P226 22.cal conversion Ammo selection/issues

Woodsarmoury

Woodsarmoury

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Just looking to get some feedback from others that own this pistol (Sig P226 with 22.cal conversion) I bought mine used, knowing that it could be picky with its ammo. I don't know how many rounds the previous owner had through it, but suspect very few. When I first got the pistol I tried several types of ammo and only CCI mini Mags would cycle through it. Any other ammo created stoppage after stoppage. Mostly FTF.

I now have about two thousand rounds through the pistol (all MiniMags). Im out on the range yesterday and just to see what happens I load up three mags of Federal bulk... and to my amazement all 30 rounds feed and fire perfectly.

My question, was this a freak lucky thing... or does the pistol have a break in period? What have others experienced with this pistol and what ammo do you use?

John
 
My conversion kit has been giving me trouble and not cycling properly.

I only shot it the one time so far, using American Eagle high velocity, and it didn't seem to like that much at all. Of the 10 round mag, it was giving me about 3 malfunctions. Shot perhaps 200 total, one mag full shot perfectly, a few malfunctioned with every shot. Some stovepipes, some failure to cycle completely, some failure to feed, one very odd double feed.

I suspect I'd need higher velocity ammo, as I imagine some of the problems were due to some cartridges having slightly less powder than others.
 
I've only had issues in mine when shooting the Remington golden bullets and thunderbolts. Everything else cycles fine with the odd one not loading properly.
 
Wolfstrack said:
mine shoot everything from Fed bulk, Win 333 to the almighty CCI without hick-ups....only from time to time got some dull rounds in the bulk boxes, but not related to the gun, very happy with my 22LR SIG kit.
I keep it good oiled on the rails and clean properly after every range visit.
Click to expand...

I've had the exact same experience with mine. I used 500rds CCI mini mags as a break in and it shoots every high velocity ammo I've tried so far. I use Winchester 555 exclusively though as I can get boxes for about $20.
 
Woodsarmoury said:
Just looking to get some feedback from others that own this pistol (Sig P226 with 22.cal conversion) I bought mine used, knowing that it could be picky with its ammo. I don't know how many rounds the previous owner had through it, but suspect very few. When I first got the pistol I tried several types of ammo and only CCI mini Mags would cycle through it. Any other ammo created stoppage after stoppage. Mostly FTF.

I now have about two thousand rounds through the pistol (all MiniMags). Im out on the range yesterday and just to see what happens I load up three mags of Federal bulk... and to my amazement all 30 rounds feed and fire perfectly.

My question, was this a freak lucky thing... or does the pistol have a break in period? What have others experienced with this pistol and what ammo do you use?

John
Click to expand...

John,

I think now you can start easing off the CCI to save you some cash. I have the same kit on my P220 and strictly run the MiniMags or AR Tactical rounds from CCI through it. I am going to start using some cheaper ammo like yourself and see if it will begin to eat it. Lets see how that works out :)
 
If you get lots of FTF's, check the firing pin, it may have dry fired too many times.

By they way, my P226 with .22LR kit runs great with almost any ammo
 
Sorry by "FTF" I meant fail to feed. The rounds basically get pushed half-way into the chamber and then jam.

Basically everyone is saying I should try the cheaper ammo. I also started using slide-glide on the rails.

AWOL said:
If you get lots of FTF's, check the firing pin, it may have dry fired too many times.

By they way, my P226 with .22LR kit runs great with almost any ammo
Click to expand...
 
Im going to the range Monday and will try some Fed Bulk and maybe some others and report back.

thenewbieglockguy said:
John,

I think now you can start easing off the CCI to save you some cash. I have the same kit on my P220 and strictly run the MiniMags or AR Tactical rounds from CCI through it. I am going to start using some cheaper ammo like yourself and see if it will begin to eat it. Lets see how that works out :)
Click to expand...
 
The one i have had a lot of fail to feeds(the round would nose dive into the top of the chamber) with cci mini mags.... Took it home gave it a real good cleaning, haven't made it back to the range yet to see if that was the issue or not.
 
People should get away from using FTF, which could mean Failure to Fire or Feed, and FTE, Extract or Eject, without actually clarifying which one they mean.

There are several categories of problems that tend to happen with semi automatic .22s:

One is projectile shape, either round or hollow point, the latter having a greater tendency to hang up somewhere between the magazine and the chamber. Related to that is bullet tolerances, where target competitors will use forming dies to re-shape the tips for better performance and consistency, and seating, where particularly in bulk packs you find many bullets loose on the casings.

Another is the outer composition, either copper plated/washed or plain lead. Related is the lubricant on lead rounds, which can be waxy or more slick at room temperature. Expensive target ammunition can have synthetic lubricant.

And last is velocity, or more properly recoil energy for cycling the gun, but mostly correlated to that number. There are four classes: sub-sonic/quiet (200-300 m/s) including shorts, standard (350m/s), high velocity (375-400 m/s), and hyper (~450+ m/s). Target cartridges tend to be of the lower two classes, the cheapie bulk packs of the middle two, and the best for cycling semis of the higher two.

So if you're using cheap bulk pack standard velocity lead hollow points with stiff lubrication from the Wal*Mart ammo case, that's pretty much a guarantee of poor semi performance. Move up from a 6¢ round to an 8¢ one and see if the problems disappear.

I had a different problem with my Sig .22LR conversion, which was tight fitting of the barrel lug. Once that was sorted out, it runs absolutely great with anything I've tried, with minimal break-in necessary.
 
mine has over 3000 rounds works well with 38-40 grain plated or lead ammo

when it was young, has same issues. Things need to work themselves in, feed ramp can always use a polish (goes for many guns), any resistance and binding or fouling and things can start to hang up pretty easy with the .22 LR
 
Bought mine new and I've shot about 500 rds of cci mini mags through mine and have had 0 failures. Took everyone's advice on here about using cci's to break a .22 in. I've got a box of Federal Blue waiting for when I'm out of anther 300 mini mags. Hopefully it'll be a smooth transition.
 
Stick to HIGH or HYPER velocity ammo.
CCI ammo works well.

Clean every 500 rounds.
Do not over lube, only lube the rails!
If you lube anywhere else, it will spunk up fast!
Hand fap the slide a few hundered times to smooth it out.

Polish chamber and feed ramp.
Avoid dry firing, it will peen the chamber!
If chamber face is peened, debur and polish.
You can use a round to do a feed test, drop round in and if it falls in and out freely you are good to go.
If it sticks, polish her hole more.

Make sure magazine is clean, .22 ammo is dirty and will funk up the follower over time.

Use quality ammo, keep her clean, dont limp wrist her and she will bang a long time.
 
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I have had mine for a while. It acts as tough as it does in 9MM - it will eat anything I put up the pipe. For the purpose of accuracy, I have always found CCI Blazers to work the best.
 
Good advise, thanks.

That said, don't get me wrong the pistol has been great with the CCI MiniMags and I'm happy with it. Based on what people are saying I will try some of the bulk ammo and report back. Its my hope that I can get away with using some sligtly cheaper ammo that I use in my other .22.

twyeh said:
Stick to HIGH or HYPER velocity ammo.
CCI ammo works well.

Clean every 500 rounds.
Do not over lube, only lube the rails!
If you lube anywhere else, it will spunk up fast!
Hand fap the slide a few hundered times to smooth it out.

Polish chamber and feed ramp.
Avoid dry firing, it will peen the chamber!
If chamber face is peened, debur and polish.
You can use a round to do a feed test, drop round in and if it falls in and out freely you are good to go.
If it sticks, polish her hole more.

Make sure magazine is clean, .22 ammo is dirty and will funk up the follower over time.

Use quality ammo, keep her clean, dont limp wrist her and she will bang a long time.
Click to expand...
 
It was already mentioned before but polishing the chamber and feeding ramp is the key. After I polished the ramp and chamber my conversion kit would eat anything. I do notice FTE's after around 400 rounds. I just run a cleaning rod through and is good to go again.
 
Was on the range yesterday. There was a marked improvement with the cheaper ammo. Went through about 200 rounds of Federal-copper plated with only a couple of fail-to-feeds. Not bad I guess. Will keep the feed-ramp and bore clean and stick with the cheaper ammo.
 
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