P226 FTE every few hundred rounds.

[Dropkick Murphy]

I took my Wife's new, never been fired, P226 to the range the other day. I put a couple hundred rounds through the gun, but I found that approximatively every 200 rounds (give or take) the ejector was not pulling out the spent casing.

The gun fired normally, the slide went forward, and then backward normally, but the ejector didn't catch the casing, and left it in the barrel. The next round would begin to load, and the new, unpsent round would get jammed on the feed ramp right under the spent casing, causing a failure.

I was shooting Federal Champion, 9mm FMJ 115 gr. The extractor was clean, and didn't looked damaged, or misshapen in anyway.

Is it possible for the extractor to bend the casing in such a way so it doesn't catch when it goes to eject it, or do I have a bad extractor? I figured if I had a bad extractor I would have more FTE, but what the hell do I know.

Any help, or comments would be appreciated. Thanks guys!

[redfsr]

It's possible. I've put several thousand rounds through my 226 but have never had a FTE using remington and speer ammunition. I've read some complaints about the federal champion ammo. There was a thread on another forum where someone noticed the casings were cracked after they were fired. I would start with some different ammo before I would blame the pistol.

[Dropkick Murphy]

I just thought of something. I was shooting left handed drills when the FTE were happening. Is it possible to cause a FTE if you limp wrist?

[StPatrick]

I just thought of something. I was shooting left handed drills when the FTE were happening. Is it possible to cause a FTE if you limp wrist?

Absolutely, you can cause an FTE by limp-wristing. Your grip has to give a strong platform to the gun such that the frame is nearly stationary - this is what allows the slide to travel at a high enough speed to eject a round and feed the next. If your hand moves with the gun during the recoil stroke, you effectively slow the slide's velocity relative to the frame, which can prevent the casing from hitting the ejector with enough force to throw it clear of the gun.

If you're only seeing this issue weak-handed, it's almost certainly due to the nut behind the trigger.

I've had the same issue when going from 9mm to .45 - my grip was weaker than it needed to be to support the heavier recoil of the .45, and caused inconsistent and soft ejections when switching to the bigger caliber without any changes to my grip. I spent a lot of time trying to track down the mechanical issue, and it turned out that it was all me.

[Dropkick Murphy]

Thanks StPatrick! You helped me out tons!

[Magiccarpetrides]

I was gonna say Sigs dont fail....just the operator ;-D Well...at least not the P226, 228, 229, 220, 245...anything thats a classic style lol. Glad you figured out the issue!

[Dropkick Murphy]

I've got a P229, P220, and P226, love them to death. I have just never had a problem limp wristing the gun, until I went over to the left hand, and shot 200 rounds. I guess my hands started getting tired, and my grip got weak. It just didn't occur to me since I shot normally with the right hand. Really appreciate the help guys.