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Sig Sauer 938 pistol frame cracked

4K views 26 replies 17 participants last post by  America's Patriot 
#1 ·
Recently bought a sig 938 from someone on Armslist. Looked good, functioned well. Took it apart and cleaned it, reassembled it and did function check. OK. Fired one round in the back yard and it would not function. Disassembled iot and found the trigger was broken at the pin. reassembled it, functioned perfectly.

Contacted Sig Sauer and explained issue. They sent me a FedEx label to ship it back to them. Not under warranty since I had bought it used from Armslist. Bummer!

Just got a call from Sig. Said frame is cracked on the inside at the mag release. Need to replace the frame. $250 not covered by warranty. Sig customer svcs agent said gun was shot out. Said sig 938 only good for 7000 rnds. After that, warranty no good. Bummer!

They said If I replace the frame it will have a new serial number and be a new firearm under warranty. Must go thru FFL for transfer. Bummer.

Never heard of this before. I have bought S&W firearms used and sent them back to them for repair with no charge. Same with Ruger and Mossberg.

This is the pits. The guy even told me not to fire too many hollow points thru it as they were +p and would damage the pistol. Crazy.
 
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#4 ·
Lots of things sound bad or wrong about this story. I am not doubting it happened, just saying, that's a bad policy by SIG and some questionable info from the SIG employee IMO.

For one thing, bullet type (HP vs FMJ) has nothing to do with +P.

For another, is SIG actually saying the original retail buyer gets a warranty but no future owner has a warranty? If so, that's crazy, and pretty close to unique among decent gun brands.
 
#5 ·
jknova; yep. if you go to their website and read their firearms warranty, it specifies limited lifetime to the original owner (but now we know that it really means up to 7000 rnds for pocket pistols). I have been reading on the sig forum and they say that the warranty issue is normal for sig. The 7000 rnd count and the HP +p info is ridiculous.

Not gonna buy another sig.
 
#6 ·
I was a pretty big fan of SIG back when their smallest "P" series was the P230/232, and everything was based on that winning "P" series design.

Beyond that, they kind of turned into Kimber. Not a good thing.

As far as the 7000 round thing, they are probably just playing the odds there. How many who only carry a pocket gun, of any kind, actually shoot 7000 rounds of anything out of them? Let alone, anything +P. ;)

If they are serious, then maybe Kimber secretly bought them out. :D:
 
#8 ·
Sig won't warranty a gun sold from a third party on Armslist, and people are surprised?

LOL.

There has been numbers thrown out about replacing parts at 7,000 but that's all I have ever heard. Springs even sooner than that on many guns. I have replacement parts for all my guns.

Lifetime warranty to original purchaser is common.

Did OP contact the Armslist seller?

The OP needs to check out used guns better, the seller took advantage of him and he is blaming SIG? SMH
 
#10 ·
Here's a free tip: If you want to shoot a lot, steer clear of aluminum or aluminum alloy framed pistols.

Can't fault you pinkerpv as you bought used and the seller probably knew he shot the **** out of the pistol. Or it could have just been defective, who knows.

Also, I should fill out the warranty cards for all the guns I possessed then lost in a fire/ natural disaster.
 
#12 ·
aluminum frame.. enough said.. manufacturers use a weaker material because its easier on the toolings and bits they use and then try to swindle the end user into buying it by marketing the reduction in weight while not mentioning the reduction in strength, durability, and longevity that goes with the material

if you want a pistol to last forever, dont buy aluminum
 
#13 ·
Appreciate everybody's comments.

As I said in my original post I did disassemble the gun and clean it prior to firing. The gun did not look worn out or even fired very much. Could not see any problems with frame or trigger.

The outrage is with myself and the situation and additional cost I am incurring. My fault i know.

Heartlander; I am not a novice at this and have only had one other problem with a gun purchased on Armslist. It was also an internal problem but with the striker plunger safety. Couldn't tell until a detail inspection. It also functioned perfectly at first glance. Sent back to S&W and repaired no charge. Never had a problem with Smith or Ruger repairing a gun and never paid for a repair until now.

Helion is right about the aluminum frame guns. I would not shoot this 938 a lot but only to get familiar enough to carry it once in a while. Main carry fgun is M&P compact 9mm. Lots of rounds thru it. Never a problem.

Anyway, I will update the thread after I receive the gun back and have written Sig and gotten their response.
 
#16 ·
Just so you guys will know.....


Ty D Bowl or however it's spelled works great as a dye penetrant for finding cracks in aluminum, brass and other things

You'll want to use gloves of course, mainly because it'll turn your fingers blue

Comes clean with water

Regular dye penetrant works too, just costs more. Magna flux only works on steel
 
#19 ·
Not that it is proven to be the case in this situation, but it illustrates how easy it is for someone to sell off a used gun that may have issues, sticking an unsuspecting buyer with it. I'm often surprised to hear/see how common it is for people to advocate selling something known to be problematic, defective or just worn out, be it firearms or something else. I've had people "advise" me to do exactly that with guns that needed repair. Can't bring myself to do it.

That being said, more of my guns were bought used than weren't. I don't dread buying a used gun and discovering that it has issues. Of the various guns I've owned that needed to be sent to the manufacturer for repair, only one was bought used.
 
#21 ·
If SIG is only engineering their pistols for 7000 rounds, that would be the best testimony Glock could ever ask for...

My two 1950s era Beretta M1934s have each had more than that put through them since I got them, and who knows how many rounds the Carabinieri ran through them before they were surplussed out?
 
#23 ·
Your 1934's are steel frame .380's, not alloy frame 9mm's. 21,500 max psi vs 38,500. Beretta experimented with alloy frame 1934 .380's after the war, and had problems with frames, although later model .380's like the 70 were alloy. You might also remember that Beretta had their own issues with their full size 9mm alloy frame pistols, sometimes in less than 7000 rounds.

To the OP. Sig's lifetime warranty makes no stipulation as to round count. I am confident they would have replaced the frame or pistol under warranty, unless they could conclusively determine abuse not covered by it. They replaced early 226's with cracked blocks after more than 10 years, including guns used by some of my Swat team members with well over 50K rounds through them. And this before their lifetime warranty.

But you bought a used pistol, not covered by it. You have no real idea of round count, what kind of ammo was fired, or if the crack was even caused by shooting. Which is why many/most companies limit their warranties to original purchasers, trusting that they will be honest in their claims. Many times Sig and other companies will still repair out of warranty guns for PR purposes, you just lucked out there, or they hate you for some reason.

One of the advantages to quality polymer frames is their less susceptibility to cracking. But I am confident with my alloy frame guns, some of which are over 50 years old, and have been shot a lot. I do have a hairline crack in an old Commander, but it still works fine. It just doesn't get shot as much now.

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#24 ·
drobs, yes

HappyinID; as I have said before the 7000 rnd count was limited to pocket guns and even I mentioned to the sig customer rep that 7000 was not mentioned in their warranty. He told me that was the figure they went by. How they could tell is beyond me. He said by the wear and tear and condition of the gun. As I have said before the gun looked fine when I field stripped it. Did not look shot out as he said. This was not my first rodeo with used guns. I am well aware of the possible condition issues. I check the guns as best i can before I buy.

I shot the pistol the other day and it was a little tight on cycling as a new gun would be. So far I am pleased with it. Just a little too much $.
 
#27 ·
You tell them that they don't know how many rounds have been fired through it and if they do not warranty the product, to send it back to you. Tell them you'll then (with the help of many online friends), will go on an internet campaign to have people stop purchasing their firearms. Inform them that most firearms manufacturers have a lifetime warranty and regardless of ownership. Ruger and many other manufacturers will replace/fix defective firearms at no cost (except for shipping). Hell, I purchased a known defective Ruger revolver. I called them and told them I just purchased the pistol and it was faulty. They ate the cost of shipping the pistol and replaced the parts needing replaced... no questions asked.
 
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