SR9 striker channel cleaning?

[RMFC]

Hey everybody. ill be picking up my new sr9 on wednesday and plan on taking it to the range very shortly thereafter, right around wednesday evenin . Ive read in a few threads that i should clean out the striker channel beforehand because a) it comes shipped with a lot of unnecessary gunk in it, and b) it will help with the trigger "scratch" everone's talking about, and give me a smoother pull. Just wanted to know if i should clean it out and, if so, should i completely remove the striker from the channel and clean it thoroughly? Should i then lightly lube any parts? This is my first handgun and i want to make sure i take care of it from the get go. That being said, since i am new, detailed step by step instructions would be very much appreciated along with your opinions. I am fairly handy and am confident, after watching some of jhearne's videos, that i can do whats necessary to disassemble the striker channel/remove the mag dc. Thanks!

-Daniel

 

[boomer1]

Hey RMFC,

Welcome to the forum from the Seattle area.

To answer your questions...yes,...yes, .and yes.. Josh Hearne's videos are great. Another source are the Ruger tech videos from the Ruger website.

http://www.ruger.com/resources/videos.html

Enjoy your SR9!

boomer 8)

 

[jhearne]

Welcome RMFC, cleaning the slide and some of the exposed frame bits and relubing isn't a bad idea. I and others never had an issue with it. I ran my SR9 for 1K rounds before a cleaning. I had it apart several times inbetween 0-1000 rounds for pictures, but never relubed or anything. Ran like a champ, ZERO problems**. I'd field strip it and wipe out the factory grease excess and then lightly oil the contact points and then take her out to do some paperwork

**this is my special instance and I'm not guaranteeing your gun will perform like this, although it could (and should). 8) My gun was manufactured in 2007, things have changed in the design (minutely), but it's generally the same gun.

Josh

 

[RMFC]

So, Josh, when you say oil the contact points you mean where exactly? sorry i forgot to mention that aside from this being my first handgun it is my first firearm as well. are we talking just the slide and the frame? or parts of the striker assembly, barrel, and guide rod as well? sorry about the ignorance i'm just looking to learn . if you already have pictures up that would help point it out and could just direct me to a certain section of your how to that would be great. i've been through some of it and still getting through the rest. they are great videos thank you so much!

Daniel

 

[RMFC]

Also if i disassemble the striker channel how extensively should i clean it and what parts should i oil when reassembling, and removing the mag dc of course.

 

[jhearne]

It's no problem, to learn, there has to be someone (and here there are a few) willing to teach .

In my signature, I have a few links, one is the "SR9 How-To". In it are pictures of the polish how-to, there are yellow highlighted points that I feel are necessary for lubrication/smoothness. If your parts aren't exactly smooth, don't worry, they'll wear in after 200-500 rounds. You don't have to fully disassemble the SR9, just the visible parts of the internals. You don't want them dripping wet, but they don't need to be dry either, just a light film of oil is good.

As for cleaning the Striker Channel, use something that's not going to come apart inside the channel or has a lot of lint to come loose and snag on any burrs. I found that a small caliber (like a .22 LR) bore brush (that mounts on a manual push rod, not bore snake) works well in helping to remove dirt, gunk and such. If you find metal shavings, don't be alarmed, just clean them out and reassemble. I leave my Striker dry, everything else that's a moving part gets a light oiling. I use RemOil (spray and wipes) in my guns, most commercial brands work well too, just my preference based on cost and availability, nothing scientific on my part.

Josh

 

[jeffegg2]

This is for glock, but transfers easily to cleaning the SR9c.

I like his (Hickok45) style of minimal lubrication as oil and grease do collect dirt.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZf4mUM10Vc

 

[john16443]

I'll add information from my experience with the factory grease in the firing pin and channel. As Josh indicates, get as much out as you can with a non-lint producing device. What you may find is that your firing pin contains a significant amount of brown grease that is inside the spring area, and this should be removed as well. I soaked the entire pin in Hoppes overnight and then blew it dry with compressed air. Once I did that, I ceased finding grease everywhere in the channel at each cleaning.

As for lubrication, recommend that the channel be cleaned out and left dry, then put a drop of oil on the exterior of the firing pin/stricker and smear it around the entire length. Lightly remove the excess and install the pin. That will leave a film of lubrication and not be enough to collect dirt and cause issues. This is a moving part, so should have some lube IMHO.

 

[RMFC]

For cleaning out the striker channel would a phosphor bronze bore brush or wool blend mop work? That it what came with my outers 9mm cleaning kit.

 

[crispy]

I just use BreakFree CLP to clean and then wipe down. The amount of the "LP" part that is left is just the right amount of Lubricant.

 

[jhearne]

The bore brush would be best, the wool blend mop might leave some fibers in the channel.

Josh

 

[RMFC]

Thanks everyone for your input. I look forward to learning more from you all!

 

[jhearne]

NP , good luck with the SR9, let us know how you like it!

Josh

 

[JeepVideo]

Hey all I've had about 700 rounds through my SR9 so far and am loving it! It is my first pistol and I've been using the Sentry Solutions Armorers Kit to take care of the SR9. I've never taken the slide apart as discussed above - no problems so I've never seen a reason.

If I were to do a more complete breakdown, cleaning, and lube would the dry lube like "Smooth-Kote" be good to use? I'm really happy with the performance of these lubes so far. Thoughts?

 

[john16443]

If I were to do a more complete breakdown, cleaning, and lube would the dry lube like "Smooth-Kote" be good to use? I'm really happy with the performance of these lubes so far. Thoughts?

In all honesty, anything that is identified as a "gun luricant" will be OK to use, dry or otherwise.

 

[RMFC]

Well i picked up the sr9 today and took her out to the range and put 150 downrange. i must say i was very impressed with the gun and had absolutely no problems! While my friend was running to the counter to grab another target, i stupidly dry fired it without the magazine in about 3 times before i had realized what i had done. Do you guys think this will be a problem? (pretty much asking if that was enough to damage my gun) I removed the mag dc when i cleaned it after i got home so this wont be a problem anymore at all. But like i said the sr9 was great. Today i unloaded clips putting the lead right where i wanted to in a 2-3 inch group, but only from about 10 yards. Ill be taking it back to the range next week and with me, after that, on my road trip through AZ, NM, and TX to get some more practice in.

 

[jhearne]

There is a small chance you hurt something, but all in all, previous encounters with this suggest that it takes quite a bit more than a couple inadvertent dry fires to hurt the SR9's Mag DC/Striker assembly. Especially since you removed the Mag DC afterwards, it shouldn't be an issue.

Glad you enjoyed the SR9, have fun on that road trip.

Josh

 

[willypete]

Ah yes, this will do the trick.......
http://cgi.ebay.com/Birchwood-Casey...256?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item415461bef0