new handgun owner, got Q's

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chuwee81

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Hi there folks, just got a new handgun saturday. I have been shooting a 10/22 for years now but finally decided to get a handgun (wifey got robbed outside her parents' house coming home from work). So the day came when i was reading Academy catalog in the bathroom, and found out about the SW rebate and 2 free mags for their semi autos. Needless to say, i tried to talk to the wife and she agreed to have a self defense "tool". I also had a $75 Academy GC. So upon playing with the calculator, i would pay just $199 AND get 2 extra mags worth about $35-40.00 each if i were to get the Sigma 9mm. So i went for it.

Why the Sigma, the deal goes for M&P too ? Well, no 1: cost - and because it will be our first handgun. she never shot one in her life. I shot some of my pastor's collection ONCE only waay back when. So 2 shooters will go through a lot of rounds in order to be proficient with it (use and abuse). Also its simple design (DAO, no external safety) means she could pick up the gun and shoot it when SHTF.

First Impression:
1. I haven't gone to the range yet but i did dry fired it considerably (pencil and rubber band). I found out that squeezing the trigger slowly so as not to expect the striker hit, found to be quite OK. not great and you need to be commited to pull the trigger as well. I can't compare it to any gun as of now but my friend said the trigger was not bad at all too. If anything i read about how Glock trigger spring can be fit in there and also about some DIY trigger mod.
2. After playing with the slide, the exposed chamber (front of the square looking thing) that goes under the slide upon recoil showed some wear. Can't imagine normal use with live ammo would do.
3. plastic guide rod ?? hope it'll last. if not i read that metal Glock guide rod would fit too.
4. OK sights, hope it's dialed in.
5. Everything else feels solid, i like the grip angle as well. top heavy with empty or w/out mag but feels balanced with full mag.

My questions are :
1. Do you "condition" your barrel. With a new rifle or barrel, riflemen do this to achieve maximum accuracy. What about handguns ? I could hear some of the arguments being rifles are for precision while handguns are for close distance engagements and not necessary to be surgically accurate. Well, I still like to hear what you guys think and if you guys do have a method for this, please share.
2. When the manufacturer said they "tested" the gun, how many rounds were fired because the barrel is dirty? i got the empty brass case as well.
3. Gunblast author tested the sigma with a +p ammo. Manual didn't say anything about the sigma model. It only says not to use +p+ ammo. I read somewhere that the sigma won't handle +p ammos ????
4. It feeds WWB flawlessly hand-cycled, but if you slowly let the slide return full forward, the round will jam. Is that normal? when you just rack it, it feeds fine.

Sorry for the long post, I posted this in the other forum but didnt get technical answers.Thanks in advance.
 
1. Some guns require a break in period, especially older designs. I don't know if the sigma needs one.

2. No clue

3. Don't shoot too much +p and you'll be fine. This is mostly a function of spring strength in modern pistols.

4. A slide is designed to cycle at maximum speed, slowing it down too much often will cause a misfeed. Be careful about shooting the rounds that you hand cycle more than a couple times, a set back round blowing up would be a poor start in your handgun ownership.
 
1. i've never heard of conditioning a pistol barrel, so i think it should be good to go out of the box once you have cleaned the factory grease off of it and lubed it up
2. different manufactures fire different numbers of rounds through gun. some manufactures will only fire a single round to make sure the gun works (many of the more inexpensive guns) while others will sometimes fire as many as 50 to test for accuracy (such as with some custom 1911s)
3. i don't think +p is a problem with the sigma but it will wear a gun out faster. you can change the recoil spring out for a stiffer one to handle +p rounds a little better
4. don't ride the slide forward with your hand. this will cause a failure to feed in almost any pistol. when you rack it, just let it snap back into place. also, like lawofthirds mentioned, cycling rounds too many times can be dangerous because of bullet setback and the high pressures that it causes.
 
wow, thx guys. I'll be more careful with the slide and manual feeding. Now if i can only find that bullet in my pile of ammo.....

i'll go to the range tomorrow hopefully.
 
...

Congrats on the new gun and your upcoming visit to the range..

If you cycle live ammo, what you can do is take the ammo that has been cycled and put it in a small clear plastic container, and then next time you go to the range, just take those and shoot them..

Kinda falls under cycling your HD/SD ammo.. for them JHP's, but can be used and kept in check with FMJ ammo as well..

If in any doubt, just place an unused, new bullet next to any your cycled thru, and check the bullet, itself, in height vs a new one's.. You will see if one has been set back, and if you can see a difference, then ya know, that bullet may be trouble..

Better still, if you wish to dry-fire, and practice cycling as well, buy some "snap-caps" in the same caliber as the gun. They usually come 5 full size, all aluminum, purplish in color, bullet form, and allow you to dry-fire with one chambered so the firing pin hits their hard, yet flexible, primers without worry of shooting the pooch.. or wear on your firing pin and its spring.

And you can practice proper hand cycling, as mentioned, by sling-shoting the slide, pulling it all the way back and then letting it go, and it snaps shut, forcing the next snap-cap, or live ammo, into chamber properly, fully..

Enjoy,


Ls
 
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