Slide to frame fit?

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  • crazybear29

    Plinker
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Oct 20, 2014
    11
    1
    NW Indiana
    Hey all, I guess I'll make this my first post.

    Two general questions (any comments welcome):

    1. How important is slide to frame fit?
    To add some detail, my W. German P226 ('93) has some rattle to it, while my W. German P228 ('94) has absolutely no play to it whatsoever. My other Sigs have some play but do not rattle. Another general trend I've found is that (factory) nickel-plated pistols tend to be a bit looser than non-plated ones. Anyone have any input to this? Would the accuracy be affected at all?

    2. When is it not a good idea to swap slides?
    To add some detail, a while ago due to a somewhat bad idea I swapped the slides of two S&W 41s, and the accuracy went to a 1/2-inch group to almost 2 inches at 10 yards for both pistols. I was shocked that the accuracy could become so much worse since they're fixed barrel pistols, but I guess for models like this there is some custom fitting done?

    Coming back to the Sigs (or Glocks), would changing a slide on other service pistols noticeably change the accuracy? I noticed that changing slides on my Sigs made the slide-to-frame fit a lot looser, but I didn't test that out at the range.

    Thanks in advance for any input.
     

    Sullivan_pbr

    Marksman
    Rating - 100%
    19   0   0
    Aug 17, 2011
    264
    16
    Romney
    I had a stamped slide west German p226 also. It had quite a bit of rattle to it, but shot excellent. Look at your frame rails to see if you have any excessive wear.
     

    Drail

    Master
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Oct 13, 2008
    2,542
    48
    Bloomington
    Slide to frame fit makes very little difference IF the barrel/slide fit is correctly done. The slide,barrel and sights are all mounted on the slide. If the barrel locks into the slide consistently every time the gun goes into battery it will be as accurate as the barrel's rifling will allow. If the barrel is loose then it will be pointing somewhere else every time it locks up and accuracy will suck. With the slide in battery can you detect ANY play at the rear or the front of the barrel? If you can then the barrel fit is limiting the accuracy. There are tons of 1911s around that will rattle when you shake them and yet still print very tight groups on paper. Slide/frame fit is only responsible for about 15% (or less) of the accuracy potential of the gun. But everybody seems to worry about it. Swapping slides on different frames may cause problems (especially on Series 80 guns with a firing pin safety). I wouldn't recommend it. If you want an accurate and safe pistol EVERY part needs to be fitted to that gun.
     
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