Sig Trailside opinions

[rbuck82]

Hey, everyone.

A friend and I went to the range yesterday and rented a P22. I was skeptical because of all the jam problems I've heard about. Crossed my fingers. Didn't work. Jam. Then more jamming. Jam, jam, jam. We tried four kinds of ammo and had three people shoot it. Still jam, jam, jam.

Anyway, we traded it in for a Sig Trailside. I had heard of them before, but that was really about it. Then I fired it. We shot that thing for an hour with no problems at all. Trigger was great, no jams, and accuracy was impressive. Uh huh, I want one.

I did some searches about it today on here, and it seems TFL members have had a shaky history with this gun, but not so much recently. Wondering if anyone had any comments about their experiences with this gun.

Stop me or convince me!

 

[nyetter]

I have the Competition model. So far as I can tell it's pretty damn accurate, I am definitely its limiting factor.
- The trigger is not what I'd describe as perfect or even excellent, but I've gotten used to it. Larry's guns sells some trigger group parts so you can tweak it out if you like, I suppose.
- Sights are pretty nice. The competition grip is, just as it looks, fantastic.
- The magazines are somewhat flimsy (one of mine is cracked, still works though), and a bit of a pain to load.
- Not safe to dry fire. (my biggest complaint)
- If you use optics you have to remove them to field-strip. But who cleans their .22's anyway?
- Mine is not what I would describe as reliable, mostly feed failures. The magazine design doesn't seem very inherently reliable, compared to my Ruger MkII which almost never jams. If you use hollow points, they may be jammed against the feed ramp and made unusable (happened about 4 or 5 times in 400rds or so with Winchester Xpert).

I'd say, if you just want a plinker, get a Ruger or Browning. But if those just aren't your bag of chips, or you want something a little nicer but not as nice as a S&W M41, or you find a good deal (like I did), grab a Trailside.

 

[NapAttack]

I have one of the Field model Trailsides.

As I understand it the early Trailsides had some problems with the magazines that they corrected later on. The newer magazines have split lips. The first 20 rounds or so through each magazine had some problems with jamming but since then through thousands of rounds, no problems.

I dryfire mine regularly and haven't had any problems. I realize it's not a good idea to dryfire any rimfire because of the possibility of the firing pin striking the edge of the chamber. I haven't had any problems with mine.

I have the 4.5" bbl with fixed sights. It had the black rubber grips which were horrible. Shaped all wrong and didn't fit me at all. I made a new set of grips for it.

See what you mean about scopes. Since mine is a field model I don't use a scope but yeah, you'd have to remove the scope to field strip it.

My trigger is great. Just as smooth as my M46 ("cheap" version of the M41) but a bit heavier. Smooth takeup, "glass rod" break, no creep, very little overtravel. Maybe you need some trigger work nyetter, if it's still under warranty, send it back.

 

[nyetter]

I bought mine used, so I don't know about the warranty. At any rate I've yet to hear of a company that considers "imperfect trigger pull" to be a warrantable defect. At any rate I've gotten used to its pull enough to not care, so it doesn't much matter.

As for dry firing, the manual clearly states not to do it without the supplied chamber plug (which the previous owner of mine lost, and I have yet to order one from Larry's). Some .22's such as Rugers have a firing pin stop pin or other mechanism that makes them safe to dry fire, but I believe the Trailside lacks this, and I personally believe continued dry firing will damage it.

 

[stevesmith7]

My two cents on the Trailside.

I've got a 4 inch target model, fitted with an Ultradot scope.

Shoots better than I can ever hope to, even with cheap Walmart bulk stuff.
Often will not lock open on last round. I'm going to send it in this winter.
I really like the trigger, which you've already experienced.
I think it looks nice, and everyone else doesn't have the same gun.
Kind of expensive for a .22, shop around. I paid $390 for mine LNIB.

Steve