pevadijk
Bearcat
I have a strange problem with my SR9. When shooting 2 handed the striker sometimes doesn't cock and stays in its forward position. It never happens when I'm shooting one handed.......is this 'common'?
SR9, striker doesn't cock (after trimming striker spring)
- Thread starter pevadijk
- Start date
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Tmyoungjr
Bearcat
And to answer your question - nope certainly not common.
pevadijk
Bearcat
I think I fixed it by installing a new striker spring. I had cut 1,5 coil from the striker spring and although it has functioned for 1000+ rounds I guess cutting the striker spring is a delicate matter ;-)
jhearne
Buckeye
- Joined
- Jul 14, 2007
- Messages
- 1,365
It could be the spring, with it being shorter, the Striker could slip backwards in the slide under force from the recoil process. If the Striker' Tab (rudder) sits too far back, it could fail to engage the Reset Bar properly. Take the slide off the frame, how much slack is there when the Striker is let all the way forward....IOW, how far back can you slide the Striker, without exerting force against the spring? Mine slips back enough to let the Striker Blocker engage again, but any other distance past that, for me, is negligible.
If you have any other modifications (including polishing), might not hurt to inspect them and make sure they're fine too. I polished my internals, but found after 2500 rounds that some additional wear-in had occurred.
Josh
If you have any other modifications (including polishing), might not hurt to inspect them and make sure they're fine too. I polished my internals, but found after 2500 rounds that some additional wear-in had occurred.
Josh
jhearne
Buckeye
- Joined
- Jul 14, 2007
- Messages
- 1,365
The lighter the spring on a Striker fired pistol, the lighter the trigger pull. If one feels the spring is too heavy, they can cut it back to a point where they compromise between pull weight and reliability. Normally, no harm is done, but it can lead to issues like this, even if done properly.
Best advice? Don't cut spring coils. If you must, keep a stock part handy. Try other means of modification first, Galloway makes a good kit and Ghost has a few connectors that help with the pull weight.
Josh
Best advice? Don't cut spring coils. If you must, keep a stock part handy. Try other means of modification first, Galloway makes a good kit and Ghost has a few connectors that help with the pull weight.
Josh
pevadijk
Bearcat
Cutting a spring on a striker fired pistol is nothing special and I've only done this, because I had a spare spring on hand........otherwise I wouldn't have done it.
Sal1950
Blackhawk
Cutting the striker spring on a SR9 will definitely cause trigger reset issues. If you'd like to read more I detailed my experiment here,
http://www.rugerforum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?p=974923&highlight=#974923
Sal
http://www.rugerforum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?p=974923&highlight=#974923
Sal
Cheesewhiz
Hunter
Seriously, this is the type of post that really yanks me off. If someone was just casually searching, they would see that the SR pistols obviously don't work because the first post didn't report the hacking of the spring.
I am glad the OP owned up to this quickly, some posters before on this forum, well it was like pulling teeth to get them to admit it.
Ask any and I mean any gun maker about the cutting springs on any of their guns being just fine and dandy and I will bet 100% will say something approaching a big friggin' NO. If the gun is a CCW, SD/HD gun and you find a so called gunsmith that thinks that it's fine, he should be beaten with a stick.
My rant isn't directed at the OP completely, it's just that I read this crap all the time on many forums and it just is wrong, wrong, wrong and should be called out for being so.
I am glad the OP owned up to this quickly, some posters before on this forum, well it was like pulling teeth to get them to admit it.
Ask any and I mean any gun maker about the cutting springs on any of their guns being just fine and dandy and I will bet 100% will say something approaching a big friggin' NO. If the gun is a CCW, SD/HD gun and you find a so called gunsmith that thinks that it's fine, he should be beaten with a stick.
My rant isn't directed at the OP completely, it's just that I read this crap all the time on many forums and it just is wrong, wrong, wrong and should be called out for being so.
Sal1950
Blackhawk
Cheesewhiz,
I agree with you completely on the first point, if a person is having trouble with a gun the first thing he should do is detail any mod's he's made to it.
As to the second point, you make it sound like it's a 100% no-no to mod a spring and nothing could be further from the truth. First class smiths have been/are cutting springs forever to accomplish a goal. A whole industry of numerous spring makers has grown up around spring tuning to help smiths accomplish the same mission in a better and more repeatable way.
I've been doing trigger work on my weapons for almost 40 years now and I don't think one of them is completely stock inside. ( well so far I haven't touched my new S&W 460V, but I've only had it a couple weeks LOL)
Bottom line is there is no definitive right or wrong here, but you do have to know what your doing. AND be 100% honest about what you've done when looking for help..
Sal
I agree with you completely on the first point, if a person is having trouble with a gun the first thing he should do is detail any mod's he's made to it.
As to the second point, you make it sound like it's a 100% no-no to mod a spring and nothing could be further from the truth. First class smiths have been/are cutting springs forever to accomplish a goal. A whole industry of numerous spring makers has grown up around spring tuning to help smiths accomplish the same mission in a better and more repeatable way.
I've been doing trigger work on my weapons for almost 40 years now and I don't think one of them is completely stock inside. ( well so far I haven't touched my new S&W 460V, but I've only had it a couple weeks LOL)
Bottom line is there is no definitive right or wrong here, but you do have to know what your doing. AND be 100% honest about what you've done when looking for help..
Sal
Cheesewhiz
Hunter
Sal1950 said:
Sal, you'll notice I talked about 'finding a so called gunsmith'. Tuning springs for guns have been around for a great while, I own many range guns that are full of them. I too work on triggers and fits on some models but I'm not a gunsmith.
When the SR9 came out, many new owners complained about the stout trigger on the gun and some cut or talked about cutting the springs on the striker assembly. Many, myself included, warned against this because at the same time this was their CCW, SD or HD gun. You know the striker has an encapsulated spring, cutting it causes several issues, a shortened spring makes the spring caps loose, it also losses tension in that capsule in both directions, which can cause misalignment in repeated cycling. This is the problem with something like that. You and I and Rev or Mike or AIAZ or Buck and others shoot a lot and can test this stuff out, most of us would call them range only guns at least until proven. I'm a stock only guy for an SD gun but that's me.
Many others cut or hack or Death Dremel 'cause they heard it on the internet and fire the thing a hundred times or so and call it good to go.
...and that is just silly.
Cheesewhiz
Hunter
...and another thing Sal, (I'm not beating on you, this is fun :lol: )
Have you ever called a arms factory and told them what a gunsmith had said? It can be a riot for sure.
I tend to talk to factory custom shops most times anymore because of that.
Have you ever called a arms factory and told them what a gunsmith had said? It can be a riot for sure.
I tend to talk to factory custom shops most times anymore because of that.
Sal1950
Blackhawk
Cheesewhiz said:
Naw, no problem, just lively discussion.
The internet has been a curse and a blessing at the same time.
When I started doing this stuff there was very little information to be had. You would read the available books, etc; and if you were real lucky there was a smith at the LGS that would share a little knowledge with you. (something I never was lucky enough to find). So you got just a tiny bit of insight from the books and magazine articles, the rest you learned the VERY hard way through trial and LOTS of error.
Now a days we have the internet, and sites like these. I got here looking for info on how to improve my SR9C cause working on striker fired guns was a whole new ball of wax for me. I was lucky enough to find the tremendous body of work that Josh put together here as he went down his own road of learning and discovery on the SR series. It's folks like him that make the internet a wonderful tool. There are some of the worlds best smiths out there ready and willing to teach the unwashed massed some of what they know.
Then there's the curse part, that's the fact that like in most every other quest, only a small percentage of what is said is solid info, the other 90% is just BS being thrown about by people who like to hear,(see) themselfs make noise.
The hard part is being able to tell the difference. LOL
Just don't like to read what sometimes sounds like a person seeking knowledge being told "just leave the da-n thing stock you hack".
Sal
inuswetrust
Bearcat
- Joined
- Apr 3, 2011
- Messages
- 41
Not only for the good of the community, and the brand, it's really important to give accurate information about a situation if you expect accurate feedback, and hopefully a solution. Had the OP stated that he cut the spring, most of us here (anyone who understands how a striker fired pistol operates) would have immediately suggested swapping a stock spring as a first take at resolution. Good on the OP for still having a stock spring...but not so much for blaming/questioning Ruger before swapping back to an unaltered state of function.
As to cutting springs and modifying any firearm. Remember, a firearm is a tool that can save or take lives. It's a tool that when improperly modified is very likely to injure or kill the operator or someone else when you don't intend to....or fail to injure or kill when you intend to.
Today's firearms are built and tested by engineers. To think that a layman can improve a firearm by "willy nilly" cutting a spring, is very wishful thinking. Gunsmiths that cut springs, usually do so after years of experience and/or vigorous controlled testing. Same goes for the aftermarket guys like Galloway and Ghost. They put in the time and resources to create repeatable test scenarios. They don't just draw up a design, digitize it, blast a piece out of a CNC machine, install it, shoot a couple hundred rounds, and then say it's good to go.
They create repeatable testing scenarios...like using a Ransom rest or better, to eliminate the changes in a human trigger pull. They use testing equipment that costs more than most of the guns they're testing. They create 10s if not hundreds of small variables in their designs to get the best performance without a compromise in safety or reliability.
After they've put thousands of rounds through several test guns, THEN they hand it off to humans. Then, after thousands of rounds with several test guns and several skilled testers, that is when they release the mod to the public.
I'm not saying people shouldn't do their own mods, but if you do, you should EXPECT and look for a compromise in safe and reliable function.
A mod that is only checked for meeting the original goal of the mod (lighter trigger being the most popular) is a failure. To be a success, you have to prove to yourself that there is no compromise in safe and reliable functionality....over THOUSANDS of rounds...not just a box or two.
Even though I trust Galloway and Ghost, when I install one of their parts, I have the benefit of having my wife's identical firearm to do side by side comparisons with both in hand manipulation of the parts, dry firing, and on the range. That kind of testing allows me to critically evaluate modifications. I can see and feel the differences in movement of the trigger group, or the slide components, side by side. I don't have to rely on how I "remember" it feeling or moving before the mod. I have the before and after in my left and right hand, not in the subjective grey area of my mind that's concentrating on how much lighter the trigger is. I can see and feel the changes throughout staging, trigger pull, firing, recoil, reset, follow-thru and subsequent shots. I've been known to spend more time FEELING the subtle differences in my before and after guns, than the time it took to swap the new part in. It's that important to me. As Certified Instructor, people expect me and my firearm to be safe and reliable...so I don't think of hours of testing as something extra; to me it's the required minimum effort.
If I was ever going to cut a spring, I'd order at minimum 10, and then see what the differences were with various measured cuts, and continuously compare them to a stock spring...side-by-side...over at least 500 rounds of varying weight, and by varying manufacturers (I'd even throw in some stuff known to be crap) and then I'd test with 500 rounds of high pressure loads I cooked up at home. That would be the minimum testing before I'd use it for target practice, competition, or self defense.
That's just me. I like my tools to function safe first, reliable second, and smooth third. A simple definition of safe is, it never fires when you don't want it to. Reliable is that it always fires when you want it to. Having the smoothest trigger that's less safe and less reliable, doesn't cut it with me (pun intended).
- chip
As to cutting springs and modifying any firearm. Remember, a firearm is a tool that can save or take lives. It's a tool that when improperly modified is very likely to injure or kill the operator or someone else when you don't intend to....or fail to injure or kill when you intend to.
Today's firearms are built and tested by engineers. To think that a layman can improve a firearm by "willy nilly" cutting a spring, is very wishful thinking. Gunsmiths that cut springs, usually do so after years of experience and/or vigorous controlled testing. Same goes for the aftermarket guys like Galloway and Ghost. They put in the time and resources to create repeatable test scenarios. They don't just draw up a design, digitize it, blast a piece out of a CNC machine, install it, shoot a couple hundred rounds, and then say it's good to go.
They create repeatable testing scenarios...like using a Ransom rest or better, to eliminate the changes in a human trigger pull. They use testing equipment that costs more than most of the guns they're testing. They create 10s if not hundreds of small variables in their designs to get the best performance without a compromise in safety or reliability.
After they've put thousands of rounds through several test guns, THEN they hand it off to humans. Then, after thousands of rounds with several test guns and several skilled testers, that is when they release the mod to the public.
I'm not saying people shouldn't do their own mods, but if you do, you should EXPECT and look for a compromise in safe and reliable function.
A mod that is only checked for meeting the original goal of the mod (lighter trigger being the most popular) is a failure. To be a success, you have to prove to yourself that there is no compromise in safe and reliable functionality....over THOUSANDS of rounds...not just a box or two.
Even though I trust Galloway and Ghost, when I install one of their parts, I have the benefit of having my wife's identical firearm to do side by side comparisons with both in hand manipulation of the parts, dry firing, and on the range. That kind of testing allows me to critically evaluate modifications. I can see and feel the differences in movement of the trigger group, or the slide components, side by side. I don't have to rely on how I "remember" it feeling or moving before the mod. I have the before and after in my left and right hand, not in the subjective grey area of my mind that's concentrating on how much lighter the trigger is. I can see and feel the changes throughout staging, trigger pull, firing, recoil, reset, follow-thru and subsequent shots. I've been known to spend more time FEELING the subtle differences in my before and after guns, than the time it took to swap the new part in. It's that important to me. As Certified Instructor, people expect me and my firearm to be safe and reliable...so I don't think of hours of testing as something extra; to me it's the required minimum effort.
If I was ever going to cut a spring, I'd order at minimum 10, and then see what the differences were with various measured cuts, and continuously compare them to a stock spring...side-by-side...over at least 500 rounds of varying weight, and by varying manufacturers (I'd even throw in some stuff known to be crap) and then I'd test with 500 rounds of high pressure loads I cooked up at home. That would be the minimum testing before I'd use it for target practice, competition, or self defense.
That's just me. I like my tools to function safe first, reliable second, and smooth third. A simple definition of safe is, it never fires when you don't want it to. Reliable is that it always fires when you want it to. Having the smoothest trigger that's less safe and less reliable, doesn't cut it with me (pun intended).
- chip
inuswetrust
Bearcat
- Joined
- Apr 3, 2011
- Messages
- 41
Can a moderator please amend the thread title to read "SR9, doesn't cock AFTER I CUT THE STRIKER SPRING".
pevadijk
Bearcat
You just could have asked me, happy now?inuswetrust said:
pevadijk
Bearcat
I would like to clarify some things. As you may know (or you can just read it) I live in The Netherlands and guns are only allowed for 'sport shooting' so it's not used for carry or self-defense (strictly forbidden here), so I use my guns for fun and enjoyment only and part of the fun for me is tinkering with my gun, is there anything wrong with that?
I'm the first here in our country with a SR9, so there's no gunsmith who has ever seen, let alone worked on one.
Before playing with the springs, the Dutch importer got me some spare strikersprings and I've cut 1 coil from the spring (which is quite conservative from what I've read in various posts) and it worked just fine for quite some time. After the problems emerged I thought I'd come here, since it's my only place for 'Ruger info'.
But I guess some of you think I'm an idiot :shock:
I'm the first here in our country with a SR9, so there's no gunsmith who has ever seen, let alone worked on one.
Before playing with the springs, the Dutch importer got me some spare strikersprings and I've cut 1 coil from the spring (which is quite conservative from what I've read in various posts) and it worked just fine for quite some time. After the problems emerged I thought I'd come here, since it's my only place for 'Ruger info'.
But I guess some of you think I'm an idiot :shock:
