Today I shot 200 rounds of Federal .40 S&W, 180 gr, MFJ. There were about 2 or 3 misfeeds per 14 round mag. That seems excessive to me and I wonder if there is something I can do to reduce the frequency.

I'm not sure what is causing the problem, but I suspect the ammo just does not have enough of a powder charge to operate the slide. Could there be something else?

I don't want to shoot some 40 or 50 cent a shot ammo. I would like to continue using the Federal because I can buy it at $23.00/hundred.

I've looked around and see that the standard recoil spring in the Sigma is rated at 17 lb, but there is a 15 lb spring available from Wolff. Would that cure the problem?

I just shot a box of those last weekend with no problem. You could have a couple problems like a rough feed ramp or limp wristing.

i don't think a reduced weight recoil spring is the answer. If you use one of those you may experience greater feel recoil. Which would create delayed target engagement. Also causes the slide to hit the stops with greater force. Which could cause the ears on the frame to break or the slide lock to engage.


So take a look at the feed ramp it could use a good polishing.

I polished the heck out of the feed ramp before today. I used a dremel and medium paste then jewelers rouge and it has a mirror finish.

I wonder it the original recoil spring could be defective or have a higher than normal weight rating? No one else I've talked to has had anything like the misfeed rate I'm seeing.

Could the magazines have some impact? The springs in those are really stout.

P.S What is limp wristing?

Unless you try other ammo you haven't really pinpointed your problem. Be a sport and spend a few more dollars for a box.

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_It was love at first shot_

limp wristing is holding the pistol a little loose so it moves just a little when you fire - this can cause your feed problems as both the slide & frame move effectively reducing the amount of recoil available to operate slide. so dont hold too loose or too tightly

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Steve

Hmm, maybe that is the problem. I use both hands, but do not keep a tight grip and the gun does buck up and back with every shot. I'll work on that next time.

Heres a little trick that works...

When you grasp the grip in your strong hand, seat the web of your hand firmly into the grip. Keep the weapon aligned with your forearm.

A firm grip with equal pressure and alignment is really what you want,then bring your support hand into position.

Try it...you might be surprised.

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Take your time..quickly.

I'll give that a try. It's been 32 years since I fired a gun so I'm a little rusty and not quite as steady as I once was. I'm just beginning to remember how much I like shooting and I think I need a lot of practice.

It could be the ammo, but I didn't have a problem with the federals. I have used reloads, federals, gold dots, Ga arms 165 JHP's and 95% of the time is Georgia Arms 165 fmj. All with 0 malfunctions or jams. Have I been lucky? Maybe so, but Sigmas don't seem to be to picky on ammo.

Just an update. I fired about 100 rounds of the Federal today and I'm still getting misfeeds at the rate of about 2 per magazine. I took special care to make sure my arm and wrist were stiff and didn't seem to make any difference.

I did notice there are drag marks on the barrel lug just in front of the "40 S&W" engraving. I attached a photo. The mark is a nice shiny spot about 1/4"W X 1/2" long.

Is this normal and could it be causing the misfeed problem?

Attached Images

S_W slide.jpg (58.9 KB, 161 views)

Have you tried a different brand of ammunition? There is a thread here with someone having the same issues with the SD40VE and they resolved themselves (so far) by changing ammunition.

That drag mark is normal. You still haven't tried different ammo yet.

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_It was love at first shot_

Are these misfeeds the same number round in the mag. I have 1 mag that will not feed the 3rd round from empty. Seems to nosedive.

I haven't noticed if it's mag related or not. That's something I didn't think about. I did take both mags apart and clean them and the springs.

I'll try some different ammo tomorrow, but the gun should handle just about any brand or type. At least that is what I'm reading from others that have the sw40ve. If mine won't handle the same ammo as others are shooting something must be wrong besides the ammo; at least that's my theory, but I could be wrong.

Here are a few things you can try:

Check to see if it's the magazine by marking your mags and noting which one or ones are being used when you have the stoppages. If it only happens with one mag, then that mag is your problem. If it happens with several different OEM mags, then something else is probably the problem.

Check to see if your technique(grip and stance) is causing the problem by having a very experienced and highly competent handgun shooter, preferably an instructor, fire the weapon to see if he/she experiences the same thing as you did, and have him/her watch you fire the weapon. Just about every shooter can benefit from some quality coaching and feedback. Use the instructor's feedback to improve the quality of your practice sessions; this will help you improve faster.

Make sure the gun is clean and properly lubricated. Make sure the magazines (inside and out) are clean and dry. Dry/dirty guns are more likely to have stoppages than clean lubed guns. Make sure the mags are properly assembled and that the followers freely go up and down without catching on anything.

Try different ammo, as suggested by others, but if the gun is failing to function with Federal 180 gr FMJ ammo, then something other than ammo is probably the problem.

How many rds have been fired through the gun? If it's less than 200 or thereabouts, then maybe you just need to fire more rds through it. Semi-auto firearms typically function better/smoother after a break-in period of a few hundred rds. If the gun has had several thousand rds through it (or if you don't know the round count), then maybe it's time to change some springs starting with the recoil spring and magazine springs. If you do change any springs I recommend sticking with OEM springs.

If none of these things fix the problem, then most likely the gun needs to take a trip to S&W for them to fix it.

I'm just curious if you had the same problems before the dremel work?

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KMAG YOYO

Un-Freakin believable you can actually post a decent question in this section.


I too would like to know the answer though.

A little grease on that rub mark on the barrel hood can't hurt.

Make sure your thumbs aren't pushing up on slide lock causing drag.

Good Luck

Yes, in fact that's why I polished the feed slide. Several people suggested that a rough feed slide might be causing the problem.

Here's a couple more things to do.

1. Clean mags. Use something like CLP Breakfree spray the inside of mags, cycle the spring several times, spray some brake cleaner to get all the junk out, then use a light amount of oil to keep the mag lubed.

2. Barrel inspection. Inspect the roof of the chamber for any imperfections, copper, lead, dents, or nicks.

3. Inspect recoil spring. Make sure spring isn't broke.

4. Change ammo. It doesn't have to be high dollar stuff just different from what you have now.

stev32k- I had feeding problems with a pistol years ago and tried all the fixes including ramp work and all it would every shot reliably was hardballs. I've had an interest in these types of malfunctions ever since. Good luck

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KMAG YOYO

Now it's getting interesting. I bought a box of Winchester, WinClean, 180 gr, fmj. The first full mag fired without a misfeed. The second shot of the second mag locked the gun up when the recoil spring guide rod came half way out. The guide rod was sticking out of the end of the gun and a live round was jammed against the feed ramp. Oh great, I like to never got that cleared.

The guide rod is plastic so I thought it must have melted or got hot enough to deform, but it showed no sign of either and it wasn't warm to the touch. I didn't think it was a good idea to shoot anymore so I packed up.

As I was leaving I told the owner of the gun shop & range what had happened and he said that was not the first time he had seen that. Some of his rental glocks had done that in the past. His recommendation was to replace the plastic guide rod with a metal rod.

When I got home I called S&W customer service and they are sending me a pre-paid shipping label to send it back for repair.
The guy I talked to didn't seem surprised when I told him what happened.

I decided to give it another try - hoping the guide rod does not come out again (it didn't). I shot 100 rounds of the winchester WinClean 165 gr. fmj without a single misfeed.

I then loaded two mags with the Federal 180 gr fmj and promptly got two misfeeds in the first mag and three in the second ***!

The Winchester bullet has more of a taper than the Federal which is almost bull nosed. That has to be the difference. It makes me think the feed ramp angle is off just a little. With just a little more down angle on the ramp I believe the federals would load as well as the Winchester rounds.

It will be going back to S&W for repair not only for the guide rod, but the gun should handle all .40 ammo especially a well known brand like Federal.

What do you think it is?

Here's a follow up. I got the gun back from S&W today. The report sheet that came with it said they had modified the barrel and replaced the extractor.

The barrel modifications are two very small champers on the leading edge of the feed ramp and another where the feed ramp intersects the chamber. It looks like they took one quick pass with a dremel grinding wheel in each location.

The report didn't say so, but I can tell they also replaced the recoil spring guide rod. The plastic end of the old one was scared and marked up - it's now unmarked and has no ridges or cuts like the old.

I'll go to the range tomorrow and see how it works.

That's good to hear. See if you could post pics of their work. Also, from personal experience, don't use anything other than a factory guide rod... found out the hard way.

Regards

I fired 150 rounds of the federal 180 gr fmj that was giving me problems before and didn't have a single incident. Guess they fixed the problem (I hope).

Here are a couple of shots to show the barrel work. The camera does not pick up the grinding marks that I can see with a 5X lens. The leading edge of the feed ramp is thinner in the middle than it was. The champer at the inlet to the chamber is more pronounced - looks like they removed more metal. Hope you can make out the work.

Attached Images

	BARREL 1.jpg (65.4 KB, 117 views)
	BARREL 2.jpg (76.9 KB, 109 views)

Out of curiosity, what was the turn-around time with S&W from the time you sent it off to when you got it back? Glad they got it fixed up for ya!

It was two weeks. I sent it to them on Sept 25, they received it on the 27th. FedEx delivered it to me on Oct. 10.

I had FTF probs with mine like the bullets were to big and sent it in and they replaced the barrel id just send it in and let Smith fix it. Got it back in under 2 weeks and works like a champ.