SR9c Light Strike Problem

[Bapple]

Hey all,

I'm the new proud owner of an SR9c as of today and I like the ergonomics and the crisp trigger. I have owned a Beretta 90 two for nearly 8 months that I love but I wanted a smaller gun as a CCW and the 32 ounce, metal frame wasn't really the best choice for concealment. I couldn't pass up the value of the SR9c and read great things but I had some issues today.

I purchased the gun this morning at a local range. The packing grease was removed from the outside part of the gun but the grease inside the slide and striker assembly was only shot with gun scrubber.

I brought in a case of my own reloads (Berry's 115 gr plated bullets; CCI 500 primers; assorted brass) to try out in their range and out of about 15 rounds, I had 9 light strikes (even retried most of them more than once). I had no idea what the issue was so I left it at a gun shop for them to run some ammo through it. They said it fed every single target round just fine and ran good. They also ran 10 of my reloads and out of those, 9 of them fired. They even picked up the last one that didn't fire and ran it through again and it did fire.

So I'm thinking that the issue has to deal with primer depth on my reloads. They have never misfired through my Beretta but it's a hammer-fired gun as opposed to a striker-fired gun.

I called Ruger (great customer service!!!) and they agreed to send me a new striker assembly and rear cover, free of charge, without question. I love the fact that I can rely on the company to back up their product because Beretta's customer service is awful even though I haven't had to use them yet.

So, SR9c owners, do you think getting a new (hopefully longer) striker assembly and firing pin will fix this issue? I wonder if anyone else has dealt with this before.

 

[Big Stu]

The new striker assembly may not have been necessary. More often then not, there is "Crud" in the striker channel that needs to be thoroughly cleaned out. I had some light strike issues at first with my SR9c but after I took it apart and cleaned the channel completely, the problem was solved. I find that when you clean the striker and channel, you should also re-lube it but very sparingly. I simply wipe gun oil on the striker and then I use a clean rag and wipe it back off. Enough stays on to do the job. Too much lube and it will attract crud and cause more trouble. I do NOT spray any lube into the channel. This is a case where less is more. Good luck with your new pistol. I am delighted with mine.

 

[Bapple]

The new striker assembly may not have been necessary. More often then not, there is "Crud" in the striker channel that needs to be thoroughly cleaned out. I had some light strike issues at first with my SR9c but after I took it apart and cleaned the channel completely, the problem was solved. I find that when you clean the striker and channel, you should also re-lube it but very sparingly. I simply wipe gun oil on the striker and then I use a clean rag and wipe it back off. Enough stays on to do the job. Too much lube and it will attract crud and cause more trouble. I do NOT spray any lube into the channel. This is a case where less is more. Good luck with your new pistol. I am delighted with mine.

I figured I would also try that too and unfortunately I didn't have enough time to do that today. I'm sure I'll shoot it some more this weekend and I'll report back. I was planning on pulling out the striker assembly and taking the grease out of there anyway. I guess now I have a free striker assembly coming in the mail .

Thanks for the prompt response! I hope this alleviates my issues.

 

[jhearne]

There have been some problems with Light Strikes in the SR9c, but 99% of them are shooting WWB 115gr FMJ. They either choose to not use WWB as all other factory ammo shoots fine for them. The others call Ruger and get a new Striker assembly. Both paths alleviate the issue of light strikes.

Could be the Striker, crud in the channel or your primer depth. Cleaning the channel should provide some aid in preventing light strikes, but I'd bet it's primer depth or the Striker. Go ahead and clean the channel, and swap the Striker out. Keep shooting your reloads as is and see what happens. More light strikes with the new setup would make me believe that the primer depths are the culprit.

FWIW, I'm not an expert on ammo or reloading.....just the SR pistols

Welcome to RF.com and I hope you get the issue resolved!!

Josh

 

[Big Stu]

Almost all of my issues with light strikes were with Winchester white box ammo. It seems that WWB has hard primers. I never had any problems with Federal ammo from Walmart. $10.47 for a box of 50. Even so... now my SR9c will eat anything I feed it with no problems. Just about 1500 rounds so far.

 

[Bapple]

There have been some problems with Light Strikes in the SR9c, but 99% of them are shooting WWB 115gr FMJ. They either choose to not use WWB as all other factory ammo shoots fine for them. The others call Ruger and get a new Striker assembly. Both paths alleviate the issue of light strikes.

Could be the Striker, crud in the channel or your primer depth. Cleaning the channel should provide some aid in preventing light strikes, but I'd bet it's primer depth or the Striker. Go ahead and clean the channel, and swap the Striker out. Keep shooting your reloads as is and see what happens. More light strikes with the new setup would make me believe that the primer depths are the culprit.

FWIW, I'm not an expert on ammo or reloading.....just the SR pistols

Welcome to RF.com and I hope you get the issue resolved!!

Josh

I have read plenty of good things about reliability with the SR9 and SR9c so I'm assuming the issue will be taken care of promptly. I should get my new striker assembly in the mail early next week. I already cleaned some of the gunk off the striker itself and I need to run some cleaner through the channel. I'm thinking this will fix the issue because everything else runs good. I also think it has to do with the fact that I didn't do an initial cleaning before taking it to the range. The gunk could have built up extensively.

Thanks for the warm welcome! I'll surely be spending many hours of my life here. Rugerforum and Berettaforum are two of my favorites!

 

[Sonnytoo]

You could do a Search on my username if you wish, and see my experience with light strikes last summer and fall.
Bottom line: Olin Manufacturing (Winchester White Box) said my fired cases, that I mailed them, were caused by the gun.
Ruger agreed and installed a new striker system with a longer spring that maintains positive pressure on the firing pin at all pin positions.
Once that was done, my problems were over, and I shot the next 300 WWB or so without problem.
This is fact, and I quoted appropriate portions of the reply that Winchester sent to me.
In my case, cleaning the striker housing was not at fault, although some folks say they find crud in there. I didn't.
I think the Winchester primers are just fine, and my "fixed" Ruger seemed to be good evidence of that.
Sonnytoo

 

[datank55]

Big Stu said it right. Federal Champion 115 grain FMJ from Wal-Mart is a top notch deal at 10.47 a box and it runs circles around WWB. I have never had an issue with it ever, where with WWB I have had squibs and dirty ammo, damaged cases right from the box. Plus, WWB is more expensive. Federal rules.

 

[Bapple]

A good start...

I thoroughly cleaned the striker channel last night and took out some pretty dirty brown and black gunk. I cleaned it out well and put a thin layer of Rem-oil on the striker assembly and put it all back together.

I then took 6 of my unloaded, primed cases and wanted to see if the striker would detonate the primers. All 6 primers popped and I can see a nice healthy primer strike on the primer as opposed to a tiny dent.

Hopefully this fixed the issue and I will give a range report after this weekend to confirm that my SR9c is working perfectly.

Thanks for the help and advice guys!

 

[cellguy030]

ive had my sr9c since november and have not had any issues with this until today. i went out to a competition shoot and began having issue with the striker sticking back during recoil for just a fraction of a second. my problem was not being able to rapid fire as quickly as i would normally. i talked to another person with the same gun and also recomended cleaning out the factory gunk in the striker. this could also be the problem. i plan on doing this before i shoot again. a small shot of rem oil in the striker hole on the backplate seemed to clear the issue up temporarily.

 

[jeffegg2]

I use mostly federal, but I did run 100 rounds of WWB, no problems at all.

My SR9c has never ever miss-fired, miss-fed, or had any problem!!

I love my SR9c!!!