The Down Range Forum

Member Section => Handguns => Topic started by: redgunner on March 13, 2008, 09:50:55 AM

Title: sigsaur mosquito
Post by: redgunner on March 13, 2008, 09:50:55 AM
i bought a new sig mosquito,not long ago, and have had problems from the get go. tried both springs that came with the gun, and remington rounds, winchester, and federal rounds ,all would not cycle in the gun, properly,either in a slow shot or a fast shoot.also the safty does not work, gun fired when on safe, lucky no one was in the road of that bullet! iam going to take back to cabelas, and see if i get satisfaction. thought people should know.
Title: Re: sigsaur mosquito
Post by: Hazcat on March 13, 2008, 09:56:03 AM
i bought a new sig mosquito,not long ago, and have had problems from the get go. tried both springs that came with the gun, and remington rounds, winchester, and federal rounds ,all would not cycle in the gun, properly,either in a slow shot or a fast shoot.also the safty does not work, gun fired when on safe, lucky no one was in the road of that bullet! iam going to take back to cabelas, and see if i get satisfaction. thought people should know.

You're not the first!  I have one.  Safety is fine but same feed problems.  Sent it back to Sig, still no real joy.  Also the slide will unloack with a small tap on the magazine!

True POS!

I made a thread about it some time back.
Title: Re: sigsaur mosquito
Post by: pioneer on March 13, 2008, 03:14:40 PM
My wife bought me a Mosquito for my birthday 3 years ago.  They had just been released on the market and she bought it knowing that SigArms makes good stuff.  I likewise had problems with it right out of the box, mostly feeding and failure to fire.  I tried every kind of ammo I could find, beg, borrow, or steal, but no help there.  I sent it back to Sig, but they said they couldn't duplicate my problems and returned it to me.  I took it to the range and it performed as it had before.  Same problems.

I called the customer service department and got a supervisor on the phone.  (At the time I was working at Leupold, and our tech service crew knows folks on their tech service crew and the secret phone number.)  I complained loudly and forcefully about the P.O.S.  He told me to send it in again, and a week later I got a new replacement pistol.  The replacement pistol functions properly, with none of the symptoms of the first one.  I finally decided that it likes to digest CCI Mini-Mag ammo and it really likes to be clean.  It requires a basic cleaning after about 50 rounds, or so, or it fails to feed.  With the right ammo (for my gun) I was then able to figure out which recoil spring works and which front sight I should use.  Once all of that was figured out, I find it to be a decent little plinker, but that's all.  It is not reliable for hunting, competition, or other serious use.   I'm ever hopeful that with more use, it will loosen up a bit.  Some day it will probably disappear from my safe, when my wife's not looking, and become trading stock for another, more reliable .22 semi-auto pistol. 

I called in to Tom Gresham's Gun Talk radio show one Sunday, and related my Mosquito saga.  Tom shared a bit of his sage wisdom, that we should "Beware of LOW serial numbers."  Sometimes new model guns need the kinks worked out before they start cranking out good guns.      

(http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb294/pioneer461/Guns%20-%20Pistols/Pistols08010.jpg)
Title: Re: sigsaur mosquito
Post by: Bill Stryker on March 13, 2008, 04:42:07 PM
I too have had problems with my Mosquito.

It hates Winchester and Federal ammo. Functions just ok with CCI and Remington Thunderbolts and golden bullets. I would not want to bet the farm on it.

The double action trigger pull is the worst I have ever had. And, the single action pull is not up to SIG's standards on their other guns either.

At this point I would not give mine up yet, but it does get my "don't buy" rating. And, I do not shoot it as often as I would if it worked better.

I used to clean it after every range session. But I put one of SIG's red dot scopes on it so take down is a problem. I use a bore snake to clean it now after every range session, but only break it down about every six months or so.

Micheal Bane

How bout some comments from you on these problems. Have you talked to SIG about them? What do they say?
You gave the Mosquito good comments when you had the rimfire episode of SG. What gives?

Bill
Title: Re: sigsaur mosquito
Post by: tombogan03884 on March 14, 2008, 01:56:34 AM
Tolerances are TO tight. tight tolerances make for great accuracy but crappy reliability, look at the AK, HUGE tolerances but nothing stops them because crud has room to fall through the mechanism instead of jamming something up, and since most .22 are pure blow back operated they are especially dirty, I have to clean my Buck mark after every second box of ammo because the breach area gets so dirty the extractor can not get a grip on the casing to eject the case. I will double check with a Friend in Sig's machine Dept. but I will bet that they use tighter than usual tolerances on the Mosquito to try to improve accuracy.
Title: Re: sigsaur mosquito
Post by: Bill Stryker on March 14, 2008, 10:44:15 AM
Tom,

I will be interested to know what your friend says.

I don't think tolerances are the problem myself. My S&W M41 and Colt Woodsman have eaten all the different .22 rounds I could find with total reliability. My guess is that the S&W tolerances are about the tightest there are.

BTW the Mosquito is not made in the US. Or was not when I bought mine.

I am a qualified SIG Armorer. So when the Mosquito came out I called to get instructions to work on the Mosquito. I was told at the time that they were probably not going to publish them because they wanted the pistol to come back to Epping. They may have changed their minds since. I am due to go back to the SIG school for an armorer course next year when my certification expires. I will for sure be in their face at the NRA Convention in May. I always make a point of talking to them there, because I like my SIGs.
Title: Re: sigsaur mosquito
Post by: Hazcat on March 14, 2008, 10:50:06 AM
Tom,

I sent mine back to Sig.  They reworked it and honestly the slide feels like it's on roller barings, SMOOTH!  But it still won't fire a full mag without a jam of some sort (stove pipe, FTF,FTE,etc.).

On a full (10 round mag) it will jam first or second shot every time.  If I reduce it to 8 rounds then it may or may not.

Real shame.  Feels good in your hand.  Is accurate but is not reliable.  This was for my GF and even if I could get it 100% she'll never shoot it again.
Title: Re: sigsaur mosquito
Post by: addict on March 14, 2008, 08:49:12 PM
Redgunner, if you want a nice DA/SA .22, take a look at the CZ Kadet conversion for the CZ75. I love the full size frame/same trigger for training. They are beautifully milled with good sights. A bit pricey perhaps, but if it works well, out of the box, that is worth alot. Lots of frustrated Walther P22 and  Sig Mosquito owners out there.
Good luck getting that Sig operational.
Addict
Title: Re: sigsaur mosquito
Post by: tombogan03884 on March 14, 2008, 08:58:13 PM
My buddy got fired, no details why but he can be a mouthy SOB so it was probably for mouthing off to some one, you can get away with that sort of thing in smaller companies, for a while, if you are good enough at what you do, but eventually it will bite you.
Title: Re: sigsaur mosquito
Post by: fullautovalmet76 on April 06, 2008, 10:10:00 PM
Hi,
I traded a Ruger Mark III for a Mosquito TB (threaded barrel) before I read the posts in this forum. But it is not all bad. So far I have fired around 150 rounds through it and have mostly good results. I only had a few FTF (feed/fire). I was shooting Federal and Velocitor and the rounds seemed to work well with the gun. I did clean and lubricate the gun before carrying it to the range for the first time.

A friend of mine relayed a suggestion from a service rep at Sig: on right side of the slide, near the rear site is a hole that one can put a small amount of oil and the gun will function just fine. When I got home, I placed some there and it seems to cycle fine, but I am not shooting anything. The real test will be when I go to the range in a few weeks. So stay tuned....

I too am interested in what Michael has to say about the Mosquito.
Title: Re: sigsaur mosquito
Post by: keithm on April 07, 2008, 10:57:59 AM
I'm a die hard Sig guy, but I'm no fan of the mosquito.  Reliability problems plus a comically bad trigger.

Last year I did buy a Walther P22.  I couldn't be happier with that purchase.  It too is ammo finicky, and will only digest CCI with 100% reliability.  But shooting the CCI, I've had range days where I put 600 rounds through that P22 with no failures.  Plus, the gun handles really well.  Points well, shoots well, and is surprisingly accurate for the short barrel (I bought the little one).   I can shoot 1" 10 shot groups with it at 7yds. 

I use it to keep the cost of shooting drills down.  I'll shoot about 3-400 .22 through the Walther, then switch to the P220 or P239 for a hundred or so.

In ammo savings alone, that gun paid for itself in the first month.

Title: Re: sigsaur mosquito
Post by: GuyFawkes2008 on April 08, 2008, 07:07:28 PM
My ladylove got me a Mosquito for Christmas because she's always hearing me say how much I love my 229, with the same results; FTFeed, stovepipes, you name it. Arrrggghhh.. Well, much experimenting and reading on the internet later, and I've gotten it to where it's about as reliable as any other .22 I've ever fired, and a lot of fun.

Surprisingly, like someone else mentioned, overall cleaning isn't the key to the change of performance; the important part is to keep the ramp relatively clean, find the right spring to use, and use a hotter ammo like the CCI Minimags or Federal Auto Match AM-22.

I use a Q-tip with a bit of light gunoil on it and swab the ramp every hundred rounds or so while shooting it to get the crud off and lube it a bit. The Federal AM-22 Auto Match is designed for semi-autos, and works out to be about 2/3 the price of the CCI, and I actually have fewer issues with it. Sorry, but I can't remember off hand which spring is on it; try them both.

I use a Bore-Snake after I'm done shooting for the day and only deep clean it about every 600 rounds or so.
Title: Re: sigsaur mosquito
Post by: Rastus on April 08, 2008, 09:21:58 PM
Man I hate what I'm hearing about the Mosquito.  I've been wanting one of those ever since I saw one on Zen of the 22.  I thought I'd get one of those by justifying size and shape that approximates a centerfire without the centerfire ammo price.   Ya'll are killing me......'course that wouldn't be if you didn't have problems.   Guess I'll have to wait until/if they work the bugs out.
Title: Re: sigsaur mosquito
Post by: Neon Knight Anubis on April 08, 2008, 09:52:28 PM
If Sigs ever going to fix it they're sure as hell taking their sweet time doing it because that gun has been out for a while and people are still complaining about it on Sigforum (occasional lurker). I'd like a mosquito myself, sure I don't expect a 22 pistol to be all that reliable but I don't want to clear consistent jamming either.
Title: Re: Mosquito Update...
Post by: fullautovalmet76 on April 13, 2008, 09:09:38 PM
From my last post I said that I would update on how my latest episode at the range went. I shot 200 rounds through the Mosquito this weekend and only had two FTFs (feed); this makes 350 rounds. I'm noticing the trigger loosening a little. I'll keep a tally and I will let the forum know how it does after 1,000 rounds.

At this point, I must generally agree with everyone when they say this gun is not up to the usual standards put out in their products by Sig. But I do not believe this gun is the worst ever either; my Bryco 9mm takes that honor.

Cheers!
Title: Re: sigsaur mosquito
Post by: Rastus on April 20, 2008, 09:02:23 PM
Well...I picked up a Mosquito a despite all the bad press.  They've either fixed 'em or I got a good one.  I ran 250+ rounds through it today without a malfunction of any kind.  I was using the 550 Box of Federal hollowpoints.
Title: Re: sigsaur mosquito
Post by: pioneer on April 23, 2008, 05:46:11 PM
Well...I picked up a Mosquito a despite all the bad press.  They've either fixed 'em or I got a good one.  I ran 250+ rounds through it today without a malfunction of any kind.  I was using the 550 Box of Federal hollowpoints.

That's good news.  Anyone know if they are actually made by Sig, or are they farmed out?  Everything else Sig puts their name to is first rate.   
Title: Re: sigsaur mosquito
Post by: Neon Knight Anubis on April 23, 2008, 05:52:20 PM
Actually I think its one of the only models still imported from Sig Germany, other than the X5
Title: Re: sigsaur mosquito
Post by: Rastus on April 29, 2008, 07:47:19 PM
Well...I picked up a Mosquito a despite all the bad press.  They've either fixed 'em or I got a good one.  I ran 250+ rounds through it today without a malfunction of any kind.  I was using the 550 Box of Federal hollowpoints.

Another 200 or so rounds then I had a misfeed.  The gun was bone dry...understandable.  A drop of oil and another 150 or so rounds and home.

Working well....
Title: Re: sigsaur mosquito
Post by: Rastus on May 03, 2008, 09:29:38 PM
OK guys...sorry some of you had problems.  This one is a keeper.

Going to order a threaded barrel now.... :o
Title: Re: sigsaur mosquito
Post by: fullautovalmet76 on June 22, 2008, 10:27:49 PM
For those curious to know how the Mosquito did after a thousand rounds (see earlier post), I can say the gun performed well. I have fired 1100 rounds and have had 10 misfeeds/misfires, all without cleaning. I used some really bad ammo, which I will not use again- Remington Thunderbolt. I used it all the way through and the gun still performed well during my firing.

With that said, the gun does have some drawbacks. The double action pull could be much better but is manageable. The sights that came with the gun allows one to shoot high. As a consequence of the trigger, accuracy is not as good as those on Ruger 22/45 but I don't believe the gun was designed to be a tack driver either.

My suggestion is for one to buy this gun if they are looking to practice with a .22 cal instead of larger calibers and more expensive ammo. My carry gun is a Glock 30 (45 ACP) so I use this gun to practice with and to save on ammunition. Plus, I have the option to equip it with a suppressor at a later date. In short this is a good gun to practice with but don't expect it to shoot like a Browning or a Ruger.

Cheers!
Title: Re: sigsaur mosquito
Post by: tombogan03884 on June 22, 2008, 10:48:07 PM
You and Rastus seem to have gotten both the good ones.
Title: Re: sigsaur mosquito
Post by: Rastus on July 05, 2008, 11:04:49 AM
You and Rastus seem to have gotten both the good ones.

Another 100+ rounds through it last Wednesday.  You may be right Tom, we may have gotten the good ones....not to rub that in Haz.  Haz...still got yours?  Give you $50+/- plus shipping...
Title: Re: sigsaur mosquito
Post by: KW Gary M on July 06, 2008, 12:25:39 PM
Am I ever glad I read this.  I was thinking hard about buying one as a toy to shoot cheap.  Thanks guys!!!!!!
Title: Re: sigsaur mosquito
Post by: tombogan03884 on July 06, 2008, 01:04:23 PM
Am I ever glad I read this.  I was thinking hard about buying one as a toy to shoot cheap.  Thanks guys!!!!!!


If you can't have Rastus pick it out for you, then avoid them  ;D