Sig/Hammerli Trailside

I just bought a used one. The barrel weight on this gun is just plastic with no screw in it like I see on YouTube or any other picture of the gun. My guess is the weights with the screw helping to hold this barrel weight on is one people have bought to replace  the plastic one that comes with the gun. Looks like I can get one from Larry's Guns. Just let me know if I am right about this. Or if it is something else.

You're right. Larry's website shows a number of options - steel weights, aluminum weights, for short and long barrel. I have a steel weight on one of my Trailsides and LGI scope mount with red dot on the other. Good stuff.

Thanks

7tcu wrote:I just bought a used one. The barrel weight on this gun is just plastic with no screw in it like I see on YouTube or any other picture of the gun. My guess is the weights with the screw helping to hold this barrel weight on is one people have bought to replace  the plastic one that comes with the gun. Looks like I can get one from Larry's Guns. Just let me know if I am right about this. Or if it is something else.

I think you can get the parts for a better trigger from Larry. If you get a chance to talk to him, he might be able to advise you on upgrades. Several years ago, he was selling an upgraded Trailside. They were super accurate, reliable and very shootable.

I've fired thousands of rounds through my two Trailsides. I only use standard velocity ammunition in them and would not recommend firing high velocity ammo in your Trailside. The only problem I've had was a trigger bar spring that broke in one of them. Be advised there are two styles of trigger bar springs. The "old style", which is a coiled round wire spring and the new style, which is a flat leaf spring. The spring that broke in one of my guns was the new style. Larry's sells a replacement of their own design that is guaranteed. If it breaks, they'll replace it for free.

Thanks for the information. This one has a real good trigger, only has some creep before it breaks. The slide does not want to lock back on the last round very often. I am ordering some new mag springs to see if this helps.

My Trailsides do the same thing. Might be the ammo I normally use. I have seven magazines and haven't noticed that some of them lock the slide back better than others, so I nevrer thought about trying new mag springs. I had eight mags, but one cracked at the back surface, starting at the top edge. Made the mag unuseable. I salvaged the internal parts and tossed the body. Depending on how many came with the gun, you might want to consider ordering one or two spares. I have no idea how often these things crack, but they're probably not going to get any cheaper.

7tcu wrote:Thanks for the information. This one has a real good trigger, only has some creep before it breaks. The slide does not want to lock back on the last round very often. I am ordering some new mag springs to see if this helps.

Although Larry's trigger is not cheap, its not too bad compared to a high end trigger for a 1911 or AR15.
You'll be amazed at the difference from the factory trigger (at least I was).

I'd like to hear about shooting with the weight on the Trailside.  Does it help steady the gun,
as in reduce your wobble, reduce "muzzle flip" or what does it specifically do?  I have a reddot
mount on mine (slide), so I have already increased the weight of the pistol.

Thanks,
Doug

The only reason I am ordering a barrel weight is the plastic end that come with the gun is plastic and held on by a spring holding the piece on by friction and it slips off while firing. The replacement ends have a screw to expand it so it will stay on. I love the light weight of this gun as I have been shooting a S&W 41 and a Walther GSP

The Trail sides are great shooters!
The slide not locking back is a wear thing. I think a new slide is the about the only fix.-not 100% sure on that. -- I just got used to it with mine & put an orange dummy round in the magazine 1st so that would hold the extractor out a little instead of slamming into the notch. -- -

Practicing I'd load 6 - fire five - reload the mag w/ 5 -repeat w/ 5 so I wouldn't be fiddling with the dummy round each time.
at a match of course it'd be orange dummy & 5 rounds. - Worked out OK-got used to the dummy round thing.  - I do the same thing with my old Marvel & I never had the extractor slot wear problem.

Well I have had this Trailside for a while and am not satisfied with it. This thing is pretty much worn out. I am thinking I will just buy a new Xesse and swap the grips and trigger  then sell the trailside for parts. What I am not sure is what barrel length I should get. I don't shot in any competion, just for fun. What do any of you'll think.

For me it would depend on what type sights I planned to use.  If iron sights a longer barrel for better sight radius, if a dot sight then the shorter barrel (perhaps more forgiving).

Does the Trailside have a 2stage trigger ?

Yes it does, it has a gold aluminum trigger, I think from Larry's guns.

I shoot trailside in BE matches. Steel weight helps to reduce muzzle flip and adds stability. I have Ultradot25 mounted and balance is perfect. Larrys gold trigger is a great upgrade from factory plastic one. Mine has been at Larry's once for slide lock back fix. They milled the new notch in the slide instead of a worn one. Flat spring was replaced once too.

The problems I am having is the slide will not lock back on the last shot on any SV rounds but will on rounds with 1200fps velocity. And I am having problems with jamming, as the fired case will not eject all the way and then the next round is trying to go into the chamber at a bad angle which causes the bullet to be bent to one side so it will not go into the chamber.  Before I buy a new one I might try a new magazine.  Not sure that will solve the problem or not.

Try cleaning the chamber also.  If a round doesn't drop into the chamber fully to the rim it's dirty and can cause function problems.

I clean it after every outing, it seems that the magazine is releasing the round too soon, letting the round point up. I have two mags and one of them is so worn it will not hardly hold the rounds down in the mag. The best i can explain is as the next round is being pushed into the chamber, it can not get at the correct angle because the previous brass has not exited all the way and the bolt is jammed partially open, trying to chamber the next round. At that point the lead bullet has been pushed to one side  so it is no longer a straight round and then will not chamber after the jam is cleared. Hope that makes sence.

I would guess that just before the prior owner sold the gun, he/she put in a new recoil spring, which was either slightly strong or one of the heavier springs for shooting HV ammo.  Its a bit tricky to get the spring out - I have dental hooks that I use to pull with - clip a coil or two and put it back.  Repeat until you get lockback.

I've put a ton of rounds through mine, wearing out two magazines, but have never had a failure to lockback that I could blame on the magazine or the slide.

That said, this is all assuming that the slide isn't dragging on the top of your hand.  I assume it isn't based on those grips, but...

ps.  If you end up ordering stuff (like say, a new recoil spring) from Larry's, order the aluminum replacement part for the safety - the factory plastic one is going to break.

I had feeding issues with an Xesse (purchased new in 2014). Plastic magazine lips wore unevenly. New magazines solved the issues.

I also had slide not locking back. Trigger guard broke. Easy to replace.

Again, more modern gun so not sure if my problems are related to yours but thought it might help.

Thanks, I have a new mag coming and mag springs. I also see the mag lips being uneven. I will check all this out and the recoil spring is a good place to start if the new mag does not solve this problem.

New springs and a new mag, showed other problems. The spent round comes out of the chamber but does not eject off the bolt overtime. So I don't know if it id just dirty or needs something new. So I will grand clean it real good and try it again. The bolt does lock back on the last round now.
What makes the spent round eject from the bolt face? I can not figure it out

Lock the slide back and look about 1/4 inch in front of the bolt face (at approx the five o'clock position on the bolt). You'll see a short piece of metal bent inward at a 90 degree angle which contacts the base of the empty as the slide recoils. That's the ejector. I can't see why the ejector would fail to do its job because of a little dirt. I would think the only thing that would keep the ejector from knocking an empty off the bolt face would be if the slide wasn't recoiling far enough. But you say your slide is locking back. The slide can't lock back unless the boltface is behind the ejector. Does your ejection problem occur when the magazine is full or nearly full? Does the problem not occur when fewer rounds are in the mag and on the last round? If so, I would suspect a new magazine spring is causing the problem. The underside of the slide drags across the top round in the mag on recoil. The more rounds in the mag, the greater the upward pressure and the greater the drag. Especially with a new spring that hasn't yet taken a set. If you're firing standard velocity ammo, the drag can be high enough to keep the slide from recoiling far enough for the empties to hit the ejector.

With the new mag this occurs on every round. On an old mag with a new spring, it works OK if you only put in 5 rounds. So the springs just may be some of a problem. I found the ejector, and tried to get it to work with a spent shell and just pulling the slide back, it does not hit the ejector so it must take the blow back to get it to hit the shell.  Thanks

New question, with the magazine loaded, I can hand eject every round by pulling back the bolt except for the last round. The last round just stays hooked to the bolt face. I am wondering if the ejector is worn down and will not touch the ejector except with spring tension from the magazine or is this normal?