Sig Mosquito design problems and fixes

[midnight7734]

Pardon me if I don't take advice from someone that pokes at a feed ramp with a knife blade.

[jboritzki]

@midnight7734 I know what I'm talking about and doing. The knife won't hurt anything. If you don't want my advice then that is fine. A lot of other people appreciate it.

[evansquiddie]

@midnight7734 I might worry about it if it was a several thousand dollar target rifle, but for a .22 beater plinking gun, or a service gun, he's not hurting anything.

[TheFunkmon]

my sig has always worked flawless for me, R u a gunsmith? Use better ammo, do use cheap bulk ammo thats half your problem. Sig test fires 100rds thru every gun before it sends it out. I have a mosquito, 229r , 229sas, and a 220, never ever had one problem. Maybe I am bias because I like the quality of Sigs, you could of sent it into to them before you voided you warrenty. They would of fixed any problem you had.

[nogle90]

Thank you for this video alot of good info. I just purchased a mosquito myself. Now due to this video if it acts up I know what to do to correct it. Thanks.

[jboritzki]

@nogle90 I really appreciate that. Thanks for watching and Merry Christmas.

[darjolu]

Thanks for that information.

[jboritzki]

@darjolu Thanks for watching and commenting. Hope the video helps.

[BRR]

Even Sig can screw up. I have a Sig P228 and it is extremely reliable. There is no reason to do all the things you have done to make your Mosquito work properly if the gun was made right from the start. I have fired a friends Mosquito and it has a terrible gritty trigger. Also the slide is made from zinc and I have heard of many slide failures due to breakage.Some people might like theirs but I think it is a crappy gun.

[wysoft]

I forgot to mention. Another part that requires this treatment is the hammer strut where the hammer spring rides. It also has very sharp edges and a rough face, and will contribute to grittiness of the double-action pull.

Also, you can lighten the trigger just a hair by removing the brass washer that rides on the bottom of the hammer spring. It's not by much, but it seems to help.

[jboritzki]

@wysoft Cool man. Thanks for all the info.

[wysoft]

For the gritty Mosquito trigger, here's what helped mine. Upon disassembly, you'll find that the trigger bar and several other trigger link components appear to be die-cast, and have some very sharp edges to them, as well as a very rough surface face. When the gun is assembled, these contribute to friction in the trigger linkage. Filing down the sharp edges and polishing the faces of the linkage components seems to greatly reduce friction in the linkage and eliminates the gritty feeling.

[belair55zz56]

I never polished my feed ramp used the stiff spring also I've never MiniMags CCI's in mine, Ive used Aguilia, and also Winchester HV HP's that were so old the price was $2.00 for 100. Great gun, After watching the videos I took my Dremel-tool with a small wire wheel and polished the ramp.

[buzzclark]

?Well HELLO!! I finally purchased the Sig Mosquite like I said I would. Hope you remember me. Well I put about 800 rounds (cci mini-mags) over several range trips. It was about 400-600 rounds I started to notice while cleaning there was a buldge in the barrel. On the outside plus inside also - there were definate shadows inside. The Slide release/stop spring fell out also. I sent it to Sig & they replaced the spring and stated on their invoice "reamed the barrel - test fires no problems....

[buzzclark]

@buzzclark.... Anyway, I am surprised at Sig. I expected they would at the very least give me a new barrel. I cannot purchase one anywhere - I have tried. Do you know anywhere I may purchase one? So, to say the very lease I am very unsatisfied with Sig's Customer Service. Yes the gun does shoot - however there is still a noticeable buldge. I would be willing to purchase a new barrel & put it in myself as I have seen it is a drop in job. So, what do you think I should do? THX. Sincerely, JAMES.

[jboritzki]

@buzzclark I would have expected them to replace the barrel too. I don't know of anyplace that sells barrels for them. I can't find replacement barrels for my Sig 522 and I've never seen one for the Mosquito. Personally, if the barrel is still buldged I'd call them and insist on a new barrel. That could be a safety issue so it's not an unreasonable request.

[greatsoutherntrend]

mmm tang

[ChrisCorle01]

ok i would like for some one to explain to me whats the whole story on the springs ive been hearing about needing to be replaced for diffrent rounds?

[jboritzki]

@ChrisCorle01 The gun comes with 2 recoil springs. One spring is stiffer than the other. The stiff spring is for bullets that are higher velocity. The weaker spring are for lower velocity bullets. If you're not sure which spring to use, then start out using the stiff spring. If the gun does not cycle properly or if you cannot feel the slide slam in it's rearward position, then change to the weaker recoil spring. I'd say 1200fps & over use the stiff spring.

[ChrisCorle01]

@jboritzki thank you very much for your help that has been bugging me for awhile

[jpop8807]

@jboritzki I just got mine today I used the stiff spring and still had problems feeding and extracting. I am using minimags they are the fragmentational hollow points 1640 fps. I haven't filed/polished the feed rail yet. But do you think that its cause the rounds i have are hollow points?

[jboritzki]

@jpop8807 I have almost always used hollow point minimags. It did take a few sessions to totally break it in.

[Tigermoon1950]

I had this gun for about a month. Dumped it yesterday. IMO the Mosquito is too finicky. I tried feeding it CCI mini mags only. Still jammed, failed to fire, etc. Not for me. I'm not a Mosquito hater, I just wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

[belair55zz56]

Use good ammo, CCci's work good, I took mine out today no problems.

[buzzclark]

So you never fired the gun. You just polished the ramp before first firing the gun with the knowledge there was a problem. You took out the barrel & then following the ramp degree of vertical climb to match what it was you carried it on far upward into the barrel? Correct? & this solved the feeding problem? Did you do anything to smooth out the gritiness of the trigger pull or anything to lighten it up OR would you say this was an issue that worked itself out over time & rounds fired? THX,JAMES.

[BRR]

I don't know if anyone here mentioned, the slide on the Mosquito is made of zinc. Also sometimes called potmetal. Why would Sig do this? You could not give me one of these. I do have a Sig, a P228 and it has a steel slide and an alloy frame.I have have had it many years and it has no signs of wear.

[jboritzki]

@BRR I'm not sure what it's made of but it's only a .22 so there is not a lot of pressure involved. The slide would have to be light weight so the .22 round could move it and mine has probably 6 or 7 thousand rounds through it and it's fine. I have a Sig SP2022 and the difference in quality is there but this little .22 is a great little firearm for the price.

[RustyGunsM10]

the truth is, your buying a product from a successful brand name company. and its malfunctioning. you shouldnt have to do a fing thing except clean the gun when your done shooting. id send it back if i were you. as it just so happens to be i own one of these and it failed to feed and failed to extract. i sent it back. id rather sig pay the guy 40 a hour to do the work for me for free. they messed up they should pay for it

[jboritzki]

@RustyGunsM10 To be honest, I have always enjoyed working on guns so when I seen this gun and how cool it looked but heard that it had function problems, it just made me want it even more.

[ITSMETHEFLASH]

He needs to jam the Cold Steel Voyager into the feed ramp further for christ sakes!

[CCasket]

Thank you for the review sir.

[jboritzki]

@CCasket Thanks for watching man.

[demmylowther]

Knowing all of this ahead of time,would you still of bought this gun ?Another thing,are you aware of anything that Sig has done to remedy this problem ? I have this gun,my 2nd one.The first one an employee of mine stole it out of my home and left the case aside with all my other guns.I remember that gun jammed until I switched ammo brand.After that it worked fine,BUT,I didn't fire it after that one time at the range.My new Mosquito ,I haven't fired it yet,but remembered your video.Thanx,Howard

[jboritzki]

@demmylowther I would have bought it, even knowing that people were having problems with it. I actually want to get a second one. I hear that if you have problems with it, you can send it to Sig and they'll do something to it, probably a polish job, which is all I did to mine. That and fire it a lot. The CCI will give you the least amount of problems. The Federal bulk pack works great for me with the weaker recoil spring. This gun has a long break-in period. The polish job shortens the break-in

[demmylowther]

@jboritzki I can't wait to get the time to shoot all of my guns.Funny thing is.Before Obama I owned 2 hand guns,after Obama I bought a M2 Benelli S/A 12G,Sig522,S&W AR15/22,Beretta CXStorm,and alot more pistols(18 in all).In weird way,I bet the gunshops&shows love Obama for that reason(The Obama effect").Too bad he couldn't have the same effect on the rest of our economy.Anyway,there are no open gun clubs anywhere around where I live.They all have long waiting lists. Thanx,Howard

[jboritzki]

@demmylowther That's a nice list. I own a 522 Sig and love it. My grandmother has an old farm, mostly wooded that I go to shoot at. lol, the gun shop guys always complain about Obama, but we know they're loving the surge in business. Who wouldn't, right? Double edged sword I guess. Guys like Obama want to take guns away but that fear sells lots of guns. Truth is that if they go away, it'll be slowly and under the guise of "common sense gun laws". We know what their end game is though.

[demmylowther]

@jboritzki Yeah,they wan't all our guns.What,one more liberal judge and it could happen ? They cannot possibly do that so they kill us on taxing ammo.I remember reading an article awhile back where an Australian citizen was talking to us Americans and he stated."Don't ever think it could never happen to you guys,cause if it can happen here in Australia, it can very well happen in the states.Kind of a scary thought.My idea of fixing this country wouldn't be popular but It would work,I think.

[jboritzki]

@demmylowther Yeah, that was a close ruling. 

[titanprincedove]

The cci ammo did it for me. Thanks for the tip.

[infaroot]

yea cci ammo is the way to go

[donthebodyguard]

I FOUND THAT USING A DREMEL POLISH THE FEED RAMP THEN USE BIRCHWOOD CASEYS MOLY LUBE SPRAY FEED RAMP WAIT 5MIN BUFF RAMP PLUG UP CHAMBER OPENING WITH A PATCH SO YOU DONT GET ANY IN CHAMBER.

[horselips]

...and thats why I like quality revolvers. ANY weapon that includes in its operating manual a protocol for clearing jams is automatically disqualifed from consideration for personal protection.

[UCEalini]

Try filing a small narrow ramp onto the top of the inside of the barrel maybe that will help guide the bullet into the barrel more smoothly. I won't gurantee it but its worth a try.

[realagent83]

Does any one know why the new Mosquitos don't have the lubrication hole on the right side of the slide?? Has sig changed anything internally to the new ones and are the new ones better then the old with the hole??

[realagent83]

Does any one know why the new Mosquitos don't have the lubrication hole on the right side of the slide?? Has sig changed anything internally to the new ones and are the new ones better then the old with the hole??

[soldier6665]

good ammo does not work in this pistol ...... i have still had jams with good ammo you just have to get your drills down and remedy the stoppages.

[jboritzki]

@soldier6665 I have no problems with CCI or the Walmart ammo any more. It just takes a lot of break-in I think.

[airsoftloverusp]

DONT FEED THE BABE SHIT AMMO prob solved.

[SigPower4u]

Nice shooting. I have found this gun to be very accurate as well. I'd have to practice to get as good as you are with it. I sent my Mosquito to Sig to be worked on, for some reliability issues. Best thing I ever did. For the very first time, I finally got through 100 rounds of mini-mags with zero problems. Anyone having trouble with their mosquito, send it in to Sig. It comes back a better weapon for sure.

[kfiresmith]

Thanks man. I think this was a great explanation about the oft-reported jams. I'll probably do the same with mine.

[bisleyblackhawk]

I thought about adding a SIG Mosquito to match my SIG 522....but after shooting one and reading reviews...I think I will keep shooting my old standby Browning Buckmark Camper. It don't look "tactical" but it will feed anything and has one of the best triggers on any rimfire I have shot. One thing I may look into is the SIG 220 series offered in .22...check their website for info.

[precision40]

If the chamber fouls, then put ONE drop of oil on the 1st or last round of every other mag. That is a known .22 problem since they are so dirty. No need to take a dremel to any gun. I've done this on every single .22 and have never had any problem.

[jboritzki]

@precision40

I've never tried that. But to me, it's easier for me to do this work to the gun and then not have to oil rounds. I've fixed a lot of pistols over the years that jammed by polishing the feed ramp. Mostly cheaper pistols. The nicer ones usually dont' require anything to be done to them.

[DobermansRock]

@precision40 So you don't believe in gunsmithing. Cool go buy yourself a Highpoint. Because there is no need to have something that can work better.

[buzzclark]

Hello. I wrote before. I heard in another video that it helps make the trigger less gritty by oiling it. Have you ever heard that before? I am still considering the purchase. I live in California & I cannot purchase the Sport Model. I don't know why. But thank you for your help. Sincerely, JAMES.

[jboritzki]

@buzzclark

I'm not sure about oiling the trigger. The trigger on this gun takes some getting use to but after you get use to it, you don't mind it all that much. At least I don't. California gun laws (and most gun laws in the US) are just flat out stupid and make no sense whatsoever. The people that write those stupid laws sure do make sure that any and all small arms are still available for their security an protection. Of course the stupid voter just can't be trusted as they see it.

[buzzclark]

@jboritzki Hello - I am still considering it as a purchase (being that I cannot get another brand model). However, I am thinking & looking into the possibility of giving the Mosquito a "trigger job" to smooth out & lighten up the trigger. Have you ever heard of this happening?? You know the design - do you think that would be possible?? - like polishing metal that rubs against metal?? I'd appreciate your viewpoint. Thank You. Sincerely, JAMES.

[jboritzki]

@buzzclark I've heard that a trigger job can be done but I don't personally know how it's done.

[merrickx]

@buzzclark I live in CA also. It may have something to do with the threaded barrel. Suppressors are obviously illegal but I'm not sure about the threaded barrel.

[gladiesclark]

@merrickx Hello. I visited the Sig Sauer Website & it lists the models which are on the California Approved for Sale List. Threaded barrel models are not on the list. But I still am considering a purchase of the Mosquito. Do you own one?? THX JAMES.

[SavageHmr]

Right now it my favorite gun to shoot ammo so much cheaper than a 9mm or 40 etc.

[SavageHmr]

I finally went threw 500 rounds of federal ammo with out to many problems. I noticed after a few hundred the chamber gets fowled and I run a patch threw and it's good to go.

What I did was wrap some 800 # grit sand paper on a rod and drill and spun it inside the chamber to polish it that helped a lot to.

The Manuel says to break it in with cci but i could not find any so I did it the hard way.

[littlesk8erB3]

USE GOOD AMMO!!!!!

[jboritzki]

@littlesk8erB3

good ammo will make the gun work very good after it is broken in. The work I did to this gun is just like forcing the break in period. If the Mosquito .22lr was something that the police or military had to depend on then the design of the gun would be a lot better, making the gun more reliable. Before and after the gun is broken in though, the main reliability issue is going to be with the ammo.

[ntrudr800]

Thanks. What knife is that?

[jboritzki]

@ntrudr800

It's a Cold Steel Gunsite 2

[ntrudr800]

Cool thanks

[SavageHmr]

Ok got my sig today thew gun shop had no more cci they were out so i bought some rem viper solids. I kept getting FTE failure to eject. I went home and polished the feed ramp got that lip off with the dremal very carefully.I have no feeding issues just ejecting .I will get some cci and give it a try. I love how the gun shoots single action is sweet.

[jboritzki]

@SavageHmr

I would also polish the inside of the chamber. This pistol really does require a break-in period though. If you're patient with it an don't get frustrated right away like a lot of people do, you'll notice it working better over some time. The CCI minimags will really work a lot better than anything else. That is what the gun was designed to shoot. I just love mine. Congrats on your purchase.

[SavageHmr]

I bought one a few days ago .I am doing my 10 day wait right now.

Thanks for the video I hope mine is not to bad if so i will do what you talked about.

[jboritzki]

Let me know how it works for ya. CCI minimags will save you a lot of frustration. That sucks about having to wait 10 days. Here in Indiana they make a phone call and I can walk out with a pistol, or 10 pistols if I could afford them.

[SavageHmr]

Thanks

I am in CA and the lib democrats changed a lot of gun laws.There is still a lot of good people left that are sportsmen and hunters that are putting up a big fight against the dumb laws they keep making,

[krathbun978]

i just bought one and it fires pritty well with the mini mags. But almost every single time the last round will jam kinda like in the mag , the slide will come forward and jam. Also i cannot load a full may of 10 only 7 and under if i load a full 10 every single time when you hit the slide release the slide will jame and not load the first round any clues?

[jboritzki]

If I had to guess (which I do lol) I'd say the gun is not broken in yet. It might take a few hundred rounds before the gun starts to function like it's suppose to. Sounds like too much mag spring tension an/or the feed ramp needs polished. Shooting the gun a lot will sort of polish the feed ramp an any area that a bullet touches. How many rounds have you fired in your Mosquito so far?

[nijuken]

i have shot around 1000 rounds CCI minimags , only one FTE so far.

[Vredh]

I bought a Mosquito (silencer ready) at the Salem, VA. gunshow today, and my God... it's already got problems. It ran 50rnds. of Winchester Super X .22 without a hitch. I get it home and start to really inspect it... PROBLEMS!

The slide release doesn't work. At all. It seems as if there isn't enough spring tension, and the slide release just sits there and wobbles.

Returning it tomorrow. Not the SIG I'm used to.

[jboritzki]

@Vredh

Is this a new gun you bought or a used one? That is a problem I've never heard of. I agree that these Mosquitos are not built like other sigs but then again the Mosquito is only around $300. Sorry to hear that you're having problems. I've fired thousands of rounds through mine and have no problems with the mechanics of the gun at all. Let me know what the store says.

[Vredh]

I bought this NIB from a local dealer. He wouldn't offer my cash back when I called him Monday evening.

BUT... he gave me two options: send the pistol back to SIG and eat the shipping and labor costs, or I could trade the SIG back to him for something of equal or lesser value.

I settled on a standard black Walther P-22plus some cash back for the difference. I had one in the past and it ran flawlessly. We both inspected the Mosquito at his shop, and he is just as irritated as I am.

[wysoft]

buzzclark,

Here's what happened with mine. Bought the Mosquito and tried Federal bulk and Winchester Xpert HV. Neither fed reliably with either spring. CCI Mini-Mags worked every time. So, after about 500 rounds of CCI, I tried the other two again. Winchester Xpert fed and fired flawlessly, while Federal bulk only produced a few FTF out of 100. Definitely needs some work on the trigger though.

[rprinc50]

Really informative. Thanks for making this.

[buzzclark]

Have you heard Sig came out with the .22LR in the 226 version, which according to nutnfancy has very similar characteristics as the 9mm. Well, the Mosquito is a learning platform whereas the 226 LR is a way to shoot inexpensively BUT still develop good characteristics such as muscle memory etc etc. I was interested in purchasing the Mosquito BUT I don't want to use a gunsmith right from the start. Still trying to decide if Mosquio is worth it. Thanks for great info. Sincerely,d JAMES

[jboritzki]

I think the gun works well out of the box with Minimags. It might have a break in period but from what I've heard from Rugersix and other guys, if you just use the minimags you should not have too many problems at all. It might take a few hundred rounds but it should work fine. I have always felt the need to work on and improve things, so I did this work to my gun before I even fired it, and with minimags, there is almost no problems with the gun.

[jtosan]

Nice job. Where did you get the heavier spring, Sig, or does someone else make it?

[jboritzki]

Two recoil springs come with the gun. You can also order extras from Sig

[ToAstYNaChO]

hey man. i got this . we tried to shoot it without cleaning the first time. the first mag went good but after that every rounds shell stayed in the gun. can you tell me if shooting it without cleaning its the problem or the ammo. we used Winchester Super X hollow point. please reply

[jboritzki]

When it's new, you need to break it down, clean and lube it up. I would also get you some CCI minimags and try those. You will see how much better then work in your gun and you will not be as frustrated with the gun. This gun might also have a 'break-in period', meaning you have got to put a fe whundred rounds through it before it starts working fine. This gets the metal to metal surfaces meshed together and moving smoothly. Super X is going to get the gun dirty fast. Use the weak spring 4superX

[DragnKn1ght]

Nice Vid, I believe the previous owner did the feed ramp fix, but not sure if he polished the inside like suggested. I'll give that a shot... I shot about 100rds of winchester 333 today and i have a few of the jams like you mentioned. where the case gets wedged and dented. I got through maybe 20 rounds of winchester xprtHV before it jammed up. CCI Stingers all feed properly for me, about 50 of them, but I had some light strike issues where I just pulled the trigger a 2nd time and it fired.

[willaby1]

Good info. I'm on the fence if to buy this gun or a p22. If I screw up the filing and polishing of the feed ramp and edge is it easy and cheep to replace the barrel with a new one?

[jboritzki]

I Think the barrels for these guns are over $100 to replace them. I would first just try to polish the feed ramp and chamber because that may work for you. minimags from CCI work really well in this gun even without the polishing and filing work. IF you do get this gun and try this work, just go slow. You can always remove more material and polish more, you just can't add material. Going slow is important. I never fired a P22 but they seem to have fewer jamming issues than this gun.

[willaby1]

Side by side with the p22 I picked the Mosquito, also it is a natural step to getting a p226. I pick it up tomorrow (after my Kalif 10 day wait). Can't wait to clean, polish, lube and shoot. I bought a plastic mag and can already see that the first 1 or 2 might ftf because they don't angle up and the edge of the hollow point catches when I push it through.

[buzzclark]

@jboritzki -- Hi. Question-Would just shooting many many mini mags over time accomplish the same thing as your feed ramp polishing?? I am trying to decide which gun to purchase - the Mosquito or 226LR - which according to nutnfancy's review has all the same characteristics as the 9mm version of the 226. I wrote a message below about this before I read your response above. Sorry for repeating. Thx for info. Sincerely,d JAMES.

[buzzclark]

Hi @jboritzki....I just found out that as a California resident I cannot purchase the P226LR. So if I want a sig I will have to go with the Mosquito. So, I guess I will stock up on Mini Mags and just clean it really well and shoot them to break the gun in. I just got thru reading a comment from another vid where this person had nothing but problems with his Mosquito. Everything seemed to go wrong with it. He sent his back. Maybe I should try buckmark. Sincerely, JAMES.

[bradstoner1]

great info keep it up!!

[gimador]

good info bud!!!

[04Kevwilliams]

wow this teaches me a lot about my gun,but most importantly always clean you gun.

[jboritzki]

That's right. A clean gun is a happy gun.