Help! Did I Ruin my Sig P238?

Aristides · March 21, 2010, 06:15 PM

Ok, let's get right to the point. I'm an idiot. After my last range visit, I cleaned my Sig P238, and then installed the spring backwards. Didn't realize it until shooting at the range today. It was malfunctioning about every other shot! I was so mad, I was ready to toss the gun in the trash as I left. But on the way home, I started thinking...this gun has been very reliable in my other range sessions. I only remembered one FTE, on the first day of shooting. After that, it's been smooth and reliable. So, why is it suddenly messing up? When I got home, I disassembled the pistol, actually looking for some reason why it wasn't firing correctly. Immediately I saw that the spring was on backwards. The "fat" end was facing rear, and the open end of the spring was hanging over the plunger stop thingy (technical term). The last 1/4 inch of the spring now has a little crimp in it, and seems to be slightly bent out of shape. I can get it to fit back in correctly, but when I take the spring back out again, it seems to hang up just a little bit in the front of the barrel, then it pulls free. So, three questions to you wizards...

1) Do I need a new spring?
2) If so, where can I order a new spring?
3) Have I damaged my gun? I shot about 150-200 rounds today, thinking it must just need more "breaking in", to make it stop malfunctioning. Sheesh, what an idiot. I kept shooting and shooting, with the spring installed backwards...

Did all this shooting damage other parts of my gun?

Edit: While trying to straighten out that last 1/4 inch of spring, where there was a crimp in it, that bent piece just broke off. Should I abstain from firing the gun until I can get a new spring? Or will that little bit of spring not make much difference???

Help???

Jim Watson · March 21, 2010, 06:35 PM

Springs are cheap.
Call Sig
http://www.sigsauer.com/CustomerService/

See if you need the safety catch upgrade
http://www.sigsauer.com/CustomerServ...38upgrade.aspx

The Wolff spring for the Colt Mustang that the P238 is based on might fit but might not. They do not list the P238 separately, too new a model, I guess.
http://www.gunsprings.com/Semi-Auto%...ID1/mID1/dID68

bcrash15 · March 21, 2010, 06:43 PM

Jim Watson provided some good info and helpful links.

The malfunctions were probably because the spring was binding on itself rather than any damage to the rest of the gun, the other parts are probably ok. If it were me I would replace the spring and do some quick function checks and then shooting to check if it is working properly and reliable again. But I would not shoot it with the damage spring. The spring is the original size/shape it is for a reason. Would it fire? Probably, but it's just increasing the chance that something else would get damaged (including yourself).

March 21, 2010, 06:15 PM	#1
Aristides Senior Member Join Date: May 18, 2008 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 352	Help! Did I Ruin my Sig P238? Ok, let's get right to the point. I'm an idiot. After my last range visit, I cleaned my Sig P238, and then installed the spring backwards. Didn't realize it until shooting at the range today. It was malfunctioning about every other shot! I was so mad, I was ready to toss the gun in the trash as I left. But on the way home, I started thinking...this gun has been very reliable in my other range sessions. I only remembered one FTE, on the first day of shooting. After that, it's been smooth and reliable. So, why is it suddenly messing up? When I got home, I disassembled the pistol, actually looking for some reason why it wasn't firing correctly. Immediately I saw that the spring was on backwards. The "fat" end was facing rear, and the open end of the spring was hanging over the plunger stop thingy (technical term). The last 1/4 inch of the spring now has a little crimp in it, and seems to be slightly bent out of shape. I can get it to fit back in correctly, but when I take the spring back out again, it seems to hang up just a little bit in the front of the barrel, then it pulls free. So, three questions to you wizards... 1) Do I need a new spring? 2) If so, where can I order a new spring? 3) Have I damaged my gun? I shot about 150-200 rounds today, thinking it must just need more "breaking in", to make it stop malfunctioning. Sheesh, what an idiot. I kept shooting and shooting, with the spring installed backwards... Did all this shooting damage other parts of my gun? Edit: While trying to straighten out that last 1/4 inch of spring, where there was a crimp in it, that bent piece just broke off. Should I abstain from firing the gun until I can get a new spring? Or will that little bit of spring not make much difference??? Help???

March 21, 2010, 06:35 PM	#2
Jim Watson Senior Member Join Date: October 25, 2001 Location: Alabama Posts: 18,543	Springs are cheap. Call Sig http://www.sigsauer.com/CustomerService/ See if you need the safety catch upgrade http://www.sigsauer.com/CustomerServ...38upgrade.aspx The Wolff spring for the Colt Mustang that the P238 is based on might fit but might not. They do not list the P238 separately, too new a model, I guess. http://www.gunsprings.com/Semi-Auto%...ID1/mID1/dID68

March 21, 2010, 06:43 PM	#3
bcrash15 Senior Member Join Date: April 7, 2007 Posts: 455	Jim Watson provided some good info and helpful links. The malfunctions were probably because the spring was binding on itself rather than any damage to the rest of the gun, the other parts are probably ok. If it were me I would replace the spring and do some quick function checks and then shooting to check if it is working properly and reliable again. But I would not shoot it with the damage spring. The spring is the original size/shape it is for a reason. Would it fire? Probably, but it's just increasing the chance that something else would get damaged (including yourself).