Anyone ever seen this happen???

Sig Sauer Mosquito 22 caliber long rifle slide self destruction...





Pistol in photos above displayed no prior warning nor evidence of any malfunctioning noticed. Simply blew itself apart as pictured above while firing at the indoor range. Weapon had already been in use prior to self destruction. Several clips fired prior to damage. 22 caliber ammo used was CCI brand. Not any reloaded ammo! Factory fresh brand new ammo.

Suspected cause to be metal fatigue.

Gun sent back to manufacturer. Awaiting a response back. Be aware, this weapon is well beyond the one year warranty for it's model. Sig only warranties this model (Mosquito) for one year. Only model they make that is NOT warrantied for life to the original owner.

Intent of the return for warranty repair is to allow Sig an opportunity to examine the damage, determine it's cause and decide if failure is metal fatigue or not...

Also an opportunity to determine if they will or will not fix it free of cost, at a reduced lower cost or not fix it at all.......IE owner myself is S.O.L ......

 

Never heard of such a thing with a .22. Assuming it's an alloy/aluminum slide...there had to be a flaw in the casting.

At least the repair will be free.

 

My thoughts, too. A .22 can't produce the pressures needed to kill one this way, unless there was a flaw.

I went to search, but it must not have been on these forums. A friend sent a series of pix of a S&W mod. 29 .44 mag blown to bits by Chinese loads. I'll see if I can find it. Awesome to know what will happen.

 

Continuation of the mishap...

Once the incident happened, I called for a cease fire on the range so I could obtain the front of the slide. Yes. I can do that. Call a cease firing. Have the authority as a range master...

Soon after wards, the fun & humor side of this mishap matter started.
That's when the negative humorous comments began...YIKES!
Yep. I can dish them out too and very often due, so it's incumbent upon me to get and accept them back...HA HA...

Two of them where noteworthy.

I'm a "HARD-ON" for guns...LOL!...

Gun has a one year or 10,000 round warranty. Gun purchased mid 2008. Therefore, one year warranty long since expired. Must have then fired 10,000 + ONE round....

Side Note:
Those whom know me personally, know all to well I am a very secure person in whom I am. Almost if not totally impossible to offend me. Since I dish it out, Have to be able to take (Grin & Bare It) the comments as well. After the humor and joking comments, range firing resumed....

 

I should think Sig/Sauer would want this weapon for quality control investigation. Warranty be darned. Have you contacted them with the pix?

There HAD to be an air bubble in the casting. Scary, I'm sure.

 

I'll just about bet it would be repaired or replaced. I've had more than a few things like knives and guns that had catastrophic failures taken care of even though they were long out of warranty.

 

I hope pix will show up of this model 629 with Chinese ammo:

 

Larry, I'd like to know the circumstances behind that! That has to be the most blown up gun I've ever seen. Even a double charge shouldn't have done that I wouldn't think. Looks more like a bullet stuck in the barrel from NO charge in one round.

 

Vic.
Yes.
Slide is an alloy/aluminum slide.
I referred to it as being "POT" metal...YIKES! My gunsmith is not only very knowledgeable and personally known, his is also very quick to correct me. It's not pot metal TOM!!! HA HA. It's an alloy! HA HA. OKAY OKAY. I got it!!!...LOL! Alloy. Not POT metal....

Larry.
YES! As noted in first post.
Gun sent back to manufacturer. Awaiting a response back.
I offered no pre warning of the guns arrival back to manufacturer...:NO NO NO:

No request for an return authorization, (RA) no advance phone call notice, no pre warning in an email notice, etc. Nothing. Zero pre-warning. Want them and intended them to discover it un-announced.

Will post back results.


Word to the wise: Avoid cheap ammo and/or imported cheap ammo...

 

Yeah, keep us informed on what they say. Very interesting. I still would call it "pot" metal

Vic, from the written description, the Chinese manufactured cartridges malfunctioned. When the main round went off, it set the two adjacent chambers off and the explosion had nowhere to go, I guess, but up, since the bullet part was jammed against the frame trying to exit.

Both instances are ones that make you shake thinking about it.

 

Larry, I believe that is the scariest revolver I've ever seen

Do you know if the shooter [or anyone else] was injured? ...... or just needed to change his drawers

 

From what I understand a bandaid to the forehead and an underwear change 'bout did it. Luckily for him.

 

The trigger on the Mosquito is %^$#. How did you shoot it enough to fail the slide?

 

Hi: Dane

Good Question...

Trigger pull on the mosquito model is heavy and one of the reasons why I did not like that gun initially. Heavy trigger pulls are on the entire line of hand guns from Sig. However, some polishing and re-surfacing made trigger pull much easier and lighter. Nice to know a gunsmith personally...

But the gun was not intended to be a target gun. Nor a lot of others we all use on a range for target practicing and/or plinking. Thus, for safety the trigger pulls are all heavy. IE hard to pull to release the trigger. However, a model designated "Target" model the trigger pull often much lighter. IE easy to pull and release.

S&W model 22A (Target Model) trigger pull in pounds is about 3-3 1/2 lbs. Sig was OEM 6 1/2-7+ lbs. After trigger job it is 3 1/2 -4.0 lbs. Far better then OEM. Similar brands in 22 Cal's non target models can be as high as 11-12lbs!!! double action autos. In single action 3-4 lbs.

 

I own a few Sigs, this concerns me....

I'm anxiously awaiting their response.

 

Just keeping interest up on this. Tom, have you heard back on this yet? Very interested in seeing what the mfgr has to say.

 

I've sent a rifle to Ruger over three months ago for a new barrel and they still can't even give an idea as to when it will be ready. Pretty poor timing to send a gun in for work. The election then the massacre and resulting fear of new laws has put the gun manufacturers into overtime.

 

Sig update:

Heard nothing back as of yet. Checked the verification for proof of delivery. Nothing there as of yet either...??? I suspect they got it but have yet to acknowledge arrival maybe??? Oh Well! Since it's broken and cannot use it if I had it anyway, have to wait further. No BIG deal.

Some interesting Military Channel video links below.
To past the waiting time away...HA HA HA....

Military Channel: Wars, Weapons, Games, Top Ten Lists

Military Channel: Wars, Weapons, Games, Top Ten Lists

Military Channel: Wars, Weapons, Games, Top Ten Lists

Military Channel: Wars, Weapons, Games, Top Ten Lists

Military Channel: Wars, Weapons, Games, Top Ten Lists

Military Channel: Wars, Weapons, Games, Top Ten Lists

Military Channel: Wars, Weapons, Games, Top Ten Lists

Military Channel: Wars, Weapons, Games, Top Ten Lists

 

If they are anything like Ruger at this time I doubt they have the time to handle a firearm that arrived unannounced and not in their RMA system. They'll eventually get to it...

 

Sig Update:

It's back....

Sent back via ground shipment on Jan 4th. Ca. to New Hampshire.
Back yesterday, 01/17/2013.

Fixed. No questions asked.... Returned no broken additional parts but my gun is all fixed. Slide appears to be a refurbished part but not 100% sure at this point.

Disclosure statement enclosed with returned gun claims test fired 200 rounds and all is well.... Does appear to have been fired for many rounds. Is it fixed? Appears to be. Returned but Not cleaned.... Guessed not cleaned simply so I would know it was tested...

Now that's a positive note for "Good" customer service. Same applied to my S&W target 22. Quick turn around time. No questions asked and no repair costs involved to me, except mailing back to manufacturer, on my part. Sure can't say that about many other non gun product manufacturers.

Reminder Note.
Sig was Long Time passed the one year warranty period. Fixed, no out of pocket expenses to me and returned already...




Date Corrections:
I goofed as noted in another posted reply...
Dates above where transposed....
Now corrected...

 

And they used their time machine mailing system....lol.

Seriously, just over 2 weeks for something, anything to be repaired and returned is pretty darn nice.

Admins Note:
.......
2 off my topic of gun damage......distracting, unrelated, story telling and non beneficial paragraphs have been removed. :bad poster:

 

Great report, Tom. Shows American companies still take care of their people and their things.

Admins Note:
2 unrelated and non beneficial paragraphs have been removed.

 

How a company handles its warranties is a direct reflection of the quality of their product as well as their desire to maintain customer relations. I have always said, you never really know how good a company is until you have a problem. Kudos to Sig!

Bud

 

Final Sig Update:

Gun taken to range several times already. Fired by myself and a few others. Typical day at the range. My personal method to introduce those whom have never fired a hand gun before in their lives got to fire it. Great way to intro newbies to the sport of target shooting, IMO.

Not only did I get EXCELLENT customer service, the gun fired like brand new....
Never malfunctioned not once. Fired well over 500+ rounds already.

Personal Experience:
Sig provides excellent customer service and does so in a timely manner....

 

Sig Mosquitos, like Walther P22s have a cast Zamak slide. Its a mostly zinc allow with a few percent aluminum and copper and a little magnesium. Its benefit is it can easily be precision cast and avoid expensive machining work. Its biggest problem in firearms is lack of fatigue strength, about 1/3 of most aluminum alloys. The only really successful Zamak slide firearms are Hi-points and they get around the strength problem by using a massive slide. And maybe because they are so heavy and clumsy they aren't shot a lot.
The Sigs and Walthers just break and I'd guess that most of them will come apart if shot enough.

I came to hate Zamak by working on boats. Cheap boats use it a lot because chrome plated Zamak looks nice and is much cheaper than stainless steel. But it inevitably corrodes like crazy regardless of the chrome and breaks.