a couple FTE but I brushed them off as limp wrist and her just not gripping well. We went back out today and she shot another 50, winchester white box 95 grain flat nose FMJ, and was having more issues with FTE especially in the bottom 20 rounds. I went ahead and fired the last few and was getting 1-2 FTE PER MAG!! Bought some 100 grain FMJ from the range which was also flat nose and that FTE every round, I got lucky once or twice and fired 2 rounds before the issue. Also tried a different mag, same issue.

Obviously this is completely unacceptable, has anyone experienced this big of an issue with this sig? I'm definitely calling sig but I want to make sure it isn't something user related. The range master watched me shoot and didn't see any problems but I just thought I would check to see if anyone has any suggestions to what may be happening.

Odd. My 238 has never had any issues. I wonder what the problem is with yours.


edit: grammar.

What does your recoil spring look like?

If it's the old round-wire spring, kind of like a larger version of a ball point pen spring, that is most likely the problem.

The newer springs are a flat-wire spring, sort of like a stretched out Slinky. (Click the link, then move your mouse pointer over the picture.)

I had lots of trouble with FTEs when mine was new a couple of years ago. Even the cases that did eject tended to be severely dented. They changed to the flat-wire spring and that fixed it right up.

If you have the old spring, Sig will send you a new one for free.

Also, the pistol likes to be run wet. instead of lots of oil on the rails, I recommend a dab of synthetic or silicone grease on them.

How exactly is the failure occurring? Is the empty failing to extract from the chamber, stovepiping in the ejection port, or how? What it's doing will go a long way towards figuring it out.

It is the newer flat recoil spring.

As for how it is failing: The spent round fails to extract from the chamber.

Sig has some of the best CS in the market, so call them at (603) 610-3000 and let them know whats going on. They'll make it right, I'm sure of it. This is the busy time of the year, but you will actually speak with a live human. I only know the direct lines to the guys that RnD scopes, so the CS number above is about the best bet.

Hope it helps!

jwine wrote:It is the newer flat recoil spring.

As for how it is failing: The spent round fails to extract from the chamber.

Oh! I read "FTE" as "failure to eject". In your case, it is almost certainly an extractor problem, either broken or not properly adjusted.

I agree with the others. Give Sig a call. They will make it right.

My wife had issues with FTE when her P238 was new and the problem was limp wristing. Having a proper grip on the little gun is critical. Now we've both put maybe 500-600 rounds each through the Sig and found it to be extremely reliable. We did send it back to Sig early on but the issue was the ejector throwing an occasional casing in the shooter's face.

johncanfield wrote:My wife had issues with FTE when her P238 was new and the problem was limp wristing. Having a proper grip on the little gun is critical. Now we've both put maybe 500-600 rounds each through the Sig and found it to be extremely reliable. We did send it back to Sig early on but the issue was the ejector throwing an occasional casing in the shooter's face.

I originally thought the same thing but the gun even has trouble extracting a round when racking the slide manually. I definitely think it is an extractor issue, I'm going to go ahead and give sig a call monday morning and get it taken care of.

jwine wrote:I originally thought the same thing but the gun even has trouble extracting a round when racking the slide manually. I definitely think it is an extractor issue, I'm going to go ahead and give sig a call monday morning and get it taken care of.

Yeah, then it must be an extractor issue. Sig's service is very good, turnaround time will depend on how busy they are. Sig had ours on the way back in about two weeks but unfortunately they sent it to a gun shop in Anchorage Alaska instead of back to me which added an extra couple of weeks to the turnaround time. They sent me a free P238 laser for all of the trouble .

Called Sig this morning, as mentioned they were first class. Didn't give me any hassle and are sending me a prepaid shipping label. Not exactly excited about sending a high priced weapon, brand new at that back to the factory but I'll have to get over that I suppose.

After I here the results I will update this thread incase anyone else has the same issue.

jwine wrote:Called Sig this morning, as mentioned they were first class. Didn't give me any hassle and are sending me a prepaid shipping label. Not exactly excited about sending a high priced weapon, brand new at that back to the factory but I'll have to get over that I suppose.

After I here the results I will update this thread incase anyone else has the same issue.

They will take care of it. Don't be discouraged and don't go sour on the pistol because of this. It happens.

At the range one day, a guy came over and asked me if I knew anything about 1911s. I guess he thought I might because I was shooting one at the time. He had a brand new Springfield that was jamming on every shot. After firing it and seeing that the fired case was literally crushed between the barrel hood and slide, I removed the slide and verified the extractor hook was broken off. I gave him the same advise I gave you... "Call the manufacturer."

I suspect that it frequently happens because someone places a round in the chamber & then drops the slide on it. This will force the extractor over the rim of the case. While SOME external pistols wotj an extractor will do this with no problem, it is a very bad idea with an internal extractor.

Please don't get the idea I'm accusing you of doing that. Flaws can and do happen in metal, including spring steel. I just wanted to make you aware of the issue -- just in case.

PS - Your Sig p238 pistol case will fit nicely in the FedEx medium box. It'll bulge slightly, but it will work just fine. How do I know? I have a P938 that I'll be sending to them tomorrow for other issues.

Pawpaw wrote:

jwine wrote:Called Sig this morning, as mentioned they were first class. Didn't give me any hassle and are sending me a prepaid shipping label. Not exactly excited about sending a high priced weapon, brand new at that back to the factory but I'll have to get over that I suppose.

After I here the results I will update this thread incase anyone else has the same issue.

They will take care of it. Don't be discouraged and don't go sour on the pistol because of this. It happens.

At the range one day, a guy came over and asked me if I knew anything about 1911s. I guess he thought I might because I was shooting one at the time. He had a brand new Springfield that was jamming on every shot. After firing it and seeing that the fired case was literally crushed between the barrel hood and slide, I removed the slide and verified the extractor hook was broken off. I gave him the same advise I gave you... "Call the manufacturer."

I suspect that it frequently happens because someone places a round in the chamber & then drops the slide on it. This will force the extractor over the rim of the case. While SOME external pistols wotj an extractor will do this with no problem, it is a very bad idea with an internal extractor.

Please don't get the idea I'm accusing you of doing that. Flaws can and do happen in metal, including spring steel. I just wanted to make you aware of the issue -- just in case.

PS - Your Sig p238 pistol case will fit nicely in the FedEx medium box. It'll bulge slightly, but it will work just fine. How do I know? I have a P938 that I'll be sending to them tomorrow for other issues.

No hard feelings here, my wife is new to shooting and could have very well made a mistake, as could of I. Or it could be a manufacture issue. It happens, I'm not necessarily mad at sig or anything as long as everything gets cleared up, just a bit stressed.

Thanks for the encouragement!

Spring may be in backwards check the manual.

philip964 wrote:Spring may be in backwards check the manual.

A P238 spring can go in either way. Both ends are the same.